So, I think the Inca are fun. The first goal has tight circumstances and deadlines which leaves little room for error, which I like.
It took me a few tries to get everything lined up for it. I usually went Chan-Chan, Tucume, Tiwanaku, then settle Quitu and Caqonatambu. There's probably room for optimisation in splitting early and taking Tiwanaku first or simultaneously with Chan-Chan.
The problem lies in the second goal. Here's my situation in 1550 AD:
As you can tell, about 1000 gold short of the goal. The thing is, I am not sure if there is that much room for improvement. So, first of all, I was already lucky the (Arab) conquerors arrived after the first goal was already secured. They landed in Ecuador, took Quitu, and I eventually beat them back while defending Tucume. I think that part was quite fun, I wish I had a few extra turns to prepare but I managed to get up Walls everywhere and could switch into Despotism and whip out enough defenders in time. I even used Thupaq Amaru as a great leader who heroically died in battle, which I thought was quite thematically fitting.
But even so, the invasion tanks your economy, mostly through the plague and required whipping. More importantly though, I don't think I was on track to get it before that either.
The problem is, your choices to do things differently are limited. I teched Alloys -> Bloomery -> Cement -> Engineering, which is a hard requirement to get Tambos for the first goal. In my first game, I tried going for Law first to build Machu Picchu asap, but that came too late. In fact, I don't think Law is worth it, and you have to turn down your science slider right after Engineering regardless, if you want to make the gold goal in time. Currency is interesting as well, because Markets, Merchant Trade and building Wealth would all be very helpful, but I don't think you have time/commerce to spare on it either.
I don't think this situation is desirable. Machu Picchu should be useful for your goal, and Currency also should be a viable path, even if you cannot get both. It's also not fun that all ways to effectively influence your gold output are tied to Currency: building wealth, markets, running merchants. Without them, there's not much you can do besides optimising your commerce, with little viable tiles for cottages available as well.
What to do about it? The easiest solution I could think of is letting the Inca start with Currency. I don't think that would be ahistorical, and you still have a lot of catching up to do in the metalworking part of the tech tree so that it isn't overpowered. Law may even be in the cards as well. Since your production still needs to go largely into expansion and defense, it wouldn't be overly powerful.
Alternatively, the Tambo requirement could be changed to Law, making it easy to pick up and freeing a lot of otherwise useless research (Alloys for chopping is nice though). I will try each of these changes soon.
Thoughts? Am I wrong to think the second goal is too hard? I may not have microed extensively but I cannot see a way to make up 1000 gold. 500 maybe, but not that much.
Thinking a bit more into the future, any thoughts about the third goal? I remember people not liking it, and I can see why. It's probably mostly whack a mole against superior units. I am thinking about changing the goal somewhat while still maintaining the theme. For example, how about controlling 80% (or whatever) population in South America? That would allow some colonies and leave you the option to meet the requirement either through growth or warfare.
Also, is it worth settling outside of the Andes when the continent opens up? If so, where?
It took me a few tries to get everything lined up for it. I usually went Chan-Chan, Tucume, Tiwanaku, then settle Quitu and Caqonatambu. There's probably room for optimisation in splitting early and taking Tiwanaku first or simultaneously with Chan-Chan.
The problem lies in the second goal. Here's my situation in 1550 AD:
Spoiler :
As you can tell, about 1000 gold short of the goal. The thing is, I am not sure if there is that much room for improvement. So, first of all, I was already lucky the (Arab) conquerors arrived after the first goal was already secured. They landed in Ecuador, took Quitu, and I eventually beat them back while defending Tucume. I think that part was quite fun, I wish I had a few extra turns to prepare but I managed to get up Walls everywhere and could switch into Despotism and whip out enough defenders in time. I even used Thupaq Amaru as a great leader who heroically died in battle, which I thought was quite thematically fitting.
But even so, the invasion tanks your economy, mostly through the plague and required whipping. More importantly though, I don't think I was on track to get it before that either.
The problem is, your choices to do things differently are limited. I teched Alloys -> Bloomery -> Cement -> Engineering, which is a hard requirement to get Tambos for the first goal. In my first game, I tried going for Law first to build Machu Picchu asap, but that came too late. In fact, I don't think Law is worth it, and you have to turn down your science slider right after Engineering regardless, if you want to make the gold goal in time. Currency is interesting as well, because Markets, Merchant Trade and building Wealth would all be very helpful, but I don't think you have time/commerce to spare on it either.
I don't think this situation is desirable. Machu Picchu should be useful for your goal, and Currency also should be a viable path, even if you cannot get both. It's also not fun that all ways to effectively influence your gold output are tied to Currency: building wealth, markets, running merchants. Without them, there's not much you can do besides optimising your commerce, with little viable tiles for cottages available as well.
What to do about it? The easiest solution I could think of is letting the Inca start with Currency. I don't think that would be ahistorical, and you still have a lot of catching up to do in the metalworking part of the tech tree so that it isn't overpowered. Law may even be in the cards as well. Since your production still needs to go largely into expansion and defense, it wouldn't be overly powerful.
Alternatively, the Tambo requirement could be changed to Law, making it easy to pick up and freeing a lot of otherwise useless research (Alloys for chopping is nice though). I will try each of these changes soon.
Thoughts? Am I wrong to think the second goal is too hard? I may not have microed extensively but I cannot see a way to make up 1000 gold. 500 maybe, but not that much.
Thinking a bit more into the future, any thoughts about the third goal? I remember people not liking it, and I can see why. It's probably mostly whack a mole against superior units. I am thinking about changing the goal somewhat while still maintaining the theme. For example, how about controlling 80% (or whatever) population in South America? That would allow some colonies and leave you the option to meet the requirement either through growth or warfare.
Also, is it worth settling outside of the Andes when the continent opens up? If so, where?
