LSOE 1-Hatshepsut

[EMT]

Welcome everybody to my first game of the Lost Souls of the Earth that will be posted on these forums. These games are being played for 1 main purpose. Advertisement. Yes, that's right. What I'm trying to do is advertise the CustomEarth2 mapscript originally made by Vadus. I feel like it's undercredited and I want to start this series to garner more interest in this map script and earth maps in general. But there's one BIG question that goes with anything earth map related on these forums:

FAQ


"What does the King of the World say about this? Won't this hamper with his series?":
No, actually. I've asked Neal and he agreed that it'd be varied enough from what he does that he wouldn't mind it at all.

Of course, the above gives us another question:

"How is my game series going to differ from Neal's?":
While Neal has a preknowledge of the entire map AND what civs are on it, customearth2 randomizes all the civilizations that will appear when loaded, unless you chose them from Custom Game options. Meanwhile, AI bonuses(AKA archery) make rushes MUCH harder and your options MUCH more limited. Rushes aren't an option, they're almost a requirement.

My games aren't going to have fixed civs, but they may have fixed options. I may sometimes put on always peace, aggressive AI, no barbarians, raging barbarians, and if I'm crazy enough, always war.

Now, you may or may not have one last question-

"Why your title, Lost Souls of the Earth?":
Well, every single civ on that map is random, and therefore lost in a sense. More importantly, I'm myself very lost when I play sometimes. I think the title is fitting.

"I need help getting CustomEarth2 to work!?!":
See http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8851449&postcount=22

A little bit about myself: I'm a Peruvian Italian(dual citizenship) that lives in the US and likes Civ 4.
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Now that intros are out of the way, let me introduce you, wait, most of you have probably walked in her skin before. No point introducing. May I present, Hatshepsut!:



Our settings are standard:



and here's here UU and UB:




While most of us may know what they do, War Chariots are souped up chariots with 5 strength, and Obelisks are monuments that let us run 2 priest slots. I'd have to say, Ramses probably can abuse the obelisk more, but Hatshepsut has Creative over Ramses, which means easy border pops. Somewhat contradictory, not having to build Stonehenge, but your UU is free in all cities with Stonehenge.

On the positive Hatty can definetly use chariots better than Ramses just because she has an easier time blocking off land in newly conquered territories. I did state above that we'll have to bash heads, club necks, and basically, not be very polite.

This game is on Prince, even though I'm a Monarch player normally. Cramped and with archers means that I have to drop down the difficulty a bit. I promise not to warrior rush anybody though.

And, well, you probably all have a generally good idea of what Hatty's start is. I've already played the first round and will post a synopsis later. Please comment on my playing skills as this game goes along. Critique can only make me better.

 

[kossin]

Playing on Prince does not make that big of a difference with regards to AIs starting with Archery

A save would certainly be nice! (And a link to the mapscript)

 

[EMT]

Oh, my bad. Here's the link to the mapscript:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=315047

Scroll to the VERY bottom of the thread to pick it up from Fullerene, who modified/perfected it. I once actually modded the map myself to work with CIV Gold, but It's sort of outdated and used Vadus's original script.

Now, for the save(s):

The autosave is the default save game, the second save is where I stopped at 2720 BC. I'll have the writeup out today asap!

 

[madscientist]

SO you are using the earth-2 map. A few more specific questions I have

1) Europe is bigger meaning France/Spain/Germany/Rome can have more that the core cities. Also Britain is somewhat smaller?

2) You are Hatty starting in the usual spot with marble/stone. Does this mean you also will have horses on the Red Sea coast, and need to expand into Persian or South Africa for metals?

3) Your opponents are random but in their historic locations, correct? Another words you may have Ragnar up in Scandenavia and MExico maybe Aztecless?

Nice idea for a series!

 

[EMT]

Here's Part 1, feedback will be welcomed, of course!

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Hatshepsut woke up one day. Not literally, as in she regained consciousness, but figuratively, as in she realized something. She was a leader of a renegade tribe of Copts that had wandered along a great river for as long as anybody could remember. She awoke to the fact that their existence was a waste at the present. Being the smart girl she is she tried to drown herself in the Nile, but she failed. A certain part of her bodyshifty refused to sink with her so she just floated down the Nile for days as her loyal Copts followed her. They lost trail after 3 days and ended up on the opposite side of the Nile. Hatshepsut continued to float down the Nile with her natural lifejacket until she reached the end of the Nile. It emptied into a large lake that had nasty tasting water. It was so nasty that she vomited, and this was the day that she woke up. The helpless leader of the Copts founded a settlement exactly where she vomited. She named it Thebes, for no apparent reason.



Several years later the sea north of her sea turned light blue and a man named Pericles introduced himself to Hatshepsut. He was easy on the eyes and she immediately fell for him.



Several more years went by as Hatshepsut recruited peasants to do her bidding, and then she met this man. She thought he was rather hairy but he decided to call him Uncle Sal and the man departed on good terms from Hatshepsut's lands.



Several more years pass and she almost instantly regrets considering Uncle Sal hairy, for she meets true hairyness not too soon enough.



All this time Hatshepsut had been trying to figure out how to tame wild animals, but her wise men spent more time making sand castles on the Nile than actually making any effort. Eventually, they decided to try to catch a horse during a drunk dare, and one got lucky and landed on top of the horse. They rushed to Hatshepsut and told her all they knew. She rewarded them with a whipping for taking so long, but then she remembered she didn't have Bronze Working yet, so she placed it on her to-do list, which was:

1. Whip idiots
2. Kill Giggles
3. Make Uncle Sal my biatch
4. Go visit hunky greek man

Sadly, her idiots where too slow and being unproductive, but she could finally start to prepare her plans. As she tried to learn how to use the abundant marble around Thebes, she had her laborers tame the horses out in the deserts of Thebes and begin to trail them towards the capital where they could be properly trained.

She was glad to finally have some useful aids and she began to ponder what to do as she prepared to make Uncle Sal her biatch. Her answer arrived when an insane cultist sprung out from the roots of the Nile. She digged the clothes though.



Worried that he may poison the root of the Nile with his insane ways, Hatshepsut began to make plans for a new settlement farther south of the Nile. She began to prepare an escort to this new site when she stopped and began pondering where to actually locate this site. While she pondered, time seemed to blur, and she felt herself fall back on her bed(made of stone), out of exhaustion.




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Well, there's my opening, critique is always welcome.

 

[EMT]

To answer you mad, I *think* so, as in, Britain being smaller, and yes, Europe is quite bigger, there's actually really nice locations in the Balkans now in Thrace, Sparta, and Budapest, unlike before, were all these locations where meh and a Balkan city was a filler city. The map is slightly different than Earth 18, so yes, Hatty will not be stuck with only chariots, unless I'm slow, and then I have only myself to blame. But I'm not worried about going for metals, *cough*Sinai*cough* when I'll easily be able to take care of Sal and Giggles, at least, if not Pericles and MAYBE Zara if I'm lucky, and you third point is entirely correct. No pre-chosen leaders save Hatty. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Neal]

Wow. That's an impressive little map script. I'll have to check it out. Regarding the game, I think that training a Warrior when you have access to Horses may be a mistake, especially if you're gearing up for a rush. A Chariot'll do fine as a garrison when it's not being used as an offensive weapon. That said, the food-rich, hammer-poor Nile site is kind of ill-suited for a rush, so maybe you're better off REXing until you run out of space, and just play nice until you can bring firearms into the fray. Or at least grab the mines of North Africa (assuming Carthage isn't lurking up there).

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Wow. That's an impressive little map script. I'll have to check it out. Regarding the game, I think that training a Warrior when you have access to Horses may be a mistake, especially if you're gearing up for a rush. A Chariot'll do fine as a garrison when it's not being used as an offensive weapon. That said, the food-rich, hammer-poor Nile site is kind of ill-suited for a rush, so maybe you're better off REXing until you run out of space, and just play nice until you can bring firearms into the fray. Or at least grab the mines of North Africa (assuming Carthage isn't lurking up there).

If one settles in place and then goes AH ----> mining/masonry they can work stone, marble, horses, and a plains hill for hammers. The real issues with this start are 1) long term health and 2) lack of forests to chop if you want a FAST rush.

Still, between the strength of the UU and the availability of 4 strong hammer tiles I'd not rule out a rush entirely. War chariots hit hard.

 

[EMT]

Just finished watching TMIT's Suleiman game, I feel motivated to try something similar that doesn't involve nuking everything in site with this game. Regarding rushes, my position means I don't have access to working the stone, but I'm coastal and I *think* there's bronze on the desert hill tile, that, or somewhere on the Sinai. I can safely pull of a rush without whipping my cities to death. It's as cheap as an archer, so it shouldn't be too bad. Good point on the warrior though. Most of my games revolve around good diplomacy and a skeleton army until I decide to unleash the whooping on some poor AI. I'll be mixing it up this time, I think.

 

[ilikepies]

Looks nice, cool map!

 

[EMT]

Well, here's part 2, where we make Uncle Sal our biatch and set sights on our next target: Giggles!

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Tech Path: Masonry->BW->Fishing->Writing->Alpha->Currency(just started)

Builds:
Thebes: Warrior->Worker->Barracks->War Chariot Spam->Library->Settler

Memphis: Granary at first->Whip work boat->Chop granary->Barracks->Chariots->Settler

Memphis was one angry little city after whip abuse, so I decided to just start a settler there while it got rid of it's angry citizens(At size 2 )

Save is attached at the bottom, played until
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Hatshepsut awoke to find that her head had been seriously injured, and that a month had passed in her semi-coma. Her wise men had fixed her head.......poorly. Raging, she ordered them to go along with her planners and guards, and that they would slave away to build a city called Memphis. To this day, Hatshepsut has never been seen without a hat on, even where she sleeps, and according to Pericles, even when she gets busy.


Her loyal Copts continued to wander the jungles of Africa searching for other civilizations that didn't glow green as though they had radiation poisoning and would poison the Nile. Sadly for her, she found one.



When she saw the man before her, Hatshepsut was so distressed that she nearly tried to jump in the Nile again......and she supposedly did, but then she remembered why she couldn't drown the first time around and floated back to the coast eventually. The man was huge, strong, and looked like he snapped tigers in half for dinner. She dismissed him as soon as possible and continued to search Africa for others.

Sadly, all she found was more radiation coated wierdos. This one liked fancy clothing. However, his hat was humbled by Hatshepsut's and that was all that mattered.



While her workers toiled and made mines on Mount Sinai, Hatshepsut eventually discovered that by carving the marble around Thebes, she could use it to build things. Build what, she's not so sure. But build things. She then checked her list of to-dos. Punish Idiots was on the top, so she began to research how to use sharp metals to punish the idiots harshly. While she did so, a man with a hat big enough to rival Hatshepsut appeared on her borders. She instantly disliked the man. No one could have a bigger hat then her!



While she prepared to make Uncle Sal her biatch and began a training facility for her horses, her wise men had reported that her research had paid off and they they could now use sharp pointy metals! Hatshepsut grinned, until one of her wise men reported, "Pharaoh, there are creatures in the sea! I want one!"

The man's idiocy angered Hatshepsut and she then remembered why it was that she had Punish Idiots atop the list. Her wise men would never forget that day. They toiled for years trying to learn how to catch these creatures. Eventually, they named them fish and figured out that they needed to go to them, they didn't come to him. For their slowness, the wise men that remained at Memphis where worked to death building tools to tame these 'fish'.

Hatshepsut eventually met another lady across the straits of Africa, but she paid no attention to her. All she did was preach to her about how a hat was irreligious and sinful, and that sealed Hatshepsut's opinion of her. She made a note to resolve the problems regarding 'the lady' someday.

After many years of toiling, her forces had grown and her wise men had returned to her. They had learned the secrets of papyrus!



And another man showed up. He seemed to really have a thing for salad.



As a reward, Hatshepsut has them all learn to ride horses. Several years pass, until she decides that she has enough forces. Uncle Sal was in for a nasty suprise.



It was even nastier when Hatshepsut forced him out of the city in less than a few months, despite many casualties.

Around this time, a very mean man came from the north. He smelled like liquor.



Dismissing him away, the scary man of the south comes to request this.



In terror, Hatshepsut readily agreed.

After pillaging whatever Saladin had to offer as a counter to Hatshepsut, she probed the defences of Uncle Sal's last stronghold. Not too strong at all.



However, her citizens where fuming about her abusing their labor for her own selfish wants, so she negotiated this trade with the scary man of the south.



Despite being enslaved for a (successful) war, her wise men had discovered something while in the foreign deserts.



However, the best, and really only, good trading partner to be found, was the radiation man of the jungles, and any trade would not be profitable for her.



And to make matters worse, by the time her forces had been assembled, and despite absolute ravaging of his lands, Uncle Sal had strengthened himself.



Being the practical lady that she was, she offered him the following.



He readily agreed, and there was peace once again. Or not. Giggles had committed capital offense in Hatshepsut's eyes.



Not knowing how strong Giggles was, she sent her best men to investigate. Sadly, it was about as useful as bribing the local town drunk.



And the lady comes along and makes a demand, which is simple enough for Hatshepsut to follow to get her to go away.



Radiation man proposes a lousy trade which we ignore for now,



and we watch in fury as Giggles settles a craptastic city. HE SHALL BE CRUSHED UNDER THE GREAT HAT OF HATSHEPSUT FOR THIS.................




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All comments on how well/bad I did would be greatly appreciated. Below is the save.

 

[Neal]

Hmm... From what I've seen of the map, Europe has been expanded, but the Iberian peninsula is still pretty tiny. So with both Spain and Portugal on there, I think we can write both of those off as long-term threats. I'd keep an eye on Charlemagne. If he's as lonely there in northern Europe as he seems to be, watch out! You probably should've done what you could to wipe out the Arabs (less worry about homeland unhappiness and such), but you snagged a pretty decent haul for peace. Keep it up!

 

[EMT]

Actually Neal, if you see the following:

WARNING: Spoils the map itself, but it's a randomly generated customearth map so it won't spoil any adversaries

Spoiler :

You'll see that Spain is big enough for 4 solid cities(counting parts of Southern France). Spain and Rome will most likely carve up France, HRE will become Germany, Greece will OCC, Russia will most likely take a lot of land unless the Ottomans/Vikings are there, and we have no clue what's in Asia. For all we know, it's empty, and then, it'd really suck to let Giggles live if that's the case.

I hope that Stalin and Charlie will hate each other, a lot. They can tussle while I expand in all directions.

 

[CreeDakota]

I am curious about the diplomatic path you plan for this game. It looks like it is shaping up to be a Jewish Europe versus a Hindu Africa and Middleast, with you being the question mark. Since you have allready attacked one Hindu, sticking with the Jews makes since. For that to Work you need a plan for Shaka. Since he is 1) Shaka 2) you have only horses for defense I think you will have your hands full.

You likely need to finish the war with sal to get his copper.

 

[EMT]

That's a very good point. But to take care of Shaka, what if I convert Zara to Judaism and use him as a buffer? In almost all of my games I go to incredible lengths to appease Shaka and use him as an attack dog. I've never tried using someone else as a scapegoat towards Shaka. Seeing as how I'll kill Giggles too, I can only pray I don't become Shaka's worst enemy.

But I actually do have copper next to the Sinai, so no need to kill Sal immediately. He's perma crippled once Zara founds a city in Somalia. But this gives another interesting question. I have a holy city. How do I get a shrine for it? We do have obelisks to run some specialists.

 

[CreeDakota]

Converting Zara would help if you also support him if he gets attacked. Otherwise beware Shaka Eating him up and basically taking over all of AFrica minus you or Capping him with the same result.

I find Shaka fades as a threat in the late Reinassance if he has not succeeded in conquering someone by then. Otherwise i like to crush him early or getting him to join you in your wars as you suggest is optimal.

 

[EMT]

Well, I plan on playing the round today, but is anyone else in the snowstorm in the East Coast? My arms are going to fall off with the amount of shoveling I've done so far. AND IT KEEPS ON COMING.

Anyway, I actually played a few turns then quit without saving. So I have a small idea of what I'm going to do. I'll REX to Nigeria, worker spam, and race through the tech tree to construction. I'll try to shrine Mecca and start preparing for a war. Did anyone notice we have jumbos to the south?

 

[EMT]

Part 3, do open up the save and rate/hate.
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Hatshepsut had spent the next few years after whooping Uncle Sal into the desert organizing her new territories. An obelisk praising her had been built with the labor of men loyal to Saladin. Meanwhile, Julius Caesar was contacted, promising him several basic technologies for his skills in iron.



Several more years passed as she planned new settlements to stop Radioactive Jumpsuit Man from taking the Nile. Isabella however, did show Hatshepsut the ways of the bow in exchange for papyrus and a quill.



Meanwhile, Uncle Sal continues to steam in the desert and he arranges a wedding just to annoy Hatshepsut. As long as he doesn't marry the handsome Greek, she doesn't really care.



Meanwhile, Giggles demands the Coptic Hyrogliph system from Hatshepsut, and she is all too willing to agree. Those settlements must come first.



Good news come a few years later as minting is discovered. Hathsepsut celebrates by inventing poker and losing half the treasury to her wise men.



Hatshepsut celebrates again a few days later as another settlement is founded on the banks of the Red Sea across from Mecca. She then promptly loses the other half of her treasury in 1 game of oker.



Giggles then asks to trade with Hatshepsut, but he is denied. The man with the funny crown wouldn't like that.



A second settlement is promptly founded along the rest of the Nile, sealing it from the threats of the glowing green men of Ethiopia.



Meanwhile, Hatshepsut eventually decides to make some rules.

1. She is queen
2. She rules
3. Sal can go jump in a well

As her Copts puzzle at what queen and well mean, a religion is founded, which is promptly called The Cult of Hatshepsut. While not officially recognised, they are awarded equal rights within Egypt.




In celebration, she contacts radioactive man and proposes the following.



Meanwhile, the cult of Hatshepsut spreads in Mecca. Also, barbarians encroched on Egypt from the deserts:



Hatshepsut decided that her first impressions towards Isabella where rather harsh. She decided to put her to the test. She passed by being so generous.



And a second trade the next turn switched Isabella from the 'must-kill' list to the 'she lives for now' list.



Within a few years, Hatshepsut regretted begging towards Isabella, for she returned to even the score.....heavily in her favor



Then some wrinkly thing wandered into Hatshepsut's palace.



She nearly had it killed, but it spoke before she had a chance. For shame. Meanwhile, a final settlement was built shortly before some prophetic sign was to appear in the year 1 AD



Another equally wrinkly thing that was recognizable for a man was also met. He however, founded the world-spanning religion of Judaism, so he actually got food, unlike the other one, who was thrown in the Nile and told to go wander in the desert.



Soon enough, Hatshepsut's wise men came to her proposing to mount her elephants that where harvested for ivory into war machines. When she questioned them further, they became flustered and went to learn about stirrups.



The year 1 AD came to pass and no prophet appeared. Angrily, Hatshepsut pouted in her bed, but when she jumped onto it, she hit her head again and went into another coma.

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I'm going to stop posting work builds, but I did post my entire tech path throughout the tale above. Here are relations:



Something to note, Gilgamesh has been moving troops northwards and surpasses us in strength. Hopefully, he'll go for Charlamagne, and not give us a . Most of my military though, is in the Israeli-Palestinian area. Did I mention he's in WHEOOHRN mode?




But thankfully, my plan worked. Zara is Confucian and Shaka converted to Judaismeek, meaning I'm just a bit more safer now, but not by much.

Finally, here's my plan for settlement. They get priority because they block Zara off from West Africa.



Attached is the save as usual. Again, open up the save yourself and comment on my playing skills as well.

 

[CHEESE!]

Sorry, how do I get this map??? I load the the mapscripts, and I see customearth2 as a python file. Hmmmn? What do I do with this?

 

[EMT]

I actually typed up a comprehensive guide on setting up this map.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8851449&postcount=22

Took me a while, so I hope it helps.
I'm going to edit this into the first post.