Meth01: Culture, with no Wonders

Situation Assessment: Our three culture cities have all of their Temples and Cathedrals built. Our four religions have been spread to all of our cities. ChrTh has done some excellent analysis on what it is going to take to get our three cities to 50K culture. It will happen using the artist specialists.

Meth01_1800AD_Culture.JPG


Damascus is currently running 4 artists, while Baghdad has 3 artists. Both are producing culture. Our lagard continues to be Medina, with its lack of shields. Mecca is also using a single artists specialist. I am concerned about how wise of an idea this is.

Meth01_1800AD_MeccaGP.JPG


I decide to leave Mecca alone. Our next GP is going to come from Mecca and right know it is looking like a Prophet (thanks to all of those shrines). Maybe by leaving the artist we can beat the odds. We probably need to lose the artist after popping another GP out of Mecca.

I also notice that we have a Great Prophet taking a nap in Mecca. I'm not sure what the plan is for him, so I will send him over to be merged into Medina. His two hammers should shave a turn each off the Aquaduct and University sitting in Medina's build queue.

The Americans and Chinese have both built colonies on our continent. And, they are being defended by Riflemen! Wow, are we behind in tech or what? Those Camel Archers that we are building won't do much against a Rifleman who gets +25% against mounted units. Unfortunately, there is nothing better to build at the moment.

Meth01_1800AD_Colonies.JPG


Notice in the above picture that San Francisco is only 3% American. My guess is it will flip to us at some point.

Our army is tied with Victoria for last place in the demographics screen. I don't think Victoria will be with us much longer, as Toku, Qin, and Alex have all declared war on her. Once she is gone, they may decide to focus their attention in our direction. Except for Victoria and Alexander, everyone is cautious with us because of our choice of religion. Victoria is annoyed because we have traded with her worst enemy. Alexader is pleased with us because of our civic choices and the fact that he is running Free Religion.

We've got 553 gold in the chancery, which we are draining at -10gpt. My guess is someone is going to come calling soon for a free handout of some of that gold. It will probably be best to spend it while we still can. We have no techs for demand or trade. Well, Tokugawa could use our Liberalism tech, but he refuses to trade with us. Other than Vicky, I cannot afford to refuse any demands.

Because of diplomatic pressures, I think we are going to be forced to adopt Free Religion. We will lose +4 cpt in Medina by doing this, but we will gain culture in all of the other cities. The civics cannot be changed for another 5 turns. I will leave us in Organized Religion for the building boost, but we need to make the change as soon as Vicky is wiped out! Probably sooner.

We currently have 4 turns left on our Astronomy research. Astronomy will open up ocean based trading and give us Galleons for our missionaries. After that, I'm thinking we head straight to Gunpowder and then Chemistry to get the Grenadier.

Objectives: Culture and bullets!

170 Turns Left!

Turn 0 - 1800AD: I send the Great Prophet, St. Augustine, to Medina to be merged as a super priest. His two extra hammers are actually 3 after bonus' and shave a turn off the build times.

Medina is currently losing 2F due to unhealthiness. Qin Shi Huang has both fish and wheat available for trade. Unfortunately, we would have to give him our only stone to make the deal. This is really a bummer, because I counted four unconnected fish resources within our borders.

Meth01_1800AD_QinTrade.JPG


I preempt the Camel Archer training in Najran to build a quick 2-turn Work Boat. Once I get one of our fish connected up, I can get our stone back. In the meantime, Medina is now healthy and growing at 2F per turn. The Aquaduct is no longer an urgent priority and can be removed from the build queue. Using the numbers Methos provided, each artist is +16cpt, while the university is +12cpt. If I hire 3 artists in Medina, the build time for the University gets doubled to 12 turns. Oh, and it will cost some cash as well, as one of those artists was working a gold mine tile. I go for it.

I decide to spend a little bit more cash in Damascus. By removing the citizen working the gold mine there, I can hire a 5th artist.

After making those changes, here is how the culture picture currently stands:

Meth01_1800AD_NewCulture.JPG


Unfortunately, losing the 2 gold mines has had the side effect of adding a turn to the Astronomy research. I bump the slider up to 90% to compensate.

IBT:

Turn 1 - 1802AD: Mecca completes training on a Camel Archer. I'm tempted to go with a missionary next, but I end up deciding to stick with the camels. They will at least slow down any invaders.

IBT: Vicky comes calling asking us to declare war on the only civ that is pleased with us! :lol: Since there is no "yeah, right" option, I just simply decline.

Meth01_1802AD_Vicky.JPG


She then proceeds to adopt Emancipation, Representation, and Theocracy. Thanks to all of those temples, the Emancipation penalty is not too bad at the moment. Kufah is at max happiness and Mecca will be maxed out as soon as it grows. Washington and Bismark are also running Emancipation.

Turn 2 - 1804AD: Basra completes its Forge and I start it on a Barracks. Najran completes our Work Boat. Rather than letting it continue on the Camel Archer, I start a Barracks here as well.

Damascus crosses over the 5K mark in culture and gets a border expansion. It only needs 45K more culture. At 180cpt, that is only another 250 turns! :(

I lower the research slider back down to 80% with Astronomy still due in 2 turns.

IBT: More demands from Vicky! :lol:

Meth01_1804AD_Vicky.JPG


Turn 3 - 1806AD: Mecca trains another Camel Archer and starts another camel.

IBT: Alexander's golden age comes to an end.
 
Turn 4 - 1808AD: Astronomy is complete. I start us on Gunpowder. The only civ's that do not know Astronomy are Tokugawa and Victoria. Toku doesn't like us enough to consider a tech trade and I don't want to risk our relations with the other civs by trading with Vicky.

We now have another Deer connected up. Both Alexander and Bismark would love to try out some USDA choice venison. Alexander is willing to give us some ham and bacon for it. But, since Alex is already pleased with us, I sell it to Bismark for cash.

Meth01_1808AD_GermanTrade.JPG


We're now running the treasury at +23gpt, so I push the research slider back up to 90% and shave a turn off of Gunpowder.

IBT: Alexander switchs civics to Vassalage and Free Market.

Turn 5 - 1810AD: Mecca completes another Camel Archer. As Gunpowder will be available soon, I start it on an Observatory. Saxon completes an Aquaduct complements of a forest chop. It queues up a Barracks next.

Our Work Boat throws out the fishing nets and we can now get our stone back from Qin.

IBT:

Turn 6 - 1812AD: The Forbidden Palace is erected in Kufah. It already has a barracks, so I start it on an Observatory. Meanwhile, Najran completes its barracks and resumes training the Camel Archer.

One of our wandering Caravels spots an American Galleon headed for the "new world" (us!).

Meth01_1812AD_Settler.JPG


IBT: The English are no more. :sad: The world is now at peace.

Meth01_1814AD_England.JPG


Firaxis' choice of fonts makes the above rather difficult to read. It basically says that the Japanese have captured Hastings, thus bringing an end to Queen Victoria's Monarchy.

Turn 7 - 1814AD: We now have knowledge of Gunpowder and I begin on Chemistry.

The diplomatic scene becomes much more treacherous with Vicky out of the picture. I feel the time is ripe to switch to Free Religion. Unfortunately, this would add at least 2 turns to the University build in Medina. Qin, GW, and Bismark are all Confucianist, while Toku is Taoist and Alex has Free Religion. It would be nice to think that Tokugawa could be odd man out, but the two super powers (Qin and Alex) are both pleased with him from all of their trade deals. I decide to take a chance and leave our civics alone. This may end up being a most disastrous decision.

IBT:

Turn 8 - 1816AD: Mecca is going to pop a leader next turn. The Las Vegas line is currently showing
Prophet: 56% Artist: 23% Engineer 19%

IBT:

Turn 9 - 1818AD: Mecca completes its Observatory and starts a Musketman. Najran trains another Camel Archer and also begins a Musketman. Saxon completes its Barracks and begins a Musketman. Khurasan completes its Library and begins work on a University.

Basra also completes its Barracks. I MM the city for more growth, but it is only getting 2 excess food. It could really use some irrigation.

And finally, Blaise Pascal, a Great Engineer is born in Mecca. I now firmly believe if I had removed that artist specialist back at the beginning, my looney-tunes RNG would have probably produced a Great Artist. :p Pascal's tech offering is 2 turns off of research into Chemistry. As we only have 3 turns to go, I decide to save him.

I fire the artist in Mecca and put him to work in the fields. Since Mecca is at max happiness, I turn on the avoid growth button. FYI, the avoid growth button is still on at Kufah, as well.

I noticed that we have a deer north of Baghdad that is not connected up. Since Alexander is the only one that we are currently not trading with, I go ahead and work out a deal for his ham. This leaves us with no deer for ourselves until our extra deer is connected.

Meth01_1818AD_GreekTrade.JPG


IBT:

Turn 10 - AD: :coffee:

160 Turns Left!

Our culture picture after 10 turns:

Meth01_1820AD_Culture.JPG


The big issue, of course, is getting the Great Artists that we need. Baghdad will be the next city for a GP, and it is only a 1/3rd chance for an artist.

I also think the time is right to switch to Free Religion. If we do, Qin and GW both could go to pleased. Eventually, Bismark would as well once we have been trading a little longer. Medina, with only 2 turns left on its University, should not be impacted by losing the OR bonus. Medina would lose 4cpt with the change, but the others would gain cpt. If this wasn't the last turn, I would have switched the civics.

Meth01_1820AD_Relations.JPG


An update on the American Galleon:
Meth01_1820AD_Settler.JPG


Chemistry (Grenadiers) in 2 turns and the first musket trained next turn.

Oh, and be prepared for San Francisco to flip to us on any turn. It has been at 0% American for the last several turns.
 
Roster:
Methos- a weekend w/o [civ4] :confused:
Soul Warrior- Ghosting
Conroe- Just Played
MeteorPunch- Up
ChrTh- On Deck
 
I played without seeing your note about switching to Free Religion. I switched to Pacifism - isn't that better?

1820 We need to decide when to cut off science. I turn science to 50%/culture 40%. switch to Pacifism for GPP. We are gonna need artists badly.
1822
1824
1826 discover Chemistry, start on Printing Press.
1828
1830 We get a Great Artist in Baghdad! Fortified in Mecca for now.
1832
1834
1836 Germany completes the Statue of Liberty...we are plenty behind in tech. :lol:
1838 a revolt takes place in San Fransisco. As Conroe said, it will soon be ours.
1840 Printing Press is discovered and raises GNP from 121 to 142

- there are a few trades available.
- Printing Press was discovered on the last turn so there are no beakers towards the next tech. when to cut off science?
 
Pacifism is better cost-wise, but in terms of relations with other nations, Free Religion is better. Of course, if everyone else goes Free Religion, it might not matter. I'll take a look.

Since Methos is out, I'll wait until tomorrow to play (I don't think Conroe wants to be up twice in the same day :crazyeye: )
 
MeteorPunch said:
I played without seeing your note about switching to Free Religion. I switched to Pacifism - isn't that better?

Well, I was proposing Free Religion to improve our relations with the over civs. As nobody declared on us, then obviously you made a wise decision. Has anybody gotten annoyed with us?

In my mind, we can keep our religion just so long as we have the army to back it up. Which, as of my turnset, we did not. With Chemistry, we are in much better shape tech-wise. I'd feel a lot better, though, if we had Cannons. We are going to need a siege weapon to counter any AI landings, and frankly, the Catapult isn't up to the job. Do you recall how many turns at our current 50% research rate it will take to get Steel?

In the meantime, we need to be pumping out Grenadiers like crazy. Priority should be given to defending the coastal cities first. They need to be in place and fortified for at least 5 turns to get the maximum defense bonus.

MeteorPunch said:
1838 a revolt takes place in San Fransisco. As Conroe said, it will soon be ours.

Do we want to keep San Francisco? I would vote to raze it, as it would just be another city to defend.

ChrTh said:
Since Methos is out, I'll wait until tomorrow to play (I don't think Conroe wants to be up twice in the same day :crazyeye: )
Play anytime you like. Methos will be back tomorrow, so I wasn't planning on playing next anyway.
 
Pacifism is good in culture games for the 100% or whatever birthrate of Great People. Great Artists are huge.
 
Turn 0 -- 1840 AD

Situation Assessment
Diplomatic:
Qin +3 (-2 for religion)
George +2 (-2 for religion, -1 for trading with their worst enemy)
Alexander +6 (+3 for Civics)
Tokugawa -1 (-2 for religion)
Bismarck +1 (-2 for religion)

So at this moment not adopting Free Religion is hurting our relationship with the other powers.

Right now the world is peaceful, and everyone has Open Borders (except for Tokugawa who has it with Alex and Qin).

Military:
We are currently DEAD LAST for Soldiers :sad: ... this might be a problem

Technology: We're woefully behind. We have Liberalism to trade, but only to Tokugawa, who doesn't want to trade anything. I think of the Techs we currently can research, Replaceable Parts brings the most immediate benefit by providing the extra hammers, so I switch to that. Due in 7.

Civics: Right now we're running the Civics that'll best help us win culturally. The one that could help us is Universal Sufferage, but we'd have to research three techs to get there and I don't see it as worth it right now.

Finances: We're at 438 gold in our treasury, losing -6 per turn.

Cities: San Fran may be ours in 2 turns. I am going to raze it because I don't want to hurt our finances any more than we have to, and as pointed out, it'd require even more troops. Although it is tempting to keep just to have the rifle. Hmmm...

Culture: Here's the important one.
There are 150 turns left. At this point in the game, a great work is worth 27 cpt.
Medina: 7696, requires 42304. Needs just over 282 cpt to hit 50,000 in the end turn. Is at 224, so there's a deficit of 58cpt.
Damascus: 8594, requires 41406. Needs just over 276 cpt to hit 50,000 in the end turn. Is at 204, so there's a deficit of 72cpt.
Baghdad: 6555, requires 43445. Requires 290 cpt to hit 50,000 in the end turn. Is at 184, so there's a deficit of 106 cpt.
Mecca requires 245 cpt to hit 50,000 by the end of the game, is at 178, so we're ok there.

Turning off science and running culture at 90% increases Medina to 256 cpt, Baghdad to 232, and Damascus to 240. However, it brings Mecca to 246. Not going to turn it off now, but will revisit after Replaceable Parts is in.

Great People:
We have 2 Great Artists. Medina is about 5 turns from generating another Great Person, 69% Prophet, 30% Artist. Wait: Damascus will be generating one next turn, 90% chance of an Artist. Medina would then generate one about 3-4 turns later, hopefully the odds will improve for getting an Artist there.

We also have a Great Engineer. We only need 2 GP to start a Golden Age. A Golden Age will give us a nice cultural boost for 8 turns, so we should consider kicking one off if Medina gives us a Prophet or Damascus gives us something else (although it might give us another Engineer -- if it does, I'd add the Engineer to one of the 3 as a Superspecialist).


Ok, Goals:
Grenadier in every city. Improve finances. See if we can improve culture.

Actions:

I cancel the workers chopping near Mecca since RP will be in shortly.

I'm not sure why we're building Universities or Monasteries since we're getting close to turning off science. I switch to Bank in Najran (University still in queue). I switch Saxon to Bank (Observatory still in queue). I switch Basra to Harbor (Library still in queue). I switch Khurasan to Lighthouse (University still in queue).

I switch Kufah to National Epic so that it can (hopefully) be a Great Artist factory (although its more likely to generate Great Engineers at the moment). Just in case I'm forgetting something, I mm it so that it won't finish for 11 turns so Methos can :nono: me and prevent it from finishing. I also start Kufah growing again.

Ok, let's do this. I hit Enter.

Turn 1 -- 1842 AD
Washington and Bismarck both declare war on Alexander! :eek: (Hmm, hopefully that'll keep them distracted)

Mecca: Grenadier > Grenadier
Joseph Marie Jacquard has been born in Damascus. Dammit, we got a Great Engineer. :sad:

I have several options here. I can add it to Baghdad as a Super Specialist. I can hurry the National Epic in Kufah. I can hold on to him for a potential second Golden Age down the line. I don't see a choice here. We need Great Artists to win this game, and he should've been one. He's going to Kufah.

I start bringing home Caravels.

Turn 2 -- 1844 AD

Washington adopts Theocracy, San Francisco is no longer rioting, so it's possible they're not about to flip to us (despite being 0% American -- they might also be 0% us)

Jacquard gets to Kufah, hurries National Epic.

Turn 3 -- 1846 AD

Mecca: Grenadier > Grenadier

Kufah is MM'd to be a Great Person factory. GPP are now +56 a turn, although the odds are still low for Great Artist (will hopefully improve in time as the town has 4 great artists). As a factory, is incapable of building anything worthwhile so I change it to Wealth.

Turn 4 -- 1848 AD

Damascus can no longer work on National Epic, the lost hammers are converted to gold! Woohoo! I decide to take a 2-turn hit in the pocketbook and raise culture to 50%.


Still playing ...
 
Turn 5 -- 1850 AD

Damascus celebrates We Love the Monarch Day!


Turn 6 -- 1852 AD

Replaceable Parts are in. Start building Lumbermills around Mecca. I also decide to research Steel for the Cannons. Due in 13 at 40%.

Mecca: Grenadier > Grenadier.

Turn 7 -- 1854 AD

Bismarck wants to trade Ivory for Copper. With him at war with Alex, I decide not to risk it. I decline.

Anjar: Lighthouse > Harbor

Turn 8 -- 1856 AD

Mecca: Grenadier > Grenadier

Turn 9 -- 1858 AD

Alex wants us to declare war against George. I point out the folly of such an action on our part.

San Francisco finally flips. I decline (totally killed us on maintenance costs). San Fran is no more. We do get a free longbowman out of it. George apparently gets to keep his Infantry!

Shankara is born in Medina. Ok, here's what I'm going to do, consequences be damned. Since Baghdad and Damascus have the lowest CPT, I'm going to do Great Works there with the Great Artists. I'm then going to kick off a Golden Age for the extra culture, and I'm going to turn off Science during it.

And I do. Our Golden Age has begun. For the next 8 turns:
Baghdad is 272 cpt, Damascus is 260 cpt, and Medina is 288 cpt.


Turn 10 -- 1860 AD

Mecca: Grenadier > Grenadier
Basra: Harbor > Courthouse

Ok, I think we're doing a lot better now. We're still last in soldiers, but I don't think that can be helped. Hopefully our finances will improve after the GA is over (will help the completions of the banks, etc., I started the first turn). More importantly, hopefully Kufah will give us mostly Great Artists (currently a 32% chance). The next one should be used in Medina.

Here's the save:
View attachment 112810
 
Wow! Looks like things are going a lot better than when I left! Hope that's not implying something. :D

On my last turnset I considered building the NE in Kufah, so I'm glad you all did. Kufah can be turned into a fairly decent GP factory but will ruin its production. Oh well, we need the great artist more.

I'm back so can grab it whenever ChrTh finishes. Edit: Look's like he's finished, so 'got it'.

Good job everyone! :thumbsup:
 
Hmm, I take it you did the great works so that an artist wouldn’t accidentally be used for the GA? I understand. I still am unsure how the 2nd one is chosen when you have several GP. I’ve read elsewhere that the closest one is taken but I am unsure as to how true that is.

Typically I like to hold onto great artist until the end of the game, but necessity required different.
 
Methos said:
Hmm, I take it you did the great works so that an artist wouldn’t accidentally be used for the GA? I understand. I still am unsure how the 2nd one is chosen when you have several GP. I’ve read elsewhere that the closest one is taken but I am unsure as to how true that is.

Typically I like to hold onto great artist until the end of the game, but necessity required different.

Exactly. Didn't want to risk one.
 
I'm sure you folks have thought of this, but I don't recall seeing it mentioned.

ChrTh said:
Turning off science and running culture at 90% increases Medina to 256 cpt, Baghdad to 232, and Damascus to 240. However, it brings Mecca to 246. Not going to turn it off now, but will revisit after Replaceable Parts is in.

It occurs to me that we can raze the cottages around Mecca once research is turned off and replace them with workshops. This will lower Mecca's culture production and give it more shields for producing troops.
 
Conroe said:
I'm sure you folks have thought of this, but I don't recall seeing it mentioned..
well, i for one didnt think about it.
but im a catain of Idiots, so go figure :rolleyes:

Conroe said:
It occurs to me that we can raze the cottages around Mecca once research is turned off and replace them with workshops. This will lower Mecca's culture production and give it more shields for producing troops.
indeed.
great idea.
 
Turn 300 (1860 AD)
Methos: I just realized, this is the first time I've loaded up CivIV since last Wednesday! Wow!
Methos: Due to the GA I do some MM'ing. Turns out working tiles is worth more than the artist specialist due to the culture slider. Check out our culture production now!

Meth01_GA.JPG


Mecca finishes: Grenadier
Najran grows: 12

Turn 301 (1862 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Methos: Well, Tacitus has decided that we're the most pathetically advanced civilization in existence.
Najran finishes: Bank
Khurasan finishes: Lighthouse

Turn 302 (1864 AD)
Najran begins: Market
Khurasan begins: Harbor
Mecca finishes: Grenadier
Anjar's borders expand

Turn 303 (1866 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Khurasan begins: Work Boat
Methos: I switch Khurasan to a Workboat for the fish near Anjar.
Mecca finishes: Grenadier

Turn 304 (1868 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Aretas III (Great Merchant) born in Kufah
Saxon finishes: Bank

Turn 305 (1870 AD)
Methos: Crap! We get a great merchant. Now to decide what to do with him.
Mecca finishes: Grenadier
Khurasan grows: 11

Turn 306 (1872 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Mecca finishes: Grenadier
Najran finishes: Market
Khurasan finishes: Work Boat
Golden Age ends

Turn 307 (1874 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Anjar grows: 6

Turn 308 (1876 AD)
Mecca finishes: Grenadier
Saxon finishes: Observatory
Basra grows: 8

Turn 309 (1878 AD)
Mecca begins: Grenadier
Saxon begins: Grocer

Turn 310 (1880 AD)
Methos: The fish have finally been improved near Anjar. The city should start growing rapidly now.

-I forgot to trade off Liberalism so the next player might want to do that. Granted our tech trades are very limited.
-Should we turn science back up now that our GA is over? I didn’t as I really wasn’t sure. It’s getting late enough in the game I’m afraid to turn culture back down.

Great Merchant: Several options we have here. One is to use him to make some quick cash. We could also use him as a super specialist in one of our three culture cities. Another is to save him for another GA. The way our great people factories are there’s a good chance we’re going to get lots of non-great artist so this may be our best option.

BTW, our culture now looks like this:

Meth01_Post_GA.JPG


Here’s the 1880 AD save.

Roster:
Methos- Just Played
Soul Warrior- Ghosting
Conroe- Up
MeteorPunch- On Deck
ChrTh
 
Great F@#*@ Merchant? :gripe: ... I would think the best thing to do with him is send him on a mission to Berlin. That'll get us a lot of cash and allow us to run 100% culture.

Fun with Math:
Medina: 13112, need 36888. Need to average 284cpt. Currently at 272cpt.
Damascus: 17334, need 32666. Need to average 252cpt. Currently at 232cpt.
Baghdad: 15167, need 34833. Need to average 268 cpt. Currently at 224cpt.

Going up to 100% gives us 296cpt, 252cpt, and 248cpt respectively, which would get everyone but Baghdad there in 130 years.

Great Artists are worth 30.75cpt at this point in the game. If we can get 4 more (2 in Baghdad, 1 in Damascus and 1 in Medina) we're guaranteed to hit 50,000 within 130 turns. HOWEVER, that assumes we don't lose due to Space Race, etc.

Damascus will have a GP in 19 turns. 100% Great Artist.
Kufah will have a GP in 21 turns (factoring in the GP in Damascus). Currently 83% chance of a Great Artist.
Mecca will probably get the GP after that (36 turns). Not likely to be a Great Artist.

P.S. Mecca should probably be allowed to grow again.
 
It looks like I am up. Unfortunately, things are rather hectic around here at the moment. I will not be able to play this until Friday or Saturday.

@MeteorPunch: If you are available, would you be interested in swapping with me?

If that is not acceptable, then go ahead and skip me. Sorry for taking so long to post this.
 
Well, it looks like MP didn't have any more free time than I did. So, I will go ahead and grab it. I'll play it today.
 
ChrTh said:
Great F@#*@ Merchant? :gripe: ... I would think the best thing to do with him is send him on a mission to Berlin. That'll get us a lot of cash and allow us to run 100% culture.

Fun with Math:
Medina: 13112, need 36888. Need to average 284cpt. Currently at 272cpt.
Damascus: 17334, need 32666. Need to average 252cpt. Currently at 232cpt.
Baghdad: 15167, need 34833. Need to average 268 cpt. Currently at 224cpt.

Going up to 100% gives us 296cpt, 252cpt, and 248cpt respectively, which would get everyone but Baghdad there in 130 years.
I've got a crazy idea. If I merge the Great Merchant into Baghdad, the city will have enough food (in 4 turns) to run with a 3rd artist specialist. That would bring it up to 240cpt. But, if I read your calculations correctly, we would still need a second GA in Baghdad. Which implies that merging is not worth giving up a 1000+ gold for the merchant.

ChrTh said:
Damascus will have a GP in 19 turns. 100% Great Artist.
Kufah will have a GP in 21 turns (factoring in the GP in Damascus). Currently 83% chance of a Great Artist.
Mecca will probably get the GP after that (36 turns). Not likely to be a Great Artist.
A minor correction. Kufah will generate a GA at 23 turns. We need 1400 GPP for the Damascus GA. Then 1600 points for the Kufah GA. Mecca will have to reach 1800 for its great person. In other words, the threshold is going up by 200 points now. Does anyone know if it changes again after 2000 points?

I calculated the following:
Damascus has 1400 points in 19 Turns (100% GA)
Kufah has 1600 points in 23 Turns (83% GA)
Mecca has 1800 points in 45 Turns (assume not a GA)
Kufah has 2000 points in 59 Turns (83% GA)
Damascus has 2200 points in 80 Turns (100% GA)​

But what if Baghdad had another artist specialist?
Damascus has 1400 points in 19 Turns (100% GA)
Kufah has 1600 points in 23 Turns (83% GA)
Mecca has 1800 points in 45 Turns (assume not a GA)
Baghdad has 2000 points in 54 Turns (100% GA)
Kufah has 2200 points in 62 Turns (83% GA)​

The almost 20 turns could be crucial if the AI are building spaceship parts. This would imply that merging the merchant into Baghdad would be worth the 1000 gold. Check over my math, if you don't mind, and make sure I didn't take a tangent somewhere.
 
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