MH's Strange Settings Series 2 - Settlers of the Future!

[Mikehendi]

@Nosuchname - LOL, I stupidly hadn't even thought of the internet . I won't build it though, doesn't really fit the game's intention


Thanks coanda, interesting stuff! That's even worse then I thought, I figured 8-10 maces per mech would be enough (open field)..

I've never used nukes (or fought wars past infantry/tanks probably) before. Otoh, fighting settler AI at tech parity (late game) is probably no challenge. I think I'll go for a peacefull space-race. I hope some AI completes Apollo soon, so we start feeling some pressure!


I agree I should have expanded more aggressively. I thought I had enough time because no AI was close. But now they are, and those modern AI cities pop their borders like no tomorrow. Since I have no direct tech goal, I'll probably tech to drama to give my cities some decent cultural counterpressure. And grab those city spots ASAP!

 

[K.Murx]

Beeline Computers for the Internet.

Well... maybe he can eventually capture the Internet (trebs+Phants/Maces?)...

 

[Mikehendi]

Well... maybe he can eventually capture the Internet (trebs+Phants/Maces?)...

You can't capture projects, if I recall correct.

 

[K.Murx]

There are projects? Fascinating!
Err, carry on then (something new to learn about Civ4 every day...).

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Big things to manage in a game like this:

1. Pick religion/civic that keep you out of war. "Fair trade" can only be had with gold and will likely slow you down.
2. The only way you aren't massively gimped is land. Settler is very forgiving on maintenance, so expand as much as possible!
3. Espionage is likely to be stronger than raw research, especially if you have a lead in city count. Drown a city in culture and maybe move the palace near it, and then start stealing at 1/2 cost! Unless settler bonuses don't apply to EP that is...
4. The AI is really slow on settler. You might be able to win domination simply by expanding + culture. Even if you can't, UN is a very real possibility.

 

[Amao]

i think it's possible to beg for a lot of tech at the beginning, right? maybe ai will gift you assembly line.

 

[J@ckRB]

Very interesting game, you do realize that you'll have free run at any obsoleting wonders e.g. Stonehenge, The Colossus, etc.
Full list of expiring wonders

Spoiler :

Angkor Wat
Apostolic Palace (why you would need this I've no idea)
Chichen Itza (another pointless wonder)
Stonehenge (vital border-pops for a non-creative civ)
The Colossus (brill for Financial, although tech won't be a problem here)
The Great Library (Great wonder overall)
The Great Lighthouse
The Hanging Gardens
The Kremlin (I hope you would be close to winning when this was available to build)
The Mausoleum of Maussollos
The Parthenon (great synergy with Phi)
The Spiral Minaret (defo. useless)
The Temple of Artemis
University of Sankore (again useless)

Just an interesting thought that you'll be the only one (atm) to be able to build 14/41 wonders unopposed.

 

[Mikehendi]

i think it's possible to beg for a lot of tech at the beginning, right? maybe ai will gift you assembly line.

I haven't succesfully begged even once this game. Even a mere 10 gold gets denied. Of course, a few turns later they pop up again asking if I could use Paper

Thanks for the list of obsoleting wonders. Interstingly, the AI still builds them! The MOM was at least BIDL in my upcoming turnset. Must be for denial purposes

I had each AI start with 3 settlers, which they settled fast. Each AI also has at least 1 holy city from turn 6. They seem to build culture or something, all cities pop their borders FAST. I even got a little boxed in. I'm not saying culture domination isn't possible, but long shared borders, combined with no expansion room for the AI seems a little risky.

Next update will be up in +/- 30 min!

 

[Mikehendi]

Kind of a dull session, except for the last part. Quick runthrough

After Bureau is in, I finally started focussing on expansion and grabbing some cities before it's too late.

According to J@ckRB's Wonder List, the AI completes an obsolete wonder

Whipperdewhipwhip

2nd scientist is settled in the Cap

Another wonder BIDL

Begs fail

But a few turns later

What's up with this? ALL begs the entire game so far have failed! Never happened to me before! Even 2 GPT or 10 gold is denied.

C'mon Biatch, I can take you on!

Meanwhile I backfilled a few cheap techs, so if the AI gives me a tech it will more likely be a good one . I teched to drama for theathers and the Globe.

Hammi does it again

.

The first useful tech I recieve for free!

For some reason, Charlie didn't settle a 3rd city, even though he had the settler since the start

6 cities and theathers have been built, so

Soon I'll be able to run a zillion specs there.

And then, it happens...

Spoiler :

Hatty completes Apollo!

The world:

My tech state:

LOL Score graph so far:

Apparantly I missed the following fact:

Mansa had apollo completed in 575BC.

Wonders

Quite a scary though that all Mansa and Hatty have to do is hammer some parts out before they win... especially because of all those 6-yield workshops I saw before...

And I'm still a loooong way from winning.

I decided to go for a peaceful space victory attempt by the way. No taking advantage of dirty tricks/decoys.

Let the space ship parts fall where they may!

 

[coanda]

Well, on the plus side spaceships are expensive.
Casing: 1200 (1-5)
Cockpit: 1000 (1)
Docking Bay: 2000 (1)
Engine: 1600 (1-2)
Life Support: 1000 (1)
Stasis Chamber: 1200 (1)
Thrusters: 1200 (1-5).
Multiply that all by 1.6 for Settler difficulty. With Aluminum and copper, and forge-factory-power, for the bare-minimum spaceship (with a 20% chance of success), that's still 6k base hammers. With no copper or aluminum, and no forge/factory/power, a all-components spaceship is going to cost a settler AI over 30k base hammers. This is all on Normal speed; on Epic, multiply it all by 1.5.

They've got 3 cities. Those cities are, for the most part, size-10 or so. I doubt any of them have more than 30 base hammers per turn. So worst-case, the AI might finish in 100 turns. More realistically, it'll probably take them ~300 more turns to actually finish and launch a SS.

 

[vranasm]

is this some kind of mod or something? would like to touch the starting save!

 

[coanda]

I think he just went into the WB and tinkered. He already said he doesn't want shadow games before his main game is wrapped up, so he's not posting the save yet. If you want the same save, I'd advise asking after he's done.

 

[NoSuchName]

Why do you beg for money? I'd say you have a better (or comparable) chance at getting Philosophy/Education/Nationalism once the associated wonders are built, as of getting 10 gold. Their tech lead is simply so huge that small change matter more than old techs.

 

[strijder20]

MoM doesn't obsolete.

 

[dimatud]

this looks fun, think I'll try something similar in my next game to see how it works. by the way, I'm curious if any AI would go culture. Having all the infra + civics might push some into that direction and even with all the handicap they still have a chance I'm guessing.

 

[NoSuchName]

In order to slow down the spacebuilders (If it becomes too big a threat), it might be an idea to build up a huge gold stash for war bribes. This would mean a somewhat unusual techpath, with Guilds and Banking far earlier than usual. Might still be worthy of consideration as will be your only bargaining chip in this game.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

If you can get enough espionage you can destroy parts...but that's hard to do at any distance.

The other approach possible is something like infantry/arty if you can make it there in time. NORMALLY, apollo is much before any serious space threat, but them already having all the tech is hardly normal. I'm not sure how long it will take the hammer-starved settler AIs to build the ship...

 

[Amao]

If you can get enough espionage you can destroy parts...but that's hard to do at any distance.

The other approach possible is something like infantry/arty if you can make it there in time. NORMALLY, apollo is much before any serious space threat, but them already having all the tech is hardly normal. I'm not sure how long it will take the hammer-starved settler AIs to build the ship...

will it be easier if somebody build Manhattan?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

^ If the AI gets nukes it becomes nearly impossible unless you're at that level of tech also.

 

[Mikehendi]

What the hell? Where's my last update?

OMG.

Apparantly I screwed something up. I made a report till 1 AD a few days ago, but whatever.

It's a bit boring to play this one out. I'm just not playing very focussed, because the outcome probably doesn't depend on it. It's like I'm 2nd in a car race, 100 km behind the leader. His car broke down just before the finish line, and he's trying to push it over the line. I just don't know how close to the finish line he is. 10 meters? 100? 800? Whatever is the case, it probably doesn't matter if I drive autopilot or try to push my limits and maximize every corner.

I'm just gonna blaze through until it gets interesting, and put up a short report.


The starting save is available in the OP if people want to try it. From this point on, feel free to post shadow games etc.