My worst start ever

[Galileo44]

Yeah, astronomy really kills you working ocean tiles. These are worth one commerce normally. The colossus give it +1 and then brings it to two so that financial gives it another +1. Astronomy will bring those 2F3C Oceans to 2F1C!

 

[jerVL/kg]

Round Three: First Contact

I begin this round by making a very important change. Seems that I've been playing the default music since the game began, and that Medieval chamber music is getting on my nerves. So I switch to something with a bit more pep:



Now we're ready to make things happen!

Optics completes by 1202AD. I was hoping the extra sight distance would reveal more land that's accessible by galley, but unfortunately such is not the case:



Imhotep, the world's first Great Engineer, is born in 1214AD. He'll only lightbulb Feudalism, and he's got no useful Wonders to rush, so I put him to sleep for now.

Paper completes in 1244AD. Here's what my tech options are now:



Tech pace looks about right for this point in the game, although normally I have quite a few more techs than this. I start backfilling with Alphabet, Construction, and Feudalism. Meanwhile, my first caravel discovers new land -- apparently uninhabited -- just a few miles north of the American coast:



The caravel doesn't have an Explorer with him, so I send him back to port to pick one up.

By 1280AD, first contact is made with the AI:





The tech situation's about what I expected. Still, Toku's hardly a good indication of where the AI's stand, as he's certainly far behind the pack. Japan is also quite close to America, as it turns out:



Good thing he's several techs away from Galleons loaded with Samurai!

Next turn...uh-oh. Looks like I'm not alone in The Amazing Caravel Race!





At least she doesn't have Civil Service...or Feudalism, apparently. She must be isolated, since all her techs are redlined and she has no religion. I'll bet her land is MUCH nicer than mine, though!!

A few turns later, I run into Huyana Cupac's galley:





Ah, now we've got some competition! He'll trade CS for Literature & Feudalism, but that's a horrible exchange. I also need to find out who else is on this continent, God only knows what the diplomatic situation's like. (HC & Toku are both Friendly with each other, naturally.)

(continued in next post...)

 

[jerVL/kg]

Round Three: First Contact, part 2

I decide to take a look at the GNP graph for the first time. Sure enough, there's a great big SPIKE where the Colossus was built:



Notice the spike? Actually, this graph is deceptive. Here's how the spikes really match up to economic techs & wonders:



I'm always saying that The Hanging Gardens is a highly underrated and powerful Wonder -- I think this is proof!

On the other hand, my Power score could use some work...



Like I said, good thing Toku's a long ways away from Galleons!!!

Meanwhile, my Explorer checks out the uninhabited island to the north. Turns out it's got Ivory...Horses...and STONE!!!!!





Looks like I'll be heading for Astronomy much sooner than expected!!!

There's also a tribal hut on the far side of the mountain. Will it give me Astronomy?? Will it? Nope...



Elizabeth will trade now, but she'll only give me 40 gold for Feudalism. She must be researching it herself, dammit. So I bite the bullet and trade Theology for Paper:



I decide to research Literature next, to unlock Music. Next turn, further up the Japanese coast, I meet Bismarck:



Turns out he's at war with Tokugawa, and not faring to well, according to the Power chart:



That makes me feel better. Everyone makes a big deal about the Power score in Civ4, but as long as you're not at the absolute bottom, you'll usually be okay. It's kinda like that story about the two guys being chased by a bear. The first guy says to the second guy, "I don't think there's any chance of us outrunning this bear!" The second guy says, "I don't need to outrun the bear. I just need to outrun YOU."

Next turn, I meet Asoka. He's the tech leader, with everything but Paper, which he will only trade Horseback Riding for. However, he will sell me his map for 200 gold:







Yep, Bizzy's not doing too well in this war. Not well at all.

(continued in next post...)

 

[Evanesce]

Very interesting; keep us updated ^^

 

[jerVL/kg]

First Contact, Part Three

There's another island to the north of Ivory/Horse/Stone, with Copper, Flood Plains..and another tribal hut! Will this one give me Astronomy?? Nope...but it does give me enough gold to fund deficit research:



Speaking of research...I'm getting frustrated by the tech situation. Three civs have Philosophy, but none of them will give it to me for jack. Elizabeth, however, has a monopoly on Engineering. Sure wish I had Engineering! Hey...wait a sec. I forgot about Imhotep. I wonder...will he...?

YES!!! He will!!



Two turns later...well, first the bad news. I lost the Amazing Caravel Race.



I swear, it's all because of Huyana's team getting on the plane AFTER the doors had closed!! It must have been the CBS producers meddling! I demand a rematch!!!

On the bright side:



Sure enough, Asoka & Huyana are more than eager to snatch it up:





Aaaaand just like that, I'm at tech parity...or nearly just.



Some graphs...well, there would be some graphs here, but it appears that Imageshack decided to go belly up at the moment. Rest assured that I'm #1 in Score (just barely leading Toku), as well as GNP and, oddly enough, Culture. Tokugawa, on the other hand, is absolutely killing everyone in Power, Crops, AND Mfg Goods...he's quickly becoming a monster!!

Aha, Imageshack's working again. Just in time for the Top 5 Cities & Wonders screen:



That unknown city with The Great Library & The Parthenon is probably London. I'm also willing to bet that it's Tokugawa who built The Great Lighthouse (he's got an odd penchant for that wonder) but if he did, it's not in Kyoto. Hmm.

Next up...finish Education & Liberalism, with my tech lead I should breeze to it. Probably take Astronomy as the free tech, unless I pop it from a hut first. After that...who knows? Probably head for Banking/Economics and try to score the free merchant. Or head for Nationalism/Constitution, revolt to Representation/Free Religion, and try to get the Taj Mahal built. Oh, and I've got to start working on my military. BIG time!!

 

[LucyDuke]

Thanks for following up with this. As far as worst starts ever go, you seem to be handling it pretty well. Keep it up!

 

[Harbourboy]

Fascinating stuff. I love reading about these tough starts because I think we've seen so much of how to do the standard starts in nice conditions. These difficult starts are the ones that really stuff you up. I've never been able to pull off a win from this sort of position.

Nice Amazing Race reference too.

 

[Killroyan]

Wow, incredible what you have been able to muster even with the crappy start. Nice work. And even almost on par with techs. Impressive. Keep it up, this one is fun.

 

[Rancid Sushi]

"GW Bush"

I hope you have an 'exit strategy' for the inevitable war with Tokugawa.

Seriously now, I just started following this interesting thread. It's good to see some one making something out of a terrible start. This should be very educational.

 

[knez]

what happened with this game?

 

[Lord Chambers]

Was the difficulty ever mentioned? A barbarian city with warriors isn't something I've ever seen.

 

[jerVL/kg]

Oh my, this one is certainly a blast from the past.

IIRC, I made a beeline to Liberalism (took Astronomy) but quickly realized that the only way to expand was to launch a full-scale invasion against one of the AI's, most likely Japan. I wasn't in the mood for a major combat game, so I set it aside and never did go back to it. Not sure if I even have the save file anymore...

Was the difficulty ever mentioned? A barbarian city with warriors isn't something I've ever seen.

It was on Prince.

 

[BalbanesBeoulve]

Too much forum necrophilia going on. I post on these threads and then realize they're months old.

 

[kazapp]

Winning the race to settle the empty islands would be priority #1 I think, far above attacking Japan.

About the lost circumnavigation race: did you send two Caravels in opposite directions, never losing a beat (checking out discovered lands)? I always have two Triremes ready at the extreme ends of my empire when finishing Optics, so I can upgrade them and send them on their way (avoiding coastal squares not to risk combat vs barbarians).

It would be interesting to run this map as Portugal...

 

[jerVL/kg]

Winning the race to settle the empty islands would be priority #1 I think, far above attacking Japan.

True, but aside from the horse/ivory/stone island, there wasn't much out there except crappy desert & tundra islands with no special resources. Usually when I play Archipelago there are several isolated islands with stuff like silk, gems, etc. and I was very discouraged to find nothing interesting. I was also having major health problems in Washington, but none of the AI's had any spare health resources to trade -- except Tokugawa, who of course refused to part with them...

I had three caravels, although the first one got distracted by the ivory island. One thing that's not shown is Louis XIV who was on a long, skinny extension of the main continent, so HC had half the world mapped before Optics. (Louis also got most of the wonders.) As I recall, the race wasn't even that close.

The war plan would have been to capture Berlin (which had the Pyramids) and use that as a staging point against Japan -- but it would have been a long, hard slog. Toku was behind in tech, but way ahead in every other category and his power score was practically off the scale. It would have required cavalry/rifles or possibly tanks/Seals to take him out. Certainly doable, but I didn't have the patience at the time.

It would be interesting to run this map as Portugal...

Or the Dutch.

 

[WTBCzero]

Fractal maps with the Toroidal setting tend to give you awful starts like this. On every Toroidal map I've been on, there's always some civ (sometimes me) who is stuck in the poles

 

[futurehermit]

Cultural victory anyone?

 

[Airefuego]

Hey, you know that flat looking-across-the-ice view on the first page, the one where you mention the barb horse archer... it looks brilliant!!!

I didn't know it was possible to get the angle low like that. Can you tell me how to do it?

 

[jerVL/kg]

Hey, you know that flat looking-across-the-ice view on the first page, the one where you mention the barb horse archer... it looks brilliant!!!

I didn't know it was possible to get the angle low like that. Can you tell me how to do it?

Flying Camera Mode

 

[conkt]

Not quite the worst start ever; for that, I hold the record! Picture this: I was playing pangea, and was on a small peninsula separated from the main land by a single peak. I HAD ONLY TWO PLOTS OF LAND AND NO RESOURCES! Lol, beat that