Nigel_Tufnel2
King
Hello all,
Rather than plug up a current challenge with details, let's all just post here with ideas, plans, etc. Perhaps copy/paste recent posts you made in CDG 4 -Spain to continue discussion here? There is already a great thread started by consentient where he polled the community about Deity games, and much discussion ensued. I would prefer not to rehash every item!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=546469
I call dibs on Immortal Indonesia. I have a couple excellent maps I've played a long way in (plus I tested with FireTuner first - saves a lot of time in the long run, as you can see how the civs settle, war, choose policies, etc. More below.).
Concepts I'd like to see followed as much as possible:
- Limit polar ice blockage. Perhaps the NQ maps already take care of this, nothing seems to irritate folks like thinking you have a path to the ocean, but you don't. I personally don't mind some level of blockage, but the worst is a Pangea with no passage N or S!
- Make sure any UU, UA, or UB is possible. What is the point of playing a specific civ without them? (When planning for Indonesia, I made sure there were accessible islands worth settling in the neighborhood, and that there was Iron!)
- Play through ~150 turns, or use FireTuner or IGE to check out the entire map. This way you can give a more accurate description of difficulty, get ideas for achievements, etc.
- Choose Achievements so that some of them fit the civ's theme or whatnot (Wonders for Egypt, 5 religions in capital for Indonesia (Candi), or like CDG 4 with Natural Wonders for Spain...
Some of my personal preferences:
- Leave all VC's enabled, even if the challenge is geared to just one or two VC's. Some of the maps have been very intriguing, but why not let anyone try whatever they want? Perhaps have the Achievements penalize other VC's?
- Have a mix of suggested VC's as the series progress, so they get rotated (I hate having 2-3 DomV in a row myself).
Sample Achievements:
- Settle 4 cities on a certain body of water, or river, or mountain chain.
- DOW every AI at some point, even if it's a SV.
FireTuner:
Rather than plug up a current challenge with details, let's all just post here with ideas, plans, etc. Perhaps copy/paste recent posts you made in CDG 4 -Spain to continue discussion here? There is already a great thread started by consentient where he polled the community about Deity games, and much discussion ensued. I would prefer not to rehash every item!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=546469
I call dibs on Immortal Indonesia. I have a couple excellent maps I've played a long way in (plus I tested with FireTuner first - saves a lot of time in the long run, as you can see how the civs settle, war, choose policies, etc. More below.).
Concepts I'd like to see followed as much as possible:
- Limit polar ice blockage. Perhaps the NQ maps already take care of this, nothing seems to irritate folks like thinking you have a path to the ocean, but you don't. I personally don't mind some level of blockage, but the worst is a Pangea with no passage N or S!
- Make sure any UU, UA, or UB is possible. What is the point of playing a specific civ without them? (When planning for Indonesia, I made sure there were accessible islands worth settling in the neighborhood, and that there was Iron!)
- Play through ~150 turns, or use FireTuner or IGE to check out the entire map. This way you can give a more accurate description of difficulty, get ideas for achievements, etc.
- Choose Achievements so that some of them fit the civ's theme or whatnot (Wonders for Egypt, 5 religions in capital for Indonesia (Candi), or like CDG 4 with Natural Wonders for Spain...
Some of my personal preferences:
- Leave all VC's enabled, even if the challenge is geared to just one or two VC's. Some of the maps have been very intriguing, but why not let anyone try whatever they want? Perhaps have the Achievements penalize other VC's?
- Have a mix of suggested VC's as the series progress, so they get rotated (I hate having 2-3 DomV in a row myself).
Sample Achievements:
- Settle 4 cities on a certain body of water, or river, or mountain chain.
- DOW every AI at some point, even if it's a SV.
FireTuner:
Spoiler :
It is mainly used to test Lua code, I believe, but you can run simulated games with it. I am not a whiz at it - but have figured out how to use it for what I want (mostly).
1. Download and install the SDK which has FireTuner, Worldbuilder, etc. - it should be available on your Steam account for free.
2. Enable Firetuner by editing config.ini - on my Windows computer it is in the Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5 directory. Open in Notepad, and change the "0" in the 4th line "EnableTuner = 0" to "1".
3. Start Civ V as normal, create a new map or load a save. I always go to Options and turn on Single Player Quick Combat and Movement, as lots of stuff will be happening that you don't need to see map-wide. (On my laptop I run Civ on a lower resolution windowed, so I can get at my desktop and slide things around when I test. My PC has two monitors, which is very handy, I slide FireTuner to the other window.)
4. Start FireTuner by starting the SDK and choosing FireTuner. The window that opens has I think just 2 tabs, but will soon go beserk and populate 13 tabs - this tells you it's activated. If there are only two tabs, and the text field says something like "You're up late, aren't you?" you messed up somehow. You may need to reboot to get everything initialized.
5. Every time you test a new map, load a save, etc., you need to exit FireTuner and restart it (not sure why).
6. The main tabs you will use are Game, Map, and Selected City. Game is where you can advance the game a turn, 5 turns, 150 turns, etc. You highlight the name of the civ you want to control next, then click Autoplay 10, for example. The first turn takes a while, as all the cities and CS need to found cities. You can always change/interrupt the process - I do it by choosing the civ and clicking Autoplay 1 - the turn will finish and you'll be back at the capital of the chosen civ, with fog back on.
When you click an Autoplay button, the entire map will be revealed. I always zoom way out, then watch the minimap to see where civs and CS are settling. Unfortunately, not all resources, etc. show up when the sim is running, at least on my computer.
Advanced:
7. Your test civ will be at some big disadvantages, because you are probably playing Immortal or Deity, while the AI is on Prince or King. While still on turn 0, I start with Map and add some starting units to give my test civ a more even start with the AI. For Immortal and Deity I add 2 more Warriors, a Scout, and a Worker.
Do this by selecting the Map tab, and clicking the box next to "Unit Plopper Enabled" and scrolling way down the far right window of units. Highlight a unit word, then click on the game map on an open hex and it will appear.
8. You are going to be hurting for happiness, so you need to add buildings. You can settle then do the following, but I like to Autoplay 1 turn, then add buildings. In Civ open the city, then in Firetuner, click the Selected City tab, and scroll the far right lower window. I add a Colosseum and Stadium (Zoo isn't there for some reason), then a Market and Bank to help pay for them. I figure the hammer savings get swallowed up by the tech disadvantage.
9. I then Autoplay turns, and take over now and again to check what policies are chosen, etc. Sometimes I just let it run for 150 or 200 turns and walk away. For maps I really like I sometimes do several tests, just to see if the AI is balanced. Your civ will likely underperform, you can always add more stuff...
I watch for things that repeat, watch settling patterns, etc. This gives me added insight into what may be good Achievements and such. Then again, I am easily amused - I enjoy watching mayhem.
1. Download and install the SDK which has FireTuner, Worldbuilder, etc. - it should be available on your Steam account for free.
2. Enable Firetuner by editing config.ini - on my Windows computer it is in the Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 5 directory. Open in Notepad, and change the "0" in the 4th line "EnableTuner = 0" to "1".
3. Start Civ V as normal, create a new map or load a save. I always go to Options and turn on Single Player Quick Combat and Movement, as lots of stuff will be happening that you don't need to see map-wide. (On my laptop I run Civ on a lower resolution windowed, so I can get at my desktop and slide things around when I test. My PC has two monitors, which is very handy, I slide FireTuner to the other window.)
4. Start FireTuner by starting the SDK and choosing FireTuner. The window that opens has I think just 2 tabs, but will soon go beserk and populate 13 tabs - this tells you it's activated. If there are only two tabs, and the text field says something like "You're up late, aren't you?" you messed up somehow. You may need to reboot to get everything initialized.
5. Every time you test a new map, load a save, etc., you need to exit FireTuner and restart it (not sure why).
6. The main tabs you will use are Game, Map, and Selected City. Game is where you can advance the game a turn, 5 turns, 150 turns, etc. You highlight the name of the civ you want to control next, then click Autoplay 10, for example. The first turn takes a while, as all the cities and CS need to found cities. You can always change/interrupt the process - I do it by choosing the civ and clicking Autoplay 1 - the turn will finish and you'll be back at the capital of the chosen civ, with fog back on.
When you click an Autoplay button, the entire map will be revealed. I always zoom way out, then watch the minimap to see where civs and CS are settling. Unfortunately, not all resources, etc. show up when the sim is running, at least on my computer.
Spoiler :
Advanced:
7. Your test civ will be at some big disadvantages, because you are probably playing Immortal or Deity, while the AI is on Prince or King. While still on turn 0, I start with Map and add some starting units to give my test civ a more even start with the AI. For Immortal and Deity I add 2 more Warriors, a Scout, and a Worker.
Do this by selecting the Map tab, and clicking the box next to "Unit Plopper Enabled" and scrolling way down the far right window of units. Highlight a unit word, then click on the game map on an open hex and it will appear.
Spoiler :
8. You are going to be hurting for happiness, so you need to add buildings. You can settle then do the following, but I like to Autoplay 1 turn, then add buildings. In Civ open the city, then in Firetuner, click the Selected City tab, and scroll the far right lower window. I add a Colosseum and Stadium (Zoo isn't there for some reason), then a Market and Bank to help pay for them. I figure the hammer savings get swallowed up by the tech disadvantage.
Spoiler :
9. I then Autoplay turns, and take over now and again to check what policies are chosen, etc. Sometimes I just let it run for 150 or 200 turns and walk away. For maps I really like I sometimes do several tests, just to see if the AI is balanced. Your civ will likely underperform, you can always add more stuff...
I watch for things that repeat, watch settling patterns, etc. This gives me added insight into what may be good Achievements and such. Then again, I am easily amused - I enjoy watching mayhem.