Congratulations to kcd_swede
and a great big WOW! on the ShannonCT score~!
And of course, to everyone else who posts afterwards...
I've only won on Immortal level once before (in BOTM__). That makes me 2 for 2 on this level, so maybe I should stop calling myself a Monarch/emperor level player and just admit that I'm a full fledged emperor level player.
I won on the Adventurer save and it's my second win (on Immortal) out of three attempts. So, somewhat, maybe, a little like kcd_swede, I'm thinking about stopping calling myself a Prince/Monarch level player, and telling the truth by saying I am actually only a Noble/Prince player !!
lol: And I was happy getting 15
per turn from Sushi.
)
I was happy, ah, er, uhm, well, ... just getting Sushi, ah, like a few turns before the end of the game... oh well. I'm not clear on what I was supposed to do with it yet... will read ShannonCT's write-up more closely and try to learn something.
MY PLAN
My plan basically involved trying to figure out who's capable of being my friend and who's going to be hard to manage long-term. I chose Hannibal the Cannibal and the Mad Viking as potential enemies. I based this on their differences from the others. {you can't please all of the people all of the time- love the one you're with}.
WONDERS
The Vikings didn't build the pyramids until 1230AD in my game!
I built the early wonders mentioned in first spoiler (GLH, GL) and more importantly, late game I got the UN (1901AD) and the Internet Project in 1923 AD (which saved my bacon).
GLOBAL WARMING
What causes it? (I mean in Civ).
I guess it's not an "event." It happened to my cities twice late game.
WAR
I destroyed the Carthagenian empire first (my plan called for this).
However, everyone else (except the Mad Viking) was getting too strong militarily. Later, Long Jkon Silver invited me to a party at the Vikings, and I attended. Unfortunately, I was way underdressed for the event. I took about 12 infantry and 8 siege weapons, but the Viking capital where I landed was stacked full. I parried with him a few turns when the AP (Apostolic Palace) owner called for a vote to end the war against the Vikings. Oh well. Now, seemingly the only VC open to me was Space. Ha! The Vikings were the only ones weak enough for me to hope to attack with my skills, given the other AI's advanced states.
SPACE
I built everything, whipped many buildings, got dikes in every city, and ran my whipping turns up to over a 100 in many cities (not neccessarily in that order!). [Was I in danger of 'slave revolts'? I have heard about them, but they didn't happen. Is that because events were not 'on', or what? What typically triggers slave revolts?]
I did the same with the space race; building everything {i.e., factories, nuclear plants, laboratories, etc.}. I got the Space Elevator in 1936AD. I was surprised when I found out that the Internet is a gift that keeps on giving: as any two other civs later finished techs, I got them too. That made my endgame much more "possible" {i.e., I wasn't sure I would be around for an 'endgame' on Immortal level
}.
FUTURE TECHs
This was the first time I have ever made it to researching future techs (I made two).
CORRECT CHOICE
Although this was only Adventurer save,
I figure I made the correct choice in choosing that. The game could not have been even one turn or so closer. Crimson Perry launched his space ship with one engine and all other parts in 1962AD and I launched mine with two engines and all other parts in 1963AD. I won the race in 1973AD.
DID I LEARN ANYTHING?
I built Sushi late game and had time to send out a couple of execs just to see how the process worked. Will learn more.
I researched my first future techs.
I loved the dikes!
I dashed any illusions that I really am a contender level Immortal player. ( A good dose of realism helps the learning process!)
TMIT wouldn't approve of my time, but I did try to learn some shortcuts. By the end of the game for instance, I was regularly using the 'insert' key instead of clicking on cities. {yes, I know that I shouldn't ever have to do that if I learned to que properly etc.}
I also learned that I needed more cities with the AP religion (for several reasons). The religious buildings of the AP religion produce a couple of hammers for the city they're in, and more importantly, I needed a LOT more than I had to help stop a religious victory. Next time I'll make an effort to spread the AP religion I think.
I learned that you can't build the hydro power plants without rivers. And you can't build coal plants (or at least you can't use them) without coal.
I had no oil late in the middle game. I was lucky one Barb city did, and I went and took it. Then I tried to get a Great Artist (something I never want unless I'm going cultural), in case the AI's culture overran my oil. It never did, and I used my GA for a Golden Age very late in the game which was also critical in allowing me to win the close space race.
I learned you
can 'catch up' when behind, even on Immortal. Many examples in my game, but to name a couple, when I finished my first war with Hannibal, taking a couple of his cities, I thought about Vicky next. She was my 'friend' that I was least confident wouldn't later backstab me. But, she had her UU Redcoats before I was close to rifles! Another example, the Internet allowed me to catch up nicely in the tech race. One more example (just to make it a 'couple'), I think I whipped way too long-- until forced to quit by war and emancipation-- but my cities were able to recover.
I learned that even a simpleton's plan like mine for this game is better than no plan at all. I more or less stuck to the plan, e.g., ignoring possible profitable trades with the Viking which would have gotten others PO'd with me. I gave in to demands from my 'friends' and declined invitations from my not-so-dear far-removed acquaintances.
I kept plodding along, even when things looked dim. I used Hereditary Rule, and I spent some bit of time shuffling troops around (sorry TMIT), and I spent a great deal of time checking cities when I was whipping regularly. I hope to speed up my play and learn more of TMIT's time-saving tips from his article and apply them. That article has already cut my playing time by maybe 15%, even on this unfamiliar advanced level (for me).
<---- to TMIT for writing it.
CONCLUSION
Thanks to Niklas (and staff)
for an interesting and challenging game! I learned a lot. If you are a lurker reading this, and don't play xOTM's above your current level, I'd encourage you to give the adventurer saves a trial run. I was able to proceed slowly and try to do the things I knew to do, and I still eeked out a very close victory. Okay, so I might not have felt quite as good if Crimson Red's, uhm, that's Crimson Perry's last three-point shot had went in the bucket at the buzzer, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Looking forward to reading the other 'real' players write-ups!
Adama
I've only won on Immortal level once before (in BOTM__). That makes me 2 for 2 on this level, so maybe I should stop calling myself a Monarch/emperor level player and just admit that I'm a full fledged emperor level player.
To the admins I just want to say 
. Time to spam some settlers in the ice and take Hans remaining 3 cities which I duly did. An honorable mention must go to Joao as I had crippled him early and he still ended up with 20ish cities. So perhaps I wasn't wrong to go for him first. 
. About 5 turns my frigate is sitting there knocking down her defenses, while her navy does nothing but cower in fear!
. Sushi is meanwhile is gaining +12
per turn! Damn... though actually that makes it plainer to see the use of forcing some other civ to suffer from corporate greed if the situation is reversed one day. Anyhow, by converting lots of research building to wealth building (nothing else but research, wealth, and SS parts being built at this stage) double the time to Fusion up to 6 turns. 
