[BTS] News: BOTM 222 - Louis, Noble - Starts 10 Oct

[DynamicSpirit]

BOTM 222: Louis XIV of France.

Back to noble level this time. But there's a little twist in the map: You start on a small island, and you won't be able to get very far without building a boat. I would advise against settling in place without doing a bit of exploring first. Oh and, look out for the Sacred Valley of the Incas!

Game settings:
Playing as: Louis XIV of France
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Noble
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Oasis (slightly modified)
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Map latitudes: 0°N to 40°N


Louis XIV is Industrious and Creative, and you start with The Wheel and Agriculture.

The Industrious trait gives +50% wonder production and double production speed of Forge

The Creative trait gives +2 culture/city each turn and double production speed of Colosseum, Library and Theatre

Unique unit: Musketeer (replaces Musketman)
The Musketeer benefits from: 2 movement points. This compares with the Musketman which has: 1 movement point.

Unique Building: Salon (replaces Observatory)
The salon gives a free artist to the city it was built in.

Starting screenshot

This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):




Challenger Class Equalizers:
Do you think it would be enough of a challenge if you started on monarch level? I didn't think so either, which is why you start on monarch level and ALL resources have been removed from the area around your starting island. There is nowhere you can settle that will give your capital any resources. Your one saving grace is that the AIs still only have noble level starting units.

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 10 Oct 2021, server local time (UTC-6:00). From that date and time, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.

Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 10 Nov 2021.

Here is a link to a list of the differences between Vanilla, Warlords and BtS.

Software Versions

Windows: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the BUFFY mod version 3.19.005 installed. You can download the BUFFY mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.


Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Beyond the Sword (NOT Civ4 Vanilla or Warlords), patched to version 3.19, and with the Mac BUFFY mod version 3.19.003 installed. You can download the Mac BUFFY mod here.

While playing...

Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.

We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of your game outside those threads.

 

[LowtherCastle]

First thing I always do is study the Challenger save description for map clues...

 

[DynamicSpirit]

First thing I always do is study the Challenger save description for map clues...

That's OK - because the first thing I do when I've drafted the Challenger save description to read it to see whether it's given away any clues I didn't intend

 

[LowtherCastle]

That's OK - because the first thing I do when I've drafted the Challenger save description to read it to see whether it's given away any clues I didn't intend

OK! In that case, thanks for all the clues you intended to give us...

 

[Fippy]

I would prefer if challenger gives regular deity
(just feedback)

 

[MarleysGh0st]

So, I think DynamicSpirit is hinting that we want to move to the coast of our island. If he's been a particularly evil mapmaker, the water is more than two squares across, so we'll need our cultural borders to expand before we have the chance to sail a galley across.

My warrior will go NE. Assuming nothing significant is revealed, the settler will go NE, NW, and see what's visible from there.

 

[LowtherCastle]

We’re creative. Our second city will quickly expand out to two coastal tiles.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I would prefer if challenger gives regular deity
(just feedback)

Yeah - we try to give some variety in order to give people different challenges - so it's not the same thing every month (And FWIW I think the challenger settings this time are going to make for a pretty tough game). But I appreciate the feedback and you saying what kinds of things you like.

 

[LowtherCastle]

So, I think DynamicSpirit is hinting that we want to move to the coast of our island. If he's been a particularly evil mapmaker, the water is more than two squares across, so we'll need our cultural borders to expand before we have the chance to sail a galley across.

My warrior will go NE. Assuming nothing significant is revealed, the settler will go NE, NW, and see what's visible from there.

Two more settling considerations. Planning for more than one city on our island and having our fat Crosses include land/water resources beyond our island.

 

[dontworryabouttsunami]

So, I think DynamicSpirit is hinting that we want to move to the coast of our island. If he's been a particularly evil mapmaker, the water is more than two squares across, so we'll need our cultural borders to expand before we have the chance to sail a galley across.

My warrior will go NE. Assuming nothing significant is revealed, the settler will go NE, NW, and see what's visible from there.

I would think that, starting in the north on an Oasis map, we'll want to settle to the south... I was thinking of putting cities on the southwest and southeast most points of the island.

Edit - nvm, we're at the southern end of the world. I thought we'd be in the north from the latitude given in the OP

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Edit - nvm, we're at the southern end of the world. I thought we'd be in the north from the latitude given in the OP

Yeah that latitude range doesn't tell you anything about where you start on the map. It tells you what portion of the World the map is supposed to cover. So for this game, where the starting post says, Map latitudes: 0°N to 40°N, that means that the southern-most tiles are considered to be on the equator (0°N) and the northern-most tiles are considered to be 40°N. Mostly it doesn't affect anything in the game, but the information is important if you want to build the Space Elevator, which is only permitted in cities within 30° of the equator. The latitude range of the map is set by the map script, and I list it in the game announcement because I don't think there's any way to find out what it is within the game.

 

[WastinTime]

Wasn't going to play, but the challenger sounds like a unique twist that's never been done before (which is saying a lot for what? 15 years?)

 

[mscellaneous]

Wasn't going to play, but the challenger sounds like a unique twist that's never been done before (which is saying a lot for what? 15 years?)

Ditto! Very interesting setting which makes you re-evaluate the early game completely. Hills and fresh water grassland seem the strongest tiles early game, so SIP seems like a very good option.