[BTS] News: BOTM 267 - Sitting Bull, Emperor - Starts 5 Feb

[DynamicSpirit]

BOTM 267: Sitting Bull of Native America.

You've had a few special games over the Xmas season, but for February we revert to something a little more standard. You're playing on an almost unedited hub map. Good luck!

Game settings:
Playing as: Sitting Bull of Native America
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Emperor
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No goody huts, no random events
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Hub
World Wrap: None
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Temperate
Sea level: Medium
Map latitudes: -90°S to 90°N


Sitting Bull is Philosophical and Protective, and you start with Fishing and Agriculture.

The Philosophical trait gives +100% great people birth rate and double production speed of University

The Protective trait gives free City Garrison I and Drill I promotion for archery and gunpowder units and double production speed of Castle and Walls

Unique unit: Dog Soldier (replaces Axeman)
The dog soldier is actually weaker than the axeman, with a base strength of only 4, although it partially makes up for that with a +100% bonus against melee units. But its real advantage is that it requires no resources to build - so you don't need to go searching for copper or iron.

Unique Building: Totem Pole (replaces Monument)
The totem pole gives +3XP to archery units built in its city. Might be useful for some extra city defence!

Starting screenshot

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




Adventurer Class bonuses:
You play on monarch level (but the AI still has emperor level starting units)

Challenger Class Equalizers:
You play on immortal level (but the AI still has emperor level starting units)

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 5 Feb 2024, 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 11 Mar 2024.

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.

@Blake00 @The_J

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I've posted the spoilers, even though the game hasn't started yet. An experiment to see if doing that now works better than me trying to remember to post them after the game has started

 

[Frederiksberg]

Planning your tech bulbing will be important with a Philo leader. Anyone know where the GP tech preferences reference can be found? The links in the War Academy don't work anymore.

Look like we have been given the choice between a coastal capital where the scout is or a land locked capital where the settler is. Both seem viable having Agri and Fishing as starting techs. Not sure yet which one I prefer.

 

[Fippy]

https://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/references/great-people-tech-preferences/

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Planning your tech bulbing will be important with a Philo leader.

By starting with Fishing, we cannot do the early Engineering-Lightbulb gambit with a Great Scientist. It wouldn't be that great on a Hub map, though, as Hub maps tend to have a relatively large amount of water squares and thus a decent amount of seafood Resources.

Anyone know where the GP tech preferences reference can be found?

In addition to Fippy's link, you can use the game's F6 TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR screen.
Hold down the Shift key. Select all of the techs that you think you will have learned by the time that you have generated your Great Person.
On the left side of the screen, there are two icons for each type of Great Person which can Lightbulb techs.
The top tech is static, as it refers to what you can Lightbulb with the current techs that you know.
The bottom tech is the important dynamic one, as it refers to what you can Lightbulb if you were to learn all of the techs that you have Shift + clicked on.

If you want to pick a different set of techs, let go of Shift and click on a tech, then start again.

Look like we have been given the choice between a coastal capital where the scout is or a land locked capital where the settler is. Both seem viable having Agri and Fishing as starting techs. Not sure yet which one I prefer.

The PH square by the Coast misses most of the Food and thus does not look very good.

The GH Riv square on the Coast loses 2 turns getting there. We would get Wheat, Clam, and Cow, which is nice, but only two GH squares for production. I am uncertain, but two of the fogged squares may be additional Peak squares. There is basically no room for Cottages. 4 big-fat-cross Forests.

Moving 1NW to the Desert does some reasonable things for us: Settling on Turn 0. Other than perhaps NE + N of there, 0 Desert squares and 0 Peak squares. Green Cow + wet Wheat. Later, +1 Food from the Lake (making it an Oasis-equivalent square) if we complete a Lighthouse. 1 GH Riv square, 1 GH square, 1 PH square, and 1 DH Riv square. 7 big-fat-cross Forests.

In-place gives us what appears to be zero River squares. 1 GH-Riv-equivalent square (Ivory) and 2 GH squares. Maybe another Hills square at 2E--or is that a Peak? But, Non-River Grassland squares for a Non-Financial Leader aren't very exciting. 12 big-fat-cross Forests, though.

Settling on top of the Cow could be okay, but I'd prefer to do so on a Grassland Sugar or Grassland Banana that cannot be improved for a long time. It's a bit of a waste to settle on top of the Cow. But, let's say that we did it... 1 GH Riv square, 1 GH square, 1 PH square, and 1 DH Riv square, just like settling 1NW on the Desert. Instead of the square at 3N of the Settler's initial location that I cannot interpret, we get a Flood Plains square. We miss out on an Oasis Lake, but our Lighthouse will have more meaning, as it will help our Clam Resource. 6 big-fat-cross Forests.


Maybe we'll get lucky and moving the Warrior 1SW will reveal Magical Fish, and we can burn a Flood Plains square just to earn the Magical Fish. Unlikely, though.

On the plus side, moving the Warrior 1SW will reveal a Peak if it really is a Peak at SW + 2S of the Cow, and if it is a Peak, it will show us enough to see whether 3S of the Cow is also a Peak. If those squares are not Peaks, we could consider moving the Settler 1SW P Wheat, 1W G? For. We'd then have Cow, Wheat, Flood Plains, and 3 GH squares, plus some random hidden squares. The Clam would still be reachable with another City. It might not be amazing if those two hidden squares really are Peaks, but with an extra Resource appearing in the fog, it could still work out nicely.


On an unedited Hub map, though, we shouldn't hold out for too amazing of a location. There can be spots with 3 seafood Resources, but many locations will simply not be super-great, with a lot of mediocre Cities needing to be settled.

 

[kcd_swede]

almost unedited

That word "almost" is almost useful information.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Thanks for the tip on tech prefs, Dhoom!

 

[antimony]

I like the NW desert option. It's a good spot to build a GLH, and it looks like a hub with islands.

 

[ariosto]

I also like NW option, and, like @antimony, because I consider building GLH in it.

What is the hub map script? I am not familiar with this one

 

[antimony]

Examples here:

Civilization IV: Map Scripts Guide - CivFanatics

Map ListFeatured Maps: Continents Pangaea Archipelago Terra Lakes Ice Age Great Plains Highlands Inland Sea Oasis Advanced Maps: Balanced Custom Continents Fantasy Realm Hub Islands Maze Mirror Ring Team Battleground Tilted Axis Wheel Foreword Civilization IV brings you an unprecedented...

www.civfanatics.com