News: GOTM 120 - 10th Anniversary Game, Immortal - Starts 1 November

[DynamicSpirit]

GOTM 120: Chairman Mao of China.

Civ4 is 10 this week! It was first released on 25 October, 2005. And GOTMs have been going for 10 years too (Do the maths... GOTM 120 divided by 1 game per month). To celebrate we have a special map. A mention will go to the first person who correctly figures out and posts in the spoilers to say how the map is related to the event.

As for the game... well, it's immortal on a very crowded map. I suspect it's going to be a bit like fighting your way out of a cage. Good luck!

Because immortal is a hard level, there is an adventurer save, but no challenger save.

Game settings:
Playing as: Chairman Mao of China
Rivals: 5 AIs
Difficulty: Immortal
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No barbarians, No goody huts
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Tenth anniversary map
World Wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Small
Climate: Temperate
Sea level: High


Chairman Mao is Philosophical and Organized, and you start with Agriculture and Mining.

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

The Organized trait gives -50% civic upkeep and double production speed of Courthouse and Lighthouse

Unique unit: Cho-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowman)
The Cho-Ko-Nu benefits from: 2 first strikes, and can cause collateral damage (max. 60% to 5 units). This compares with the Crossbowman which has: 1 first strike, and cannot cause collateral damage.


Starting screenshot

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




Adventurer Class bonuses:
You play on monarch level (but AIs still start with immortal starting units, which makes it a bit harder than monarch. On immortal vanilla, AIs start with 2 workers each).

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 1 Nov 2015, 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 1 Dec 2015.

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

Software Versions

Windows: This game MUST be played in Civ4 Vanilla (NOT Beyond the Sword or Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the HOF mod version 1.74.004 installed. You can download the HOF mod here. Players using Windows Vista or Windows 7 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.

If you have not installed BtS, you will need to update the relevant DLL files in order to match the Locked Assets checks. These are available here.**

Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Civ4 Vanilla (NOT Beyond the Sword or Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the Mac HOF mod version 1.74.002 installed. You can download the Mac HOF 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.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Oh, nice, a Civ 4 version from before China got handed out the Protective Trait!

Nice options for the start... settling in place, 1N on the dry Corn, or 1W on the GH For, each with both accessible seafood in our big fat cross and each with its own slight differences.

I suppose that the Lightbulb-Engineering-with-a-Great-Scientist tactic is going to be out of the window, as we definitely do not want to be avoiding Fishing on this map.

I assume that the layout of the islands is going to spell a message.

With so many Coast squares, expanding Cultural Borders might be able to help secure settling locations across of the water, as AIs tend to shy away from settling too close to existing Cultural Borders.

 

[MeowZeDung]

Imm, 5AI, small map, high sea level, likely to be a continent/island chain that spells a message.

Going to be challenging!

 

[High King J.J.]

Civ4 is 10 this week! It was first released on 25 October, 2005. And GOTMs have been going for 10 years too (Do the maths... GOTM 120 divided by 1 game per month). To celebrate we have a special map. A mention will go to the first person who correctly figures out and posts in the spoilers to say how the map is related to the event.

Once the game is available I hope a spoiler thread comes soon. (There's no point in being the first to decipher the map if the spoiler thread to post it on comes a week later...)

Immortal level. Unfortunately my skills aren't above mortal. (I'm not complaining, I just love this smilie.)

 

[Htadus]

Are we placed at the bottom right of letter C in the word Civfanatics?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Once the game is available I hope a spoiler thread comes soon. (There's no point in being the first to decipher the map if the spoiler thread to post it on comes a week later...)

Don't worry, I anticipated that issue, and the spoilers are already up. Both of them (just in case someone doesn't explore enough of the map by 1AD, so has to post their answer in the final spoiler, and by some miracle manages to finish the game within a few hours of the competition starting. Somehow I doubt anyone will manage that though )