News: GOTM 48 - Starts 1 November

[Erkon]

GOTM 48: France

[img=right]http://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/images/gotm48civ.jpg[/img]

Become the emperor of your nation, let the wind spread the words of your might across the world, put fear into the heart of your weak* enemies, let your grace shine upon your allies. In other words: Kill'em! Kill'em All!!

The game requires HOF 1.74.004, which you can download here.

Game settings:
Civilization: France (Leader: Napoleon; Traits: Aggressive, Industrious)
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Emperor
Map: Fractal
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Temperate
Sea Level: High
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Epic
Options: Standard
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Napoleon:
Napoleon is Aggressive and Industrious ; starting with The Wheel and Agriculture. The Aggressive trait gives free Combat I promotion for all melee and gunpowder units, and you receive 100% production bonus towards Barracks and Drydocks. The Industrious trait provides 50% production bonus towards Wonders, and you receive 100% production bonus for Forges.

Unique unit: Musketeer (replaces Musketman)
The Musketeer has one extra movement point (2 instead of 1 for Musketman)

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


Adventurer Class bonuses:

1. Extra Worker: The speech you delivered when assembling your followers was so inspiring that even the local cavemen decided to join your labor force.

Challenger Class Equalizers:

1. No warrior: The speech you delivered when assembling your followers was so appalling that even your trusted bodyguard refused to join you.

To enter the Competition:

This competition will open on 1 November 2009. From that date, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 1 December 2009.

Software Versions

Windows: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords or BTS), 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 are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.

Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the Mac HOF mod version 1.74.002 installed. You can download the 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 the game outside those threads while it is in progress.

Please write here or send me a Private Message for any technical queries, eg. if you have trouble opening the game. Do NOT post in this thread once you have successfully opened the starting save.

* Never trust a map maker!

Note from author: If your game crashes, reload the latest autosave and repeat all moves exactly. Please PM me about the details of the crash. I appreciate any feedback regarding the map, either through PM or through the spoiler threads. Good luck with this game

 

[adrianj]

No discussion on this one yet? Strange...

I quite like the starting location. Lots of food, lots of hills, the gold thrown in there as well. Nice and balanced I think. Although, we don't start with Fishing or Mining... so first build should be interesting. Worker first, and farm a floodplain - which most likely won't be used once the clams are connected? Or warrior first, switching to workboat once Fishing research is complete, and use the warrior to assist with a possible early worker steal?

I'll move the warrior NW, and maybe if a nice resource shows up 2NW of the settler I might consider spending a turn to get up on to the plains hill 1W of the settler. Otherwise, settling in place seems my most likely move.

 

[JungleIII]

Waning interest = no discussion... high difficulty level of play and no one listens to the players complaining...

Erkon makes some fine games, and I hope this is one of them too. But, we are bombarded by the higher difficulty games and the doctored maps that take away the fun of the game as they are catering to a core group of higher level players.

 

[adrianj]

Oh well. You have my interest Erkon!

I've scraped together a couple of Contender test saves if anyone does turn up to read this thread.

 

[Erkon]

@adrianj - I was a bit late with this thread, and forgot to ask the moderators to put it sticky (the thread was located after the sticky thread for a day). That could be one reason. And then there's the WOTM26 that started a few days ago.

@JungleIII - Perhaps the difficulty level reduce the interest from a bunch of players, but the amount of discussion is not necessarily related to the amount of submitted games. Regarding complaining - could you please clarify what complains we don't listen to? Right now we have a uniform distribution of noble-deity games and we aim to have at least on low-level game / month (noble-monarch) and one high level (emp-deity). We think this caters well for a majority of players. I also think we have a well balanced distribution of tailored vs out of the box games. My deity game was not doctored for example, and the previous emperor map had only minor adjustments (giving the players a few extra resources to handle the raging barbarians). Is it a general feeling from you that we should focus more on non-modified easier maps, or did you have any specific games in your mind? We need feedback from all players in order to improve, so don't hesitate to PM me or Alan if you want to write in private.

 

[LowtherCastle]

Yeah, I didn't even notice the thread down there.

The capital begs for a lot of happiness asap. With a third flood plain meaning less health, settling on the river is probably wise to support all the citizens. The Wheel + Agricultural + seafood begs for pottery and cottages asap (after mining). The capital will be an early game research powerhouse.

So early exploration is important to find out how close any neighbors are and what happiness and wonder resources are nearby, if any.

Looks like a fun game for wonder builders and warmongers.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Settling Location
As adrianj suggested, settling in place or settling 1W both seem to be pretty good options.

Both places give you about the same amount of food (slightly less by moving) and both give you the same number of minable Hills.

Either way, you'll get to work a Flood Plain square on the first turn.

You do lose the +2 Health bonus from the River for moving, though, but you gain 1 Hammer per turn (say, 200 Hammers over the first 201 turns) for an initial investment loss of 3 Food, 1 Hammer, and 10 Commerce.


Guessing Game
That bare patch of Grassland to the SW of the Warrior looks suspiciously like it could harbour a Horse Resource, as it seems that a small slash of the grass has been eaten. Then again, there might be Copper lurking in the grass to the SE + S of the Settler, since the area looks suspiciously barren.

A more balanced choice by Erkon, however, would put Horses on the square to the N of the Warrior, so that you'll get the Resource in both of those two settling locations. Of course, an evil streak would put the Copper on the Desert Hill to the NE + NE of the settler, and we've all learned how much we can trust this particular map maker!


Early Wonder or Not?
Emperor difficulty plus the Industrial trait lets you choose one early Wonder that you should have a good chance of being able to build, as long as you focus on building it before putting out three cities.


Class Bonuses and Equalizers
A Caveman Worker is just what the doctor ordered, especially since he's a quick study and has learned how to farm a Flood Plain (hint, hint) starting from turn 0. Sure, you COULD explore with the Worker for two or three turns, starting off by going NE + NE, but then you're already starting to negate the Adventurer Class' bonus. You'll get at least two more Coast squres and lose a Forest by moving 1E with your Settler, so I'd suggest not exploring with the Worker (since the additional info won't help you) and just be prepared to start using him right away. If you choose to move the Settler 1W, use the Worker on turn 0 to build a Road for one turn on the Flood Plain to the N of the Settler and then cancel building the Road before the turn is over, so that you can start irrigating on the next turn, after the city is settled.

As for the appalling speaches, I'll have to take those to the enemies and see if their troops will desert ranks, as well!

 

[Dhoomstriker]

With a third flood plain meaning less health...

Hmm, good point. If that's true, and if there really is one more Flood Plain square under the fog (it kind of looks like one), then there's only a net loss of 1 Health by moving 1W with the Settler, making that option sound even better.

 

[Fluroscent]

I dont know if a classification like Low level:noble-monarch, High level:Emperor-Deity is useful at all. The games being fun and requiring some thought beyond a standard game is great, and much more important.

Level is less important, because we are all looking to compare our scores to the competition, and we are playing the same game. Although as for games that only ~10% of players or less can win, they tend to render the experience of the majority of players incomparable to the rest. These games should be rare.

In lower level games, we are not competing to see who can win, but rather who can score highest/win fastest, and then other players can compare their results and learn how to improve.

In higher level games, that say, half the entries are wins, this still applies, while providing learning opportunity to lower level players on how to win these games, unlike some deity games that are just beyond most people, whatever they do.
Either way, as long as the game sparks interest, there is great opportunity for everyone.

I feel suddenly bombarded with new games, playing the current BOTM, wanting to play the WOTM, and now this.

Recent Erkon games have been rewarding the move to a PH. I think I will refrain this time, and settle in place and build a cottage capital.

I dont want to consider long term yet, it will probably be somewhat affected on how the immortal WOTM goes

By the way, no discussion = noone saw the thread until stickied. Just to be as categoric as JungleIII.

 

[LowtherCastle]

I might consider spending a turn to get up on to the plains hill 1W of the settler.

Hmm, good point. If that's true, and if there really is one more Flood Plain square under the fog (it kind of looks like one), then there's only a net loss of 1 Health by moving 1W with the Settler, making that option sound even better.

If I'm not mistaken, settling 1W will stop you from settling any of the coastal tiles to the west and southwest. You might want to scout SW with teh warrior before committing yourself to that.

Waning interest = no discussion... high difficulty level of play and no one listens to the players complaining...

Erkon makes some fine games, and I hope this is one of them too. But, we are bombarded by the higher difficulty games and the doctored maps that take away the fun of the game as they are catering to a core group of higher level players.

Based on what you know so far, what's your thinking on how you'd approach this game? I see this game as fairly easy to win and the only question is how well I can do (if I get around to finishing). I'd be happy to think out loud with you on your approach and perhaps make it more winnable and enjoyable for you. My guess there are lots of other emporer-level players here who would be happy to help you in this pre-game thread too. That's what makes CFC fun for me, all the friendly cooperation.

 

[babybluepants]

Nice one. I think warrior has to go 1NW, and see if there's seafood for a second city in the west. I think I'll either settle in place or 1E depending. It'll take some calculation to figure out the opening worker/WB sequence.

 

[Markus5]

This difficulty will challenge me. But, since its vanilla, it won't challenge my computer as much. Its time for a new computer when playing out end-games in BTS causes more crashes (almost) than turns played. I really am an awful warrior, and I might go that way for a change. Since I won't challenge for any awards, the adventurer save looks tempting this time.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

If I'm not mistaken, settling 1W will stop you from settling any of the coastal tiles to the west and southwest. You might want to scout SW with teh warrior before committing yourself to that.

That's very true. However, settling in-place might equally stop you from settling on coastal tiles to the east, if there are any. To me the map looks suggestive of the coast there heading NE, so that might be an issue.

Given this is epic speed, I'm tempted to move the settler NE-NE to double check that in-place doesn't spoil anything, while the warrior moves SW to make the same check westwards. Having said that, if those views don't show up anything to say otherwise, it's likely I'll head back to settle in-place or 1W - both look like pretty decent spots.

 

[kcd_swede]

Sweet spot. I can't see any reason to look for better. Too bad we don't start with fishing.

Tech order mining>BW>fishing>pottery... something like that.
Build order worker>Warrior until fishing then WB

Of course, with all the other games going on at the moment I will probably forget all this before it comes time to play it. But knowing my own playing patterns, it will probably go something like that anyhow.

 

[LowtherCastle]

That's very true. However, settling in-place might equally stop you from settling on coastal tiles to the east, if there are any. To me the map looks suggestive of the coast there heading NE, so that might be an issue.

Good point. This start looks really complicated. Where to settle if you want the gold? 1NW and leave the seafood to a GP farm on the peninsula? 2NE and risk having 438 desert tiles in the FC?

Where to move the warrior to make the best decision? 1NW will tell you if you want a city on that plains hill and if the settler's 1NW plains hill has more food. Then decide whether to send the setler 2NE.

 

[Dhoomstriker]

I think that you guys are making things more complicated than they need to be.

Okay, great points about possibly not being able to fit in a city to either the west or the east of the capital, along the Coast, depending upon where you settle. But think for a second--do you really plan to have three cities down there... the capital, one a bit to the west on the Coast, and another a bit to the east on the Coast? That's a lot of overlap of squares, so unless there is a huge plethora of seafood for these additional two cities, I just don't see you putting down three cities there.

Okay, but the capital plus one additional city is very doable.

So, pick a side. Say, send the Warrior SW, as LowtherCastle previously suggested. Is there another seafood resource there? If yes, settle in place, as you'll still have space for a city in the west. If no, move 1W with the Settler and thus free up the east Coast for a possible second city.

If you want, you can then follow-up by moving the Warrior 1S, to check out the end of the peninsula. Are there two Fish resources that have now appeared in the nearby Ocean? If so, move your Settler back to the starting location and be happy with your decision. If not, then settle on the PH next to the Coast and also be happy with your decision to free up the east, as a city wouldn't have been useful in the west anyway.

Oh yeah, one more thing: Happy Hallowe'en!

 

[LowtherCastle]

This could be a small island. Wouldn't be the first time. So, my first priority is to scout and not eliminate any possibilities. Yes, I plan to put a city on the tip of the peninsula. If there is even one more seafood down there, it's a decent early GP farm. I plan another SW. I plan to have cities going up both coasts. What I might not have is an inland city. This might be a GLH set-up.

I'm staying open. This is epic.

This is vanilla so the resource bubbles tell us we're to the north. Cities to the far south might open up other lands with cutlural expansion (Edit: maybe unlikely with high seas). There are a lot of factors possibly at play here.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Agreed, lots of factors here. I'm glad this is at epic, allowing a couple of extra turns grace to explore.

Looking again, I've realized something else that puts me off in-place or 1W without exploring: Unless there's an extra food resource in one of the hidden tiles, it's going to be hard to get much food early on. The clams require a workboat each, and even that only gets them to +4 food each, you need a lighthouse to make them really productive - that's a lot of early-game hammers. I generally don't mind building a workboat to grab fish so early in the game, but building one for clams/crabs usually looks like poor return to me. Farming floodplains would work, but floodplains take a lot of worker turns to farm. Generally speaking I'm much happier building a capital next to grassland-pigs or wheat if I can find one. On the plus side, if anyone wants to do a run for the great lighthouse (which on a fractal/high seas map is probably a good bet), you have a coastal city with enough production to have quite a good chance at it.

In place looks to me like a great long-term science capital, but really the kind of one you want to found as your 4th city (when you have lots of worker capacity, and somewhere else can pre-build the workboats) then build a new palace there

 

[LowtherCastle]

I also dislike crabs/clams early on. Just think how long it will take to build a settler here. I want more food. Unless of course there's an AI nearby who will build settlers for me...which alligns with Erkon's ominous intro.

 

[chopster]

Just a small note, the link to the saves page is incorrect - it leads to GOTM 46.

The correct link is http://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/index.php?month=40048