News: GOTM122 --Starts Jan 20--

[kcd_swede]

GOTM 122: Qin Shi Huang

You will play at PRINCE level as Qin Shi Huang, of China. No gimmicks--- well, there is NO CITY RAZING, so be careful with those Cho-Ko-Nu's!

Beware QUICK game speed!


Game settings:
Playing as: Qin Shi Huang of China
Rivals: 6 AI
Difficulty: Prince
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Quick
Options: no barbarians, no city razing, nearby huts removed
Victory Conditions: All enabled

Map settings:
Map: Highlands
World Wrap: Flat map (no wrap)
Mapsize: Standard


Your traits are Industrious and Financial
and you start with knowledge of AGRICULTURE, and MINING



Unique unit: Cho-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowmen)



Starting screenshot

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






Adventurer Class bonuses:
N/A


Challenger Class Equalizers:
N/A

To Enter the Competition:

This competition will open at 00:01 am on 20 Jan 2016, 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 20 Feb 2016.

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.

 

[lymond]

Am I'm losing it or does China not have Chokes. I don't think there are any Hwachas in Vanilla

 

[Dhoomstriker]

Do the bonus Trade Routes from The Great Lighthouse work for Cities on small lakes in Vanilla?


That's a tough start to decide how to proceed... settling 1SW picks up the Marble, but it's rare to find Food Resources next to each other, so there's not much chance of getting another Food Resource 1SE of the G Cow, leaving us with an okay capital.

I'm tempted to move 1E G Riv, then if nothing nice appears, 1SE onto the Forest that is 2E of the G Cow. From there, we can move back 1NW to the G Riv or can move 1SW for Cow + Marble, or 1S for Cow + whatever's there, or stay 2E of the Cow for Cow + 1 Flood Plains square + whatever's there.

I don't see the Warrior being overly useful... if he goes 1SW PH and reveals something, would we give up the Cow to go down there? He could move 1NW FP, but we're just likely to reveal another FP, although I suppose that it's possibly a Flood Plains Corn or something, although you'd think that if the Map Maker were to edit in something bonus like that, it would be revealed in the initial screenshot.

I suppose that sending the Warrior 1NW FP, 1NE GH For might reveal the Forest 2N of where the Settler starts, just to check if it's a Deer, Fur, or other Resource square. I'm not sure if the Forest that is NW + N of where the Settler starts would block that over-the-water view, though.


Cho-ko-nus with a Financial Leader can make for a fun time, back before the Chinese Leaders got made into Protective.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Hey swede, did you forget to put some food tiles in the start before you created the map?

Am I'm losing it or does China not have Chokes. I don't think there are any Hwachas in Vanilla

Yeah, you're right. Hwachas are the Korean unit. China has the very useful Cho-Ko-Nus (somewhat similar since both units cause collateral damage)

That's a tough start to decide how to proceed... settling 1SW picks up the Marble, but it's rare to find Food Resources next to each other, so there's not much chance of getting another Food Resource 1SE of the G Cow, leaving us with an okay capital.

I'm tempted to move 1E G Riv, then if nothing nice appears, 1SE onto the Forest that is 2E of the G Cow. From there, we can move back 1NW to the G Riv or can move 1SW for Cow + Marble, or 1S for Cow + whatever's there, or stay 2E of the Cow for Cow + 1 Flood Plains square + whatever's there.

Looks to me like all the tiles revealed by moving the settler 1E are forested - which, barring unusual mapmaker fiddling - means they are fairly unlikely to have any resources that we can see at the start. So my guess is 1E won't tell us much. Since this is quick speed, losing turns moving at the start is quite a big deal that I probably don't want to risk. So for me, the only real question is whether to settle in-place or 1E. Moving 1E loses some rather unexciting lakes and dry grassland (and a hill - more useful), and gains completely unknown tiles, some of which are, however, likely to be riverside - so may well pay off.

I'm not too bothered about having the marble in the BFC - plains-marble-quarry isn't much better than a mined-hill as a worked tile, and requires researching masonry early. If you settle in-place, then the marble will be in our cultural borders by the 2nd border pop, which is probably early enough to be useful if you want it for a wonder - that could be a minor disadvantage of moving 1E.

Wow, two quick-speed games the same month!

 

[Dhoomstriker]

If you want to settle on T0, then also consider settling 1N or 1NE on a Flood Plains square.

1N keeps the GH For.
1NE stands a better chance of picking up an additional Food Resource compared to 1E, assuming that my belief of another Food Resource appearing 1SE of the G Cow being highly unlikely holds true, to the point that if a Map Maker were to add such a Resource in, the same Map Maker would have revealed said square for us.

Then, you're just wagering that 1E will contain a Food Resource SE + E of the G Cow versus gaining 4 unknown squares for the loss of a Flood Plains square.


At least the lessons from one Quick Speed Game will be able to be put to immediate use in the second such game.

 

[kcd_swede]

Am I'm losing it or does China not have Chokes. I don't think there are any Hwachas in Vanilla

No, rest assured it is the map-maker who is losing it (quite literally when it comes to Vanilla, these days)

Updated the announcement. It would inded be quite a gimmick to give you hwachas... don't even know how that could be done.

 

[High King J.J.]

Gah. Quick speed.

 

[Pangaea]

No, rest assured it is the map-maker who is losing it (quite literally when it comes to Vanilla, these days)

Updated the announcement. It would inded be quite a gimmick to give you hwachas... don't even know how that could be done.

See this was touched upon, because I got a little confused when looking at the relevant page in the GOTM site: http://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/index.php?month=40122. Not a huge deal, but would be nice if that page was fixed too