News: WOTM-03 Pre-Game Discussion

[Airny]

...I usually use these to make the accademy (bonus production)...

Remember that the academy works different (+50% prod) and can only be built if you have researched Education.

One more thing I noticed in testgames:
When I stole a worker early, the AI didn't calm down after some time, instead their attitude went consistently down to -13. I don't know if that's a matter of the patch or the aggressive trait.

 

[Goodenuf]

Lots of interesting insight and options so far.

In my test games, my best results have been going down the religion/culture path. When I find an early religion, build the requisite Stonehenge/Oracle etc. for the GP and shrine, then spread the religion relentlessly to others, I found that I could at least compete in the tech race by staying at 100% research (the religion income is significant once it is spread far and wide), but the late game it started to get behind somewhat in the research.

Most approaches that I took that would leverage the UU Gallic Warrior quickly (e.g. beeline Min>BW>IW) would leave the development of cities behind. Therefore, production of said Gallic Warriors would also lag since I didn't have AH/Ag/Wheel/Pottery (cottages) etc. to help them grow. And certainly any religious research to get to Priesthood (Oracle) was left behind as well in favor of 'higher priorities'.

It will be interesting to see all of the different paths taken, and their results.

 

[civ-wrecked]

After I downloaded the practice save, Civ 4 seemed to hang at the opening blue screen. There's an error message about the HOF mod directory or something like that.

I downloaded the HOF mod before and successfully used it to play the WOTH 2. After that I downloaded and installed the Warlords patch.

Question: do I need to down load and install the HOF mod again or ... ????

Thanks.

 

[Gyathaar]

you need to install a new version of HOF mod for 2.08 patch

 

[Hooha]

This game looks scary. For a test, I piled on all the AI's on a standard sized map and we were right next to each other. I'm hoping to stay out of the AI's way, maybe by spreading an early religion to their territory to help align them with me. I haven't found resources too readily available in these games, so I'm not counting on being able to use my UU easily.

 

[Willburn]

Its scary allright. I did one single mistake and in anger i forgot to save before i quit. So no WOTM for me this month Damnit...

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Its scary allright. I did one single mistake and in anger i forgot to save before i quit. So no WOTM for me this month Damnit...

I would've guessed that that situation is similar to a system crash, as long as not saving was a genuine mistake, and that you'd be OK to carry on and submit as long as you play from the latest autosave and repeat as far as you can remember the exact same moves you did before, including your mistake. But no doubt Ainwood or AlanH will be along soon to confirm or deny that...

 

[orb]

I think the big challenge with this game is the land grab. - With std map and 8 AI's the world will fill up very quickly. No need to worry about Barbs as they wont have much of an impact. - Therefore priority is tech's that allow settler build and expansion. - But...Just when you've started to expand you find yourself way behind in Tech (Due to the Monarch advantage for the AI.) - So you have to get Writing quickly and build a Library.(And dont forget to appoint a Scientist.) - By the time you've done this you have a very short space in which to build UU Swordsmen before the AI's have longbows. -

In my practice games I've found the AI's switching to Slavery very quickly. - I've missed almost all the early wonders...Mostly because I've forgotten to whip. - But I have managed to get to Alphabet and Literature first. - My best games went either similar to Redbad AG/MIN/AH/Wheel/Pot/Mas/Writ/IW/Alpha/Maths..... or Myst/Poly/Mono and the religious route. - When I tried to combine expansion and early religion I couldn't get it to work.

Also to echo other posts. - This new AI is smart. - In a few of my games I've found myself at war with and AI. - I rush to defend my land border only to find AI galleys landing units way behind my front line. Also Augustus rocks in the early world. - Watch out if he's in the game.

Anyway I'm off to give the download a try.

Good luck everyone.

 

[AlanH]

Its scary allright. I did one single mistake and in anger i forgot to save before i quit. So no WOTM for me this month Damnit...

You really should enable autosave on every turn!!!!

 

[Murky]

I've played some more practice games. In my last one I was able to build both stonehenge and the Oracle. I also had a stack of axemen ready to conquer the nearest AI city. I used the oracle for the MC slingshot. I didn't have much problem taking the AIs cities until their capital. It was well garrisoned with promoted archers, had +50% culture and was on a hill. Just as a test, I tried taking it with a stack of 6 axemen and failed. The next problem was that once I hit four cities my research rate plummeted to 20% and I still didn't have CoL.

 

[Willburn]

Yeah alenh I will for my next game. It was a stupid mistake by me. I totaly understand i cant load the autosave since I know what will happen some turns in advance. I guess its just one of those things one learns from. Anyways my own mistake. A bit sad since I was looking forward to playing the new Ai but I will have my shot at in december

 

[Hooha]

Okay, I'm giving it a shot. I'm going to go for a quick religion. I think I'll need the extra XP for my troops when I get that civic. I'm going to look around, and probably the first person near me, I'll take his city. It'll depend on how big the landmass is. If space is a real premium, I'll try to hold his city. If it isn't, I'll just raze. We'll see how far this carries me, and I think I'll give my first real rundown of it all now that the HOF is mandatory (the log works well, I hear). TTFN!

 

[Bigben34]

Greetings:
I am an old time civer from CivI days, but this will be my first WOTM. I'm looking forward to it.
I've played a lot of normal or epic game speeds on monarch difficulty online, and I've also played numerous games since 2.08, and I can tell you the AI plays a lot better... at least they manage their economy/teching better. So much so that now they often outstrip even experienced players, so I'm really looking forward to this challenge.

Bigben34

BTW... I did read the article for first timers... But I want to be clear: I can't ever exit the game without manually saving it first? Sometimes I get tired late at night and just exit the game... If I have autosaves set to every turn, then I can just exit without worrying about a manual save? --Thanks.

 

[Gyathaar]

BTW... I did read the article for first timers... But I want to be clear: I can't ever exit the game without manually saving it first? Sometimes I get tired late at night and just exit the game... If I have autosaves set to every turn, then I can just exit without worrying about a manual save? --Thanks.

There is an option in the HOF mod I believe that allows you to automatically save when you exit the game, its safest to manually save before you exit thou..

Autosaves would also autodelete if you should start another game before you finish.. so it isnt safe to trust only those

 

[AlanH]

Relying on autosaves is better than nothing, but (a) it means you replay the current turn after a reload, and (b) you will wipe all your autosaves as soon as you start a new game either inadvertently or for some light relief from the GOTM. As Gyathaar says, a manual save is safest. It's not much to ask - two key actions - Control-S and Enter.

 

[Murky]

I did find out that you can get Buddism by working the spice.

In another practice game, I went with Meditation>AH>Agriculture>Mining>BW>Wheel

My scout got lucky on a far away hut netting me Fishing before Meditation and founding Buddism. Some of the AIs were immediately annoyed even though I didn't declare it my state religion.

Build order was warrior>worker>warrior>settler

You definately want to get to IW early on. In my last game, both Izzy and Khan delcared on me on the same turn shorty after researching IW. Izzy had swordsman and axemen. Khan had swordsmen and chariots.

 

[MightyGooga]

Wow, this WOTM really looks interesting! Im wondering if there will be Romans. Becouse if there is Romans in this map, I think all the warmongering strategies I have read so far in this thread are worthless. The gallic swordsman is a powerfull unit ill give you that, but once against a praetorian i dont think it will be able to dominate the game play. So Im think war will have to come much later with lots of technology. But thats one opinion. Would any one cara to comment a comparison between GS and Praetorian?

 

[drkodos]

Wow, this WOTM really looks interesting! Im wondering if there will be Romans. Becouse if there is Romans in this map, I think all the warmongering strategies I have read so far in this thread are worthless. The gallic swordsman is a powerfull unit ill give you that, but once against a praetorian i dont think it will be able to dominate the game play. So Im think war will have to come much later with lots of technology. But thats one opinion. Would any one cara to comment a comparison between GS and Praetorian?

Axemen with Shock promotion counter Praets very nicely, especially against an AI Rome. No real reason for direct combat between the two (GS vs. Praet), from the Gael perspective.

 

[Murky]

The AI does a better job of teching, gaining resources and building troops. It is still stupid when it comes to warfare and using good tactics. It still tries to win by brute force. It just has more brute force to work with now.

 

[MightyGooga]

Still, if you star to build a lot of axe´s you will waste a lot of turns since they cost a little more than the GALLIC SWORD. I wasnt familiar with the effect of shok + axes against romans, I guess thats why in some games, my might prats get a little tired. Well, another thing is that if you specialize in axes, to fight off romans, there will be other invaders. Thats though