OCC Tips Please

[Ansar]

No sorry unpatched, oh and by the way, I just got a flipped city, do I take it or rebuff the rebels?

 

[Tomoyo]

Take it and abandon it. Keep the free defender.

Or rebuff it for an attitude boost.

 

[metalhead]

Wanna bet? Not building the Colossus will make space race difficult at or above monarch, but not impossible. As for 20K culture, I have had plenty of non-coastal victories.

20k OCC is not all that difficult to accomplish. If you can stay alive long enough, you'll get there eventually. Space race is the real challenge - well, I guess technically conquest would be more challenging, but since it's pretty much impossible above Warlord, it's not worth mentioning. You can do space race above Monarch if you're not coastal, but you better have some gold and a lot of rivers. Because being coastal helps you with increased commerce when you're trying to get those modern age techs without stealing.

In my opinion, scientific is overrated for OCC. You can always trade for BW very early, so starting with BW isn't much of a plus. The free tech isn't going to be game-breaking, either. You will either be leading in tech, or trailing in tech. One free tech isn't going to change much at the begining of the IA, especially if it's Nationalism. I will concede that this does carry more weight on higher difficulties, as techs are more expensive for you.

It's not so much that it's overrated than every other trait is useless, except perhaps agricultural. You can afford a few turns of anarchy, so religious is useless. You won't be warring much, so militaristic is wasted. You won't expand at all, so expansionistic and commercial give you nothing.

The free industrial tech is often game-breaking for me, and I often pray to get Nationalism because it's worth so damn much to the AI. I usually end up having to buy my way into the Industrial age from behind, particularly on Deity. If I get there before any of them have a tech, that free one is worth at least 500 gpt to me - and more like 800 if I get Nationalism. It depends on your strategy, I guess, but mine is always to stockpile as much cash as possible going into the modern age, where I can't possibly keep up in research with the dominant AI. And a free modern tech is great for trading to other AIs who limp into the modern age after you while you beeline for Miniaturization, or scientific civs you help out by gifting techs to to get them to get them to the modern age in order to trade them for their free tech.

This may be the only real option at or above Emperor, but is plainly wrong at or below Monarch. Max research for Writing, followed by Code of Laws before Philosophy, getting Republic for free, is the fastest way to get out of despotism.

Speed getting out of despotism is only necessary if you're either going without the GL, or faced with wonders triggering your golden age. The 50 turns you take to research Writing will often get you a nice bankroll to fall back on should you need to buy techs.

If you are going for space race, the Great Library gives you too much culture and puts you at a disadvantage if you try to use if for free techs. You want to be the first to Education and Astronomy, not the third.

I always turn off culture victory, because I'd get it every game, and what would be the point of that?

The GL allows for a massive stockpile of gold, and getting to Astronomy second or third is no big deal as long as you have a pre-build going, or the AI hasn't been allowed to cascade down to Copernicus. Go 0 research with the GL and you'll have 4-5k gold, and then go max research for Astronomy as soon as you get Education. Buy it as soon as you can, unless you can continue to prebuild, in which case wait until you have enough shields before buying it, and it'll be a LOT cheaper.


But yeah, what I do is geared toward space race wins in higher level games. Actually, the good thing about OCC in Conquests is that the strategy is easier to develop because you are only worrying about one city. Just try a couple of games and you'll pick up on how it works in no time. One thing you will learn quickly is efficient tech trading, and that will help you with other games as well.

 

[metalhead]

The difficulty level greatly affects your victory condition.

Chieftain - You could win by conquest if you try.
Warlord & Regent - You will get 20k culture before the modern age.
Monarch & Emperor - Spaceship is very possible if you don't want diplo.
Deity - If you manage to build the UN, you deserve to win.

Deity should read "If you manage to build the Colossus, Copernicus', and Newton's, you deserve to win."

 

[budweiser]

It's not so much that it's overrated than every other trait is useless, except perhaps agricultural. You can afford a few turns of anarchy, so religious is useless. You won't be warring much, so militaristic is wasted. You won't expand at all, so expansionistic and commercial give you nothing.

Doesnt the commercial trait give you more gold as you city increases in size?

 

[Methos]

well, I guess technically conquest would be more challenging, but since it's pretty much impossible above Warlord, it's not worth mentioning.

I thought you might find this an interesting game. It’s a OCC Conquest attempt on a small pangaea on Monarch level. You can find it here.

 

[metalhead]

@budweiser - you get 1 extra gold in the city square at size 7, and 1 or 2 more at size 13. It's negligible, really, when compared to free techs that you can trade for huge amounts of gpt.

@Methos - yes, it is interesting. I'll be checking in frequently to see what you guys can do with it.

 

[Tomoyo]

I'd say Domination is the most challenging...

 

[Methos]

@Methos - yes, it is interesting. I'll be checking in frequently to see what you guys can do with it.

Clarification- I'm not in that game, just lurking.

 

[Mathias]

I always turn off culture victory, because I'd get it every game, and what would be the point of that?

I never turn off ANY victory condition. Part of the challenge is reaching your chosen VC without triggering any other.

Interesting, two of my SGs have been mentioned in this thread, and I've only started 3 SGs to date.

 

[BobCW]

Or this.

That was the game-ending post from an OCC space-race succession game I was in recently. We were leading out research all the way in that one, too.

Renata

How did you manage to gain one of every resource and luxury?

 

[Renata]

Purchased them. Luxes are dead cheap when you only have one city to keep happy; we paid 4 or 5 gpt for each one. Resources were more expensive, but by the end of the game we were rolling in money.

It seems to me that one thing that can really sink an OCC spacerace is a world so peaceful that no one acquires more than one of the critical resources. That would force war in the interests of one of your allies acquiring territory, and that could get rocky. But then again, such games are rare at high difficulty levels.

Renata

 

[Himalia]

Getting one of each luxery and or resource is not such a big deal i would say. Im sure most players have done it at some point. you bound to get a couple early on a couple more as you xpand and you can just trade or conque to get others. There often the causes of wars.

 

[BobCW]

Right, but if you wanted to conquer luxuries in a OCC game you'd need an elaborate system of colonies and forts (to defend them). Plus, I don't think that you'd be able to do anything with luxuries captured on another continent.


To Renata: That's interesting, I didn't know that your city amount effects the cost of trade goods.

 

[Mathias]

The cost of luxuries is proportional to the number of happy faces it will produce for the purchasing civ. Overall, I think it is generally around 2 to 3 gpt per happy face. We were importing 7 luxuries for a total of 33 gpt, gaining 19 happy faces.

I don't know how much affect your number of cities has on the cost of strategics. The more cities you have, the more likely you are to have any given strat within your territory. Anyway, that's for another thread.

 

[Himalia]

The difficulty level greatly affects your victory condition.

Chieftain - You could win by conquest if you try.
Warlord & Regent - You will get 20k culture before the modern age.
Monarch & Emperor - Spaceship is very possible if you don't want diplo.
Deity - If you manage to build the UN, you deserve to win.

Even adding SID to that list i will say that any victory condition is possible on any level. Ive only played Warlord through to Emperor about once each maybe twice in somecases. Played Diety countless times before the deifficulty SID was introduced. So ive obviousely not on them all possible ways except for Diety ,on SID i have also achived this. Domination is the most longwinded on a huge map but realtively easy on a tiny or small map. Diplomatic seems a great route to me on any level as is the Space race. Ive probably had more conquest victories than any other type which is disapointing consdiering i like to be peaceful. But once the AI picks a fight i dont tend to forget. I find the cultural victories are the most pleasing way of winning. There is no absolute path to victory evey method has it good and bad sides and even better methods can b countered by one of the not so good methods that just happens to be the counter for that style. All i can really say is every game is unique and an adaptive style of play is needed high up. I stick to a formula evry time but must be able to modify acording to the terrain, resources and enermy.

 

[Ansar]

I bought luxuries for 22 gold each kind of luxury.

I did my first OCC on Regent and I finished it today! Culture Victory!

13 Hours, 43 Minutes and 50 Seconds.

My city was the top city

I survived 2 Wars. Incredibly , it was like 20 Cavalries, 10 Longbowman, 20 Medieval Infantry's, 15 Rifleman.

Destroyed the Arabs in the Ancient Age.

Survived thats to Knights Templar ans Statue of Zeus, thank goodness for a starting location with Ivory, Luxurious and Helpful, not one SGL or MGL, Crusaders saved my life the entire game.

 

[Mathias]

Even adding SID to that list i will say that any victory condition is possible on any level.

This thread is about OCC, or One City Challenge, where you are not allowed to ever control a second city. With this restriction, domination is obviously impossible. Other VC's have varying degrees of difficulty depending on the level at which the game is played.

My city was the top city

Of course it was. The top 5 cities are ranked according to highest culture.

 

[SJ Frank]

Congrats AnsarKing101 on your first OCC. Surviving wars in OCC is quite a feat. Very nicely done

I'd say Domination is the most challenging...

Domination is obviously impossible, but there is one victory condition that is possible with an OCC, but very very hard -- Histograph

 

[Mathias]

Histograph victory possible with OCC? Sorry, I'd have to see it first.