OCC Tips Please

[Tone]

2. How boring would it be to keep playing to 2050? There should be 3 checkponts.
a. when you have the last civ down to one city.
b. when you have the last civ down to one city, and your score eclipses theirs...if it hasn't already.
c. 2050.

I have all turns saved using CAII so that information is already to hand. I actually had two weak civs down to one city each but kept them in check to try and help with tech progress so my condition for (a)could have been beaten, even by my poor warmongering standards!

I actually played a quick fire 50-60 turns after posting just before going to work. Every 7 turns I have an archer to kill but it won't take very long now. However the first two checkpoints are a good idea. People can then choose to abandon their game once the milk phase comes in.

Should we change b to "when your score eclipses all other civs' scores" as my remaining civs were not the highest scorers? Your choice

If you have this info, that would make me lean more towards playing your game. I really wouldn't want you to have to play another unless you really want too. Was the map Standard, or Small with 8 civs?

Standard map.

I'd be happy to play again on a different map. I would just need to ask someone else to check that the map we play is a single landmass before we start or I could start it a couple of days before posting it. The game is a fun variant IMO because of the OCC handicap so I will play another game like this soon. Trying it out as the Celts offers a different challenge.

I'm really kind of scared to play this on monarch. I say start a thread in Stories & Tales, hopefully some more will join in, and we can make a spoiler thread next week.

Regent it is then! Having got this far, I think I should set up a Celts regent level game. Just let me know how many civs and how large the map should be. I'll probably submit my other attempt as a HoF attempt and post a thread telling you all what I did as I kept a timeline of key events. I lost some of it in a powercut when we had some thunderstorms over here the other day but I have most of it and some screenshots of when I KO'd the various civs. This will give other people a guide to what I did and a target to beat!

Does that sound OK?

 

[MeteorPunch]

I meant to post here sooner. It all sounds good to me except less hills.

 

[Tone]

Yes, I think that I meant 5byo and I'm pretty sure that's what I did so I have no idea why I typed 3byo . I'll get something up and running over the weekend but perhaps on a small map as several people have suggested this.

I finished off my game this morning and I've submitted it to the HoF! It's going to be at the bottom but if it's accepted, it'll get me QM status. Here's the final score graph if you are interested. Also attached the starting save if anyone wants to give this kind start a go!

(I can't get Upload File working at the moment for some reason so you will need to click on the links to get these)

 

[Tone]

I've posted a game here so if anyone is up to giving OCC (histographic victory) a go, visit the thread and we can compare notes later.

 

[metalhead]

No waiting for tanks in my game, metalhead! I look forward to seeing how your game progresses and whether waiting until the IA is the way to go.

After my first game ended in frustration, I started another with Ottomans - small, continents, 70% water, random climate and age, but on Regent. This one went perfectly according to my plan. I still had not really stockpiled enough units to do it quickly, and didn't win until around 2007, but still pulled it off. I had around 12 Artys, 16 Infantry and 10 Sipahi, which isn't nearly enough units, but steadily adding some made things easier. And then, after I researched Robotics, I could build MA in one turn, and that pretty much spelled the end of the AI.

The current one I'm playing is a Monarch level, small, pangaea, 80% water, random climate and age, and it too is going very well. I'm the Germans this time, and I did a much better job stockpiling units - I had 16 catapults, 4 trebuchets, and 42 spearmen waiting for upgrade when I got replaceable parts, MUCH better than I'd done previously. I've really learned a lot this game about what to do for a OCC conquest victory, should you choose to wait it out until the IA.

First, skip most ancient wonders. The tourist attraction income is nice, but not necessary, and you are much better off spending the time building catapults. You want to build as many catapults as possible before you get engineering and have to spend 2 turns building a bombard unit. After that, you can focus exclusively on building spears. For this reason, you want neither iron nor saltpeter in your city radius. It really hurts to have to pay so much unit upkeep for the entire game, but it's necessary.

Second, add Leo's Workshop to the list of wonders you want - that spear-to-infantry upgrade is hella-expensive, and I suspect that in some games, it will be impossible to afford if you have cash-poor AI opponents. The help here is sorely needed.

Third, get to Democracy ASAP. It will halve your unit costs and have you crying tears of joy.

Finally, you want the AIs to fight each other as much as possible. The advantage of a pangaea game is that they will likely do just that, and even if you get involved, your city will be so heavily defended due to the units you've been stockpiling that you'll either be bypassed completely, or chew up anything that comes your way. This will also hopefully keep any AIs from becoming too dominant.

 

[Tone]

Did you research at a high rate and trade techs for cash to support your units, metalhead, or use another strategy for funding your large number of units?

 

[metalhead]

Trading techs for money allowed me to pay for the units through the middle and industrial ages. Once I got a research lab and SETI built, I could research well enough at ~50% and still support all of my units.

Interestingly, though, an invasion force really only needs to be 50 or 60 units to be effective on a small map, so unit support doesn't have to be all that costly. And if you're ahead in tech, you can pretty much stop researching once you get Computers.

 

[Tone]

And if you're ahead in tech, you can pretty much stop researching once you get Computers.

but of course to get manufcturing plants you didn't

I find it a good indicator of just how rich a game civ is that our approaches are so very different and yet both lead to successful games.

 

[Ansar]

Why stop at Computers? Research Labs?

 

[metalhead]

Computers gives you Mech Infantry, which are great if you've been stockpiling Infantry units as they'll easily take down enemy defenders.

 

[Ansar]

Hmm, you do make a good point, the only thing Mech Infantry cant stop is MA.