Outside the box. Shred the box.

[iggymnrr]

Testing out Peter in a rainforest. Quick trial looked liked 5 turns slower on a slot that has faster times on both the larger and smaller map sizes. Trying to decide if a deep dive into research institutes is worth it. That rather implies Cereal Mills and maybe that Kremlin thingy. Probably also state property before factories and Mining Inc. Discounts for whipping RIs seem nice. Oracle refrigeration and then lib the RI tech ... Hm.

 

[iggymnrr]

Peter in a rainforest has some decent potential. I have a game now where the tech pace is sufficient (thanks to early labs) but the production speed is awful. It is probably best to have MapFinder yield starts with silver. That resource can be absent and indicate whether Mining Inc. will be crappy or not. Maybe the current game will be enough for a new record. Ironworks/Apollo Program are both problematic. A person probably has to cater to an Ironworks capitol to counter lagging production speed. e.g, For the Apollo Program.

 

[iggymnrr]

Having some problems with multiple saves running again. Confusion. It appears I loaded from an exit save after getting home from work and then minimized the game before going to bed. Or, more accurately, intending to rest for a bit to allow the 30 minute thing to take effect. At any rate, I must have loaded from the same save the next morning, perhaps minimizing the game again for coffee purposes. Somehow the game was continued by loading from a later exit save and eventually discovering a second copy of the game that had been running like for two days. Its possible the current game was from the original game or that the current game is from the 2nd game perhaps without playing for a 30 minute stretch. Nothing transpired between the 2 loads except thinking/.planning, I think. But I have no idea what actually happened.

 

[iggymnrr]

Finished a game on a small chieftain rainforest as Peter. There was potential to beat the current record of 625 AD. But I lost the thread a couple of times and got out at 735 AD. The primary strategy was using fail gold and cheap workers almost exclusively for the first half of the game. It is possible to wonder spam in the rainforest. Did I hear someone say Bismarck? That might have been a better choice. On the other hand Peter did produce 19 GPs. The last 4 went for bulbs on computers, fission, fiber optics, and fusion. During the last 30 turns a 20th one popped out. It was a scientist that could build an academy producing 100 beakers per turn. See screenshot. All this from setting a bad starting location with the idea of gifting Moscow later. I'm not sure yet which industrious leader to choose next. I don't know that I've given the Incas much of a chance on the low levels ... or Rammy, or Augie, or Roosevelt, or Bismarck.

 

[iggymnrr]

Looks like the MapfFinder settings used for Peter was simply any start with 2 huts and 1 food. Talk about not caring much for a decent start. I've tentatively decided on playing the Incas on a small warlord highlands. Warlord grants the Wheel as an additional starting tech. So the Incas start with max value on starting lech. And a starting warrior instead of a scout.

 

[iggymnrr]

THE INCA STRIKE BACK !! The small warlord map's space race record was 920 AD by Roosevelt. Huayna said, "I can do that." He did and finished in 910 AD. (Game accepted and awaiting publication) At marathon speed he toyed with a few new ideas. The 1000 BC wonder list was basically a deposit receipt for fail gold. Always tech the next wonder ATM.

Spoiler :

There was also no hurry to find the capitol. But Huayna did find it on turn 12. Lisbon. By 1000 BC it was evident that another idea was at work. A settled merchant. Another merchant had been used to bulb Guilds so it was decided to settle a scientist a little while later. The capitol was destined to have both Wall Street and Oxford. Until then a little front money was useful to help with the cost of REXing. Sorta smoothed things out.

Spoiler :

Also on on turn 12 Cuzco was founded and a short while later Machu Picchu was settled nearby for some terrace cottaging. Marble and stone on the same turn. Cuzco would later run a third corporation, Cereal Mills, as that corp could grow production cities fast. A lot of them had no food. Of course there were some extra specialist cities that could squeeze out extra scientists (for the end game) while the fast growing production cites increased their value.

Spoiler :

On reflection the organized trait may be better. The cost of civic upkeep at 1000 BC could be worth 2-3 extra cities. Meanwhile 10 cities with cheap courthouses by 2000 BC would be worth ~4GPT or 4K by 1000 BC. If state property is chosen later the cost per city is ~2.5 GPT. Practically free. Asoka... Frederick... One is not precluded from also dabbling in a little fail gold...