If one cares to... image this as a 'contest'.
There are 4 rounds.
The top 1000 CIV VI culture players (single player vs AI) are invited (imagine you are one!) with big prizes!!!
Each round the top 20% (by lowest victory turn) move on:
Round 1: Top 200/1000 move on
Round 2: Top 40/200 move on
Round 3: Top 8/40 move on
Round 4: Top 1/8 is Champion.
(This part is just imaginary for sake of generating conversation towards going after a 'great' CV turn score... *it doesn't need to be 'the best' possible*)
Rules (Standard Speed /500, Size: 8):
1. You are going for culture victory, must be peaceful - no war, no pillaging, (loyalty flipping is OK).
2. No mods or special game modes, except as follows:
3a. You pick your leader - and it must be different from any previous round(s) (ie. Who is your top 4 culture leader choices? -discussed one-at-a-time)
3b. You pick your map type each round. It can change with each leader.
3c. You pick your 7 opposing AI, ordering them from #1(most preferred) to #7(least preferred).
3d. You pick your 12 city-states, ordering them from #1(most preferred) to #12(least preferred).
3e. You pick your 5 natural wonders, ordering them from 1#(most preferred) to #5(least preferred)
[For sake of conversation, it's a little simpler to just pick a 7/12/5 for the 'entire tournament'... but if somebody wanted to discuss 'by leader choice' - that's fine... I'm interested.]
4. No Mag-Cathy. Sorry. [I've read that fastest CS victory thread... Mag-Cathy seems to be run-away winner and kind of ruined the discussion of what other leaders *could* do.]
5. Wonders and CityStates and AI opponents would be as random as a regular game set-up. (For the sake of imagining a 'contest' - and 'fairness' - choosing Kandy as your #1 CS only means it is 'somewhere'... you cannot assume it is NEAR.)
What kind of idealized set-up would you do (3a-3e)?
Backstory: (I'm newer to Civ6, only having it on console -PS4 - since time free'd up for me in Jan.2024. I do realize there are already many, many, many threads on culture victory speed... I've churned through them, here and reddit and general web).
For past 12 months, I've been working on CVs, trying to optimize my game to get the victories under 200 turns. I've probably done this with 12-15 leaders thus far, all victories are t180-t200... haven't broken 180 yet. When I poke around on this site... or general internet and see 'fastest'... I'm always curious for a greater story on the how/why. Besides the Mag-Cathy victories, the most consistent trend I see towards fast CVs... is... that the collective AI-opponents are just incredibly weak, by tourist count - there's one thread where somebody posts their turn130 CV. What I see on the culture/tourism screen with 8 leaders... is all the (7)opponents are at <60 tourists at t130. Crazy. I've never, ever had a game with top culture opponent that low.
But if you did (cheese) choose your opponents... definitely possible to set a new PB (personal best).
Ideal City-States?!?
An ideal wonder!?!
People often reference Kandy - but actually getting storage for a 2nd relic is often not quick - and I find it stressful to pace a scout.
Example towards the Magic of "Ideal Conditions":
I just finished a game where I tried this out with Ludwig.
I put in 7 AI that appeared in somebody else's "best CV game" - because their listed tourists at t130 was so incredibly low... I decided to try that same set.
I cheesed 12 CS that I like to have in-game.
I cheesed 5 wonders that I like to have... either for their own yields or for HolySite adjacency.
I broke my previous best CV (183 w/Pericles) on one of my first ten (or so) starts using Ludwig: CV 167. (Ik-Kil ended up near capital)
Cheese? Oh... Yes.
But - also a bit of a learning tool - in how to know a game has high potential to be 'Highlight Reel' for low-turn victory.
TLDR, summary:
What is ideal 'total' combination of things to break right (luck/RNG)... that can paired with a leader-skill and gamer's-skill?
(Mag-Cathy aside)... Who is the most likely Civ Leader(a,b,c,d)+MapType+AI(7)+CS(12)+Wonders(5) to pull it off (current GS)?
There are 4 rounds.
The top 1000 CIV VI culture players (single player vs AI) are invited (imagine you are one!) with big prizes!!!
Each round the top 20% (by lowest victory turn) move on:
Round 1: Top 200/1000 move on
Round 2: Top 40/200 move on
Round 3: Top 8/40 move on
Round 4: Top 1/8 is Champion.
(This part is just imaginary for sake of generating conversation towards going after a 'great' CV turn score... *it doesn't need to be 'the best' possible*)
Rules (Standard Speed /500, Size: 8):
1. You are going for culture victory, must be peaceful - no war, no pillaging, (loyalty flipping is OK).
2. No mods or special game modes, except as follows:
3a. You pick your leader - and it must be different from any previous round(s) (ie. Who is your top 4 culture leader choices? -discussed one-at-a-time)
3b. You pick your map type each round. It can change with each leader.
3c. You pick your 7 opposing AI, ordering them from #1(most preferred) to #7(least preferred).
3d. You pick your 12 city-states, ordering them from #1(most preferred) to #12(least preferred).
3e. You pick your 5 natural wonders, ordering them from 1#(most preferred) to #5(least preferred)
[For sake of conversation, it's a little simpler to just pick a 7/12/5 for the 'entire tournament'... but if somebody wanted to discuss 'by leader choice' - that's fine... I'm interested.]
4. No Mag-Cathy. Sorry. [I've read that fastest CS victory thread... Mag-Cathy seems to be run-away winner and kind of ruined the discussion of what other leaders *could* do.]
5. Wonders and CityStates and AI opponents would be as random as a regular game set-up. (For the sake of imagining a 'contest' - and 'fairness' - choosing Kandy as your #1 CS only means it is 'somewhere'... you cannot assume it is NEAR.)
What kind of idealized set-up would you do (3a-3e)?
Backstory: (I'm newer to Civ6, only having it on console -PS4 - since time free'd up for me in Jan.2024. I do realize there are already many, many, many threads on culture victory speed... I've churned through them, here and reddit and general web).
For past 12 months, I've been working on CVs, trying to optimize my game to get the victories under 200 turns. I've probably done this with 12-15 leaders thus far, all victories are t180-t200... haven't broken 180 yet. When I poke around on this site... or general internet and see 'fastest'... I'm always curious for a greater story on the how/why. Besides the Mag-Cathy victories, the most consistent trend I see towards fast CVs... is... that the collective AI-opponents are just incredibly weak, by tourist count - there's one thread where somebody posts their turn130 CV. What I see on the culture/tourism screen with 8 leaders... is all the (7)opponents are at <60 tourists at t130. Crazy. I've never, ever had a game with top culture opponent that low.
But if you did (cheese) choose your opponents... definitely possible to set a new PB (personal best).
Ideal City-States?!?
An ideal wonder!?!
People often reference Kandy - but actually getting storage for a 2nd relic is often not quick - and I find it stressful to pace a scout.
Example towards the Magic of "Ideal Conditions":
I just finished a game where I tried this out with Ludwig.
I put in 7 AI that appeared in somebody else's "best CV game" - because their listed tourists at t130 was so incredibly low... I decided to try that same set.
I cheesed 12 CS that I like to have in-game.
I cheesed 5 wonders that I like to have... either for their own yields or for HolySite adjacency.
I broke my previous best CV (183 w/Pericles) on one of my first ten (or so) starts using Ludwig: CV 167. (Ik-Kil ended up near capital)
Cheese? Oh... Yes.
But - also a bit of a learning tool - in how to know a game has high potential to be 'Highlight Reel' for low-turn victory.
TLDR, summary:
What is ideal 'total' combination of things to break right (luck/RNG)... that can paired with a leader-skill and gamer's-skill?
(Mag-Cathy aside)... Who is the most likely Civ Leader(a,b,c,d)+MapType+AI(7)+CS(12)+Wonders(5) to pull it off (current GS)?
