Pyramids/Deity

[superslug]

I'm about to start a new game on the Deity level and I want to make sure I build the Pyramids before anyone else. I'm in search of advice/tips/experience anyone would care to share for this effort.

The game is going to be huge/random/pangea/warm/wet. There will be eight random AI's. Accelerated production and cultural link will be off, preserve random seed on, all victory types enabled.

I'll be playing either the Ottomans or the Persians, I haven't decided which yet, but probably the Ottomans as the GA/UU will suit my planned strategy better.

I'm thinking about rejecting the map until I get something that has forest(s), bonus food(s) and a luxury. I could chop down the trees to rush the first one or two units and start the Pyramids that many turns faster. The luxury would also provide a third smile (in addition to garrison). The food is obvious. By building just two units and then the Pyramids before anything else, I've beat the AI to the Pyramids on Emperor many times, but Deity is Diety.

I'm also wondering about barbs. Should I set them on restless to hassle the AI since I'm going to go nowhere until I build the Pyramids? I could leave two units in the capitol and one to escort the worker...

BTW, this would be PTW, latest American patch.

 

[ivory]

Go for it.
Perhaps leave a forest to slow growth while still providing plenty of production, so unhappiness doesn't get out of hand. Forest(s), bonus food(s) AND a luxury may be just a little too much to ask.
I 'm afraid luck is a considerable factor.

 

[superslug]

I guess my best bet would be a bonus food on a forest tile. When playing this kind of game I like to start on the northern shore where that should be available.

This is going to be an HOF attempt, I will reject maps for days if I have to.

 

[Speaker]

Originally posted by superslug
I'm also wondering about barbs. Should I set them on restless to hassle the AI since I'm going to go nowhere until I build the Pyramids? I could leave two units in the capitol and one to escort the worker...

I would recommend against this. Deity barbs will slaughter your two warriors. How much would that suck to have the Pyramids almost built but lose them to a barbarian.

 

[superslug]

Excellent point, Speaker! I guess the buggers would show up and provide a production xenocide, no? (Sorry, I couldn't resist the Orson Scott Card reference when I saw your name....)

 

[Speaker]

You know, in the six months I have been on this board, that is onle the second or third Orson Scott Card reference that has been made. And I would imagine that Ender's Game is a favorite book of a lot of people here....

 

[superslug]

I think mine is actually probably Eon by Greg Bear, but I haven't had a lot of time to read lately, given how many hours I've logged on Civ3. I've got a new novel waiting for me as soon as I actually finish a game, hence this thread!

 

[Sirp]

Originally posted by Speaker


I would recommend against this. Deity barbs will slaughter your two warriors. How much would that suck to have the Pyramids almost built but lose them to a barbarian.

Well considering he seems fairly willing to contrive the scenario, he can just set barbs to none. That is a good way to make Deity a little easier

Building the Pyramids just isn't something you can normally do on Deity. I have managed to build the Great Library from scratch on it though.

-Sirp.

 

[superslug]

Actually none might be a great idea, as it would not only spare me the hassle, there wouldn't be any goody huts for the AI to pop, right? I mean, being Deity I will fall behind, and even deliberately since I'm going to build the Pyramids before anything else, but once I start rushing those settlers out-ICS here we come!

 

[Gainy]

Unless you start the Pyramids REALLY early then you are never going to get them before the AI. The only other way to get them is by trying to get a Great Leader and rushing em. ( i have only had the Pyramids twice on Deity, and one of those times it was with a Leader)

Good luck

Edit: and you are on the right track by going an Indsutrious civ

 

[superslug]

Oh, I am definitively planning on early. With each map, I'm just going to drop the settler and plant a city on the tile he starts. If I don't like the map, I'll reload (typical HOF behavior). My first action after planting the city will be queing three warriors and then the Pyramids. I'll be doing it THAT early.

I've done this on Emperor a lot and usually have the Pyramids halfway done by the time I get notifications the others are working on it. Of course the contacts take a while...but I've beat them to it on that level plenty of times.

 

[Louis XXIV]

You might want to try the Americans.

You start with a scout and only build 2 warriors

That will give you the same 3 units, in faster time

 

[superslug]

The whole purpose of my three units is two for defense and garrison contentment, and the third to escort my precious worker, just in case. A scout kind of sucks on defense.

Besides, I don't even play the expansionist trait on lower levels anymore. Considering that I'm going to have a granary in each city and lots of cities, with the scientific trait, I'll should be burning through the tech tree at the minimum four turns before the industrial age.

 

[DaveMcW]

It's possible to build the Pyramids on deity. But you have to sacrifice so much that your empire will grow faster if you don't build them.

 

[Louis XXIV]

OK, I thought you were using it for scouting

Of course its a bad idea to use a scout for defense (that goes without saying)

 

[superslug]

@Dave-There's only going to be eight AI civs, there'll be plenty of room on the map left when I get them done, and since I'll be dropping cities every other tile or so, I'll have a critical mass of towns producing more settlers rather quickly. My strategy is rather extreme: I'm going for ICS.