Initial tech choice: Alphabet vs. Iron Working
There has been some discussion in our social group concerning our starting tech. A lot of our discussion has been under the assumption that we are on a rainforest map. As such, I don't think we should make a commitment to our initial tech choice until T5 when we have more map info.
However, assuming that this is a rainforest map, we can expect:
1. All of the AI to be around the edges of the map with a small area carved out of the jungle.
2. Small lakes around the map.
3. Very small bodies of ocean water around the edge of the map.
4. Tons of jungle everywhere a civilization doesn't inhabit at the start.
5. Large areas of peaks potentiall making it difficult to reach large areas of the map.
6. All civs reachable via land.
Even if KCD started with a rainforest script, the end map could be vastly different. But, if large portions of the map and terrain were left unchanged, the start of the game will be challenging. I assume that after we've scouted the land around our starting area, we'll send our scout off to explore further and to meet the AI while our archer will stick around our planned second city site to keep our settler safe from the barbs. When I did this in a test game, my scout died rather quickly to the panthers in the jungle. Several of the AI scouts died as well, which meant that by T30, I had only met one other AI. In this game, I researched Alphabet first and was not able to get IW in trade because the one AI I had met would not trade it yet. The best location for a second city had some jungle squares and I settled it assuming I could get IW in trade, so I was not able to improve any tiles in my city's inner ring. I was done before the game even started.
So, in my opinion, researching Alphabet first is a gambit that could pay off or could backfire big time. The biggest benefits of researching Alphabet first are:
1. We can possibly get IW in trade since by the time we have Alphabet, several of the AI will already have IW since they research it quite early. This gives us IW for "free."
2. We can pick up other techs that the AI learn in addition to IW.
The biggest drawbacks include.
1. We may be isolated (or semi-isolated with contact to only one AI) and not be able to get anything in trade.
2. Even if we aren't isolated, our scout (or the AI's scouts) may not live long enough to meet each other.
3. Even if the AI scouts live, they aren't likely to explore way into the SE corner of the map until quite late in the game.
4. Even if we are able to research Alphabet and get IW right away, we'll end up getting IW later than if we had just researching IW right from the start since Alphabet is a more expensive tech than IW.
5. With all of the AI around the edge of the map, it take a long time to meet other AI even if all scouts live.
In an Ancient start, you never research Alphabet early until you have an idea of who your neighbors are and what the tech trading options would be. So, you don't have to make up your mind until T50 or later, which gives you a lot of time to explore and ensure that the researching Alphabet will provide a good return. I see it as a gambit (i.e. major risk) to research Alphabet first right out of the gate before we have any idea of our surrounding area and which AIs we can meet.
Researching IW first has the obvious drawback of researching something that we could surely get in trade should be meet enough AIs that know it. The advantages of IW first include:
1. We take control of our destination rather than leaving it to chance that we can get it in trade in a reasonable timeframe.
2. We can get IW before we settle our second city, which may influence where we settle it should iron pop up somewhere.
3. We can chop jungle as soon as our second city is settled, so we can settle it in the optimum location knowing that we could chop jungle in the inner ring should that be required.
So, if we're thinking about taking the Alphabet gambit before knowing the AI situation, we should be prepared to mitigate some of the risks by:
1. Sending both our scout and archer out to explore and meet the AI after scouting our starting area and building another archer before we build a settler to escort him safely to his settling location. This will delay city #2.
2. Planning on possibly settling our second city in a sub-optimal location that either has no jungle at all or has an improvable resource in the inner ring without needing to chop jungle.
3. Planning on not having a strategic resource until we are able to get IW from an AI. My guess is that KCD removed copper and horses from our starting area since we start with the techs that reveal them.
Personally, I'm strongly in the IW first camp, but if we are thinking of Alphabet first, we need to plan for the worst (i.e. not getting IW in trade at all) just in case it happens.
For anyone that is proposing Alphabet first, I hope you've played a rainforest test map out having skipped IW to see how easy/hard it will be to get it in trade.
ingentingg said:
Also, how about scouting coast with a Galley early on? Coastal trade routes will be the earliest and safest routes to get foreign commerce and a small chance of getting anearly religion spread to us.
This is something we can decide quite a bit later, but in every rainforest map I saw, the oceans are quite small (less than 20 tiles) and are only along the edge of the map. Of course, KCD may have made them bigger or this may not even be a rainforest map.
