stuck in the middle of nowhere

[Allacalander]

The game I recently played (which was all random) set me up on an island map with very little land. As it turns out, I was the one civ who was isolated from all the others. How isolated? there were enough ocean tiles between me and the next civ that it took three turns in a galley to reach it, and that was if you knew which direction to go (which I of course did not.) It was the tenth ship that finally spotted land. A few more before one survived the full journey.

Anyway, by the time I did make contact with someone else, they were already far into the middle ages and I was stuck at the early middle ages. As I met other civs, I found out they were all far advanced ahead of me too, due to their having been able to talk to each other and trade since early in the game. Plus a few goody huts probably. And most of the rest of the world was already claimed, by the time I got to see it.

To top it all off, I had so little land, that I couldn't really get a good cash flow or science going and I couldn't trade my one asset, incense, with anyone until Navigation came along. AND I had no iron. Plus, no one seemed to be making reasonable trades with me for anything else. Like a bad salesman, I kept being told no.

War seemed also silly since 1) I couldn't reliably get a force to their land and 2) they had more troops and more technology than I did. Although, I was pretty safe since it would be a while before anyone could consistently reach me.

So I had no idea what to do. I tried going the friendly route, hoping for a diplomatic victory, but since I was so far behind the curve I knew I couldn't build the UN and wasn't sure how I could get enough votes.

So, what would you do? In particular, what government style best favors this situation?

 

[Bartleby]

Sounds like a tough situation (good challenge ).
What's the difficulty level, mapsize, etc.?
Can you upload a save?

Once you realise you're in that kind of situation you'd need to maximise any trading opportunity you can. Probably try a zero research strategy, but I dunno if I've ever dug out of a really deep hole that way.

 

[Allacalander]

It was good challenge! I kept on playing just to see what I could make of it.

The difficulty was Monarch and the mapsize is Huge. There were 7 other civs, but the Romans were mostly gone by the time I met them. I am playing Aztecs (which makes it all the more frustrating because I can't expand or attack!)

I did not save an early version of the game, though I did think of it. I also found (much too late) an article on this site about my exact situation. Even had I found it though, I don't know that I could do much with it since it relies on founding a new city on their land, stocking it with military and going from there. I couldn't get to the land fast enough nor did I have iron.

I will tell you I made a crucial error towards the end of the game (it is not over yet, but I have all but lost.) Noticing how far behind I continued to be in science and recognizing that I probably did not have enough turns to conquer another civ (nor the necessary technology) I decided to switch to democracy from communism. Focus on catching up science, hope for a diplomatic victory and make a space ship run.

It was an error because I had not built many courthouses or police stations, so all my developing towns were brought to a grinding halt from corruption and waste. I ended up losing 7 turns in the revolution and did not gain any turns toward advancing science.

 

[darski]

This reminds me of a game of Civ 1 that I still remember to this day.

I had a little trireme that I had out pushing through the ocean and it did not die (believe it or not, Ripley) I finally landed on the other continent and set up my city with my settler and phalanx. I was immediately DOWed by Cleo and her tank took out my city in one go.

I can still see that image of the line of ocean I traveled to finally arrive at a landmass. I wasted decade after decade trying to get to someone to share a bit of knowledge. Just not meant to be. I hate being completely cut off from any other civs...