Suggestion for Featured Game 4

[Gamewizard]

I want to mix things up a bit with a medieval era start as one of the post-ancient Civs, preferably Elizabeth on a map that would be fun for her (some water but not too much, to keep the AI more unpredictable). The AI Civs should be other post-ancient Civs, such as France, Germany, Russia, Ottomans.

Also on a more personal request, could this be on a small map with 5 or 6 AI civs, as I've been having a hard time running the game near the end of them (so much lag!).

Thanks for any considerations!

 

[void_genesis]

I second vote for this. Renaissance starts are very under-rated and I think Elizabeth was a close second on the last vote for leaders.

As an out-there map idea- what about a series of six identical islands to compare and contrast how the AI and different humans develop them?

 

[Txurce]

GotVEM #4 is way too early for those sorts of niche experiments. I would probably skip the game altogether if we had a late start. The early part of the game is 1) part of the game and 2) probably my favorite.

An island start for the human makes sense to me somewhere in the first ten, but I'm not particularly interested in how the AI would develop one.

 

[Thalassicus]

I think Txurce already has a map/leader picked out for game 4. It's planned in advance because it takes a few weeks to get the map set up and playtested. Game 5 is going to feature one of the DLC leaders. Something like a late start could possibly be a theme for Game 6. It's up to Txurce - he's in charge of the GotM progression.

 

[Gamewizard]

The medieval era start isn't THAT late into the game. I agree that the early game is more fun at this point than late game, and a medieval era start still feels like the early game.

The differences are you start with 2 settlers, worker, 3 spearmen and 200 culture to pick like 3 policies (I think). However there are far more options available for build order and I think it would be interesting to see the different directions people take regarding this.

 

[Txurce]

Why don't people submit proposals for the type of games they want, like this one?

We can then have a poll to see which types of games draw the most interest.

This can include preferences for (as examples) island starts, certain types as well as sizes of maps, the use of DLC, late starts, victory conditions, and different game speeds.

 

[wobuffet]

One idea I've seen in other contests/competitions is to have the winners of each GotVEM round pick (some of the variables in) the setup for the next round. Maybe let each of the six winners propose an option for each of several (Leader, Map type & size, Victory condition, etc.) polls?

 

[Thalassicus]

Most people probably don't care one way or another, so it might be easier to ask specific people than get spontaneous suggestions. A combination of both might be great too.

 

[Dunkah]

Perhaps a poll.

 

[Txurce]

I'm traveling without a PC, so Game 4 (Suleiman of the Ottomans) won't be ready for download until Monday. Sorry for the delay.

 

[RedRover57]

The problem with late start games is that the AI is even worse at mid to late era combat strategy than they are at early era combat. So you would need to jack up the difficulty for such a game.

Likewise for an islands map, which can be really boring because of the poor AI performance using naval combat.

 

[Txurce]

Now that Thal has confirmed that he won't be designing any GOTM's in the predictable future, it's up to us to decide whether to continue in some form.

I tried to put a GOTM together along the same lines Thal did - that is, by testing, altering maps, and so on, intending to have him troubleshoot him once I was done. Unfortunately, modding even with WorldBuilder is not my thing.

However, I really enjoyed the games we did have, and would look forward to more. It occurred to me that they could be as well thought out as Thal's, something completely different, or as simple as someone uploading an untried game.

Is there any interest in finding a way to continue without Thal?

 

[Hubay]

I always enjoy GOTM's. I don't think I would be very good at making them, but I would definitely be interested in seeing it continue.

I already do the "test GOTM's" on the vanilla thread, but I much prefer playing with VEM.

 

[void_genesis]

I'm very keen to keep the GOTM idea going. Making elaborate maps by hand is certainly too time consuming for the person running it. I would be just as happy using randomly generated maps with varying conditions. Perhaps the reward for winning for the first time would be to be able to select the map for the next game. Mods like play with me allow you to see the whole map for new games, so if you wanted you could scope them out a bit before choosing (or leave even yourself in the dark).

Please keep the GOTM going. I think I saw Thal posting on a Skyrim forum, so he probably isn't coming back (then again I'm racking up a lot of hours in Skyrim too on my holidays.....whee!).

Also- I just got the discount DLC civs from steam during their big sale. Perhaps we could have an all DLC GOTM4?

 

[Txurce]

Yes, WorldBuilder also allows you to check out the map and determine how interesting it seems. I'm just as happy with someone putting up an unseen game... and for winners to choose the next one. This definitely includes using DLC - Thal had intended to make #4 a DLC game, anyway.

 

[void_genesis]

A random all DLC civ start would be the easiest option. That has my vote at King level. I think starting soon is better than having a perfect map or the VEMGOTM might lose its last bit of momentum......

 

[Txurce]

Do you want to put one up? Just start a thread with the map attached is all that's needed... although you can put up a pre-game start position image if you're feeling industrious! I can follow up with the pre- and post-Astronomy threads.

 

[void_genesis]

If no one else is up to it I will be happy to generate an all DLC, newest VEM, perfect world, King level map on Sunday evening.

Votes for civ to play as?

Babylon
Denmark
Inca
Korea
Mongolia
Polynesia
Spain

My vote goes for Korea (the one people have probably played the least so far since it is the newest)

 

[Txurce]

I was going to play with Korea in my next game, so that's an easy +1 for me.

 

[void_genesis]

No worries. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for the start conditions. Even if it is just the two of us I will find it fascinating to see how the different games evolve. Keep a look out for the start on Sunday night (Australian time) or if you are in a hurry to start playing you can select a start map and I'll catch up later.