Superslug-A pacifist attempt at the HOF

[superslug]

I've decided to undertake what is (so far as I can tell) an unprecdented attempt at the HOF. I'm going to try and complete a game that qualifies without ever firing a shot at the AI. Yes, I'm going to make an HOF run without ever starting or fighting a war.

More details to follow as soon as I find an acceptable starting location...

 

[nihil8r]

my shortest huge game ever, and highest score ever seen achieved by the computer, was like in the 20,000's by russia. i didn't have anyone in my capital and russia moved a warrior into my territory, i didn't think anything of it because i had only been playing about a month at the time. then they declared war and sacked my capital in like 3000 bc.

you *might* not lose that badly.

 

[superslug]

You can rest assured I'll be keeping a very close eye on all traffic within my borders. Just because I'm going to refuse to attack the AI doesn't mean I won't put units in their way...

 

[Artofcybermars]

i salute you in your attempt super. I know some good scores can be achieved through non aggression from the descriptions of tournament games on other sites. But it certaily adds an layer of difficulty. one question tho. I know you wont start an war but will you defend if attacked. and if so will you stay within your borders and strictly defend or cross and raze to force peace. Some games I have read descriptions of were played under the restriction of never crossing your own border with an attack capable unit. If you need me too I can try and find links to these games again to give insight on how to best suceed at this endeavour. If you do achieve an CFC HOF score through non aggression it will be



SUPERSLUG

 

[superslug]

Artofcybermars, you raise some good points and I realixe I should hash out specific rules of engagement (or lack thereof) before I start the game (which I haven't yet).

Just to add to the challenge and the flavor I'm going to declare right out that I will not counterattack the AI, even if inside my own borders. At no point in the game will I attack an AI unit.

In regards to not putting attack capable units outside my borders, if I'm not planning on any attacking, there's no need for this limitation. As a matter of fact, I may want to use warriors to explore since this will be in Conquests.

Decided game settings thus far: warm/wet/5billion/pangaea/Chieftain/sedentary barbs with 8 AI on least aggressive mode.

I haven't decided yet which civ to play, but it's narrowed down to America, the Inca and the Maya.

EDIT: typo

 

[A_Turkish_Guy]

i suggest that play with America.And you are very peaceful i think.But it is really hard to get a very good score with that peace.good luck to you about your map and your starting position.(as always sorry for my English)

 

[superslug]

I usually like America too, but I'm really not sure I want to use the Expansionist trait for this kind of attempt. Since I've decided on Chieftain level, one town cranking out warriors can still pop a lot of huts before the AI gets to them. I can also give any techs I get to the AI to make sure that huts they pop give them something different.

To bo honest, I think the agricultural trait would serve me better in the long run.

 

[superslug]

Update:
I've been generating maps for three days and still haven't found anything I've played past 3000bc. I'm obviously being very picky, but I think it'll pay off in the long run.

 

[Moonsinger]

When I have time, I will write a utility that will generate map. Basically, it will work as follows:

1. Sending keystrokes to Civ3 and tell Civ3 to generate a new map
2. Save the map as xyz.
3. Invoke Mapstats and check for Map Statistics. If the map is good, save it to special folder; otherwise, reject it!
4. Goto step 1.

 

[superslug]

Under PTW I checked tile limits with MapStat and saved them while generating more, but I'm playing this one under Conquests, so MapStat doesn't work (last I checked).

 

[Moonsinger]

Whenever Civ3, PTW, C3C generate a new game, it automatically saves a copy of the game at 4000BC in the autosave directory. I think it's about time I take a look at that 4000BC save and hopefully I will be able to determine the domination limit based on that.

 

[superslug]

I'm pretty anal about city numbering and grid layouts. I may see if there's a correlation between MapStats wrong numbers, actual tile count and the dominatio percentage on the new victory screen.

 

[Artofcybermars]

I think going chieftain is the only viable choice you have. still plenty of wggle room on that board. And the other levels may prove too difficult to expand large enough to milk to an score without polishing your swords, Again i salute you. Not only are planning to monger peace on large scale you have tied your hands securely to be uber peacenik. I foresee much action as the sheep in the middle for super. will be watching closely to see how much wool makes it to the marketplace.

 

[superslug]

I don't consider what I see to be a good starting location, but I have a hunch some exploration will reveal what I want to see:
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/Image13.jpg

EDIT: First hut popped a Settler before I finished constrution of my "first" worker!

 

[superslug]

I decided my vow of pacifism also applied to the barbarians, just to be a purist. Of course, I felt no compunctions about letting them follow me to AI borders.

 

[superslug]

You'd think that before I decided to tackle an insane endeavour like this I would have done my homework and figured out what would trigger a GA. Now I get to kick back and enjoy 20 turns of wasted partying...oh well, I'll get to Republic faster...
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/superslugwhoops.jpg
(Triggered by completion of Pyramids.)

 

[superslug]

Well, it turns out that switching to Republic was a really bad idea. The fundamental cornerstone of my land grab strategy is the Temple of Artemis. Since this will trigger border expansions in all towns after a few turns, I'm dropping my Settlers at five tile gaps. Because of this, they have to cover a lot more ground before being planted, hence, I have a lot of Settlers out and about with workers building roads.

One freebie per town isn't going to cut it, so I'm going to switch to Feudalism ASAP...especially since I haven't built any aqueducts yet...the milk phase is a long way away.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/superslugnorepublic.jpg

 

[superslug]

I hate to have gone through anarchy again, but it was well worth it. As compared to the previous post's linked image, this is a substantially cheaper "offense":
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads6/thatsmorelikeit.jpg

 

[Darkness]

I salute your perseverance in this superslug. Personally I'd never try a game like this on a huge map, 'cause IMHO it'd be a bit boring...

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by Darkness
...'cause IMHO it'd be a bit boring...

I was a little worried about that myself, but I'm actually finding the expansion phase to be wrought with tension for me. The reason it's exciting for me is that I know once all the land is filled up, that's it.

I'm sure Artemis will culture flip some AI to my side, I'll have no control over that. In a typical game you have two chances to grab territory, whereas I only have one!