Superslug: Monarch #1, take two-

[superslug]

-and lights, camera, action!

Since Superslug is so busy focusing on playing his game to the best of his ability, the play-by-play and commentary in this thread will be brought to you by his inner children:



Super: Hi there! I'm one of Superslug's inner children! Obviously my name is Super. As you come to know me, you will find that I as Civ players go, I am a peaceful builder. I represent Superslug's calm intellect, as well as his dorkiness.

Slug: Shut up you spamming nerd. It's time for the flamer to talk! Peaceful builders like you ruin this great game! You would never get to milk a map for points if weren't for the brutal conquistadores like me that put it all under your control! Death to the AI!

Super: Slug, while the two of us may disagree on a good many things, we're going to have to learn to cooperate if we're going to win this game. We should start discussing priorities. I think we should build the United Nations.

Slug: I couldn't agree more! A diplomatic victory is totally demeaning and worthless. No votes should ever be held! We'd never win a vote after all the razing I plan on doing!

Super: Um, not quite what I had in mind. How would you suggest we win then?

Slug: We take over everyone except one quarantined AI town located on some godforsaken slice of worthless tundra. We then dangle the illusion of survival over their head the rest of the game until we kill them in 2049!

Super: Perhaps we could keep more several towns, one each for the scientific civs so we can get all the free opening techs at the beginning of the industrial ages. We'll get to the Longevity wonder faster!

Slug: Longevity? I don't care about Longevity!

Super: Okay, then look at this way. We'll get to the ICBM tech's faster!

Slug: Now you're talking!

Super: Of course before we can get to the end of a game, we have to start it. Perhaps we should discuss map settings?

Perched on opposite shoulders of Superslug, the duo turn their attention to his monitor to analyze the map setting options...

 

[superslug]

Super: We should enable barbarians in order to speed up tech pace. We might could milk longer that way.

Slug: Yeah, whatever. They'll get me to Cavalry faster first! We should also put them on Sedentary.

Super: Sedentary? I'm shocked to hear you say that! Aren't you looking for a fight?

Slug: Indeed, a fight with the AI civs, not with the AI loser huts...Why are we discussing these settings? Isn't it going to be a warm, wet pangaea thingy that's 5 billion years old on a planet that's 60% water?

Super: Actually, I was hoping we could collectively convince Superslug to go for an archipelago this time. Those maps have higher domination limits.

Slug: More tiles! Yes! More death and destruction! And then more milking points!

Super: Seeing things my way already?

Slug: I'm just trying to understand you before I eat you for dinner. Pressing the enter key is highly recommended at this moment...

Super defies the speed of light on a collision course with the return key...

 

[boogaboo]

So you have civ-personality division..
Great post!
I like people with distorted minds.

I voted it would be rude..

We have a rock band here that made a great album about a person who has a split personality and every few songs he "switches" to another name.
The records is about his 24 hours, and is called "Radio blabla" -
6AM-12AM: "Fredy" - The morning's depressed guy ("how did I get this way" thoughts. rock.
12AM-6PM: "Happy Vaxman" - a man who takes drugs and he's happy. Rock/pop.
6PM-12PM: "Shetz" - the bad guy. Frustrated destructive thoughts. Hard rock mainly.
12PM-6AM: "Lisa" - optimistic good loving woman. Illustrating our real needs and desire for love, and lack of other interests. classic/slow rock.

It's a great Israeli album, but I'm sure u don't know it..
But it seemed connected to the issue.. some issue..

 

[superslug]

Slug: Okay, some of these are obvious as stated in the HOF rules. How many AI nations do we want?

Super: As many as possible I would think. If we do everyone Scientific and Expansionist, that should speed up the tech pace, which is something we both want.

Slug: Let's see here...Slug scrolls over list of Scientific and Expansionist AI.We may not have counted them all, but according to the working list, there's one too many for the available slots on a standard huge map. Who do we scratch off?

Super: The Ottomans. Do you really want to face the Sipahi with your Cavalry?

Slug: That would mean a mean counteroffensive, so not really.

Super: "Mean a mean counteroffensive?" Your mean pun is redundant and plentyoffensive.

Slug: Nice pun yourself you wimp. AI aggression-least okay? The faster we kill, the better I look!

Super: Yes, least aggression. Respawn on or off?

Slug: Off. It's a waste of time trying to kill something that won't die the first two times.

Super: Agreed, more time for milking score.

Slug: More time for killing the next guy. Wait a minute, who are WE playing as?

Superslug: THE MAYANS.

Super: Well, God has spoken.

Slug: By your command, sir!

Slug clicks Monarch and generates the first map...

 

[Svar]

Are you sure you don't want to wait for the 1.16 patch, it should be out last week?

 

[superslug]

Super: Ugh, this starting location stinks. This map is crap!

Slug: I hate to say this, but we don't have time to rhyme. Anyway, before we generate a new map, we forgot to discuss culturally linked starting locations.

Super: Let's not. According to the list, the only definitive neighbor would be Lincoln and I don't like Republicans. I registered Democrat.

Slug: Interesting, I registered Independent.

Super: Really? If we're registered differently, what does that make Superslug? An independent democrat? Or a democratic independent?

Slug: At the moment, he's probably someone who doesn't want to get busted twice for the two of us spamming. He never should have trusted us with his computer. Anyway, kill the map and start over. We know EMan's domination limit, we should be able to top it and still have plenty of choices of good starting locations. While we're spinning up maps, we should answer some of our fan club mail:

Originally posted by boogaboo:
The records is about his 24 hours, and is called "Radio blabla"

Slug: Gratuitous plug of our soundtrack has been posted. We thank you.

Originally posted by Svar:
Are you sure you don't want to wait for the 1.16 patch, it should be out last week?

Super: We may still yet play under that patch! Keep in mind that even with Moonsinger/Dianthus' wonderful utility, map generation could take days. Even after that several game starts will be made and then abandoned if they don't meet our criteria (more on that later). So it's very very possible we'll be at a point where we can download a patch (if approved by Aeson) and start over.

 

[Darkness]

Voted yes...

Even though that'd drop my monarch game to 3rd, I still think it's great to see someone set a new no.1, which will off course be a nice target for the rest of us.

BTW, I'm still not really sold on the Mayans(agr/ind). I really dislike their automatic GA after completion of the Pyramids, which comes to early in the game, IMHO. I'd also give the Iroquois (agr/com) and the Sumerians (agr/sci) some serious thought, if I were you.

 

[Svar]

Originally posted by Darkness
Voted yes...
BTW, I'm still not really sold on the Mayans(agr/ind). I really dislike their automatic GA after completion of the Pyramids, which comes to early in the game, IMHO. I'd also give the Iroquois (agr/com) and the Sumerians (agr/sci) some serious thought, if I were you.

I have gotten around the early GA with the Mayans by researching Polytheism before Philosophy so I take Monarchy as the free tech and immediatly switch govenments. That way I get my GA under Monarchy. This works for my Small Warlord 20K try anyway, I haven't tested it at Monarch.

OT: I also voted yes, you might as well have two scores better than mine.

 

[Darkness]

In my current chieftain game I did nearly the same. I am also the Mayans in that game, so I researched alphabet, writing, code of laws, philosophy (SGL), so I picked republic as my free tech and revolted. I then rushed the pyramids in the turn my republic was established, thus avoiding a despotic GA, but I still got the GA when my empire was really small, leading me to suspect my GA could have been more effective if it had happened, say, 20-40 turns later....

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by Darkness
BTW, I'm still not really sold on the Mayans(agr/ind). I really dislike their automatic GA after completion of the Pyramids, which comes to early in the game, IMHO.

Super: The Pyramid/GA is a definite issue with the Mayans. However, it's not likely to be applicable for this game. We're not planning on building the Pyramids.

Slug: Yes, considering how many opponents we have enabled, the map fills up fast. We can grab just as nice a slice of territory off of a Settler factory or two as we could off of Pyramid fueled expansion.

Super: The times we've built the Pyramids, we've sometimes been unable to finish the Temple of Artemis due to wonder cascading. If we skip the Pyramids, we're much more likely to finish ToA.

Slug: ToA seems to more helpful in that using our usual ICS, we can generate enough culture to flip some towns to our side before we get to Military Tradition. This way we can maintain some form of expansion while still waiting for the oppurtune moment for actual combat.

Super: Aside from ToA, the only other wonder we wish to build (and will abandon a game if we don't) is Leonardo's Workshop. The long term importance of the Pyramids is reduced by the map being an archipelago.

Slug: Although eventually, I will take over the Pyramids, along with everything else...

 

[zerksees]

I voted this would be rude.

Beating the top score is always an open challenge - so go for it!

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by zerksees
I voted this would be rude.

Super: I thought the idea of the poll was rude myself, but Slug made me do it. At least he let me write part of the poll options.

Originally posted by zerksees
Beating the top score is always an open challenge - so go for it!

Slug: Trust me I am! I just wish I didn't have to bring that Super guy along...

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by Darkness
I'd also give the Iroquois (agr/com) and the Sumerians (agr/sci) some serious thought, if I were you.

Slug: You know, Darkness, the more I think about this, the more I like the idea. The Iroquois could prove a valuable choice. The traits are strong and the Mounted Warrior would give us a good chance at initiating combat before getting to Military Tradition.

Super: Wait a minute! I thought we were going to rely on ToA for preMT expansion!

Slug: I still want to build that! If we use it right, the ToA will reduce chances of taken cities flipping back.

Super: Okay, I see that point, but are you sure ditching the Industrious trait is a good idea? We've always played someone Industrious...

Slug: True, but we've never avoided the Pyramids or played an archipelago either. Why not go for broke on the learning curve? Besides, with a Commercial civ there won't be so much need to set towns to Wealth. Since ToA will mean we'll keep cities instead of razing them, we'll just set everyone to making workers.

Super: Eventually we'd be producing 50 workers per turn! Okay, you sold me. Besides the current start kind of stinks...one Settler factory, two worker factories and only one luxury? Yeah, let's reset the Mapfinder...

Slug: Okay, Darkness, we'll at least tinker with the Iroquois for a few hours and see how we like it!

 

[Darkness]

Originally posted by superslug


Super: The Pyramid/GA is a definite issue with the Mayans. However, it's not likely to be applicable for this game. We're not planning on building the Pyramids.

Why not?
IMHO the earlier you built the Pyramids in a HoF game the better, even on an archipelago map! The free granary in every city on the same continent is great, especially if you're playing an archipelago map with a 4373 domination limit, where you start on one massive(pangaea-like) landmass, with 6 of the 8 AI opponents on it....

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by Darkness
Why not?
IMHO the earlier you built the Pyramids in a HoF game the better, even on an archipelago map! The free granary in every city on the same continent is great, especially if you're playing an archipelago map with a 4373 domination limit, where you start on one massive(pangaea-like) landmass, with 6 of the 8 AI opponents on it....

Slug: Because if we don't build it, then I get to have an excuse to take it over! And if Superslug decides he likes the Iroquois' Mounted Warriors, we can do it pretty quick!

Super: Maybe we should enable Culturally Linked Starting Locations. The Americans attributes give them a good shot at being the first to build it. If they do, and they're our neighbors on a good sized island, that makes our first target obvious.

Slug: A good sized island, the Americans build the Pyramids, we build ToA, we take over the Pyramids and then build Leonardo's? Super, do you realize how many starts we'll have to try before we get those kind of circumstances?

Super: Well, it's EMan's score we're trying to beat, and you have to wonder how many false starts he suffered through before getting lucky on that ultraearly GL. Besides, it's not like we can't use the practice...

Slug: I hate it when you're right. We'll probably be using the next patch after all. Oh well, at least due to Mapfinder we'll be killing time playing instead of pressing Ctrl-Shft-Q over and over.

Super: I knew you'd see it my way.

Slug: If Superslug's neck wasn't in the way I'd walk right over to your shoulder and whoop your butt good...

Super: His neck is kind of a waste anyway. It's supporting a head that's obviously not quite right. I mean look what he's done to his own thread. He actually thinks this crap is actually funny......

 

[Svar]

I guess that you just keep playing new worlds until the Pyramids get built on your island otherwise it's an opportunity lost.

 

[boogaboo]

I just thought of this story about you .superslug.
I think super and slug need icons.
They need the superslug icon split in 2..

Just popping ideas out of my head, sorry they popped your way.

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by boogaboo
I just thought of this story about you .superslug.
I think super and slug need icons.
They need the superslug icon split in 2..

Super: You want us to split Superslug's avatar in half? I'm sorry, I can't do that. I'm a builder, it's not my place in the universe to destroy things.

Slug: Personally, I'm all for splitting things right down the middle, but usually it's AI skulls I'm cracking in half, not avatars.

Super: Of course we're just assuming we'd have to split the avatar in half. I suppose we could substitute smilies for ourselves instead...

Super and Slug surf over to the CFC smiley screen...

Super: Okay, I've got mine picked out!

Slug: As do I! Is this better, boogaboo?

Originally posted by Svar
I guess that you just keep playing new worlds until the Pyramids get built on your island otherwise it's an opportunity lost.

Super: Oppurtunities lost? Well, that's one way of looking at it. If you look at the full half of the glass though, these false starts will be really good practice as we make sure our strategy is sound, get to know the Commercial attribute and possibly kill time until the next patch. In addition to all that, practice never hurts!

Slug: Screw all that, I just want to use the Mounted Warrior over and over!

 

[boogaboo]

yes, much better now.

 

[Svar]

Originally posted by superslug

Super: Oppurtunities lost? Well, that's one way of looking at it. If you look at the full half of the glass though, these false starts will be really good practice as we make sure our strategy is sound, get to know the Commercial attribute and possibly kill time until the next patch. In addition to all that, practice never hurts!

Unfortunately this was posted on the official Civ3 webpage yesterday.

Notice: Unfortunately, the non-Beta patch for Civilization III: Conquests will not be ready for several more weeks. We are working hard with Atari to finalize the localizations. Once this has been completed the patch will be posted immediately. We thank you for your support, and ask that you please accept our apologies for the delay.