The Deity Challenge Line-up #27 - Danemark's challenge

Holy hell, this is much harder than deity.

Spoiler :
My first caravan with Korea nearly doubled my bpt. I'm not sure if the ruins were rigged in addition to the starting location, but it was all to convenient to have a ruin with advanced weaponry right next to a barb camp that stole a CS worker. Additionally, the second ruin had culture, the third had a tech, and then another one had faith, not sure how many I got.


Spoiler :
Surprisingly I managed to steal two workers from Pachacuti without incident and gained his friendship shortly thereafter, despite him have something like a 27 strength city on turn 30 or whatever it was. I got my 4 cities down, tradition start, finished NC and I'm taking a break while I decide how to win this game via domination. As everyone knows you can usually rush artillery with any leader and win, but I'm not so sure that will work in this game considering how far ahead they are in tech. If I win this map it will be a domination victory, I'm not interested in the other victory conditions.


Spoiler :
Assyria killed Russia and now they're fighting Japan. Korea and The Inca's are tech'ing away, and I still have 1 or 2 more civs to find, I'm not sure I wasn't really paying attention. My scouts keep dying to horses and composites while trying to find the rest of the civs and CS... rough...
 
I think they built them but did not get them to the capital. Sometimes they just sit around for no reason. Sometimes there is a worker in the capital and it won't go in. There are all manner of bugs. See the Indian MadDjinn game.

I thought that infoscreen shows only the parts that have been added to the SS, and not simply built. I still won though, but I suppose it's not a clear win then
 
Havent played any off the DCLs so far, till I read about this one in another thread. Havent played much lately, just a couple sandbox imortals. The promise of diety+ dragged me in, dreamed about being nuked for the first time... well. *avoid war* should be the mantra.

A couple of early caravans did magic (they did somehow surevive... while my troops (scouts.. lots om em) got it a little rougher.

Tradition. 1 point in Commerce (built Big Ben as first wonder). Rationalism. Freedom.

4 city NC. Planted a fifth on coal (near Korea) for factories/idelogies (2nd there). That manouver got me sometime later in a double DoW, from Assyria and Korea. Saved by 'Volunteer Army' for sure!

When I managed to win Worlds Fair(?!). Then I thought, victory for sure.
Won by science. Could have gone Dom or Diplo, culture was on the other hand bad.

Fun game. But less a challenge then expected. Next time, throw us more in the middle. And invite some real nasty leaders.

Oh, my spies went totally nuts!
 

Attachments

  • DLC27.jpg
    DLC27.jpg
    361.9 KB · Views: 246
Welcome to the DCL, Lambatatte. Do you have a screenshot of your victory?
 
That's uhh... interesting. Stole Currency, Theology and Education for a nice T95 Education. I guess having an AI getting that fast to Renaissance has its advantage :p

Will attempt domination :shifty:

Regarding barbs that's the kind of stuff I would remove if I were to do it again, as well as the AI being allied to a CS on T0.

Edit: Things are going rather well in fact so far. Ready to rush Sejong with 10 artilleries on turn 165. Stealing my way through the tech web.

This is one big reason why the Deity mod that I'm experimenting with is all about slowing Science for the player instead of giving the AI growth/science bonuses. When the AI hits the Renaissance super-early (as they sometimes do even without cooked settings) it totally benefits the player. There are many catch-up mechanisms in the game, including unintended things like "Hey the AI has 4000 gold, and 300gpt, and due to his incredibly poor tactics, you're 1 turn away from capturing his capital, so he's just going to give you ALL THAT MONEY OMG WHY!??"... when a few of these things go your way, it turns "Deity" into "Settler"... :p

By comparison, doesn't it make more sense that on Deity, instead of winning a Science Victory in the Middle Ages, you're struggling to win by the 1900's?
 
My god, I want to rant right now :cry:

Turn 262 Defeat (I was launching on T265). Beat by Roman culture via 5 in Rationalism via musician tourism bomb... Acken, were you playing as Rome???

Overall, very fun game and I'm really happy to see a game like this in the challenge. It seems my game turned out very differently than everyone else's. I had no friends and Rome played the greatest game I have ever seen from an AI. I just watched Ex Machina... pretty sure the Augustus I just played against would pass the Touring Test. I am his puppet, and he is my puppet-master.

I recorded a Let's Play, I will be uploading all parts at once to be watched as soon as Youtube can process them. If you would rather watch that, please don't read on.

BruinBound's DCL27 Playlist

For those who like write-ups and pictures, feel free:

Here's how my game went:
Spoiler :

  • The capital is an amazing starting location. I play the first map I roll so something like this is absurd to me. Makes the game feel so much easier.
  • Ended up right next to the free worker, just in time to be taunted by the barbs who captured him. Grabbed him later but took too long. Hard to worker steal this game, so it set back my improvements.
  • Met Catherine first, thought she was my neighbor, then she got K'Od right out of the game.
  • Unknown player goes next - this was Arabia to Rome. Don't get me started on Rome this game.
  • Able to get a hot and cold DoF with Inca and occasionally Japan, but that is it. Prohibition?
  • Science is going great thanks to the start and coast. Also lots of room to get 5 cities, could have easily gotten 7 but I decided to buckle-down. Education turn 104, ST turn 155, Plastics Turn 190ish.
  • I thought my cargo ships were safe, but they get pillaged around the time I'm getting ST. You see it in the screenshots below, quite a set-back and really the beginning of my downfall.
  • Worlds Fair begins when I'm 5 turns from PT. I switch to that and win it, and lose PT along the way. Think this was a mistake, but I only had two RA buddies all game long.
  • Rome becomes my temporary buddy, and for some reason I feel he may be a good World Congress leader. Soon, multiple luxuries I was importing are banned and Arts Funding goes through! He is up 5 techs on everyone all game.
  • After 194ish research labs, I feel the game is in the bag and play a bit lazy. I definitely feel I could have won this one no later than turn 240, but my lack of friendships and a few mistakes screw it up. Definitely could have won at 250 if I micro'd and saved gold better. But that's okay, because I'm definitely winning on turn 265...
  • You have been defeated, Rome has mind-f&$%ed you all game long. You shall now listen to the classic hit "We are the champions" as performed by Augustus Caesar.
  • The worst thing - I thought I needed International Space Station to beat Rome, but Pachacuti would have got it. Had I not switched in my last city building a part, I'd have won for sure around 255-258.
  • I could have replayed the last part and post a quicker time (and a victory) but where's the sportsmanship. Good game Acken Caesar.

Turn 105:
Spoiler :


Turn 155:
Spoiler :


Turn 200:
Spoiler :


Turn 262 Defeat:
Spoiler :
 
I agree 100%, an AI that can still beat someone who plays a pretty good science game is what pulled me into the deity+ game. Thanks for the game, it was a lot of fun.

And for those who are turned off because they think its going to be too difficult, don't be! Sure, it will be tough for a domination or culture victory, but if you are looking for deity basics and peaceful play then this is a great map to learn on. You will see the importance of worker stealing, balancing protection vs. expansion, and early growth. The location of the capital is so strong that the extra advantages usually can be overcome.
 
Yeah I have absolutely no issues either. Someone should try to Small Piety this map and see how it goes. I think it should work even better with more science and money you can leech
 
Winnable map, but not on this this attempt :)

t92 rage quit

Spoiler :


Overall I applaud the attempt at making a Deity+ challenge, but feel that this map exacerbates the current problems with the Deity AI. I think that the problem with the current Deity is not the starting bonuses (if anything these are already too large), but with its development speed. Somehow the Diety AI should move faster through the Renaissance+ Eras. A current game works something like this: start out behind the AI, catch up somewhere in the Ren-Ind Eras, and then pull ahead, consistently, in the late game.

A quick report:

So what does Deity+ actually mean? I expected AI boosts but didn't consider the implications for the barbarians. Comp bows, horsemen, and spears at the start! This resulted in a dead first scout and first warrior. That'll set me back.



Without early scouting, settling was a real challenge. I went aggressively for a 5 city Tradition opener. (This will come back and bite me ... )



Korea and the Incans have many red diplo modifiers, and I won't be able to fight them any time soon. Bribe time:



A nice benefit from the AI boost is a really early spy. I killed mine. Oops. :(



I thought my Danes and the Incans were turning the corner to Friendship. Guess not.



The next turn Japan made peace with Korea, who immediately DoW'ed me and sent a punch of pikes, XBs, and Hwa-Chas at Kaupang. Quitting time. (No pic during rage quit. Sorry.)

Overall this was fun. I would play differently in a second attempt:

- Only settle 4 cities
- Scout more safely (stick to def terrain and use worker radar every turn)
- Spy should not be placed in the capital city of the tech leader. I mean, really. Stupid.
- Play nice. Maybe even send a caravan to the AI instead of internal food.
- I am not worried about beating the AI late, though I am happy to see some reports of AI victories in the 260s. This should be common on Deity.

I really hate replaying a map (almost as much as reloading), so probably won't give this another try. We'll see.
 
Finally getting a chance to play this map. Played up until T105 last night. Looking good so far although my original plans for this map have changed somewhat.

Spoiler :

No real great reserves of iron that were easily accessible ruined the idea of a berserker rush for me. So I switched focus a bit to go for max possible early mid science. Took two workers from Sejong from the cocoa tile in his second city (NW of Seoul), then doubled back to pick up the Almaty gift prisoners who i had left incarcerated by their barbarian overlords until I had a couple of archers (T32). Had three external trade routes up by T65, rushing sailing and engineering before finishing philosophy to get there. Kaupang was settled right next to Korean land on to of one of the coppers (before iron had been revealed, was still looking to rush Sejong). 3 city NC on T74, rush buying 2 libraries in Kaupang and Aarhus (settled on the river near the dyes and horses).

Unbelievable gold flowing through my treasury at this part of the game. I guess an unexpected side effect of having little military and at least one good sea trade route to Cuzco. I would very much like a city on the western coast though... You know to extend my trade empire. Maybe right where Seoul is?

Leached great science from the inca and Koreans, made education on T92 even with extensive detours to engineering and metalworking (only enough for defense and barb control sadly) and rush bought the unis the same turn without having to trade much gpt. Series a late fourth city around T80 near the wine in between Kabul and Copenhagen.

Spy went to Assyria as he was second or third into renaissance and was looking hyper aggressive towards Russia. Hopefully he'll wipe her out and get some hate. Maybe I could do some war of liberation?

At this point not sure whether to go for some artillery conquest or wait until bombers. Possibly frigates are an option, although again the lack of iron is making that a bit tough. Might just shoot for SV at this stage as time is short and my options don't seem very appealing.

Hopefully if we ever get back around to playing the Danes we can get them in a situation where early long swords and cbs or xbs can be used, maybe with some embarked siege units.
 
SV 286
Spoiler :
Very peaceful game till I was the first to the tenets and picked Freedom all my friends (everybody except Assyria)started to jump ship Korea stayed my ally till the end ,as he picked freedom also which kept me in happiness since I was not building any culture .
I missed Big ben as I forgot to first go to commerce which put me back about 10 turn .Also missed on religion . I made sure to keep all my neighboring Cs allies as they gave the units to survive the last 10 turn as I was getting Dowed by Pacqa and the raging Cathy that was almost going to do it
Opened with liberty and built 6 cities to block Korea and Pacqa
It was time to launch as the enemy where at my gate :)
I did steal a lots of tech from Assyria till the day it died
 

Attachments

  • Denmark.jpg
    Denmark.jpg
    274.8 KB · Views: 162
OK I'm replaying. Am thinking about trying an XCOM domination. Only ever used them on DCL Venice where I had a massive tech and economy lead, and had been at war with everyone for 200 turns already with Honor finisher.

This is a different story. I'll be the smallest empire, and will have 7 capitals to take quickly. Should I take out the most hated people first? Or my neighbours? Should I try to take out everyone at once? How many XCOMs will be good enough to take all 7 capitals on this map?
 
T255 XCOM Domination

Spoiler :
Early game - blocked enemy settlers, forward settled neighbours to close out gap. 3 city NC, then 4th city in suboptimal position to close the empire out. Tradition, science leech, gifts to make friends. Welcomed Korean religion. Cargo ships to Inca. Japan and Rome also offered DoF, which remained all game until I backstabbed for victory. No AI opened Tradition so I got HG in capital. ToA was untaken after NC so I took that too. Built a LOT of units in case of a backstab, but they were never used.

Middle game - Struggled with gold and happiness before ideologies. Spent a lot of time building Wealth to stay afloat. Grew cities at all costs, aiming for maximum science. Only Ashurbanipal was interested in war. Other AIs seemed to be pursuing culture games. Archaeologists came to my area just after T120 and took my relics, which was fine by me. I've never had more RAs than I had in this game. I had constant RAs with Sejong, Inca, Rome, Japan and some later from Arabia. Maybe 12 or 15 in total? I dunno. Is this recorded?

Endgame - built a ton of stealth bombers and XCOMS and took key cities and capitals within a flurry of a short number of turns.

A boring game since the AI didn't use their advantages to be threatening, unlike in my first game. Too bad I couldn't find a happy medium. It seems ironic that when I had plans to go early war the AI came a knocking and when I postponed war until they end, they didn't bother at all. :(
 
271 SV

Spoiler :


This was an interesting experience, especially in the first 120 turns. My two first settlers had to settle one tile off where I wanted because of barbs. I made a 3 city NC T85-90, and had two settlers ready by the time it was done, so my five cities were up a couple of turns later. Happiness was really good for quite some time, even with five early cities. My faith was pretty poor throughout the game, but I was able to get the last religion. I timed some of the techsteals a bit badly early on, which led to a late education, but after that I was able to get some really nice timings down, ascending quickly to Industrialization.

I managed to stay friendly with the Inca and Korea through bribing them to war eachother and others. They were pretty quick to send troops my way when they weren't at war, though, so my economy suffered pretty badly and I only bought three or four science buildings throughout the whole game. This meant I was also lagging behind on production for most of the game - leaving little room to manouver for a more interesting game.

In hindsight I should've chosen Order instead of Freedom, and I realized that very quickly. One of my reasons for choosing Freedom at the time was because I had no coal for factories and noone wanted to sell me any either. Neither did I have even close to enough gold to get a CS ally with coal at the time. Because of this I struggled badly with happiness issues, which cost me quite a bit of growth, and a lot of money later on for city state gifts.

Speaking of money, I completely ed up the endgame since I didn't lend money from my only late-game friend the Incas before our DoF expired. Because of this I had to hardbuild four of the six spaceship parts - since although I had a decent income at the time - I had to bribe CS's for happiness and protection. At the time I had to decide how many parts to hardbuild, it was difficult to confidently gauge if I could buy two, three or four parts.

In my game the AI really hated eachother with a passion, although I had a hand in some of that. From turn 50 until the end, I think everyone except me and Arabia were at war with someone about 90% of the time. Sejong had the techlead until almost the very end, and I wasn't sure i'd get Hubble, since he was ahead of me to that era, but it worked out in the end. His culture was also a beast, but he had no way of winning a CV with the Incas around.

2015-05-25_00005.jpg

 
Does anyone have a correct link/file for DCL #26 the Celts? I'm getting an error message when I click the link in the schedules
 
Top Bottom