isau
Deity
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 3,071
A few people have offered reviews of G&K and talked about some of its core features. I wanted to share the story of my first win as a way to highlight one major think Civ 5 was lacking for me previously: a sense of epic "story" and intrigue like Civ 4 had. So far I really like how G&K restored this to Civ. So, rather than go through and talk about all the new features I like and how they impacted my game, here's another way to look at it.
Note that I am not that great a player, especially with Culture Victories. This was a game on Prince on a Continents map. I have only won Culture Victory one time before this, so I probably missed some strategies. However, I was really addicted to this playthrough and the way all the intrigue, alliances, and strategies came together.
I apologize for typos and bad grammar!
This is the story of Ethiopia, a hilly empire located near the center of an unusually shaped continent that could be roughly visualized as a Adam and God reaching for each other in Michaelangelo's Sistene Chapel, with Ethiopa located right in God's palm. In the ancient city of Adis Ababa, a Stele--a local word for "Monument"--was built, granting Faith. Soon the city became the focal point of a cultus that worshiped the plentiful Silver in the region, granting Culture and Faith with each new discovery of the resource.
But it soon became clear Ethiopa was not alone in the world. Dido of the Carthaginians presented herself first, her capital located just across a heavily forested western isthus so small only one army formation could cross it at a time. Then came the Spanish from the east, and the Chinese from the south. And finally, the Polynesians emerged by sea, having sailed from a swell of land to the southeast. Each of them desired an Embassy in the Ethiopian capital, but their motives were suspect from the beginning.
As Ethiopia spread from one city to four and Culture and Religious flourished there, rivalry with Carthage grew. War broke out in 2000 BC, but despite their inferior weaponry, Ethiopian troops were bolestered by a new found Religion, Christianity, which filled them with faith that they could defend their homeland. Their perserverance was so remarkable that when Isabella joined the war and attacked from the opposite eastern frontier, her pagan armies--still centuries away from formally codifying their beliefs into the formal religion later known as "Buddhism"--were sent scurrying back into the woods beyond the sight of the Ethiopian Empire. These wars, which lasted centuries despite occasional periods of peace, were remarkable in that in no amount of fighting did any land change hands. While the Ethiopian troops proved avid defenders, their offense was always met with slaughter. As it turned out, this was partly at the hand's of Christianity's teachings, which had spread across the entire continent and caused soldiers to defend their homelands with extravagent zeal.
As Wu Zetian made moves to ingratiate herself to Isabella and Dido, it became clear Ethiopia must look to Polynesia for assistance. The Polynesians, furious at the Spanish over a previous skirmish over borders, proved a dependable ally. They were also eager to hear the teachings of the Christian faith eminating from Adis Ababa.
Despite finding friends in a hostile world, Ethiopa was falling into greater and greater risk of imploding from the inside. Years of war had left scholarship at a standstill, and rumors that civilizations in far off lands were discovering marvelous things worried the country. Worse, even the country's status as a world leader of Culture was falling into greater risk. The emergence of Taoism in China and the trickling of those teachings into Ethiopa's borders had scholars wondering if defeat were not far away. Only the appearance of many Great Engineers, who designed wonder after wonder, seemed to keep the empire relevant in this tumultuous time in its history.
Days became years and years became centuries. The world went on with familiar alliances and the occasional skirmish. Then, one day, a strange ship appeared in Ethiopian borders, claiming to belong to an enormous empire called England. The country had been built on the backs of a once-great nation called India, which had long since disappeared from the lands. England took Ethiopia to her side--it is said it was because the Ethiopian leader informed the English of a plot being formed against them by the cunning Spanish empire. However, many historians think England had another motive: it needed an ally to help it settle a score with a secretive empire called the Iroquius Nation, whose Culture was believed to surpass any in the world.
Working with Polynesia and England to further the sciences, Ethiopa soon found itself in possession of Cannons and Gunpowder. In addition, marvelous wonders began to appear in the capital city and elsewhere. Although clearly behind the Iroqious in culture, Ethiopia was beginning to truly flourish.
Dido soon became the first victim of cannons. Her nation put up a furious fight, using her superior navies to send thousands of overconfident Ethiopian troops to their graves. But Carthage could not hold out forever against the unending wave of guns flowing in from across the sea, and eventually Dido was left without a capital and banished, in shame, to a tiny city in the far reaches of the lands. As she fell, Artillery was discovered, and an unsuspecting China, located not far from the crushed capital of Carthage, soon surrendered her capital in a hail of gunfire. With these puppet states unders its control, Ethiopia was now the supreme power in the world!
But two problems remained. It had become clear that cracks were forming in the alliance with England, as Ethiopia began to suspect English research and technology had selfish end-goals. But, much more immediately dangerous was the fact that in the years Ethiopia had spent defeating Carthage and China, Hiawatha had formed dangeous alliances with City States the world over.
Desires to plant spies in Haiwatha's lands to slow his nation's progress proved initially unfilfillable. Even after locating the massive, illusive island the empire had all to itself, no troops were able to see its cities by line of sight without crossing into its borders. Eventually, it became clear that only war could reveal Hiawatha's cities, and several brave units martyed themselves to explore the territory. Their deaths came at the hand of a terrifying and previously unheard of new technology--air planes--and grabbed headlines around the world.
By this time, Great Artists began to appear in Ethiopia in volumes never before seen. Their works were derived from the countries great Faith, and from them came a Golden Age that lasted many years, producing previously unforseen levels of culture. But when news came that Haiwatha had issued a fourth worldwide Policy mandate, it became clear that he must be thwarted if Ethiopia was to shine. Ethiopia risked every resource it could muster to start wars by bribing the English--who, as it turned out, didnt take much convincing--followed by the much more skeptical Spanish, still reeling from the loss of two key allies. The tide was turning fast and Victory for Ethiopia seemed increasingly likely.
Haiwatha still had a few tricks up his sleeve, though. As Ethiopia raced toward its final policy edicts, Hiawatha announced the discovery of a new and terrible weapon. It was called the "atomic bomb." And then, barely a year later, Elizabeth made a similar announcement. She was building a "space rocket." And if this wasn't enough, a new council called the UN was being assembled to judge for themselves the identity of the world's most glorious nation.
It's remarkable to think that the events that occured in 1997 could never have happened: the Ethiopians created he Utopia project, a mere two years before the UN could conduct its first official vote. It was like time stood still. What would have been the outcome had the vote happened? We may never know.
Note that I am not that great a player, especially with Culture Victories. This was a game on Prince on a Continents map. I have only won Culture Victory one time before this, so I probably missed some strategies. However, I was really addicted to this playthrough and the way all the intrigue, alliances, and strategies came together.
I apologize for typos and bad grammar!
This is the story of Ethiopia, a hilly empire located near the center of an unusually shaped continent that could be roughly visualized as a Adam and God reaching for each other in Michaelangelo's Sistene Chapel, with Ethiopa located right in God's palm. In the ancient city of Adis Ababa, a Stele--a local word for "Monument"--was built, granting Faith. Soon the city became the focal point of a cultus that worshiped the plentiful Silver in the region, granting Culture and Faith with each new discovery of the resource.
But it soon became clear Ethiopa was not alone in the world. Dido of the Carthaginians presented herself first, her capital located just across a heavily forested western isthus so small only one army formation could cross it at a time. Then came the Spanish from the east, and the Chinese from the south. And finally, the Polynesians emerged by sea, having sailed from a swell of land to the southeast. Each of them desired an Embassy in the Ethiopian capital, but their motives were suspect from the beginning.
As Ethiopia spread from one city to four and Culture and Religious flourished there, rivalry with Carthage grew. War broke out in 2000 BC, but despite their inferior weaponry, Ethiopian troops were bolestered by a new found Religion, Christianity, which filled them with faith that they could defend their homeland. Their perserverance was so remarkable that when Isabella joined the war and attacked from the opposite eastern frontier, her pagan armies--still centuries away from formally codifying their beliefs into the formal religion later known as "Buddhism"--were sent scurrying back into the woods beyond the sight of the Ethiopian Empire. These wars, which lasted centuries despite occasional periods of peace, were remarkable in that in no amount of fighting did any land change hands. While the Ethiopian troops proved avid defenders, their offense was always met with slaughter. As it turned out, this was partly at the hand's of Christianity's teachings, which had spread across the entire continent and caused soldiers to defend their homelands with extravagent zeal.
As Wu Zetian made moves to ingratiate herself to Isabella and Dido, it became clear Ethiopia must look to Polynesia for assistance. The Polynesians, furious at the Spanish over a previous skirmish over borders, proved a dependable ally. They were also eager to hear the teachings of the Christian faith eminating from Adis Ababa.
Despite finding friends in a hostile world, Ethiopa was falling into greater and greater risk of imploding from the inside. Years of war had left scholarship at a standstill, and rumors that civilizations in far off lands were discovering marvelous things worried the country. Worse, even the country's status as a world leader of Culture was falling into greater risk. The emergence of Taoism in China and the trickling of those teachings into Ethiopa's borders had scholars wondering if defeat were not far away. Only the appearance of many Great Engineers, who designed wonder after wonder, seemed to keep the empire relevant in this tumultuous time in its history.
Days became years and years became centuries. The world went on with familiar alliances and the occasional skirmish. Then, one day, a strange ship appeared in Ethiopian borders, claiming to belong to an enormous empire called England. The country had been built on the backs of a once-great nation called India, which had long since disappeared from the lands. England took Ethiopia to her side--it is said it was because the Ethiopian leader informed the English of a plot being formed against them by the cunning Spanish empire. However, many historians think England had another motive: it needed an ally to help it settle a score with a secretive empire called the Iroquius Nation, whose Culture was believed to surpass any in the world.
Working with Polynesia and England to further the sciences, Ethiopa soon found itself in possession of Cannons and Gunpowder. In addition, marvelous wonders began to appear in the capital city and elsewhere. Although clearly behind the Iroqious in culture, Ethiopia was beginning to truly flourish.
Dido soon became the first victim of cannons. Her nation put up a furious fight, using her superior navies to send thousands of overconfident Ethiopian troops to their graves. But Carthage could not hold out forever against the unending wave of guns flowing in from across the sea, and eventually Dido was left without a capital and banished, in shame, to a tiny city in the far reaches of the lands. As she fell, Artillery was discovered, and an unsuspecting China, located not far from the crushed capital of Carthage, soon surrendered her capital in a hail of gunfire. With these puppet states unders its control, Ethiopia was now the supreme power in the world!
But two problems remained. It had become clear that cracks were forming in the alliance with England, as Ethiopia began to suspect English research and technology had selfish end-goals. But, much more immediately dangerous was the fact that in the years Ethiopia had spent defeating Carthage and China, Hiawatha had formed dangeous alliances with City States the world over.
Desires to plant spies in Haiwatha's lands to slow his nation's progress proved initially unfilfillable. Even after locating the massive, illusive island the empire had all to itself, no troops were able to see its cities by line of sight without crossing into its borders. Eventually, it became clear that only war could reveal Hiawatha's cities, and several brave units martyed themselves to explore the territory. Their deaths came at the hand of a terrifying and previously unheard of new technology--air planes--and grabbed headlines around the world.
By this time, Great Artists began to appear in Ethiopia in volumes never before seen. Their works were derived from the countries great Faith, and from them came a Golden Age that lasted many years, producing previously unforseen levels of culture. But when news came that Haiwatha had issued a fourth worldwide Policy mandate, it became clear that he must be thwarted if Ethiopia was to shine. Ethiopia risked every resource it could muster to start wars by bribing the English--who, as it turned out, didnt take much convincing--followed by the much more skeptical Spanish, still reeling from the loss of two key allies. The tide was turning fast and Victory for Ethiopia seemed increasingly likely.
Haiwatha still had a few tricks up his sleeve, though. As Ethiopia raced toward its final policy edicts, Hiawatha announced the discovery of a new and terrible weapon. It was called the "atomic bomb." And then, barely a year later, Elizabeth made a similar announcement. She was building a "space rocket." And if this wasn't enough, a new council called the UN was being assembled to judge for themselves the identity of the world's most glorious nation.
It's remarkable to think that the events that occured in 1997 could never have happened: the Ethiopians created he Utopia project, a mere two years before the UN could conduct its first official vote. It was like time stood still. What would have been the outcome had the vote happened? We may never know.
), and much of Buddhist Spain thanks to missionary work. England had an empire that covered a whole continent but no religion in it. I tried to get a missionary across the ocean to spread it, but the missionary expired two moves from a city. Maybe a Great Prophet is what I needed (I'm still learning how it all works).
