When did you build the Great Light? (GOTM9 spoiler)

[cracker]

Help to get a better picture of when and how this key milestone was reached in your July GOTM9 game as the Egyptians.

Please Read This Carefully

PLEASE: Only choose one of the first 7 responses if YOU (the Egyptians) built the Great Lighthouse.

You can answer this poll question even before you complete the entire game if you can reasonably be certain of the answer that applies to you.

 

[Fossil]

Hi Cracker,

I made getting the GL priority one - but didn't get it as soon as planned. I describe this on my site: Fossil's Dig Site

 

[skaternate]

I didn't even try for the Great Lighthouse and as of now in my game I don't believe I ever even needed it, 1100ad and halfway to conquest! No great lighthouse or magellens

 

[Phillip_martin]

Got beaten to the GL by nine turns so switched to an got the Hanging Gardens instead.

First GOTM in which I mined the "bejeebas" out of every productive tile from the begining and it really helped. I currently have the Great Library and Paramids which I consider more important than the GL.

Contact and Maps of other CIVS was traded for and as Japan is in first place it is they who I will concentrate on (so no ocean travel needed).

It is 610AD and need to complete a build up and invasion of Japan before I can comment on whether I will win in the end or not.

 

[cracker]

Phillip,

I can't tell for sure, but did you choose one of the options in the poll?

I so, I think you may have answered with the wrong choice and that will screw up the data. I think you may have chosen the option where you indicated you built the GreatLight between 300 and 100BC when you actual should have waited and chosen one of the two options where another CIV beat you to the GreatLight. Either you will win or you will loose, only time will tell.

It sounds like you emphasized the Pyramids as important on the snaky home continent and that is not a choice I would have made because I find the Pyramids to be a great captured benefit in many games.

I'll see if I can get a moderator to fix your poll response if it turns out to be mischosen.

Thanks for participating in these focused one topic summary polls.

 

[Phillip_martin]

I have not voted.

You could be right in the long run re: Great Lighthouse. but I found at the beginning when trying to expand as quickly as possible in the home island the pyramids help to get those settlers out. To be honest I did not expect to get it and was using it a pre-build. I have never won a race to this wonder as the AI sees it as a priority. Another side effect was it triggered my golden age far too early!!

 

[skaternate]

I found the Pyrimids to be of great use, they allowed me to out settler produce the AI to the three islands to the north, and when it triggered my golden age, it allowed me to build the great library in 24 turns. This was a great thing in my game, I have had knowledge at 0% since the discovery of literacy, with the exception of the race for military tradition, and I have 2-3k in the bank at all times thanks to this. I'm sure I would have been beat to the GL if I hadn't had my GA. I have been able to use this money for my rabid expaninist wars, currently against both germany and pesia. My first ever purposful two front war. And all this because I didn't prioritize the Great Lighthouse!

 

[Serg]

I built the Piramids in 710BC, the Great Lighthouse in 470BC and the Great Library in 90AD. All that wonders are very helpfully.

 

[cracker]

In my game, Persia built the Pyramids in 410 BC and I could choose to switch to either the Light or the Library. I was a bit afraid that some civ might beat my to the Library so I went that route and built the Light next door by about 10BC.

 

[Cartouche Bee]

Pyramids - 590BC - Japan
Great Lighthouse - 390 BC - Egyptians
Collosus - 370BC - Germans
Great Wall - 280 AD - Persians - Very Lucky!! - Hope it helps them
Great Library - 400 AD - Egyptians
Hanging Gardens - 410 AD - Germans

I don't know if a pre 1000 BC Light house would help much but I guess we will see.

 

[cracker]

CB,

I find the example of the Persian's building the great wall in 280AD to be a classic example of pre-programmed AI stupidity. They had to have their continent virtually full by that point and the threat from barbarians was really minimal in this game. The great wall wonder came at the expense of setting aside resources for something like the Great Library (denial stratgy) or Sun Tzus or Sistine.

I am with you that a pre-1000BC light may have been of little value that early because I was really rushing galleys and pushing them out to the far reaches of the world and I still had not run out of coastal explore space by 500 to 400 BC.

I had built enough galleys for at least one or two leaps of faith if they were needed.

 

[skaternate]

Cracker the Great Wall doubles city defense. So it's not that stupid to have it for a militaristic civ like persia. In my game they were constantly trying to take over more territory via war. So they wanted to be able to defend there cities easier. In my game they built Sun Tzus though, and germany got the great wall.

 

[cracker]

Skaternate,

Persia is Industrious/Scientific (not militaristic). Walls cost 16 shields for them and also increase defensive values. The terrain on Persia's continent was narrow and confining where they met Montezuma and that would have let them get the benefit of the Great Wall for only 32 to 48 shields and careful city placement.

Also the Great Wall is obsoleted by Metallurgy (cannons). Since Persia is scientific they can reach metallurgy in as little as 20 turns from around 280 AD and this will negate any defensive bonus from the Great Wall. None of Persia's neighbors had a UU strength that would have made the GW necessary. (perhaps the exception of Japan but we could be sure CB had Japan isolated by the Great Light gambit + geography.)

If Persia had been militaristic then the cost of walls would have been 8 shields and it would have taken almost 20 cities for them to break even.

 

[Cartouche Bee]

Just to add to this AI building Great Wall discussion.

Persia being Industrious does match up to Great Wall because it is a Militaristic and Industrious type wonder. But unless the documentation is incorrect the Great Wall doubles the effects of walls built in cities. Now that is great, but I did not see any evidence that they built any walls anyway. Now, I'm pretty sure they did not have a Golden Age by the time they built the Great Wall, cause they started their war with the Aztecs later, so it would have satisfied an appropriate type wonder to trigger a peaceful Golden Age; so I suppose it may have been justified but didn't work out to their benefit.

CB

 

[skaternate]

I'm not sure if you have to have walls or not, I always though you didn't it just doubles city defense. I don't bother reading the documentation I get my info from the editor. IE screenshot of great wall. You will notice the flag just says double city defense.

 

[cracker]

The reference in the manual is on Page 101 and it says"

"doubles the defense bonus for all your walls"

I quess this shows how little we really may know about the game.

In the editor there is only one improvement or wonder that shows giving a defensive bonus to the city in which it is located and that is walls.

As a basis for gaining acces to a Golden Age, that gives more potential value to the choice of building the great wall, but still this does not seem to be a really valuable wonder relative to the other choices that should have been available.

 

[skaternate]

True. But now I take a guess at the Great Walls true effect. I would hypothisis since the editor says double defense of cities and manual says doubles effect of walls, that possible since a level 7+ can't have walls anymore that ounce a city is that large then it just doubles the city defense value. So a small city has to have walls for it to work, and a big city just has to be big for it to work. Or something like that at least.

 

[Kemal]

Got the Great Lighthouse at 650 BC. I guess the real bonus was the +1 movement for my gallies so they reached Persia/Aztecs in time to sell them polytheism for lots of cash and getting the entire upper half of the ancient tech tree for free from my Great library just as my citizens started screaming for aquaducts. [dance]

 

[Creepster]

I got the lighthouse about 250AD. I am not used to playing on Islands I totally forgot how useful the wonder would be until a bit later in the game. I ended up switching my FP to the lighthouse (got lucky that I was building it in a coastal city), and built my FP ne city over. No leaders yet, No war yet, just expasion, expansion, expansion.

 

[civ_steve]

Aztecs (!) beat me to the GL by 3 turns. I ended up with an expensive marketplace.

I'm not finished yet (might not have time to finish), but I'm comfortable with my position (1100 AD, finishing off the Japanese, mid-Medieval Techs and only 1 tech behind - banking).

The GL would have been useful, but not critical. What I'm missing is trade capability with the rest of the world, and I need navigation (currently researching) or magnetism to achieve that.