AU207: Big Planet

Dominae · March 19, 2003, 14:41

Welcome to the newest course of the Apolyton University! If you're new to AU, see introductory paragraph below to get yourself oriented.

In this scenario, you must test out your skills on a Huge map against fifteen opponents. Will you still be able to rush your nearest neighbor, as you're used to doing on a smaller map? Will corruption rip your sprawling empire apart? Will tech progress be fast or slow? And, most importantly, will you have the patience to complete this mammoth (yet epic) game? The answers lie herein...

Here are some of the scenario variables (others will be revealed in-game):

World size: Huge (duh)
Water coverage: 70%
Land form: Continents

This scenario may be played either with stock Civ3 or the Play the World expansion. In the former case, you can pick among the following civs:

Aztecs
Egyptians
French
Russians

If you use Play the World, the following two civs are also open to you:

Carthage
Spain

All civs are equally good choices!

The file at the end of this post contains three versions for the game: Civ3 1.29, Play the World 1.14 and the AU mod for Play the World 1.17. For reasons I prefer not to go into here, I am not able to supply a 1.21 version of the Play the World files. This is unfortunate, and I am sorry. There are two solutions: someone could upgrade the scenario files for me and post them here, or people could just downgrade to Play the World 1.14 for this game. Sir Ralph has provided a method for doing a dual install (1.14/1.21), which may be found here.

Help each other learn! As your game progresses, please post your comments in the spoiler/strategy/hints thread. You are also expected to provide a full report with screenshots when you're done (which may take a while!).

Good luck, and have fun!

---

New to AU?

Apolyton University is a school of strategy, where students sharpen their Civ3 skills and share their experiences in a series of thematic games. When playing an Apolyton University game, gaining and sharing knowledge is more important than getting a high score, or even winning the game. Participants are encouraged to share their strategy after the game, and even to try several attempts.

For single-player games we have developed the AU mod (an earlier thread may be found here), whose main purpose is to challenge the player with a need for deeper strategy. To accomplish that goal, the mod tries to improve the AI and present the player with more strategic decisions, while changing as little as possible.

Dominae · March 19, 2003, 14:47

Here are some important things to know about this game:

1. Again, please note that currently, the Play the World files are for version 1.14, not the latest 1.21. See above for details.

2. Remember to cover the lower right-hand corner of your screen when loading this game in Play the World, so as not to see a minimap of the entire world before you even begin.

3. There appears to be a bug in the civ selection screen, where you can change the preset civs. You can also dictate which civ a spot marked as "Random" will occupy. I highly suggest you do not play with any of these things, and just leave the upper right-hand corner of this screen alone.

Here is a screenshot of the start location:

minke19104 · March 19, 2003, 14:54

What would happen if I try to load the 1.14 PTW file in my 1.21 PTW?

Thnx

nbarclay · March 19, 2003, 14:55

Is there any reason to think a 1.14 scenario wouldn't work properly with 1.21? With all the scenarios that shipped with PtW, I would expect Firaxis to have made backward compatibility, especially at the scenario level, a priority.

Konquest02 · March 19, 2003, 15:01

Nothing, I just tested it, and it works. I don't know if you have the 1.21 changes though... But the game works...

--Kon--

Dominae · March 19, 2003, 15:06

That's good.

Of course, playing as the Russians would be a lot better under 1.21, so be my guest if you want to go ahead and upgrade.

Dominae

minke19104 · March 19, 2003, 15:13

I'm going Carthage. Never played as them before..

BigDork · March 19, 2003, 16:08

Hi everybody...

I'm gonna give this one a go but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it finished. With war pretty much a certainty I think that the next couple of weeks may be too hectic for me to play Civ3. But hopefully not. We'll see.

I think I'm gonna give Spain a try. I've never played as several of the civs we can pick from and I don't even know what Spain's traits are so what the heck. Heh, I can't even remember what their UU is.

This will also be my first go at Monarch. This should be fun.

BigD

edit: Doh! It's the conquestador. I think I need some coffee.

Chemical Ollie · March 19, 2003, 16:22

Cool. With my new monster PC, I only play large and huge maps. There's no lag whatsoever.

I've never played the Russians and basically think they suck, but I might give it a go now. Expansionist comes to its right on huge maps.

minke19104 · March 19, 2003, 16:23

Their UU is Conquistadors.. 3 Attack 2 Defense, 3 Movement (I think), Handle all terrains as if road tiles..

Painfully annoying, The AI seems to get it right also, sneaking it up high in the mountains to attack unsuspecting, unguarded Human's cities..

Yahweh Sabaoth · March 19, 2003, 16:43

Thank you Dominae!!!

For a challenge, I think I'll try the Spanish... but I might play as the Aztecs or Carthage on the AU Mod (which I understand makes life a bit harder).

I think we can all learn from this course. Lunatics such as myself may play several times, as each different civ, to offer different strategies to the huge map player!

Yahweh Sabaoth · March 19, 2003, 16:49

The AU mod looks fascinating... I think I will play twice, once as the Spanish with the standard rules, and once as someone else with the AU mod, just to give it a shot.

ZargonX · March 19, 2003, 17:12

Heading in as Carthage... let's see how it goes!

Konquest02 · March 19, 2003, 18:42

I chose the French, for their commercial and industrious attributes and timing of the musketeer over the NM.

Dom, did I tell you you were evil? See in the spoiler thread...

--Kon--

Catt · March 19, 2003, 19:23

I don't think I'll be able to play any until the weekend (we will see if I can hold off

). At least that will give me some time to think about my civ choice.

Catt

nbarclay · March 19, 2003, 20:08

Since the gauntlet has been thrown down in other threads, it's time for me to prove that Egypt, War Chariots and all, can thrive on a huge map (at least as long as Dominae didn't come up with a map seriously unsuitable for Egypt). I'll be playing on Emperor level, as usual, using the AU Mod.

Fosse · March 19, 2003, 21:42

I'll play at Emperor, but God alone knows when I'll get the chance to start...Good luck gang.

Yahweh Sabaoth · March 20, 2003, 09:58

Arrgghh... I forgot, I need to get an unzip utility for my computer at home, and I have no disks or CDs here at work. Pisser!

That's means I'll be starting this weekend as well, and I think I'll be playing as Carthage... I'm playing a game as the Spanish on a huge map on my own, and let me tell you: NOT my number one choice for a huge map.

I think I'd prefer to have an EASY game this time around, thank you very much.

Arrian · March 20, 2003, 10:11

The Great Queen Cleopatra and her chief advisor, Arrianus, have taken the challenge.

Man, there's a lot of cities to build! Yeesh!

-Arrian

vulture · March 20, 2003, 17:23

Hopefully I'll be able to finish this game in a reasonable time - but lots of work to do at the moment

I think I'll give it a spin with Egypt, but I may change my mind and have my first ever game as France.

Theseus · March 21, 2003, 19:09

Emperor, AU mod (I'm on 1.21... hope this doesn;t get screwy), and, uh, Carthage, 'cause, uh, well that is...

RGBVideo · March 22, 2003, 05:31

Cool. With my new monster PC, I only play large and huge maps. There's no lag whatsoever.

Lucky you.

AJ Corp. The FAIR · March 22, 2003, 12:13

I'll lead the Egyptians, as industrious and religious is a great combination. On huge maps, a fast switch between governments could be even more valuable.

I play PTW1.14, emperor level.

I hope my pc can absorb the huge map.

First game since months (work troubles), curious ...

AJ

Catt · March 22, 2003, 12:16

I have a lot to do this weekend, and don't know how much play I'll get in (the spoiler thread seems to have grown mighty quickly!). I may just play a random civ (throw numbers into a hat and draw one for my civ choice from among the 6).

Catt

pedrojedi · March 22, 2003, 16:17

pedrojedi and his (Jedi?) powers will be of good service for the glory of Egypt. I'm with 1.21 PTW, which can be odd, but let's hope it goes all ok. It will go as a good Regent game, so far.

Chemical Ollie · March 23, 2003, 08:37

Is the vanilla game 1.29 file with AU rules or regular?

Dominae · March 23, 2003, 14:55

Originally posted by Olaf Hårfagre
Is the vanilla game 1.29 file with AU rules or regular?

Regular. The AU mod is only supported for Play the World.

aaglo · March 24, 2003, 05:40

Wohoo.. I finally got PTW.

Now, lemmesee... Okay, I'll play with carthago, since industrious is quite useful in huge maps. Heck, it's useful in all maps

Catt · March 28, 2003, 13:50

Da*n! The spoiler thread is huge and I haven't even started yet. I am going to start today, however.

I randomly drew the Russians, but since I played Catherine for my last AU game, I re-drew and got France (I don't think I've played Joan in an AU game).

So Joan will join the other female leaders (Cleo and Isabella) seemingly getting a lot of play in this class. I'll play PTW, Emperor, standard rules (I want to get a feel for a huge map game under standard conditions).

Catt