Demigod - play-a-long strategy

[Dominae]

So very sorry.

What with the debate with Sir Ralph about resource scarcity and peaceful games, I completely forgot your position here, lumping it with the "peaceful is harder and more fun" camp. You're quite right to be annoyed.

Can my proposal still stand? I would like to see how many strategic options are available to the warmonger at a point in the game when it's essentially "all over". Personally the reason why I like Domination/Conquest more (at this moment) is this: more options = easier to screw up = more skill-intensive. I want to know if I'm justified in this. If it turns out that there's one "best" strategy, I'll be glad we found it!

Sorry again for putting words into your mouth; I hereby remove them.


Dominae

[DrSpike]

Accepted.

As to the potentially interesting debate started off by our exchange I have to reiterate that I don't feel any victory condition is inherently easier when you are trying to achieve it as early as possible. What I would say is that in terms of just winning the peaceful options are probably easier.

Also, my reasoning behind no condition being inherently easier is that, as always, it just depends. My favourite early landing/diplo win game setup is standard continents map with standard number of civs. With this setup you rarely get enough room just to REX out cities and snooze your way to victory. You face decisions about how you can most efficiently conquer enough (and decisions about what indeed is enough) land to keep the tech rate high at the end of the game. Too many units wastes resources; not enough drags out the war and you can't go to republic until you are done conquering. You face decisions about just how loosely you can defend when in Republic at the beginning. On the highest levels you also face the question about whether it might even be worthwhile using Monarchy whilst you conquer. In many cases handling the transition from war to peace is harder than just continuing war.

That's my favourite kind of game, and IMO it's not any less skill intensive than other game types per se.

We can all come up with settings where the conquest/domination strategy for the map would be exactly the same for any decent player, and the potential for strategic decisions is lacking. Equally peaceful games with too much room at the start can suffer from the same fate.

Also I'd add that sometimes I feel that people confuse micro intensive with skill intensive. No one in their right mind would argue that conquest/domination games are not more micro intensive.

So in conclusion, IMO both peaceful and warlike games have the potential be either rich or lacking in strategic depth.

[Aqualung71]

Dom, good to see you've posted your game for us to compare. I'm going to take a look at it (for my own benefit of course!), but as you know the gods of AU have called us up and so it will have to wait a while.

I’ll be back. Until then, happy Celting!

[Krill]

...Bump...


Ok, I am looking at making the jump to Demigod, since Emperor no longer appeals to me (excluding the AU mod, which is entertaining). Here is a good game, and the surroundings get better. Enjoy!!


Game settings:

Standard;
70% Continents;
Roaming;
Normal;
Temperate;
4 Billion;
France.

[Krill]

The Save

[cracky]

...

a couple of questions...

I just moved up to Emperor, but with a start like this, I'm willing to give demi a shot.

Is this an AU game or straight C3C?

Do you have the AI bonuses/handicaps chart handy so I can see what I'm up against on demi? (I can never remember what threads its been posted in... ....hint, hint, vmxa1 )

[Krill]

straight game, no AU mod.

All I know is that the AI start with 2 settler, and have a 30% production discount.

[Krill]

here are the bonuses

[Krill]

Here is my first DAR, until 2150BC (first 40 turns):

4000BC: move worker 6, onto cow; move settler 9 (after setting research to CB), net 25 old, change research to Pottery, 100%.

3950BC: settle Paris, build queue = warrior->settler (to set up the second pump, because of the wheat 69 of Paris)->granary…Worker irrigates.

3800BC: worker roads

3700BC: warrior finished, start settler. Worker moves 1

3650BC: Pop 2, up lux slider to 20%. worker mines.

2450BC: worker roads, border expands…and I have 3 cows and one wheat. Nice

3350BC: worker moves 6

3300BC: worker irrigates, settler built, build barracks (as prebuild)

3250BC: Orleans built 22 of Paris, since that is the only tile that will allow access to the cows @ 33 and 211 of Paris. Build warrior in Orleans, work BG.

3100BC: Pottery Complete, research Writing @ 100% minus lux slider cost (80% at his point)


I will not continue the notes, with the exception of important events.


2800BC: Meet Egypt, trade alpha for BW+20g. They have WC and CB as well.

2430BC: Paris completes the Granary

2350BC: My first 4-turn pump (Paris) starts the regular production of settler.

2190BC: My second 4-turn settler pump came online this turn, starting regular production of settlers, after it builds another worker (mixing in further workers as required.)

2150BC: end of first 40 turns.


The Map:

[Krill]

And the save:

[vmxa1]

Krill is the capitol consider a coastal town? I can't tell if they have a tile between them and the water or not.

[Krill]

no, the capital is a non coastal town. But with the move it only has 1 tile of coast, instead of 2, and allows another town to be coastal, and sets up Orleans to be settler pump, then worker pump for a verylong time for come...


DAR 2, until the discovery of Philosophy

1) discover writing, and the eygptians do not have it. Instead, they have WC, Wheel, IW, and Myst.

2) I meet the ottomans, who have same techs as Egypt minus IW.

3) when I have 3 turns to go on philo, I trade writing to Egypt and Ottomans, netting 213 gold (Egypt), wheel, WC and Myst, (Ottomans).

4) Discover Philo, and trade it for Polytheism and 12 gold from the Ottomans, and 50 gold from Egypt (they won't let go of IW very easily...), set research to Monarchy, and...some other bugger got it first. At least my empire is productive.

[Krill]

The save.

[Krill]

The (admittedly miscellaneous) pic

[Modo44]

Will it stay that crowded around Orleans and Paris or will you be moving one of the cities later on?