An OCC start on Deity+5

[samson]

Hi all,

I have attached a save file from a game started on the Deity+5 level, i.e. 5 levels of difficulty above Deity. In other words, this level is to Deity, what Deity is to Chieftain. Deity+5 gives the AI civs enormous advantages in production, research, and population growth. They develop huge cities, build wonders like mad, and are competitive in the science race.

Deity+5 also causes severe unhappiness and rioting factors for the human civ. However, these are triggered by supported military units and the founding of a second city. If you play OCC and do not build military units until after you have Shakespeare's Theatre, those problems never arise. To do this, you need to get a NONE unit for city defense ASAP.

The attached save is from 3750BC. This is a random, medium map with 7 civs and raging hoards. The single settler has located a decent OCC site (4 whales) and there is a hut-tipped NONE horse unit for exploring or city defense. Starting techs: Alphabet, Bronze Working, Currency. Playing as Americans.

I have not played this game beyond this save and do not know if it is winable. But I have won a game at Deity+5 playing OCC and found it quite challenging. I was racing for every Wonder and just barely beat the AI to AC. I thought I would post this start so that others can try out D+5 if they wish.

Load the game as you normally would. The load message will tell you that the Difficulty level is "Neutral". This is a slight bug in which the post-Deity levels take their description strings from the list of attitudes. Everything else should work fine on Civ2, v242. However, super-Deity levels do NOT work on MGE. Sorry.

For more info on Super Deity, see the thread in CIV2/GENERAL.

samson

[solo]

What do you think, Paul, a candidate for the next comparison game? Looks like it might be fun to try.

[Smash]

Seems to work fine on my MAC version.Only difference was the level was called "salt".

[Paul]

Sounds like fun. And the AI keeps up in research better. I already lost both Colossus and Copernicus to the AI.

[Jaguar]

1636 AD

No wonders.

I spent the whole game getting caravans ready for apollo's, let the AI discover everything, while they gave me techs, and then when they got SF I built apollo's and a ship before they started building. I stayed at size 4 the whole time. This is easier than Deity OCC!

On the other hand, the whole idea I worked this on was kinda cheaty.

[samson]

Did you actually play out the landing or just quit when you launched and claim victory?
Can you post your 1635AD pre-landing save file?
How did you get Fusion Power? I've never seen the AI research it, let alone give it away.

[solo]

Just started and I'm taking a break at 1 AD. So far the AI have built about 7 wonders, and each I've met has about 8 size-12 cities now and they seem to have been growing exponentially! To them, I'm just a hopeless gnat. This is wild and wooly fun and I don't expect to win the race to AC, but will have a good time watching the AI battle it out! So far, 3 contacts, 3 embassies and 3 alliances, but will this tolerance last?

[samson]

It's 1581AD. I launched a minimal ship in 1560, due to arrive AC in 1596.

Wonders.
I got Colossus, Cope's, Newton's, Shakespeare, and Apollo.
The AI got everything else. Only the Manhattan Project remains unbuilt.

The top five cities are all Egyptian. Memphis is size 79.
I should never have given those guys Sanitation.

I've spent the last 20 years in Commie pumping out vet spies and sabotaging the Egyptian cities -- trying to slow their research and wreck their production. We're at war now. I have 2 spies left, pollution up the wazoo, and my city is defended by a chariot.

They just got Superconductor and launched a ship due to arrive in 1593!
I've got 12 years left to reduce their capitol (a size 36 city) to rubble without conquering it and getting a second city.

I'm toast.

[solo]

I am at 1000 AD. now. I can say that this is tremendous fun, and that the best wonder to go for is Shakespeare's which is the only one I've managed so far. I don't think I want to try for any others, either. So far I'm at size 22 and have acquired 53 techs (quite a few are off the path, though). I'm playing fast and loose, making plenty of mistakes, but am starting to get the hang of +5 and believe that with slower, careful play a very early landing is possible.

[samson]

I played out my "toasted" position to completion.

Figuring "in for a penny in for a pound" I continued to pump out vet spies and let the Egyptians hammer my city with their bombers. I send all my spies at Thebes to poison the water supply. By 1589 I had them down to size 3 with 3 defenders behind city walls. Then I sent in 2 howies and took out the defenders. My last 2 spies poisoned them down to size 1 and the wounded howie rolled in. "Egyptian spaceship returns to earth!" destroying 3 wonders to boot. The Germans eventually launched a big ship, but they were too late. Americans landed on AC in 1596 ... What a fun game!

I think a much earlier landing is possible. I got bumped up from "pathetic" to "weak" before finding the Japanese and my beaker costs doubled for a long while. I saw a strange thing, too. At one point in the end game, Washingon went into disorder with Shakepeare's Theatre. An elvis got it out again, but still it was strange. I think Marco Polo would be a good wonder to try for in +5. The AI researches well and, if carefully monitored, they could do a lot of the science stuff for you.

I hope others try this. It's great fun to have a competitive AI.

[samson]

Look at the size of these AI cities.

[solo]

Just got to love this game! Embassies with all AI via diplomats is even better, since we all know communism now. 1400 AD with 68 techs. still need computers and flight through space flight though.

[solo]

I lost out to the Indians by 10 years. They arrived in 1791, using their 100+ cities to rush a ship and to catch up in research. The last few techs came very slowly after such a rapid start, and I think I should have built Sir Isaac's when I had the chance. However, on the plus side, I survived, learned the tech tree by 1788 and ended the game pollution free, a nice booby prize. I'll have to try this again, as it was thouroughly enjoyable.

[samson]

Yeah, the endgame is wild in D+5. The AI really makes a race out of it. The Indians, heh? They were out of it in my game - constantly at war with somebody.

Something I noticed when I was poisoning the Egyptian capitol in my endgame. As I took Thebes down from 36 to 3, Memphis also dropped in pop, from size 85 to 69. Almost as if the two cities were linked somehow in population. Maybe the AI has been reading Apolyton and knows about the "food caravan trick".

[solo]

In my game the Indians were very strong, first rolling over many German cities with hordes of elephants and later providing me with 300 gold per turn for a long stretch! Their biggest city had 112 citizens!

Japan was very strong militarily, and snuffed out the English near the end of the game. They had an incredible amount of military hardware.

One mistake I made was not paying the Celts 900g to start an alliance, because I would have gotten that back with interest in gifts. Gifts reminded me of the size 4 game!

I got most of my techs through trading with the AI, using my embassies with each to monitor their research (and gold for gifts). Things slowed down a lot when my best researchers went Fundamentalist.

I did pretty well with trade, as might be imagined, getting excellent payoffs with the English and Japanese. This help perk up my own research, too.

I got a little carried away bribing AI units, but I was rolling in gold from gifts. Might have been better to go for INU, and with more careful play at the start, Copernicus might have been mine. Both would have helped in the endgame, but early in this one, the AI started building wonders very early. They would announce, and BOOM, 3 turns later they would be done! At that time, I didn't think I would get any at all, because they were so fast out of the gate!