First OCC Win -- City:3200bc AC:1968

[Smash]

yes thats true they aren't official but I got a feeling that the only one that is going to break Paul's record is Paul himself.I hope I'm wrong.If someone does pull it off,Paul will just renew his efforts with a stronger resolve.

[Aurelius]

I find the unluckier positions fun to play. With no starting science and alot of jungle, I managed to win a game in 1965 the other day. The game was science slow for the AI's too.

Setting records is a frustrating endeavor, but it would be fun to see some competition at that highest level.

Has anyone thought about just starting an informal league and presenting a random OCC position--good or poor. This random position would be submitted on Mondays and would be completed by the following Monday. All 'informal' competitors would submit a science and improvement log. I think it would be fun to compare all our log dates. Also, some games might be very difficult to win PERIOD!

Of course there are different versions of the game and that would have to be included in the log. We might be able to draw some conclusions about the affect of different versions on OCC results.

But in the end, we'd all have a game to discuss contextually.

Aurelius.

[don Don]

Yeah, I don't mind having a so-so starting site, but you've got no chance without mucho trade. I suppose if I found a defensible site with 2 or 3 trade specials and lots of river.

One OCC game I played I started near a somewhat isolated corner with a whale, a gold, and rivers. The pattern fell on two grassland river tiles, so I had a decent chance of converting them and finding at least one silk/pheasant (one of each, as it turned out ). The only problem: the middle tile was jungle, so I had to irrigate it first. Whew. I enjoyed that challenge, but I wound up being too close to a beligerant neighbor whom I simply couldn't please even by giving it frequent tech and too much gold. The SOBs wiped me out by throwing massive waves of cavalry against my beleaguered and outnumbered Alpine defenders.

[don Don]

Oh I forgot, I like the informal competition idea. We could take turns submitting maps. Could be fun!

[Aurelius]

Hey Don don,

A very respectable name. The weekly OCC league game or communal game could be posted under a new topic weekly. I was thinking maybe it could be a random position starting in 4000BC with maybe nothing but swamp. In a horrible starting position, one would have to look around for a good spot. The game would have a divergent outcome, no doubt. Some of us would be luckier than others. But it might be fun.

Still, I love the comparison game for record setting or attempting--nothing could compete with that concept.

Just tried an OCC large map game...very hard. I couldn't get copernicus in time. Horrible Hut luck too! So so starting position. The problem with a large map OCC is the need for contact and trade. Perhaps Map making might be an essential science on a large map. Oh, and I didn't win


Aurelius.

[Paul]

I'm not sure if a would want to play every week, but maybe a two-weekly game would be better. If I understand your idea correctly it would just be a 4000 BC random start, not looking for any special terrain, just play with what you get.

[Aurelius]

Hi Paul,

That's right, random beginning with/without extra techs or terrain specials starting in 4000 bc. Every two weeks sound fine.

Don't exactly know how game positions would be submitted. Either we could have random positions from different players or a designated player, 'monitor', submitting a random position every two weeks from their Civ II version. It's a low maintenance effort and if the 'monitor' wants to pass the batan, anyone can pick it up.

I must say, it seems like it would be a good fit with your OCC page, but I don't want to volunteer you I guess we need a url from which one could download the bi-weekly game. I like the choice of your website as it has the 'cheats' listed and strategy for new players and everyone knows of about your site. Also, it gets more complex if we all have to rely on email.

Any ideas are welcome. Perhaps an independant thread would be useful. The idea is to have a position to discuss contextually and have a bit of competitive fun. Oh, and maybe I'd complete a log for once

Aurelius.

[Paul]

I would be willing to put the games on my web site for downloading; it wouldn't take too much time to upload it and post the url here.

As for starting the game, the starter should have v2.42 if you want everyone to be able to play because MGE saves are not backwards compatible. I don't know if you should have one player to always start the game or maybe get a list of people who would be willing to submit games? In that case we would probably need a list of who would start the game in which week.

[don Don]

Aurelius,
The Deity OCC pretty much requires the player to get Colossus, Copernicus, and Newton. Getting Philosophy first is almost as important, but not truly essential (as long as the civ that beats you to Phil is generally lagging behind you).

I suppose since everyone would have the same handicap it would be "even," but in general it's no fun struggling and keeping a detailed log, only to get stomped long before the modern era. I've played with the editor, generating map after map, and too many just have squat for defensible sites with enough rivers or trade specials to have a shot.

I think maps submitted should have some decent chance of at least getting a good run for the money.

[Aurelius]

Hey don Don,

Perhaps we should just give the random map a chance. If we find the maps too inhospitable, we can go from there. I'm pretty much a beginner at OCC. But I feel I can win the game most of the time with 1900+ AC dates. I also like that I can lose to the AI! Makes for exciting games and leads to good old human ingenuity.

I'm going to start a thread, Bi-weekly OCC competition. If folks feel a need for a non-random map, that will be fine with me.

Oh, and with two weeks to complete the games, maybe we'd all have the patience to make a good log and the time to make hard decisions.

See you at the new thread--"Fortnight OCC competition."

Seems biweekly has two meanings in my not so concise dictionary--occurring once every two weeks AND occurring twice in a week. Nothing like ambiguity! So Fortnight has a nice sound and unambigous meaning.

Thanks, Aurelius.

[Sten Sture]

Whooo hooo! Sounds fun. I will jump in if I can be the first one to post that I had my city taken out by the Vikings in 1200bc!

[crowatbitemedotcom]

I like this biweekly competition idea too. Count me in.

I'll have to go look at that new thread...