Overseas Exploration Plans

[Shiber]

Citizens of Apolytonia,
Several turnchats ago Meshelic and I were appointed by Aggie as special advisors in the field of overseas exploration. Our goal is to find the lost civs, and now that we have bought Astronomy we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or the horizon, or whatever.
Anyway, I recommend that we move our galley to the harbor in Tassagrad in order to upgrade it to a Galleon and then send it to the tile marked with an X and embark in the direction of the arrow as soon as we have Navigation.
Some have suggested that we send numerous galleys from several directions. I don't believe in this idea, especially after messing with the random map generator a lot and realizing that when a map with multiple major continents is created the continents are usually the same distance away from each other (meaning that the distance between the eastern shore of Abananaba Major and the western shore of the closest unknown continent roughly equals the distance between the western shore of Abananaba Minor and the eastern shore of the closest unknown continent). In other words what I'm saying is that a ship sent from the shore formerly known as the Persian shore and a ship sent from another favorable spot will reach the lost continent(s) roughly the same time.
However, if we do build a galley in Hole In the Wall as suggested in today's turnchat I will post what I see as the shortest route and I will urge everyone else to do the same.

[zeit]

"...I'm looking for answers from the great, anwers from the great beyond..."

another wonderful REM song.

SE is indeed better than East if we accept what Shiber said about the distances from shores (as our continent's shores are not 90 degree from the East-West axis). Good thinking Shiber.

[joncnunn]

Caravels sink in the ocean prior to Navigation.

So for now, the Caravels should be pushing back by one / two tiles the unknown.

Once this is done, send them near Uber Island so they are in good position to go searching for the lost contientant once we have Navigation.

[Shiber]

Originally posted by zeit
SE is indeed better than East if we accept what Shiber said about the distances from shores (as our continent's shores are not 90 degree from the East-West axis). Good thinking Shiber.

Thanks , but what I'm really waiting to hear is criticism.
This should be an interesting discussion.

[Shiber]

joncnunn, the plan is that we upgrade the galley to a caravel, put it in position and embark only once we get navigation.
As for your suggestion, I'm afraid Uber Isle is in fact the worst place in the known world to embark from.

[joncnunn]

I was thinking searching ENE from Uber Island after Naviagation.

But perhaps SE from off the coast of Susa might be closer.

Just be sure to explore around Uber Island, there might be an unsettled minor island not to far from there.

[Meshelic]

Recently a thread about attacking the English came up, and I'd just like to say if this came up and we were able to capture some of the English port cities, then we would have a greater chance of finding the continents from those jump-off points.

In the case that that doesn't happen, I recommend sending an exploration party northwest of the Romans (or Greeks), although I'm sure sending a ship out from Susa would be a wise choice considering our position.

We will need more ships in the not-so-far-off future.

[GodKing]

Upgrade, but don't let is sit there. Use it to explore as much of the coast as possible so we can try and sell our map some more. IIRC each ocean square is worth 1/6 gp in trades, so with our large shore line we can get some significant mula. As long as we are set when we get navigation, it should not be a problem.

[Shiber]

Originally posted by joncnunn
Just be sure to explore around Uber Island, there might be an unsettled minor island not to far from there.

Point taken. I'll promote the idea of further exploration in order to find more islands. Even if they're too far from our capital and there won't be much use in settling those islands we'd still make some decent profit out of selling the maps.

[Meshelic]

I don't think there are any more islands (not any worth settling) in the seas around Uber Isle.

On a different note, I believe our cartographers still need to poll the people on proper naming of the ocean bodies surrounding us.

[Shiber]

Originally posted by Meshelic
Recently a thread about attacking the English came up, and I'd just like to say if this came up and we were able to capture some of the English port cities, then we would have a greater chance of finding the continents from those jump-off points.

I strongly doubt we'll take any English shore cities before we get Navigation and set sail to the lost continent(s), but then again this game has been so far full of surprises.

Originally posted by GodKing
Upgrade, but don't let is sit there. Use it to explore as much of the coast as possible so we can try and sell our map some more. IIRC each ocean square is worth 1/6 gp in trades, so with our large shore line we can get some significant mula. As long as we are set when we get navigation, it should not be a problem.

The problem is that we can't anticipate when we'll get Navigation so I'd prefer it if the caravel stays at the start tile after it is upgraded. This will give us the fastest start possible, whereas if we'll use the caravel to explore and then strike an unexpected deal to get Navigation our caravel won't be ready and we'd have to take a longer route to reach the lost civs.
Being late by even one turn could mean the difference between being the first to find the lost civs and take advantage of their technological and geographical ignorance and losing the race.

Originally posted by Meshelic
We will need more ships in the not-so-far-off future.

I concur. Once we have found the lost civs we should begin to explore the seas and any islands that we come across and sell the maps to our neighbours.

[Shiber]

Originally posted by Meshelic
I don't think there are any more islands (not any worth settling) in the seas around Uber Isle.

Neither do I, but mapping the world, even the seas, increases the value of our maps. According to Godking every water tile adds 1/6 gold to the price and every land tile adds 2 gold to the price.

Originally posted by Meshelic
On a different note, I believe our cartographers still need to poll the people on proper naming of the ocean bodies surrounding us.

I agree, but let's not discuss this here since this is off topic to this thread.
I would have brought this issue up but it's 23:34 and I want to catch some sleep. Meshelic, can you please bump some old thread or start a new thread about this issue?

[History Guy]

Well, our galleys should be all upgraded to caravels as soon, if not before, the discovery of Navigation. My question is, how long will it be until that is achieved?

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by History Guy
Well, our galleys should be all upgraded to caravels as soon, if not before, the discovery of Navigation. My question is, how long will it be until that is achieved?

Far longer that we had planned as our coastal cities aren't going to be building harbors or ships with ET as City Planner.

[History Guy]

Blast! Now, heck, you see, if you'd all just voted for me instead, we'd be having a harbor for every city!

I would think that harbors and ships must be built sooner or later, otherwise we'll be having to ask the Germans if they could hand over the Zulu communications for 50 gold and some ivory, or something to that effect. I should think that this should be a priority, on account of the tremendous benefits we would assuredly receive if we discovered these "lost civilizations" before our neighbors.