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Why waste the time?
I’ve discovered that it takes a very long time to take a turn with 29 computer players, so inspired by kmj, I’ve got the idea to write the story of my game while the computer calculates the progress of the computer players.
The settings
A Deity game with 30 nations in a Gigantic Doughnut World, with normal rules, which means that pollution is on and Bloodlust is off.
Map setting as follows: Maximum wet, Maximum warm, Two clicks from Maximum Ocean, Island/Land in The middle, Two clicks from maximum Diverse terrain, and goods at The absolute minimum.
This will create a world with several continents, with several nations on them. There will be smaller continents and islands as well, with less or just one nation on them. The ability to reach one continent from another will in many cases first become a reality when the ability to sail far from shore becomes available because of the size of The Ocean.
In this world The average nation will be able to build approximate 5-7 cities before running out if terrain due to The fact that they will at this time be running into other nations, or The Ocean will prohibit them from expanding further until The technology makes this possible.
The map settings further more assure several things. All of which aims at a more balanced and difficult game.
First of all The maximum wetness and almost maximum diversity combined with The layout of The continent and oceans, have The effect that every nation has a fair chance of having rivers and hills/mountains in The immediate vicinity of their starting location. This makes the growth/production/gold outcome more even.
The rarity of goods in this world serves several purposes.
One being slowing down the science rate. If there were to be many goods The discoveries of technology would progress too fast, as The individual nation would have an awesome gold outcome due to The mere presence of all these goods and The extensive trading following, combined with 30 nations trading technology back and forth. The most powerful nation would reach the Diamond age, before any nation have had the time to build a single musketeer!
A second purpose is to encourage international trade. Domestic trade being almost non-existing as a result of the rest of the game setup, means that the only way to establish monopolies is to persuade other nations to sell you the goods you need. This will result in better relations and possibly the establishment of several alliances, because the only way you can be able to persuade other nations to sell you goods is to improve your relations with them.
The fact that you will need to keep good relations with many nations in order to boost trade, and thereby science, serve as a counterweight to The fact that you want to be a powerful nation. The only way to become a powerful nation with this setup is to conquer your neighbors, because you quickly run out of building terrain. The conquest of your neighbors leads to deterioration of your relations with the nations, which have a friendly attitude towards your neighbors. All nations will have to think twice before declaring war on another nation, as it is crucial to find a balance between increasing you power, not being caught with your trousers down lacking behind in weapons technology, and keeping up with the race for the alien hybrid.
These settings have a interesting effect on the power of the wonders. Some becomes very weak, and some becomes awesome powerful, if they are used properly. Proper use of wonders in the civ genre, makes the difference between victory and defeat. I’ll just leave this issue untouched for you civ lovers out there to brainstorm about.
Interest for the story of my game?
If there is any interest in the progress of my game which I haven’t begun yet, I would be happy to post the story which I have time to write down between turns. In the time it takes for the computer to calculate the progress for the 29 other civs, I have time to write my progress down on paper. The time between turns is even worse than in multiplayer games on the Internet.
So if there is a interest in this please make me aware of this, and I will begin the game while I write down my progress and the methods I use to accomplish my goals.
Enslave them all!!
Thomas Diemar
[This message has been edited by Diemar (edited September 28, 1999).]
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