Succession Game X: Clueless Nubians

[Tellius]

Hi,

Maquiladora, could you have a look at your own savegame and try to change research? I get Horse Riding (giving me access to Javelin Cavalery) as an option when changing research (I tried this because I know that sometimes, you get other options than were presented to you when you first had to choose a new advance). I think this is the best way to go right now. But I was wondering if you get the same choice or not after pushing 'Change Research'.

Greetz

Tellius

[Maquiladora]

I got four options once Polytheism completed: Brick Making, Horse Riding, Trade, and Drama.

If you're wondering why I didn't go for Horse Riding then it was because we can get it through exchange (IIRC the Byzantines have it) or a nomad settlement.

Although it occurred to me that if we get Horse Riding (cost 1000) through our own research (or exchange) we can get the much more expensive Horse Armour (6000) through the settlement, or even better later on get Migration or Animal Husbandry free (both cost 10,000). The question is how long do you wait to use the settlement advance, and what do we need most at the moment...

[Tellius]

Hi,

Although it occurred to me that if we get Horse Riding (cost 1000) through our own research (or exchange) we can get the much more expensive Horse Armour (6000) through the settlement, or even better later on get Migration or Animal Husbandry free (both cost 10,000).

Exactly, if you have many horse goods available, getting Horse Riding through a settlment is the way to go obviously, but when there are only so many Horse Goods, you better think ahead like this. I usually look at the cost of an advance, the cheap ones I research myself, and I keep the advances-though-settlement for the more expensive ones.

Tellius

[Maquiladora]

You can get Horse Riding (or anything of equal value) for Jurisprudence from the Byzantines though. It's your call though.

[Tellius]

You can get Horse Riding (or anything of equal value) for Jurisprudence from the Byzantines though. It's your call though.

I'll do that. I don't think it's a good idea to stray too far from strategies set up earlier in the game anyway. I just posted the initial question because I wasn't sure whether or not you got the same options in the research selection menu, that's all.

Tellius

[EPW]

Where can I find a list of advance costs?

[HuangShang]

Aren't advances variable based on past research.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by EPW
Where can I find a list of advance costs?

I just look them up in the Great Library.

Aren't advances variable based on past research.

How do you mean?

[Tellius]

Hi,

I just look them up in the Great Library

Indeed, for this purpose I added that info into the GL for Stan, cause it wasn't there in AOMIII.

There is something very strange going on though. Say, and advance costs 2000 gold, the game translates this into a number of turns based on the input of gold at that moment. But when you have a look at the research currently in progress more or less towards the end, you see the game is always overshooting (for instance, we have already spent 2560 gold on an advance that costs 2000 gold, and we still have to wait 3 turns). I'm guessing this is because the input of gold goes up each turn (population growth, new cities...) and the game doesn't take this into account. I don't know if this was already the case in plain vanilla CtP2...

I'll post the savegame later, I played 10 turns yesterday, will play the rest later today.

Tellius

[Tellius]

Hi,

An overview of my shady business.

3100 BC begin Coracle in Huang Shang, Ziggurat in Misratah (which is highest in science, and will therefore benefit the most from the Ziggurat's effect), found 290 gold in goodie hut.

3060 BC we find the advance of Tribes in one goodie hut, and a settler in another (although the settler is a LONG way from home, it remains uncertain if he will make it)

3040 BC the Byzantines rejected a trade proposal (Horse Riding for Jurisprudence, more or less of equal value), so I'm going to butter them up a bit, beginning with a gift of 100 gold.

3020 BC Coracle ready, Fishing Fleet next

3000 BC Huang Shang and Shaba at 75 happiness, the threshold, so I'm giving them 1 entertainer, so I don't have to alter the main sliders

2980 BC My far flung settler (luckily protected by the spearman who found him) meet the Vikings. I give those guys 100 gold and agree to withdraw.
Byzantines rejected trade again, even after buttering up with gold and free map of ours, I then propose a trade of 1200 gold for their Horse Riding, they reject again. We now have to switch research to Horse Riding, so we can get a more expensive advance by disbanding a settler on a Horse good.

2960 BC Horse Riding researched, now beginning with Copper Smelting. Found King in good hut.

2940 BC Princess born, she wedds a local ruler, people are happy, we get some production bonus on Temple of Polytheism by disbanding this princess. We disband nomad on cotton good and get Plough.

2900 BC we disband Nomad on horse and get Horse Armor (and thus the Horseman becomes available)

2860 BC we have founded Polytheism, we get a free Patriarch and a happiness boost (so I can lower the wages without going into the red zone). Again we find a nomad in a goodie hut, he's far away from home but has good protection from a decent stack.
Sadly, Tellius dies in the confusion that accompanies the religious revolution that Polytheism caused. May he be remembered forever.

Things to look out for: before continuing to play, please look up the nomads I found in goodie huts, they are stacked with units for protection, we need to get them home. One stack is only 2 units big (settler + wounded spearman), the other is big enough to be safe (5 units in total I think).

I think, despite the fact that we have the maximum of cities, we should place 1 or even 2 new cities to the northeast, towards the mountain chains, I even already built a road towards that general direction from Firka. This way, we can further hem in the Byzantines and claim the mountain range. I let the Patriarch go towards the Macedonians for conversion purposes, but should you choose another path, you can easily turn him around. We could for instance use him to 'see' hidden units such as slaver, spy etc.

Have fun!

Tellius

[Tellius]

And a screenshot

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Tellius

There is something very strange going on though. Say, and advance costs 2000 gold, the game translates this into a number of turns based on the input of gold at that moment. But when you have a look at the research currently in progress more or less towards the end, you see the game is always overshooting...

Theres a lot of other things going on with the values like difficulty and government modifiers to further screw with the figures, I just don't worry about it

That looks like a good 15 turns

I guess the next player might get Bronze Working and upgrade our Spearmen to Hoplites. Are we planning to upgrade all we can for about 11,000 gold?

Also what is our target after Bronze Working?

What wonders should we focus on getting next?

[Fromafar]

Originally posted by Tellius
There is something very strange going on though. Say, and advance costs 2000 gold, the game translates this into a number of turns based on the input of gold at that moment. But when you have a look at the research currently in progress more or less towards the end, you see the game is always overshooting (for instance, we have already spent 2560 gold on an advance that costs 2000 gold, and we still have to wait 3 turns). I'm guessing this is because the input of gold goes up each turn (population growth, new cities...) and the game doesn't take this into account. I don't know if this was already the case in plain vanilla CtP2...

It was. The displayed number is incorrect. It is the base cost of the advance, and does not include the penalty for the difficulty level.

[HuangShang]

I play next right? I have a midterm soon so I will play in a couple days.

[Tellius]

Hi,

Are we planning to upgrade all we can for about 11,000 gold?

I usually only upgrade the units in the outer cities. When we have more gold, we can upgrade the others too, or we can keep some to block enemy stacks by using their ZOC and even to sacrifice completely to slow down the enemy's approach.

What do you guys think about going over our max city limit and building 1 or 2 cities towards the northeast and the mountain range there?

Tellius