First off, thanks to everyone who played! This game had a pretty good showing going by downloads, and four excellent reporting threads.
Here's the player rankings, going by finish date:
1. Aurorarcher, Turn 260 (Tower Win)
2. Miguelito, Turn 297 (Tower Win)
3. DaveV, Turn 299 (Domination Win)
4. Mr. Cairo, Turn 314 (Tower Win)
Based on the reports, the player experience was more-or-less what I was going for, though some of the AI behavior was highly divergent from the six practice games I ran. Of those practice games, four I played until I was in a position where I was certain I could win, and two were kind of fluky loses, once being an elimination when Volanna declared on my while she was already at war with Tasunke, then Os got peace with Sabathiel via an event and declared on me, and then she summoned the second Hyborem on my border, who declared and sealed the deal. The other loss featured a "Pleased" Varn walking around 200 Paramanders and Adepts through Lanun territory to invade me. Figured both were acceptable in that there was a possibility a player could be defeated, but only due to rare confluences of events or mistakes on the human's part.
Also, the second Hyborem spawn was intention; I was surprised when he appeared in my first test game (forgot to turn on Compact Enforced in the game settings), but decided he added some dynamism to the match.
Here's a breakdown of the bonuses (and maluses) I gave each opponent, some of which were surely obvious (going by memory, so I might miss a couple items... also, obviously spoilers for anyone who wants to try their hand at this later):
Sheaim:
+ Started with the AV Holy City
+ Started with a free Planar Gate
- Started at war with the Bannor and Mercurians
Bannor:
+ Started allied with the Mercurians
- Started at war with the Sheaim and Infernals
Mercurians:
+ Started allied with the Bannor
+ Started with three cities and two Settlers
- Started at war with the Sheaim and Infernals
Infernal:
+ Started with three cities and two Settlers
- Started at war with the Bannor and Mercurians
Hippus:
+ Started with a Heroic Horseman
Svarts:
+ Started with a Super Capital
Illians:
+ Started with a free Temple of the Hand
+ Started with ice tiles at obvious expansion sites near capital, which neighbors would ignore
Amurities:
+ Started with KotE tech and an Adept
Khazad:
+ Started with all basic Worker techs
+ Started with four Workers
+ Started with 500 gold
Ljo:
+ Started with Archery tech
Malakim:
+ Ideal starting terrain
Lanun:
+ Had a second city on a 1-tile island and with coast structured for optimal cove placement
Ultimately I think the civs who started with military techs were actually held back by them, rarely expanding much or at all and not competently rushing their opponents, while the ones with massively boosted starts did fairly well.
Here's the player rankings, going by finish date:
1. Aurorarcher, Turn 260 (Tower Win)
2. Miguelito, Turn 297 (Tower Win)
3. DaveV, Turn 299 (Domination Win)
4. Mr. Cairo, Turn 314 (Tower Win)
Based on the reports, the player experience was more-or-less what I was going for, though some of the AI behavior was highly divergent from the six practice games I ran. Of those practice games, four I played until I was in a position where I was certain I could win, and two were kind of fluky loses, once being an elimination when Volanna declared on my while she was already at war with Tasunke, then Os got peace with Sabathiel via an event and declared on me, and then she summoned the second Hyborem on my border, who declared and sealed the deal. The other loss featured a "Pleased" Varn walking around 200 Paramanders and Adepts through Lanun territory to invade me. Figured both were acceptable in that there was a possibility a player could be defeated, but only due to rare confluences of events or mistakes on the human's part.
Also, the second Hyborem spawn was intention; I was surprised when he appeared in my first test game (forgot to turn on Compact Enforced in the game settings), but decided he added some dynamism to the match.
Here's a breakdown of the bonuses (and maluses) I gave each opponent, some of which were surely obvious (going by memory, so I might miss a couple items... also, obviously spoilers for anyone who wants to try their hand at this later):
Sheaim:
+ Started with the AV Holy City
+ Started with a free Planar Gate
- Started at war with the Bannor and Mercurians
Bannor:
+ Started allied with the Mercurians
- Started at war with the Sheaim and Infernals
Mercurians:
+ Started allied with the Bannor
+ Started with three cities and two Settlers
- Started at war with the Sheaim and Infernals
Infernal:
+ Started with three cities and two Settlers
- Started at war with the Bannor and Mercurians
Hippus:
+ Started with a Heroic Horseman
Svarts:
+ Started with a Super Capital
Illians:
+ Started with a free Temple of the Hand
+ Started with ice tiles at obvious expansion sites near capital, which neighbors would ignore
Amurities:
+ Started with KotE tech and an Adept
Khazad:
+ Started with all basic Worker techs
+ Started with four Workers
+ Started with 500 gold
Ljo:
+ Started with Archery tech
Malakim:
+ Ideal starting terrain
Lanun:
+ Had a second city on a 1-tile island and with coast structured for optimal cove placement
Ultimately I think the civs who started with military techs were actually held back by them, rarely expanding much or at all and not competently rushing their opponents, while the ones with massively boosted starts did fairly well.