[spoilers] Pax Commodorica: Pharaoh of Rome

[Commodore]

MC's the best choice for Ind forges/colossus, or maybe monarchy for extra happy.

Who knows, maybe a civil service slingshot's in the cards (this is a joke. do not take seriously)

Heh, you're a funny man. That would be lovely, but no, Metal Casing all the way baby. Monarchy if everything goes right is worth 2 commerce per turn, total. Because I'm still including a run at acquiring us some Representation...

Retep, I hope for micro/save stack/scan, because your one turn better, one worker better, sim is getting followed. Woohoo!


In sadder news a lion right properly mauled Magellan, so he's looking to heal...but I don't think Pooh there is going to let him. Now we're in the dice-rolling part of the run!

[retep]

I'm on my break so just dropping this. This would give the general idea I hope if not I come back in some hours when sometime else

[Commodore]

Well the scout is cowering in fear, healing at the moment, but I have new map knowledge still! Nice, fog made that hill look like a sadistic peak at first. The lion is guarding some flood plains too, overall very nice stuff out east.


Processed a bit of the save stack, looks pretty solid retep. My best Oracle time was turn 57 but that one didn't get a fifth city until turn 61. Any reason you settled the fourth and fifth in that sequence?

[Dp101]

That looks like a lovely potential couple of cities over to the east.

[retep]

Sorry today I really busy but this 50-60 could go a lot of different ways.

I think they went in that order because of timing, the four settler finish on the capital first so it makes sense to go north because otherwise the fifth settler would have to move all the way to the north wasting a couple of turns.

[retep]

This is the last sim I'll do (at least in a sandbox. I still could do something on paper) I'll be traveling from tomorrow for a moth so I won't have access to civ.

I have a feeling Commodore won't like it but hey it looks good to me
First picture turn 60, all workers, except for one, free to do whatever.



Save stack coming in 3 minutes.

[retep]

I have made some changes so from the last savestack take turn 47 and then follow with this turn 49 here so thinks make sense.

[retep]

Now that I see the pictures I want to make some changes, for example antium doesn't need to grow so fast so it could give the deer to the capital a couple turn early (58) so it coud reach size 4 at turn 61...but no, I stop here before I go insane.

Edit: Four post in a row? tempted to post this edit in another post but not everyone can be rego

[Commodore]

Thanks retep! I'm sure we'll have modifications in oh...9 turns, but for now we look to be in great shape.

[Commodore]

Gang Aft Agley: Early Plans

So I realize the thread has been a bit baffling of late as retep and I have batted sims back and forth. There are as many purple-border images of Rome here as there are red Legio pictures from the real game. Retep's latest, while not perfect, is pretty darned near it, even down to the lovely grass hill cottage. But what is the purpose of all of this?

Clearly, our sims aren't going to reflect the reality of forty turns from now; Bronze Working's revelation of copper will modify plans, just to start with. The sims are a solid framework for “all things going normally”, though, one that can be shifted around a good deal to account for things like copper, moved cities, and so on. Obviously, twenty turns from now we could have a pair of axes and a pair of workers tactically maneuvering to kill impi; if it happens, it happens.

Objectives are important, although often in early game Civilization IV it really is more about the journey than the destination. We're going for the ideal of five cities by turn sixty, with an “extra” of the Oracle (plus hopefully Hinduism). This is a sane, reasonable, and competitive goal. But it would be reasonable to have another generalized goal; maybe we're genetic freaks lacking pinkies so we think in base 8 and instead wanted seven cities plus Stonehenge by turn 64. That would also be a fine goal. The important thing is to have a good framework to build yourself cities, population, production, and tech...basically, set good goals to get yourself a nice base.


The variability of this game is immense, particularly when playing against six other smart human beings. There is absolutely no way to plan a start out at this point unto “and then we win!” It's a fools' errand to pursue overly-complicated paths and plots as if your opposition are a bunch of predicable AI. Thing here is, not only are all of the rivals smart and competent, they're also human and error-prone. You can play your pudgy little heart out in a sandbox and fortify it against all comers but still lose hardcore by not capitalizing on the others' mistakes.

So that's where I am with this early-game planning. It's nice, it's fun, but it isn't going to win the game for us. However, thanks to retep for bouncing this back and forth with me we should at least have a plan that will give us a base from which to win. Then the onus is really on me...because the midgame is oh so much more meaty. And that's where the road ahead gets allll forked up.