(June 5th, 2013, 11:00)Merovech Wrote: I think that it is proportional to the number of base points per type.
That's how it's behaving, I think. Which means we'll end up with Bard odds converging toward 80% I'd previously thought each source counted equally, no matter the amount, which would have left the Bard odds heading toward 67%. But we went from 43% to 50% with one 'end turn', which only seems possible if we're headed toward 80.
(June 5th, 2013, 13:54)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Is anyone in a crazy power point?
I'm not sure I understand the question. You mean, military demos? We're clearly #1, and I expect to stay there since I'm building to take the barb city. But then...well, a Combat V griffon is technically worth 0 Power. So it's not perfect.
Mardoc Wrote:You mean, military demos? We're clearly #1, and I expect to stay there
Ok, strike that! Ironic timing
Sent this to HK
Mardoc Wrote:There is a drumming in the air, something magical, something from the direction of the elves. It seems to be calling, and even Balseraph trees sway rhythmically to the beat. Momentarily concerned, Barnum dispatches a sword swallower to investigate, before being distracted by the next shiny thing.
...I can't help but notice you've used your worldspell, fairly early. Anything you're willing to share?
Best guess? Something from a lair. Maybe Loki leading mistforms north would have been pushing them in the direction they already wanted to go. Maybe HK unleashed something on his own. It might, maybe a bit, be Ellimist, but I don't see how he could have a threat great enough for MotT instead of frantic hunter/fawn builds.
I hope it's Selrahc's Mistforms, and that he can kill them with the WS. That would mean first, that we don't have to worry about them. Second, that HK took damage, making him not a runaway threat anymore. And third, that he didn't take too much damage; gtAngel is looking pretty sad, so HK's the only possible partner against Ellimist.
In other news...um... Not a lot happening, really. Our Arena finished, and generally we're just growing. None of our cities are at their happy cap (which is in the 10-11 range!), but I also want to keep building new cities. Probably a no-news is good news situation, there aren't currently any barbarians or Calabim griffons to be seen.
So, all the workers are making things unmolested. We've got a new gold mine, a new cottage, progress toward more cottages and cotton plantations and roads and such. Still researching KotE with only our magical Inspiration beakers , still stocking up cash (although next turn I intend to spend some giving weapons to our Freaks).
I ought to have time tomorrow for a report with pictures, even though I doubt there's much to show.
Ok, so my weekend was busier than expected, therefore no picture report yet. Hopefully I can manage that one of these upcoming evenings. Enough has happened that I think I should report, though.
HK responded, said it was 'the Doom of the Illians'. So it is Mistform(s), and here's hoping that Treants are enough.
Ellimist offered a ceasefire, which I rejected, instead offering a peace treaty. Frankly, I don't consider a ceasefire to mean anything from him, unless he also signs a NAP. He accepted the peace, though. Net result - we've a military stronger than we strictly need against incoming barbs, and our snowball was slowed to the point where we're around 2nd, rather than 1st.
Silver lining: not too much more building necessary to grab ourselves the barb city. Probably. Still need to scout it, to see what we're up against. Ideally that ends up redeeming our military hammer investment.
All things considered, though, Elli's still target #1. Both for realpolitik, since he's winning, and also for future games' deterrence. But we'll wait a while yet; he's too far away for a war to be winnable just yet.
I've had several Freaks built, some of whom are definitely Freak Show material, while others have very nice promos and will become Swordsmen as soon as I can manage it. One born as Weak (-1 Str) and nothing else is clearly a Show, while another born as Strong (+1 Str) and Magic Immune is definitely worth keeping. The one I'm torn on is the Freak born with just Mobility. On the one hand, that's a promo I don't have access to yet, and an important promo. On the other hand, I can get swords with Mobility fairly easily later on. Right now I'm keeping him around as a Freak. I can only really use one Freak Show at the moment anyway: Ringmaster can actually use both the happiness and the GPP. The Weak Freak will become that show. For the Mobility Freak - I guess the main question is whether we get worse Freaks faster or slower than we need Freak Shows.
The dungeon cleared on the first try, with a minor bad result. Our warrior got Plagued (-60% Str). I seriously considered deleting him; it'll be ages before we have a Priest unit or the Pool. But I suppose he can instead die as a warriorpult in a few turns, to help grab that Barb city. Overall I'm pleased: city 5 is going to found on schedule, and we only lost one 16-hammer unit.
I'm going back and forth on the idea of building Elder Councils and Markets. On the one hand: 2 commerce/turn isn't really worth 40 hammers, usually. And at least theoretically, any turn now we could switch traits and be able to have them half price. On the other hand: we're hammer heavy and commerce short at the moment. And I intend to work many more specialists than usual this game, so we can fuel at least Nox Noctis + a bunch of Golden Ages. Markets and EC are relatively cheap ways to get spec slots.
Current thinking is to delay decision . Stick with military until I'm sure we can get the barb city - capture gold and a strong city will both be very handy things. Maybe we'll get a swap to Philosophical/Financial by then, in which case it becomes a much easier question .
Because we're now at peace, I want the bronze/lake/cow city as city 6. Which means Fishing and Animal Husbandry, at least, need to happen soon, and probably Sailing as well. The Barb city having Pigs is another reason for an AH priority. I think we can still fit in Knowledge of the Ether first - minimum of 10 turns to finish the current settler and build another and get him into position, and econ is strengthening. Plus, the first couple tiles we'll want to work are going to be farms, regardless.
Having Fishing/Sailing en route means that city 7 is probably the offshore fish/crabs, to boost trade routes. Island cities are of course worth more the more cities you have - and since Ellimist reports mana on the islands, we ought to aim for at least some presence there.
So...we've goals for the next 20 turns or so, suddenly! Three cities to found, one to capture, and at least four techs to research. Meanwhile, of course, building lots of cottages and other improvements, and growing the cities onto them. And killing barbs, and hopefully resuming scouting.
After that...
I think the next logical goals are to get our midgame civics up and running, and to pick up Hunting (our last worker tech). That is, research Cartography for City States, Philosophy for Slavery, Writing/Trade for Foreign Trade and Undercouncil. Then we pop a GA to revolt - ideally we've got another Great Person by then, but we can use the worldspell if not. Follow that up with Deception to claim Nox, and our position should be looking pretty good. That general path should be a dramatic econ boost, enough to push us to mana techs and Sorcery.
Meanwhile, the Bard to Drama/Sanitiation play is still on track. We're up to ~68% Bard, and five more turns until the pop.
Demos are currently poor, but that's partly due to HidingKneel's golden age. I *think* he burned it a little early, but then it did give him a free swap into FoL and extra production right when he needs it for Mistform battling.
I'm debating if it's worth trying for the Catacombs Libralus. On the one hand, I expect to want a lot of Mage Guilds, in lots of places. It's a big map, so I'll have lots of cities and should have some extra time before I need my military, too. On the other hand, it's a lot of early hammers, hammers that could instead be early adepts. Possibly adepts while we're still Arcane (this is surreal, I'm almost convinced there's something broken with Insane). An adept who has Potency and lots of time to gain XP is worth considerably more than a fresh adept, after all.
My biggest worry with going for the Catacombs is that it would give me incentive to build only the one Mage Guild, and no adepts, until it's done. Or...if I don't wait to build adepts, then I don't get full benefit from the Catacombs.
Great Bard Drama to Sanitation is probably my favorite move in all of civ4 (possibly because I discovered it on my own, unlike most other things about civ).
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
(June 10th, 2013, 16:39)Merovech Wrote: Great Bard Drama to Sanitation is probably my favorite move in all of civ4 (possibly because I discovered it on my own, unlike most other things about civ).
(June 10th, 2013, 16:39)Merovech Wrote: Great Bard Drama to Sanitation is probably my favorite move in all of civ4 (possibly because I discovered it on my own, unlike most other things about civ).
That was your bit of brilliance?
No, no, I wasn't the first to discover it. I wish, that would be incredible. I just meant that I learned it on my own before I saw it on a forum.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
(June 10th, 2013, 23:21)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Where's the barb city?
North, right next to the big skeleton.
Quote:Does arcane double the catacombs?
Nope. And it does double Mage Guilds, so the break even is ~8-9 guilds instead of ~4. IF we keep Arcane, of course.
I see your point, though. That's an awfully late breakeven, even ignoring the time advantage.
Quote:What does Nox do in this version?
Disclaimer: this is according to the changelog, not tested by me or in an MP game here.
It works pretty much like it's supposed to, originally. Makes units invisible to everything, but can be removed for a turn by Dispel Magic or Revelation. Technically, at the start of every turn, all units in territory get the 'Shroud of Nox Noctis' promotion, which has the original Nox effect, but can be removed by Dispel and Revelation.
Plus, of course, Shadow mana and 1 gpt/Nox city in the world.
Seems like a very strong move, therefore. Esus is already good synergy with Balseraphs, for Gibbon. Sareln added a bunch of smaller good effects, like more gpt for having the religion, the ability to 'Extort' population into gold (and hey, I'm planning to build granaries/smokehouses all over), and so on. Nox - well, it's not stupidly broken now that there are counters, but it's definitely quite strong.
Anyway, had a turn this morning, which was more boring than the last - I don't think we even had anything built, just the progress bars move. But hey, any turn with our 8 workers working in peace, while the cities all produce stuff, is a good turn. At the moment all my previous plans are still working.
, still stocking up cash (although next turn I intend to spend some giving weapons to our Freaks).
