And rounding off the list, pt2 of opponent analysis:
Serdoa - Darius of Sumeria:
I honestly don't know what Serdoa is doing in this game, considering that Jowy advertised this game as a intermediate game. I mean, he was leading in PBEM47 before that game came to a halt, and that had quite possibly the scariest lineup of players I've ever seen in a PBEM. Needless to say, he's clearly one of, if not the pregame favorite to take the down based on player skill alone.
Darius at 6th leader pick is very good, like some earlier picks there's no expansion trait but ORG may be useful if the map has a significant amount of water (considering that Krill suggested banning GLH, its a reasonably safe assumption), and by 6th pick and beyond there aren't many better choices. Sumeria is a good civ for 5th pick, and even combines with Darius's ORG for synergy. Vultures aren't good but techs are. Certainly one of the better combo's overall.
Pick Strength: 5/5
Player Strength: 5/5
Estimated Finish: 1st
WK + Merovech - Izzy of China:
Oh hey, it's us. What can I say...
Well, I've been around for quite some time, my first game being PB3, but I've decent results in most of the games I've played in between now and then IMO, including a win in PBEM8. Merovech hasn't been around as long, only playing in PB8 before this, but he's certainly a strong player as well. He's been able to keep up with me in micro/macro discussions, and I trust he'll be able to play a strong game if/when I'm not around (and technically, he's the main player with me dedlurking).
Izzy is a good pick for 7th, since most of the good FIN leaders were gone we went with the next best thing. EXP gets the growth curve up faster while SPI helps with mid-game border expansion/GP birthing/other civic flexibility. China has the best techs in the game for a flexible start, although lacking fishing may hurt us. The uniques are good, but situational.
I'm not sure what we'll do with this combo tbh, SPI wants us to lean into a SE but a SE almost requires Mids, and we aren't the only team who wants Mids. We definitely want a hybrid economy of some type, although I'm not sure how it'll compare to everyone else who picked FIN. We almost certainly have the fastest start though, with EXP China, with SPI tricks midgame.
Pick Strength: 4-5/5
Player Strength: 5/5
Estimated Finish: 2nd place (I'd put first, but Serdoa is really that good)
Sian - HC of Carthage:
I don't know much about Sian, but from what I can tell he's a generally underrated intermediate player. He's played a ton of games is all I really know, winning 29g.
HC is a crazy good leader pick for 8th, made even better by the fact that somehow he's the only IND leader in the game. Carthage might turn out to be a good pick if the map type allows it (considering GLH is banned, it could very well be), although Cothons are more expensive then harbors and it relies on other people giving him OB. Techs are good if he has a similar start to us while Numidians are ok. Very good pick by Sian here.
Pick Strength: 5/5
Player Strength: 3/5
Estimated Finish: At least 6th
Nakor + JesterFool - Pericles of Egypt:
Both decent players in their our right. Nakor has more experience in the MP environment but JesterFool is getting used to MP, having played in PB8.
Their choices are solid, and scream SE. Egypt is a great all around civ, with great starting techs, UU and a situational UB that is more useful with a PHI leader. Pericles has decent traits that have some synergy with each other, and clearly points towards a SE. They want Mids more then we do for sure, if they get it then they're set. If not, then they have to play the CE game which doesn't work too well with their pick.
Pick Strength: 4/5
Player Strength: 3/5
Estimated Finish: At least 6th
BaII - Zara of Otto's:
BaII is the final newcomer, so I don't know about him much.
I've played Zara of Otto's before in my first game too. Zara is decent for last leader pick, no complaints there. Ottoman's, however, are slightly overrated, and not worth 1st pick IMO. Techs are good of course, but the UB requires early building of Aqueducts, which are fairly useless by the time you get Maths normally. The bonus happy is good, but 2 happy isn't especially that great when other teams can tech Monarchy and get almost the same thing from HR. The UU is a musket that's better against obsolete units, it's useful if your under attack by a behind in tech opponent, but it's not good enough to conquer the world with.
I don't think BaII will amount to much, but of course he could easily prove me wrong.
Pick Strength: 3/5
Player Strength: ???
Estimated Finish: Dunno, but probably not in the top 5
(May 19th, 2013, 21:52)WarriorKnight Wrote: I'd hold off deciding exactly what micro plan you want to do until we do some scouting. We spend 15 turns building the first worker before we can do anything else anyway, during that time the scout may be able to find our next city spot, and solve what to do with spare worker turns to our next city.
Also, if/when you need to hand the turnplaying over to me (is it sometime soon?), could you send me the microplan? I haven't spent as much time figuring out the moves as you have, and am sure to not follow them correctly if you don't leave instructions of some kind.
Oh, yeah, I agree on both points. I completely plan on posting the microplan anyway, just in case there is an error. I'm sure some gracious lurker will come by and point out if I've made a mistake. Umm, how does Sunday the 26th sound as a hand-off date?
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.
Well, I've been around for quite some time, my first game being PB3, but I've decent results in most of the games I've played in between now and then IMO, including a win in PBEM8. Merovech hasn't been around as long, only playing in PB8 before this, but he's certainly a strong player as well. He's been able to keep up with me in micro/macro discussions, and I trust he'll be able to play a strong game if/when I'm not around (and technically, he's the main player with me dedlurking).
Heh, thanks for the compliment and vote of confidence. Also, I am? Just kidding, no worries as long as you can turnplay with only a moderate amount of input from me during the mid-to-late fall, if the game lasts that long (which it should).
Also, PB11 Spoilers:
I'm not sure if you've been following, but Kuro and BaII's opening is suspect at best. Maybe he'll prove me wrong here, but if that is any indication of how he will play here, we want to start next to him.
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.
Well, I've been around for quite some time, my first game being PB3, but I've decent results in most of the games I've played in between now and then IMO, including a win in PBEM8. Merovech hasn't been around as long, only playing in PB8 before this, but he's certainly a strong player as well. He's been able to keep up with me in micro/macro discussions, and I trust he'll be able to play a strong game if/when I'm not around (and technically, he's the main player with me dedlurking).
Heh, thanks for the compliment and vote of confidence. Also, I am? Just kidding, no worries as long as you can turnplay with only a moderate amount of input from me during the mid-to-late fall, if the game lasts that long (which it should).
If you can adopt to the differences of MP games compared to a standard SP game, then I'm sure you'll do well. So far though, until we find someone all there is to do is the micro plan, which is coming along great.
I don't mind turnplaying when you can't, but otherwise you should be playing this game with me ded-lurking, as I have enough games on my plate already. You want me to take over next week? I'm fine with that, although it is a bit earlier then I planned (although we have been waiting a while for a restart). You'll still be around presumably?
Yep! I'll be around all summer, just moderately busy, compared to the completely non-busy that I am now. I should even still be able to play turns most of the time, just not all the time. I am moving temporarily next Sunday, though, so I figured that'd be a good time to switch. I can play probably starting that Tuesday again, then most weekdays and occasional weekends for a little over a month (until the end of June), then I'm pretty free until the end of summer and moderately free until mid-Autumn.
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.
5 crop yield plus 2 hammers means that Gavagi is a lucky duck: He's either settled on a two-hammer tile or a three-food tile or has a four-yield unimproved tile in his first ring (like a forested non-tundra deer). Since those tiles are not naturally generated by normal Civ4 mapscripts, it's probably a plains hill plant. The 16 GNP is more normal. The most likely scenario: 8 commerce, 2 culture, and 4 espionage from the palace, 1 commerce from the city center, and 1 commerce from his three-yield tile. Lucky man, with a resource in his first ring as well. Unless he has not yet selected a tech (very possible) this means that he is researching a first-row tech, like agriculture, and not BW. The free beaker doesn't appear in the demos, right?
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.
Jungle, ick. The dry banana is nice, but it's borderline useless until calendar. Riverside grassland tiles are always good, of course.
Edit: wut. That was definitely not how the screen looked when I took the screenshot...Well, at least the new stuff is there.
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.
(May 20th, 2013, 23:56)Merovech Wrote: The free beaker doesn't appear in the demos, right?
The free beaker does appear in demos, so 16GNP is normal
Huh, so I guess that they are not working a tile with a commerce bonus then (8 + 2 + 4 + 1 (city center) + 1 (free beaker)) = 16
Thanks!
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.
I hope there's enough room to the N to plant a 2nd city, cause otherwise our fast start will be wasted. It goes without saying we need Sailing or IW quickly to settle our 3rd city and beyond, perhaps before Pottery? (if proposing delaying EXP granaries doesn't get me shot).
Just kidding, no worries as long as you can turnplay with only a moderate amount of input from me during the mid-to-late fall, if the game lasts that long (which it should). 
So far though, until we find someone all there is to do is the micro plan, which is coming along great.
