[SPOILERS] Team Unpronounceable Unicode Symbol: True Grit

[Ceiliazul]

I'll have to wait on analysis of the dots and micro until I'm not sucking all this info thru a phone-sized straw.

Yes you need wheel and pottery for MC, it's a question of timing. Waiting on wheel increases your chance of a religion while waiting on pottery gets the Oracle started earlier while pottery is acquired. It does sound like you're more comfortable with the wheel/pottery early route, taking Oracle if you can get it. Again, that's a great option which I support completely. (Still wouldn't tech fishing though)

In fact, the grow first plan probably does a better job of keeping your workers busy in the t40-60 range. Tinker with both and pick the one you like best.

[Sisu]

Yeah, I'm not going to go for Fishing before Pottery I don't think. I have enough inland dots on my map to keep me busy until after my dash for Oracle, especially if I split blue dot. After that, though, I think we'll have to become fishermen, given how barren our south/west is and how jungleclogged our north appears to be.

[Sisu]

Turn 29 was quiet, just sending our chops into a settler and moved our scout into the fog, where we did not end turn next to an animal. Next turn we find out if a two-mover struck at us, I guess.

I played the turn right after work and then headed out for errands and for my daily visit to my grandfather (who, by the way, is doing much better - he's out of the hospital altogether and back in his retirement home, albeit in its nursing center. Thanks to folks for your good wishes). When I returned, both Oxy and BXB's threads had like a dozen more posts each. Um... I feel better and better about the decision to tech Wheel after AH. Some spears and axes/chariots (depending on if we have horses or not) and I'll feel much more secure.

Of course, it's possible that they're just making snide comments about how bad at Civ I am for still being size 1. Both of them can see Ah and Veh from their positions on hills - if they are either of them familiar with the Russian alphabet, they'll know there's a third worker they haven't seen yet.

I don't know what I'm more worried about - being chariot rushed, or being silently judged

[Sisu]

T30 rolled around quickly - I guess Azza was able to play during his morning. Scout didn't get chomped, so I breathed a sigh of relief and moved him onto a hill. Uncovered some stuff - another ivory / flood plains site! - but I was dumb and forgot to take a screenshot, and for whatever reason I can never connect to the game while suttree is in, so that will have to wait. Beh finished his chop, Ah and Veh moved to their next targets of lumberjackery.

I did my routine F4 check for new cities. I didn't realize that if you open trade in pitboss with someone online at the same time as you, the window doesn't appear instantly - I guess they have to accept the trade invite? So it's possible that I pestered Oxy; sorry dude! No new cities appeared between last turn and this, but civstats showed a score increase for suttree after I logged out, so I guess he founded one. First second city of the game? Grats to him.

I also didn't realize that if you move focus on the main F4 screen to another player, you can see their EP ratios with the other people you know (discovered by accident this turn). That seems... a little weird to have publicly available, but okay.

[Sisu]

Right after I made my last post, I checked civstats and suttree had logged out, so here's a view of our southern exploration:




Our three rivals thus far are the three highest in score. Nobody said it would be easy! Also, this double river valley is delicious-looking, but it's probably too far for me to reach any time soon without Cool Gaming it up.

Demos for 29 and 30. We don't look as pathetic when we work the copper. At the end of next turn we finish our warrior and grow to size 2 (last ones remaining at size 1), so maybe we'll look even less pathetic come t32!

[Sisu]

Fairly unrelated note: Lurkers, do you have any past games to recommend to me? I've read Spulla's PB2, Krill's PB5, LP's PB4 and 7, novice/SevenSpirits's PBEM17, novice/SevenSpirits/spacemanf's PBEM23, and Ceil's PBEM25G. Any other standout games worth studying during downtime? In terms of ongoing games, I'm actively following PB8, PBEM50, and the ISDG.

[Commodore]

Oldavy's 38/PB6 (Gandhi), Pindicator's PB6 was sublime Phi goodness too.

[Sisu]

Thanks, Commodore. Curious, though: how applicable are team games like PB6 to improving at FFA games like this one?

Turn 31 happened. I played earlier than normal today on account of being awoken from sleep with a nasty headache. The sooner the Singularity happens and I can escape this fleshy shell for a robot body, the better. Anyway, Oxy is creeping around to our northeast, but looks to be ready to vanish into the jungle belt. Bye! May the panthers grow fat on your flesh :P.

We finished this round of chops, so we're growing on the corn and will finally make it to size 2 + produce our first Warrior . Warrior is heading to clear the path for our first Settler, who will finish eot 33 when Ah and Veh's current chops come in. Don't worry, we won't be as long getting to s3 as we were getting to s2 .

In the south, our Scout has a bit of a puzzle:




3, 6, or 9?

[teleh]

Ah well there's your headache - translating directions to numbers on a numeric keypad!

Can I scrounge a city-screen?

[Sisu]

Sure!




Our food box is at 20/22 and production is 14/15. Moused over the Settler so its info would show up too .

Regarding the dilemma, I looked at the game and thought about it, and I'm ruling out 3; the only exploration 3 opens up that 6 doesn't is going directly south, which isn't land I think I can claim any time soon. The real dilemma, then, is 6 vs 9; 6 gives me the flexibility of 3 or 9 the turn after, whereas 9 lets me go 6 or 9. I am tentatively leaning towards 9; the peak tile shows coastline, and one of the things I popped in and out of the game earlier this morning after playing my turn proper to check was where the coastline to my due east was. Fog gazing shows that the coast E of me is one longitudinal line west of the coast at that southern peak; this implies that the coastline is relatively straight north. As such, my scout moves will probably be most efficient if I go 9 this turn and 98 the turn after.