A2 - VoiceOfUnreason

[VoiceOfUnreason]

The Report

Result: Loss

Mansa Musa wins the space race in 1982. I wasn't anywhere near close, though I was in better shape than Alex and Saladin.

[theGrimm]

Munsa? Really? In my game he was going strong until Moa decided to eat him. Other than that, you survived on turn longer than I did

[Sullla]

I like the analysis at the start of the game. With time and practice, you'll be able to do a lot of that in your head. It's certainly a good habit to be in, though!

What was the first build in the capital? I checked the report but I didn't see that. This is usually something that is of great interest, especially in a game like this one. Very strange that you didn't grab a religion with a Spiritual civ. That may have been a mistake, if only because it was pretty easy to get one. Your diplomatic picture is going to end up looking a lot different from mine, I can already see that.

Sad to say, it looks like you were just a little too slow on the early wonders, just missing out on Stonehenge and Oracle. That was a tough break. They fall fast on Monarch... I think you just need more experience to get a sense of what the AI is likely to do on Monarch.

Hey, your Tlatelolco is on the same tile as the barb city of Bantu that I conquered!

Pop-rushing the Great Lighthouse?! Well I didn't think I'd hear something better than Sirian's whipping of Oxford University, but this may do it. Lot of dead citizens in this game. "Another two food tiles means more popping fun!" Oh I definitely agree!

The city on the southern hill was a good spot. But your third city that you crammed in to the east of the capital was not so great, as you identified yourself. The ICS techniques of Civ3 simply don't provide much benefit in Civ4.

Moving the palace isn't a bad move, but moving it only three tiles away probably didn't provide enough benefit to be worthwhile. Then again, if you got a ton of value from having Bureaucracy in that fishing town, it might have been worthwhile. I don't know, I don't have enough info to say. Whipping the palace though...

Ya know, in Civ3 we had specific rules forbidden players from using workers as bait for the AI. Since workers are more valuable in Civ4, and the AI is not so rabid about chasing them down, we probably don't need a rule for worker decoys in this game. Still, it's probably not something you would see some of our vets doing just out of force of habit! A very clever idea.

Wow, you did a really good job of securing some land in the east vis a vis Saladin. Forget about just surviving, you were kicking some Arab behind! Tough luck against Mao, it's very hard to fight from a tech hole. Very hard.

Hmm, and Mansa Musa won the space race. Not so surprising, given that he survived in your world. A very different outcome from my game though, where Mao ripped him to shreds! Your analysis was good, in that diplomacy and getting onto the sea earlier seem to have been the things that would have helped you out the most. I think that you have a bright future ahead of you with these games, given the quality of your thinking. Just need some more seasoning and practice. I hope we'll see you back for more games in the future.

And finally - you do realize that your capital didn't have a camp on the deer in that last screenshot, right?

[VoiceOfUnreason]

What was the first build in the capital? I checked the report but I didn't see that. This is usually something that is of great interest, especially in a game like this one.

...and unfortunately, one of the bits that I thought I could recover from the log. Warrior first, warriors and scouts until I switched to a worker in 3320, assuming my hand notes are reliable. Let's see, that would be turn 17 - is that enough time for two warriors and two scouts? But thank you, I'll try to get that pulled into next games report.

The ICS techniques of Civ3 simply don't provide much benefit in Civ4.

Yeah, well... I wouldn't know. I didn't play Civ3. At least I don't have this preconception that it ought to work.

And finally - you do realize that your capital didn't have a camp on the deer in that last screenshot, right?

Actually, I hadn't noticed that. Very strange; I know I built it, and Alex never got that far.... AH!!! Air Mao, dropping luggage from 40,000 feet. And since you can't power destroyers with deer carcasses, I was concentrating on the oil.

Somehow, I don't think that would have saved the game for me

[Sirian]

I loved some of your lines. "No ship for you!" "Her Majesty's Horsies"

Yeah, sorry. You can't circumnavigate the planet on a map that only covers a sixth of the world's surface.

I was jealous of your spot out by the Wheat. Oh how I would have loved to get that site, instead of the one I did get (which was still critical to my results!) Man. I wonder what combination of factors left that door open?

I'm glad your report is one of the first I've read.


- Sirian

[Sirian]

By the way, the coordinates being revealed like that are part of the Cheat Mode. Why did you have that on?

- Sirian

[VoiceOfUnreason]

By the way, the coordinates being revealed like that are part of the Cheat Mode. Why did you have that on?

I don't know - what turns Cheat Mode on and off? Who implemented this thing, you or me?

I did ask, though. And of course the same thing is happening in Adv4, so if I'm busted, I'm busted twice.

[Sirian]

I don't know - what turns Cheat Mode on and off?

Yes, you did ask. I wasn't on top of that. Sorry. (Too many obscure commands, too little in-game organization to show you just what all the commands and shortcuts are. Not how I would have preferred it, but nobody gets everything they want out of something this big!)


I don't think Cheat Mode should turn itself on by itself. Did you turn it on at any point in the past, to work with stuff in the World Builder? (I remember there was a bug with that in v1.00, and a recommendation for a workaround that included turning on the cheat mode.)

Getting the map coordinates N/S is doable by the terrain (and the map edge!) so that's not a big deal, but the E/W coordinate on a regional map gives you scouting spoilers. That's not a problem for this game because it's unscored (and my own game is spoiled, but I still had a good time with it). Adventure Four is not on a map type where the E/W coordinate would help you, either.

I'm not sure what to do yet. I was hoping you could tell me how the mode got turned on. I haven't used it enough to know what-all it turns on or enables that could cause problems by accident. Causing problems on purpose is a different story, but if you were trying to do that, why would you bring it to our attention?


Check your Civ4.ini file and the Move Along setting.

Cheatcode = 0
...is what it should say. If yours says Chipotle instead, your CheatMode is on.

Will you check that for me?


As for Adventure Four, it's probably good enough if you simply turn it off and keep going.


- Sirian

[VoiceOfUnreason]

I don't think Cheat Mode should turn itself on by itself. Did you turn it on at any point in the past, to work with stuff in the World Builder? (I remember there was a bug with that in v1.00, and a recommendation for a workaround that included turning on the cheat mode.)

That sounds familiar.... waves magic search wand. I guess I missed an announcement that this was fixed in a patch?

; Move along
CheatCode = chipotle

The AI may have a mind of its own, but not the configuration loader. I'm sure that's a great comfort.

What struck me as odd is that the coordinates spoilers weren't available on the Adv3 map, so I had assumed it was something specific to the game... ah - Adv3 disabled the world builder, but 2 and 4 did not? And that CheatMode information is available only if the world builder is available?

[Sirian]

That sounds familiar....

Adv3 disabled the world builder, but 2 and 4 did not? And that CheatMode information is available only if the world builder is available?

Something like that. Anyway, change that setting back to 0 and you should be set.


- Sirian