Dave Fires Up The Epstein Drive [Japan]

[oledavy]

Turn 29



Found some more cotton to the west, other than that, not much to report. Next turn, I actually get to start exploring the seas 

[oledavy]

Turn 30-31



Alright, turns out I will have room for at least one more city to the far west, so I'll really be cramming the cities this game. Here's a tentative dot map/district plan I developed. 



I have room for 2 high quality cities, 3 decent quality cities, and 1 backfill city. City 3 has been moved inland to more effectively cram in districts and allow for a city west of it. It will need a bit of builder attention from the get go, as it doesn't have great first ring tiles. However, being inland will make it invulnerable to attack from the seas.

So, this is the first sketch of the urban sprawl central hinterland I wish to build before the end of the game. First priority is going to go to getting out a couple Holy Sites and Commercial Hubs in Ceres and Ganymede, at which point I'll reassess and determine what needs to come next. This district plan gives me all of the districts I think I need for notable the Eurekas (2 Commercial Hubs, 2 Harbors, 2 Holy Sites, 2 Campuses, 1 Theater District). I will not be going for the Industrialization or Recorded History Eurekas, as both are just a little too inconvenient to land. I may yet reassess this dotmap and cram in an entertainment district, but it's hard to justify putting a district that gets no adjacency bonuses into the middle of all that. 

Finally, that IZ is positioned to open up the Venetian Arsenal for me. 

Anyway, that was t30. On t31, I got my first glimpse of land beyond my starting island. 



Settler view radar doesn't show anything yet. There is a really juicy city to be founded at the mouth of that river to grab marble. The abundance of barbs running arounds means that this is either someone's hinterland or the island is unoccupied. Hoping for the latter, and hoping I meet another city-state soon.

[oledavy]

Turn 32

Both cities grew between turns, meaning this Inspiration greeted me when I opened the save. 



This also had the happy side effect of speeding Astrology up by a turn, meaning I don't waste any worker turns. 

Anyway, in the west, it turns out there is quite a bit more land than I first thought. 



I wonder how far it goes...

In the east, I didn't defog much more this turn because of an irritatingly placed peninsula. 



Next turn, I get my second galley out, which will head south while this one heads east. Time to find out how far away my nearest neighbor actually is.

[oledavy]

Turn 33

Astrology in. 


Oh boy, that's two districts for the measly cost of effectively 78 hammers. I would like to thank the latest patch, Jpper007, and Meiji Restoration for making this day possible 

Anyway, both Holy Sites will be done in 5 turns. Beyond that, I haven't decided on anything yet. 

I really need builders and settlers, but you always need builders and settlers. 

If I want to guarantee that I beat the Stonehenge builder and Jpper007 to first religion, and DoTF, I'll either need to build a district project (or 2), or build a couple shrines ASAP. However, doing so will gimp me to getting out a third city and getting my first luxury online. 

Something to think about as I get to indulge in my favorite 4X game activity, exploring!



I get to defog a lot of new tiles next turn. The biggest question on my mind right now is: where is everyone? I was 8 and 10 tiles respectively away from my nearest opponents last time. Here, I still have yet to find anyone. I doubt that will last much longer though.

[oledavy]

Turn 34

Finished my trader this turn. I had been debating a lot over the last few days if I wanted to run the TR Ceres to Ganymede or Ganymede to Ceres. I eventually decided on the latter, as it will help me grow the city big early as I have been planning to do. The extra food will also be nice for regrowing more quickly after the next couple settlers. 



The extra hammer in Ganymede also cut down the Holy Site to 3 turns. 

In the far west, there is quite a bit more quality land than I ever would have imagined. 



There is a very high quality city to be founded in the far west. 

In the south and southeast, my galleys are continuing to scout. 



Settler view radar still has not revealed any cities outside my sight. Surely I will have someone to compete with for all these islands. There's no way I get all this territory uncontested.

[oledavy]

Turns 35-36

Still building Holy Sites, the first one finishes next turn. After than, I'm cramming out another settler. The big news over these last two turns came from my eastern scouting galley. 



First I found a natural wonder, whatever the four tile impassable one is, and then met Toronto. I'm not the first player to meet them. 

So, I'm willing to bet the player who met them is Jpper007 of the Vikings. Why? He opened with a Holy Site, indicating he probably had an industrial CS as his CS, and he had a Natural Wonder nearby. I'm willing to bet he's southeast on the other coast of this island. The barb camp island is about halfway between us if I'm correct. I think I will be prioritizing a city there sooner rather than later. There's an excellent settlement to be founded one east of the marble, and I have an inside track on grabbing it due to starting on this coast. 

I would obviously rather not have him as a neighbor, but even if he is where I think, it's a fair distance. I'll probably find out sooner rather than later. One east of that stone is an amazing second city location, one that I will kill to settle were it not so far away. 

My big question now is if there is a CS, or if Jpper/another player is instead on the Pannotian island directly east of Ganymede. I'm hoping for the former, but its equally possible my supposition on Jpper's location is wrong and he's directly to my east instead. 

Other things of note: 

1. If I'm correct that it's Jpper over there, Singaboy is probably on the same landmass, or at least close by. 
2. Toronto is probably going to get taken sooner rather than later, it's a pretty solid looking city, and ICS's are not terribly helpful for a long time. 

I'm pretty happy with my economic position relative to everyone else for now. My long-term concern at this point is science, as I'm not prioritizing a campus early, my pop is lagging a tiny bit relative to Singaboy, and I just hard-researched Astrology, a tech many others will skip for awhile. On the plus side, this turn I built my third pasture, so I'm dominant in culture through my fortuitous combination of pasture resources and a Religious CS for an early Pantheon. With that in mind, I think I might be able to be first to Political Philosophy this game - we shall see. 

Just need to find one more CS for the Inspiration.

[oledavy]

Turn 37

Early Empire in, and Ganymede finished its Holy Site. So, I made this swap and queued up a settler. 



When Ceres finishes its Holy Site, it will go ahead and start but not complete a settler to take advantage of this period in Colonization. For the moment, Singaboy has surpassed me in cultural production. I imagine he either met a cultural city-state, finished a monument, or both. 

In the east, still no sign of Toronto's other contact. 



My galley is headed north now to scout the area directly east of my capital. Meanwhile, in the far west. 



More and more land! And it looks like it still might keep going to the southwest! It's seeming more and more likely that I might indeed have a neighbor accessible via the ishmus west of my start. Time will tell.

[oledavy]

Turn 38



Finished my second Holy Site this turn. The land continues to stretch out westward, seemingly without end. This feels like a very snaky continent I'm on. I also uncovered what looks to be another large island to the southwest. I'm beginning to think this map is not standard size, but large. I hope not, I want to be able to have some interaction with other players before t100. 

For comparison, in PBEM2, a few turns from now is when the first Pelopponesian War between me and Archduke began. I met both him and Singaboy between turns 15-25.

[Alhambram]

For comparison, in PBEM2, a few turns from now is when the first Pelopponesian War between me and Archduke began. I met both him and Singaboy between turns 15-25.

At other hand it increases the chance that we might see some nukes in this PBEM! (I played single player against AI today and used nukes against them, nukes are truly terrifying ).

[Cornflakes]

Finished my second Holy Site this turn. The land continues to stretch out westward, seemingly without end. This feels like a very snaky continent I'm on. I also uncovered what looks to be another large island to the southwest. I'm beginning to think this map is not standard size, but large. I hope not, I want to be able to have some interaction with other players before t100. 

For comparison, in PBEM2, a few turns from now is when the first Pelopponesian War between me and Archduke began. I met both him and Singaboy between turns 15-25.

The map size is not Large it was as requested which I think was Small. I think you've only had your galley out for 8 turns   

Loving the reporting and thoughts! I read along every day!