Bobchillingworth Wrote:Plus he's really not playing along with the Last Days concept- isn't he aware that this was supposed to be a special sandbox for Selrahc & I? :neenernee
Deep down, I think he means this. Players around here are generally too good to be props in the background though. If you want props, you want AI.
Of course, Kurios are just made for this sort of scenario. Its the long game where they get hurt, but a game where you get a super-charged start to begin with and aren't expecting it to last past 120 or so turns - that's Kurio gold there. Ilios probably still can be a factor as well. Certainly has turned out more interesting than I expected.
The Kuriotates have been most impressive. I wasn't sure they could expand, tech to Fanaticism, defeat the orcs, and contain Hyborem all at the same time, but they carried it off with style. HidingKneel puts it down to luck, but I'm not so sure about that. They did find two Great Engineers in lairs, but they didn't rush the Prophecy, which I would have been sorely tempted to do. And the second Engineer only emerged after four or five exploration attempts, one of which unleashed a named Assassin Hero! And I'm not sure Advanced Start favours the Kurios over the Lanun or Clan. The Kuriotates always have a fast start, but the Lanun starting on an unassailable island and the Clan starting with a Pagan Temple in the capital with Last Days enabled seems tailor made for a Hyborem/Prophecy rush. In other words, I don't think Bob or Selrahc would have had much more success without Advanced Start.
Quote:In other words, I don't think Bob or Selrahc would have had much more success without Advanced Start.
???
Prophecy rush does *not* rely on advanced start. And it does *not* rely on a great Prophet bulb.
If you've got a capital with some good calendar resources/multiple wines, it only takes another 5-10 turns to get the prophecy out under more normal conditions. Potentially even less if the capital has more than *6 hammers* available to work. Philosophy is a cheap tech that doesn't need a lightbulb, and in most games the need to build a pagan temple would prevent me from using one. In my dual game against Bob without any particularly boosting factors other than incense and a good hammer capital, I got Prophecy/Warrens on T52, while also having two additional cities. Advanced start shaved a massive 5 turns from my dates.
I would say that both advanced start and this particular map were a lot more favourable to the Kurios than to me. Even little things like an incredibly flat map covered in Mirrors of Heaven let them find me immediately, and start planning the rush. They had three cities, turbocharged by a massively lush surroundings, and they started the game with them, and knew where I was, and got a free Seven Pines to negate my entire early build up.
T71 :
- Do you think HK realises his centaur stacks are next to a body of water and Thoth can use his WS to seriously damage all the centaurs that are around the lake (possibly killing all the ones that took damage capturing the smaller city ?
You know, it's kind of funny. I thought this game was going to hinge on whether Selrahc could get the AC up to horsemen levels or Bob could rush out Hyborem first (definately did not expect the AC rush to get stopped early), and now it might hinge on whether HK/Mardoc can rush Basium or Bob can get out a big ole stack of doom first. Two all or nothing races in the same game? Awesome!
Of course, Plako or Ilios might win anyways, but hey, maybe we'll see them have a third race for some key upper-tier unit.
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.
