[spoilers] Vi Viqsi Veniversum Vivus Vici (or possibly just embarrasses herself)

[Viqsi]

Previously on the Viqsi Spoiler Thread...

What techs do you plan to get after the worker techs?

[...]
Since I'm also already seeing two nice coastal sites, I'm also kind of going back and forth with myself as to whether or not I should try and sneak Masonry and Sailing in for an attempt at the Great Lighthouse - if there's any Calendar resources nearby to the north, I may give that a shot.

T6, aka "two turns later":

Is this sort of thing standard for a balanced map 'round here? I need to know if my psychic power is precognition or just mind-reading.

More exploration would be prudent before any commitments are made, though. One Spices resource would be an awful silly thing on which to base plans for an entire Civ. Still, nice to have that there.

[Viqsi]

T7: Those pigs sure will come in handy eventually.

Also, a couple of score changes!

Azza: 4 points in the early game, IIRC, is a population point, which (if I'm right on that) is supposed to mean that Azza's not going worker first. Since he goes before me, I think this counts as his "eighth" turn or something crazy like that by the time it gets to me, but either way that means he's working a 3-food tile. I'd have gotten that result working the fish or rice - instead, I've been working the unimproved hills sheep, to get that Work Boat out quickly. So... working an unimproved food tile and building something that isn't a worker... huh. Could be a Warrior because of paranoia. Could be a Work Boat like me, only that's going slow. Seems kind of counter to RB "good practices" doctrine as far as I know. But I'm hardly an expert on this stuff.
frankly, I think it's insane enough that I remember as much about this C&D madness as I do.

Hydra: 6 points means he has a tech! Took seven turns to happen (they're after me). My best guess there is Mining.

[Viqsi]

T8: Well, now that's interesting.

Careful fog-gazing reveals that under the fog (with the exception of the fogged tile between hills) that's allll coastline. Since the map's intention was for everyone to have a land connection, that means mine is undoubtedly in the southwest:

Could be there immediately in three turns, but I want to take the long way regardless and verify the presence or lack thereof of any water resources in the north. But this appears to be the basic structure here - a capital and first ring area, and then a bridge to the rest of the world.

(Oh, and while prepping screenshots I noticed there's what's probably another freshwater lake on the bridge. Middle tile.)

Meanwhile, also shown in the second shot: Sareln and Hydra scores are up.

• Hydra: 4 point increase. Pop point, and this is his "eighth turn", so he's also working a 3-food tile. More and more convinced that starts are similar if not identical. Also, see last turn/post's blathering in re: "isn't that against doctrine?"
  
• Sareln: 6 point increase. Tech, took eight turns. That means Agriculture or The Wheel. I think Agri is the safe bet.

Finally, based on the parameters of the map (naval strategy is important, everyone has a land connection tho) and my theory of similar starts, here's a diagram of my total wild-ass guess as to the structure of the map (or at least the center thereof):

Y'all are invited and encouraged to laugh at me behind my back if I'm way off here. (In particular, there may be more substance to the "totally random islands" than I have here. I may want to get an extra Work Boat out for exploration...)

Work boat due next turn. Bronze Working due in 6 ostensibly, although when I ended turn that jumped to 4 instead of the expected 5 (investigation reveals that's because at that point I'm now producing 11 beakers per turn, which is... odd. Dunno how that happened, unless it's related to the workboat being done...)

[Viqsi]

T9: I've got a case of crabs and it's mighty inconvenient.

There's lots of vague city site possibilities, but nothing like a real home run up there, and those crabs being there, while welcome, isn't helping the decision process much.

Work boat is done and so now we're building a worker in Myst per The Plan™. No score changes this turn.

[Bigger]

where are the plains! Your island is almost all grassland, yummy

[Viqsi]

T10: There's an island across the way, but no other fishies.

Also, Azza's score has gone up 6 points. Another tech, and one that took 10 turns (he's before me). My first though was Pottery, but that requires The Wheel and he's Fishing/Mining. So my best guess at this point is Masonry... which is odd, because I can't imagine Walls, Quarries, or the Great Wall being big objectives at this point, and going early for the Pyramids would be pretty silly.

So either I'm missing something, or he's going hard for the Pyramids. I'm thinking the former, but, hey, who knows? Maybe he's got stone at his start.

[Viqsi]

where are the plains! Your island is almost all grassland, yummy

It's all bright and green and calming and such. I love it. :D

There are some plains, but they're mostly in the south, around another possible city site I had marked. Map of my world so far:

Greeeeeen.

Still not sure how I want to place cities to the north and east. My scout's heading over to the cows peninsula to see if there's anything in the water there, and then southwest to see if that really is a land bridge like I think it is.

[Viqsi]

T11: I believe that's our first jungle tile.

Absolutely nothing else new this turn. 7 turns for the Worker to finish, and we'll have discovered how to use this "bronze" thing in two. (And if I'm really lucky, that'll help me resolve some questions as regards city placement...)

[Viqsi]

T12: "Gimmie some sugar, baby"

Nifty bonus, but one that can't be considered for a while yet.

* * *

So! At the end of this turn, Bronze Working research completes. Recall that I was hoping that some form of copper would show up in the north, thus giving me easier decisions on how to dotmap that part of my world.

Did it?

Doesn't look like it.


...but that doesn't mean I don't have any.

AWW HELL YEAH

I do believe that's going to be our pending worker's first move.

[Viqsi]

So now that no copper is going to show up and play with my northern ideas, here's a tentative dotmap:

Drawn using the strategy layer, but it isn't part of the save that I'd already sent along - I've never understood why folks don't seem to use the strategy layer for that purpose around here. Is there an "information security" issue there or something?

Points, issues, etc.:

• Appearance of horses has a chance to modify this (for the better ), but it looks like I'm otherwise more or less committed.
  
• "Second city candidate" is definitely the second city. No question. I suspect I'd probably have put it at the tip of the SE peninsula if I hadn't moved my starting settler like I had (to grab the silver). Instead, I hope to explore that silver island and see if there's spots available to me there.
  
• Part of why I've been so hesitant to embrace this is because I do not like the amount of overlap Tentative North 1 has with Myst. I was really hoping for some seafood directly north, or an immediate offshore island for those cows, but no dice. Alas. OTOH, that does suggest that I can develop it and Myst simultaneously in the early game, and then after a little time with that hurl it into the sea. So that could actually end up being beneficial.
  
• "Possible site" has the most plains squares of any city site here. Truly we live in a verdant realm.
  
• TN2 is a nice illustration of why I do poorly without the Creative trait. :D Every possible source of extra food (freshwater grassland, pigs, crabs) is in the second ring. I considered having it 1 tile west (to take advantage of TN1's river pre-Civil Service), but TN1 and Myst have more than enough overlap as is.
  
• "people this way" was supposed to be a silly reminder to self, but that might actually make for a reasonable city site if there's goodies in the fog, as it has freshwater access (the lake under the fog to the immediate SW). We'll know better in two turns or so.