[Spoilers] Gavagai, Bacchus and Elizabeth Form a Romantic Trio

[Gavagai]

South:



Also, this:



Well, this is most probably means that a corn city for which I've put a sign not going to happen. Don't really want to build a bunch of extra spears.

And this is hilarious:



Somehow Kurumi has less GNP than Jester.

Speaking of GNP:



Me and Serdoa were online at the same time and I saw that at one moment top GNP was 303. This means that he has better GNP at 0 percent science than I have at 100 percent science. And I have better GNP than anyone else. Also, I think that Serdoa also has top CY. Well, what to say? I think I'm starting to understand why this game isn't interesting to lurk (as evidenced by practically dead lurker thread).

And yes, SC built MoM this turn, well before I even could have started.

[Gavagai]

Hm, that's interesting. Jester got a great scientist this turn and bulbed a classical tech. But the only tech he could possibly bulb is Alphabet and it doesn't make sense. May be he wants to know so badly what techs I have? But by this point he should be able to see my research, I suppose. And even if he can't see it, he could run Espionage slider for a turn or two. That would be cheaper than burning a great person.
Another option is that he self-researched Alphabet (I actually haven't checked tech trading folder in foreign relations screen for quite a while as I haven't expecteed to see anything interesting there) and bulbed Aesthetics. But it also doesn't make sense, he could just research Aesthetics straight up.

[Gavagai]

Too tired to really post anything but yes - Jester bulbed Alpha. I have no idea why he would want to do that and to reveal that he has construction (what I actually suspected for a long time, though he hasn't shown any catapults). Also, Jowy DOWed to kill our scouting chariot. I guess, he isn't interested in trade routes with us (though my exports/imports ratio has improved considerably after his DOW). Well, whatever.

[Gavagai]

And yes - top GNP is something like 320 to my 220 (at 100% science), top CY is 196 to my 135. And this last one is a really serious indicator that I'm getting my ass kicked.

[Goreripper]

Worried about the catapults?

[Gavagai]

Worried about the catapults?

Not much, actually. I haven't yet seen a single Egypt catapult and I monitor constantly their main stack in Moria and sometimes scout deeper inside their territory. Their power doesn't indicate any serious military build up, they have too low food/hammers to produce an army really fast. Also, they have already chopped almost all forests in their territory.

[Bacchus]

Nearly a week has gone by!

[Gavagai]

Busy in RL, sorry. I hope to make an update today.
In big news - Christianity was founded (by Serdoa most probably) and we have discovered pretty good land across the sea to the east.

[Gavagai]

Well, suddenly an update.

This is what we have found in the east:





Also observe the corn/fish spot which Jester hasn't settled yet. Instead he prefers to build cities like this:



In our west you can see several prospective city spots...



which are not going to happen anytime soon. The problem is that I have a very tight schedule, especially in regards to commerce. I usually play standard maps and this is a large one, so my intuitive expectations in regards to my tech rate are always slightly off. I absolutely need to research MC, CoL and Monotheism by T27 when I should start a golden age. That will be pretty difficult to pull off. I earlier planned to whip a settler in Koln:



but had to abandon this idea as I can't afford losing all these commerce. All other cities have crucial builds scheduled or don't have enough production to complete settler in reasonable timeframe (and most probably will have to build wealth anyway). Also, all this jungle cities will suck short-term and mid-term. And long term I would rather invest in army which will finally take out Egypt.
At some point I will turn this city into a settler pump:



but it needs to grow first.
So, I'm planning to found only one city in the nearest future. It will go to a fish spot in the southern end of the newly discovered island. At least, this one should immediately start to pay for itself.

A couple of overview shots in the end:





And also this:



Kurumi is definitely up to something.

PS I don't post demos as Serdoa is so dominant that this is painful to watch. Let's just pretend that this game still has some intrigue left.

[Bacchus]

Working a bare grassland is pretty hardcore. Is the grass farm in Croyden really more pressing than the rice farm in Karlyle?

Jester's settlement designs are a wonder to behold. I suppose he didn't scout out properly.