March Madness: Civ4 AI Edition

[von Adlercreutz]

This one is harder than the previous game.

Winner: Isabella
Runner-up: Joao
First to die: Qin
Survivors: 4
Victory: Diplomatic T340

I'm thinking that Isabella will make her early religion spread quite far and gets allies that way. Meanwhile Hinduism will get founded in east since they're prioritizing religous teches early (Boudi has med and Louis myst chosen).

Qins high wonder focus makes me think he will go for some early wonders and as a result be boxed in by Joao the Rexer and others. Being too small means usually death, protective or not.

[Nakor]

Winner- Louis 
Runner up- Isabella
FOTD- Jaoa
Survivors- 3
Victory Type- Diplo
Victory date- 298

[Azoth]

Hey, this looks fun.

Winner: Isabella (best traits, lots of rivers)
Runner Up: Qin (wonders, protective)
First to Die: Louis (all forests, between Isabella and Boudica)
Survivors: 2 (Isabella, Qin)
Victory: Domination, T325

A lot depends on how the religions play out. Isabella will get Buddhism, which will spread to Qin and Alex along the central rivers. Then I'm thinking either Louis or Boudica will claim Hinduism, and one of them or Isabella will probably get Judaism, too. So Louis will have at least one enemy for a neighbour, and with no river, lots of forests, and the temptations of Marble, he's doomed. Joao may go for Confucianism and Philosophical Alex will probably get either Christianity or Taoism, leading to war later. Qin is most likely to stay in the winning Buddhist block.

But the other thing that no one's pointed out so far is that these games end slower because there's no tech trading enabled. Every AI has to research every tech by themselves if they want to win via space. If they're all flipping techs around, and especially if there's a human player in the field to drive the worldwide tech pace, then the ending dates will finish notably sooner. That said, this game still finished on Turn 322 out of 500 total, nowhere near the max limit. We've gotten too used to humans optimizing their way through the tree, as opposed to AIs who don't have a clue what they're doing.

I wonder if having human observer hurts the tech pace, too - all those Great Spy bombs causing the AIs to raise the espionage slider higher than they would otherwise.

[Becko]

Winner: Louis
Runner Up: Qin (score leader)
First to Die: Joao
Number of Civs Surviving: 5
Victory Type and Victory Date: Culture, T340

Isabella founds Buddhism, enlists Alex and Qin. Louis and Boudica go Hindu. Much skirmishing ensues, but no decisive action. Teching towards space is sufficiently slow that Louis manages to win by culture.

[Azza]

Winner: Joao
Runner Up: Louis
First to Die: Izzy
Number of Civs Surviving: 3
Victory Type and Victory Date: Domination T345

[Amelia]

Winner: Joao
Runner Up: Alexander
First to Die: Isabella
Number of Civs Surviving: 2
Victory Type and Victory Date: Domination T285

I have a very high respect for Joao's AI. He's always the first to expand to grab all the spots. Sitting in the corner means he can expand rapidly peacefully to get a good position. Alexander will wipe out all the other civs but fall behind in tech to Joao, while Isabella will sulk around and die.

[Katon]

Winner: Joao
Runner Up: Boudica
First to Die: Isabella
Number of Civs Surviving: 3
Diplomacy, T325

[Jowy]

Haven't read reports yet, but I want a prediction in to make this following round more exciting to read later :P


Winner: Boudica
Runner Up: Isabella
First to Die: No-one!
Number of Civs Surviving: All of them!
Victory Type and Victory Date: Score

[Yell0w]

Winner: Louis. I'm no expert but it seems to me that creative makes the AI fill the map as quick as expansive. Problem is that the religions influence the wars so much.
Runner Up: Isabella
First to Die: Boudica
Number of Civs Surviving: 3
Victory Type and Victory Date: Diplomatic, T327

[Cyneheard]

Winner: Louis
Runner Up: Qin Shi Huang
First to Die: Joao
Number of Civs Surviving: 3
Victory Type and Victory Date: Creative, T303