[Spoilers] Noble Intentions: Thessalonica of the Elohim starts her quest!

[DaveV]

A look at the Demographics has me slightly unnerved, though. apparently I'm #4 in Soldiers now? Just how are soldier counts calculated, exactly?

http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=4056

Also, LURKERS, I'm going to keep bugging you guys about this until I get an answer: how is the distance to Odio's Prison calculated? Would a city 2 tiles diagonally from it still count as being within its 3-tile defensive bonus radius? I found my 2nd city next turn, so I *REALLY* need to know!

If I read the code right, Odio's Prison gives the defensive bonus to any unit in a square extending three tiles in each direction (so, seven tiles on each side). However, the Odio's Prison tile must be inside your culture for you to receive the bonus.

[Northstar1989]

http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=4056

Thanks Dave, that's cool- but doesn't tell me how the "Soldiers" part of Demographics is calculated, exactly...

If I read the code right, Odio's Prison gives the defensive bonus to any unit in a square extending three tiles in each direction (so, seven tiles on each side). However, the Odio's Prison tile must be inside your culture for you to receive the bonus.

So it's a 7x7 square and not a sort of enlarged Big Fat Cross? Are you *SURE* about that? It's absolutely critical for placement of my cities...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

(When you *REALLY* need to know something like this, your safest bet is to test it with worldbuilder... lurkers sometimes get things wrong )

I tried exactly that, by genning a map and then editing in Odio's prison at exactly the distance I'm curious about from my capital. However I couldn't figure out if it was working or not. Even after my borders expanded to encompass it, I couldn't spot ANY affect on the strength of my units (even when in the tile right next to Odio's Prison) when attacking- and I have no idea how to spot defensive modifiers from forts/castles/citadels or Odio's Prison without being the unit attacking...


Regards,
Northstar

[Ellimist]

I have no idea how to spot defensive modifiers from forts/castles/citadels or Odio's Prison without being the unit attacking... cry

Save it as a worldbuilder file if you want to test it from multiple points of view. Sometimes it even makes sense to load the worldbuilder file into pbem mode, since that lets you test multiple points of view.

If you're doing combat sims, be sure to enable random RNG seeds, btw. (You may want to check and be sure that your results actually match the displayed odds.)

[Northstar1989]

OK, so, first of all, I founded my 2nd city. I decided to go with the location next to the Rice in the end, not wanting to sacrifice any more growth-rate than I already have...



My Worker also began chopping another forest:



I've calculated that he should be able to cut two turns off the time to build the Settler if he chops two forests during the interval while I work the following tiles...



If I work a 1f/2h or 3h tile, the Settler is projected to be finished 1 turn sooner according to the progress bar, but I only cut *one* turn off the time to completion by chopping- and thus don't actually gain any substantial benefit (except for increased overflow to my next project).


Meanwhile, my Scout has discovered a Sea Serpent in the sea to the west. It's looking like naval travel is going to be extremely hazardous on this map...




According to the statistics at the end of the turn I'm still the game's tech-leader, and I'm also up to #2 (or a tie for #2) for hammer-production:



However the Amurite capital has finally grown to size 4 as well- meaning my population lead is even slimmer than in the past...




And finally, here's a zoomed-out screenshot for those of you who want to see the big picture...




I'm not sure what to work after I discover Octopus Overlords, though. I could go for religion-specific techs like Arete and Mind Stapling, beeline for Trade and Honor/Deception, work towards Code of Laws and Orders from Heaven, or even go for Smelting... I'm really not sure what are generally good strategies at this point. Any ideas? What works well in general at this point in a FFH2 game? (not necessarily specific to this game- I'm not asking you lurkers to compromise your neutrality, but rather to provide the official dogma in the same manner as "early food production is always good" from before...)


Regards,
Northstar

[Ellimist]

It's actually difficult to give info on "typical strategies at this point," because this game started in a later era than usual. The typical sorts of strategies aren't going to be correct.

[Northstar1989]

It's actually difficult to give info on "typical strategies at this point," because this game started in a later era than usual. The typical sorts of strategies aren't going to be correct.

There must be SOME strategies that still work!

Also, Ellmist, how do you feel about that PBEM 41 game we were trying to get going? I haven't heard from you again about it yet...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so another turn taken...

My worker continues to chop down all the nearby trees:



While my Scout finished exploring to the west a bit before coming back home to heal up...



Also, a look at Demographics reveals my GNP is *still* #1 by a LONG way (didn't bother with a screenshot this time). I'm not sure what other civs are doing that their commerce production would be so low... One would think they didn't even bother to improve their Incense yet...

Oh well, I guess that just means more bonuses for being the first to research techs for me!


Regards,
Northstar

P.S. I'm well-aware of the perils of over-focusing on research/commerce over food/hammers. Luckily, the benefits of research grow exponentially greater the less competition you have to be the first to research techs. I can probably not only scoop up most or all of the remaining holy-cities, I might also be able to grab the Great Bard from Drama or the Great Merchant from Mercantilism (that Great Merchant *IS* still part of Fall From Heaven when running Erebus in the Balance, right? Or did the modmod-creators decide to nerf research-heavy civs even *MORE* than I thought to the benefit of hammer-happy civs lile the Clan?)

[Mardoc]

I can't remember precisely about Mercantilism, although it should be easy to check - it's on the tech screen after all.

I know that several Great People were added to the tree, though, in places like Precision, and Gunpowder (I think?). I'd be surprised if any were removed.

[Northstar1989]

I can't remember precisely about Mercantilism, although it should be easy to check - it's on the tech screen after all.

I know that several Great People were added to the tree, though, in places like Precision, and Gunpowder (I think?). I'd be surprised if any were removed.

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to take a look at the tech-tree next time I get the save...


Also, Mardoc, on a completely-unrelated note, I see that you played Perpentach back in PBEM 25 (it's in your signature).

What was your experience like playing as the crazy clown? I'm thinking of giving Perpentach a try against Bob in the FFH2 Tournament just getting started, but I've never played as him before (for that matter, I've never played as *MOST* of the FFH2 civs or leaders, as I am new to the mod...) I was wondering what you thought of him, and how competitive you think he might be for a duel game (especially in the hands of a new player to FFH2, but with extensive Civ experience, like me...)


Regards,
Northstar