[SPOILER] Dark Savant graduates from blatant n00b to plain n00b

[Dark Savant]

Turn 20 - 3200 BC (Part 1)

I move Wandering Aengus a couple tiles, and find ...



... another bear.  If the bear attacks him, it's got odds on me. 

Elkad moves southeast.



That suggests he started to my north and wants to explore past me.

I simmed it and I actually can't tell the Koreans and Mayans apart just from border color.  That suggests it's Donovan Zoi to my south, but I'm not sure about that.

Antigonus didn't get attacked by that lion.



The lion did move so that it's awkward for Antigonus to move south or east to either get a look at ... whomever that is, or move to start to stake a claim at my maybe-I-should-rethink-this faraway city site.  I move Antigonus southwest:



I'll see if I can edge back east next turn.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 20 - Part 2 (C&D)

Okay, on turn 1 rival average land area was 8833; total 212,000.  The maximum possible is 216,000, meaning 4 water tiles total, and with rival worst land area being 8,000, that means one each among four.

This turn, everyone gained score for their turn 0 city plants.  It turns out 8 tiles is worth 2 points and 9 is worth 3 points, and I can tell that the other people who have a lake are 2metraninja, The Black Sword, GermanJoey, and superdeath.

Other points: Gavagai went from 2 to 3 pop.  Aretas got a technology (probably Mining), as did Rusten (probably Hunting or Mining).

AdrienIer must still be at size 1.  I'm not sure what he's doing.  Donovan Zoi and naufragar also are, but they must be chopping forests, and Adrien can't be.

8000 soldiers appeared this turn.

All that, and I can't tell which color is my neighbor to the south still! 

[ipecac]

All that, and I can't tell which color is my neighbor to the south still! 

Try pixel comparison?

[DaveV]

All that, and I can't tell which color is my neighbor to the south still! 

Try pixel comparison?

Or the culture filter on F11?

[Dark Savant]

Ooh, F11 culture -- thank you for the suggestion!  I can tell the difference in colors there -- barely; you have to let the clouds scroll by until there aren't any to get a good look.    It looks like that's Donovan Zoi to my south, which makes sense, because Elkad's scout movements otherwise would be strange.

I think.

I'm male, which actually makes a difference here.  The gene for green cones is on the X chromosome, which means most women have twice as many copies compared to males.  That's very rough; the way two different X chromosome genes are expressed is not actually evenly distributed, but it's a reasonable first-order approximation.  And there's a lot more variance in color sensitivity in green cone genes than there is in red cone genes.

The red cone gene is also on the X chromosome, but from what I recall there's very little variation in it.  It only evolved relatively recently in mammals, probably originally as a duplication of the green cone gene.  (Okay, I looked it up -- ~35 million years ago, which is longer ago than I remembered.)  Most mammals other than great apes have poor or outright non-existent red color vision.

That means some minority of women are better at seeing shades of green than other women or men.  (Between cyan and yellow, which is about what you'd expect by guessing.  The other two cones don't work that way; they are best at seeing shades that are noticeably blue-shifted.)  Last I checked, it's not accurately known how many, or by how much.

Anyway. 

I should double-check what Donovan Zoi is doing.  He's the rival who I think built a worker in 11 turns, and uh.  All this is actually relevant now. 

Let's make up some worker micro: Turn 11, move to bare hill.  Turns 12-15, build a mine.  (He doesn't get Bronze Working until turn 14.)  Turn 16, move to a forest.  Turns 17-19, chop that forest into ... something, a second worker?  Turn 20, move to another forest.

He's still at size 1.  My read is that he has neither Agriculture nor Hunting (he has Mysticism, Mining, and Bronze Working); nor does he have a water tile that can even possibly have a fish, not that he has Fishing either.  So he can't have a tile that produces more than 3 food.  I'm not sure when he would have built a warrior, if he has one at all.  Animals/barbs aren't a threat to move into territory until turn 27 at the very earliest (and still very unlikely until about turn 40), and with RtR (everyone starts with a scout) and the RB MP meta (everyone almost always starts worker-first), it's very unlikely anyone would have a warrior anywhere near him.

I happen to actually do, when I hadn't intended to move in on someone.  And my warrior happens to be able to approach along a diagonal so that he only has two turns to come up with a warrior.

Alternatively, if my eyes fail me and it's Elkad ... let's see, he probably produced a worker on turn 10.  That worker probably spent 5-6 turns building a farm; then he got Bronze Working on turn 16, so it probably recently just chopped a forest into a second worker or a settler.  He grew to size 2 on turn 19.  He definitely has a warrior, probably exactly one.  He very probably can come up with a warrior in 2 turns in an emergency even if his existing warrior is out scouting, but that would probably get in the way of his micro.

Either way, I'm wondering if I should move in and declare war.    Or if that lion will let me.

[Dark Savant]

As it happens, I've moved after both Donovan Zoi and Elkad for the past two turns.  So I should move after them the next turn, too.

I may be in a turn split with someone who doesn't realize he's in a turn split.  I'm the only one who knows (no one can see Antigonus), except I'm not certain whom I have a turn split with. 

I'll also be gone for a good part of tomorrow.  I may not be able to play after both, personally, if there really is a turn split.  I'll post instructions later this evening, or at the latest tomorrow morning, if I need to.

[Japper007]

I'm male, which actually makes a difference here.  The gene for green cones is on the X chromosome, which means most women have twice as many copies compared to males.  That's very rough; the way two different X chromosome genes are expressed is not actually evenly distributed, but it's a reasonable first-order approximation.  And there's a lot more variance in color sensitivity in green cone genes than there is in red cone genes.

The red cone gene is also on the X chromosome, but from what I recall there's very little variation in it.  It only evolved relatively recently in mammals, probably originally as a duplication of the green cone gene.  (Okay, I looked it up -- ~35 million years ago, which is longer ago than I remembered.)  Most mammals other than great apes have poor or outright non-existent red color vision.

That means some minority of women are better at seeing shades of green than other women or men.  (Between cyan and yellow, which is about what you'd expect by guessing.  The other two cones don't work that way; they are best at seeing shades that are noticeably blue-shifted.)  Last I checked, it's not accurately known how many, or by how much.

Funny thing is that having that certain type of X-chromosomal colorblindness apparently makes you better at discerning different shades of beige and brown. This is the reason evolution never weeded it out, as it's actually benificial for a species living on the African savanna if the male part of the population have a genetic defect that has the side effect of more easily picking out a lion among dry grass and sand. While discerning foliage from other foliage (as in not being able to tell different "greens" apart) is not a significant enough hinderance.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 21 - 3160 BC (Part 1)

Donovan Zoi and Elkad have both already played, so I went ahead and played after I got home from dinner.

One important thing I noted before I touched anything is that Donovan Zoi just reached size 2 this turn -- so he presumably has at least one warrior.

My worker finishes the pig pasture, and I set Glaurung to work on it.  Glaurung also expanded to third-ring from the holy city culture.

Elkad's scout is nowhere to be seen now. 

First order of business is to handle Antigonus.  I find him flanked:



I'm confident Antigonus can handle a lion, but a bear  and a lion is just too much.  And really, it's almost as if the RNG is forcing me towards ... whomever is down there.  So Antigonus exits, pursued by a bear and a lion, to the southeast.



Okay, so it's Donovan Zoi.  His capital is apparently not on a plains hill, since I can't see into it.

I really doubt he can cover both his capital and that worker.  I'll probably invade next turn, though I have a turn to reconsider.  I, um, am being chased by two animals. 

Also, his capital not being on a plains hill means that unless he's got stone or some other such resource there, the city tile is only producing 1 hammer and it'd be awkward for him to produce early warriors.  In fact, he might not have one yet.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 21 - 3160 BC (Part 2)

I send Donovan Zoi a PM letting him know we're in a turn split.

That worker of his is actually building a pasture.  So his researched tech is not Bronze Working; it must be Hunting.  And he doesn't have anything else aside from his starting techs of Mining and Mysticism, so he's probably actually working on Bronze Working now.

He also just gained a point this turn, so he must have just gained a population point.

In non-Donovan Zoi news, Wandering Aengus is actually still alive; he was attacked by that bear, but defeated it and even has 0.6 health left.  I move him westward.



That water I can't quite see isn't fresh, so there's salt water to the west and east of my start position.

[Dark Savant]

Turn 21 - 3160 BC (Part 3 - C&D)

I'll have to reconsider what happened on turn 14.  I'm not sure how you get 8000 soldiers on that turn specifically.  Donovan Zoi's Hunting is worth 2000, so Aretas might actually have researched The Wheel and built a warrior that turn.

B4ndit got a technology.  I'm not sure what that is; it took 11 turns.  It half sounds like he got Pottery, actually.

The capitals of Commodore, OT4E, Rusten, and WilliamLP grew from size 2 to size 3.

7000 soldiers showed up this turn.  1000 of that must be Donovan's Zoi population point; the rest is probably 3 warriors.