The alternate histories for this one should be very interesting. How often are we likely to see peaceful wonder builder Monte in the early game? A Pacal who does not go for an early religion (and thus ends up sharing Monte's religion rather than hated as an infidel)? A Catherine who struggles that badly to expand? I think the game we saw will turn out to be rather atypical.
It was certainly entertaining, though. Poor Hatty, she played a very good game overall but once again ended with no points.
Monte didn't have copper which helped him not attack too early.
True.
Monte also spent a lot of early hammers building the Temple of Artemis (I guess he wanted a prophet for his shrine?) and the Pyramids. This both kept him from attacking too early, and also gave him a chunk of fail gold later which kept his research going. It was a very unusual approach for Monte, and it turned out to be a lot more effective than his usual 'declare an early war that goes nowhere and wastes tons of hammers in dead units' strategy.
Monte didn't have copper which helped him not attack too early.
That’s a hilarious thing to look for going forward - a worse position helping an AI. While for a human this would never be a good thing, the AI is dumb.
Monte didn't have copper which helped him not attack too early.
That’s a hilarious thing to look for going forward - a worse position helping an AI. While for a human this would never be a good thing, the AI is dumb.
This applies to Willem too. Give him a coastal start? He often struggles to expand. Too many shiny workboats and Great Lighthouses and Moai Statues tempt him off the settler path for longer. Starting inland with only fishing/agriculture tech keeps his capital focused on stuff like settlers. Most of the games where I see Willem fail to expand involve a coastal start and just enough commerce tiles to get him in trouble. (If his teching sucks, he’ll usually get another settler out.) That said, it’s not like deterministic. Sometimes he expands just fine.
I actually think the championship map’s coastal start works to Willem’s disadvantage. It’s not a disastrous mismatch or anything, but suboptimal. Conversely, reducing the deity AIs to their true starting techs helps him. It takes longer for him to get into wonder-building mode.
And sometimes an AI getting into wonder building mode can actually help, since it discourages them going to war too early. Monte does not usually build wonders, but I think it was actually a good thing this time.
Watched game 8, which was another strange and entertaining one. A few thoughts:
An impressive showing by Louis, even with that amazing start. To me the real surprise was Ramesses, who I had picked as first to die. With his peace weight and bordering Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Louis I thought it was a near certainty that someone would wreck his game. Judaism spreading to almost the entire world made a huge difference. Anyone know how much gold that shrine was producing? It must have funded most of his empire and kept him ahead in the tech race.
I think the alternate histories will show this result was not typical. I suspect in most games Ramesses will get attacked, weakening him if not eliminating him entirely. Genghis Khan will usually not settle that strrange norrthern corridor, either. Some different religious spreads could also produce a very different outcome.
(June 10th, 2023, 20:51)haphazard1 Wrote: Watched game 8, which was another strange and entertaining one. A few thoughts:
An impressive showing by Louis, even with that amazing start. To me the real surprise was Ramesses, who I had picked as first to die. With his peace weight and bordering Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Louis I thought it was a near certainty that someone would wreck his game. Judaism spreading to almost the entire world made a huge difference. Anyone know how much gold that shrine was producing? It must have funded most of his empire and kept him ahead in the tech race.
I think the alternate histories will show this result was not typical. I suspect in most games Ramesses will get attacked, weakening him if not eliminating him entirely. Genghis Khan will usually not settle that strrange norrthern corridor, either. Some different religious spreads could also produce a very different outcome.
Also from the very get-go HC didn't build any cottages, and he only had a small handful at his height. I think that's going to be very atypical. I really wonder went wrong in his coding.
Poor Hatty, she played a very good game overall but once again ended with no points. 
