Civ4 Succession Game - Codename: MCA01

[Llyranor]

Behold!

 

Okay, so we're starting a Civ4 succession game here on the forums. Basically, it consists of going through a 'singleplayer' game as a team effort. Essentially, each player goes through 10 turns, then on to the next player, and so on and so forth.

 

This session is codenamed MCA01, so as to distinguish it from future possible sessions.

 

18 players, of which 17 are AI. All random civilizations, noble difficulty.

 

Epic gamespeed (each turn is 40 years, a game has 600 turns), huge map, ancient era, temperate weather, high sealevel. No additional options were checked except no cheating. All victory conditions are enabled.

 

For the purpose of this game, I have made an account on http://www.photobucket.com

The account name is mca01a, with the password being the same. If this eventually gets filled up, further accounts (mca01b, etc) will be made.

 

So, after one player has gone through the 10 turns, he or she makes a post, giving an account (all the important events) of what has happened during those turns, with screenshots (photobucket can be used to host these) and all. The savefile is attached as well. The first player who replies to such a post is the next in line, playing through 10 turns, repeating the process, etc. There is a 24-hr limit for the next player to act. If, within 24 hours of the previous player's post, the current player has not finished, then he or she forfeits this turn, and anyone can take his or her place for that round.

 

In order to prevent monopoly of certain players who hog all the turns, it would be common courtesy for players who have played within the last 2 rounds to not take the next one, so as to allow other players a chance to play. If a player feel he or she has been unlucky and unable to get a turn after many rounds, then he or she may request to play. Then, it will up to the players' discretion to decide to give that player a chance to play. I don't want to impose any harsh rules, but we should remember a sense of community when it comes to taking turns and sharing playing time.

___________________________

 

4000BC: So, I'm starting off. 4000BC, turns out we end up with Catherine.

 

Moscow is founded. The location seems good enough. Ample resources. Warrior queued.

 

3960BC: I decide to go for mysticism. Trying to get one of the early religions (hinduism or buddhism) is a good strategy. I sent my scout SW and discover some new resources.

 

3920BC: Just exploring, really.

 

3880BC: Blop.

 

3840BC: There we go, some rice found. The city expands, thanks to Catherine's creative trait (2 culture/turn). Go Moscow go! Looks like we have some elephant neighbors, too.

 

3800BC: More exploring.

 

3760BC: My scout finds some wine to the east. Booze time!

 

3720BC: Uh-oh, lion spotted. My scout already moved, so there isn't much left I can do this turn.

 

3680BC: Fortunately, the lion doesn't attack and instead retreats. The same turn, my scout also comes face-to-face with a foreign scout. Turns out to be Montemuza. This means he can't be too far away. Looks like we've found ourselves some competition. I decide reluctantly not to wage war.

 

3640BC: Another cow spotted! Tonight we feast! Also, a village is on the horizon. Pillage!!

 

3600BC: Last turn. The village gives my scout some experience. I move him upwards, only to realize I just put him next to another lion. He won't gain his upgrade until the next turn, and may end up dead before dead. His strength of 1 vs the lion's 2 puts him at a disadvantage, but he gets 100% against animals, so there's a 50:50 change of either side winning. That is, if the lion engages at all.

 

Will our scout survive? Tune in next turn as the following player takes on the role of MCA!

 

(Saved file is attached)

(Also, it may be prudent to resize the screenshots so as to not stretch this thread)

(Use the IMG line from photobucket for the screenshots to properly appear)

Edited February 26, 2006 by Llyranor

[Nick_i_am]

hi!

Edited February 26, 2006 by Nick_i_am

[thepixiesrock]

Hahahahahahahahaha.

[Deraldin]

my turn!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Gee, I would never have guessed that you would be next. Come on, own up! You've got two computers sitting side by side just for the purposes of keeping up your alt don't you?

[Nick_i_am]

Turn 1: Mystisism discovered! Lions killed!

 

I go for meditation to cap those presious early religions and take the woodsman and woodsman2 feat on the scouts then begin to move him north (lots of forest to the north, and woodsman2 gives bonus movement in such).

 

 

Turn 2: Nothing happens, go go scout dude!

 

Turn 3: Nothing happens, resorces are discovered to the north marking a possible future city site.

 

 

Turn 4: Crap, someone else discovered buddism, we never stood a chance. I switch to polytheism.

 

Turn 5: Warrior complete in moscow, I start on an oblisk and fortify him.

 

Turn 6: Uh oh! hostile capital, we should expand to the easy early.

 

 

Turn 7: Nothing happens.

 

Turn 8: and again

 

Turn 9: and again

 

Turn 10: *gasp* on my final turn I discover the incans and wage bloody wa...I mean, haha, only joking.

 

(for some reason the screenshot didn't take, but they are right below the green city, a unique warrior-type unit)

 

and at the end of my turns the known world is as such!

 

 

go go good guys!

MCA01.zip

[Enoch]

Why on earth would you build an obelisk in your capital? +1 culture per turn is of virtually no use to the city with the palace already generating some culture (not to mention that Catherine is a Cultural leader, so you get +2 per turn for nothing). Get a worker out and mine those gems (grassland gems is, IMO, the best resource to have next to your first city)! Otherwise, it's a pretty decent start. I'm no big fan of the early religion strategy (too hit-or-miss; I prefer to focus on early worker techs and aim for Confucianism later), but, on Noble, it's viable.

 

I might take a turn tomorrow morning; a bit busy now. If I am to participate, though, it'll have to be soon. Once the whole map is visible, the huge size will make my 64MB vid card cry.

 

As a matter of general policy, everyone should probably post a notice in the thread when you start playing from a save, just so nobody else DL's it and we get alternate versions of history going.

Edited February 26, 2006 by Enoch

[Deraldin]

Why on earth would you build an obelisk in your capital?  +1 culture per turn is of virtually no use to the city with the palace already generation some culture (not to mention that Catherine is a Cultural leader, so you get +2 per turn for nothing).  Get a worker out and mine those gems (grassland gems is, IMO, the best resource to have next to your first city)! 

 

I might take a turn tomorrow morning; a bit busy now.  If I am to participate, though, it'll have to be soon.  Once the whole map is visible, the huge size will make my 64MB vid card cry. 

 

As a matter of general policy, everyone should probably post a notice in the thread when you start playing from a save, just so nobody else DL's it and we get alternate versions of history going.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not only that but he switched to polytheism after being beaten to meditation. At least one of the other 17 civs will have gone for polytheism. It would have been better to hold out for Judaism or Christianity.

[Llyranor]

Go go intelligence!

 

I wouldn't have made a worker at this point, yet. Stunting growth when the city still has a pop of 2 is significant. I like at least waiting for pop 3, but that's just me.

 

Enoch is the first to post, and thus the next player.

Edited February 26, 2006 by Llyranor

[Enoch]

Go go intelligence!

 

I wouldn't have made a worker at this point, yet. Stunting growth when the city still has a pop of 2 is significant. I like at least waiting for pop 3, but that's just me.

 

Enoch is the first to post, and thus the next player.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't want to hold anyone to that. If someone wants to grab it, go ahead. I'll post again tomorrow if I have time and it's still available.

 

Personally, I often make a worker my very first unit. When, as here, I start with mining, I like to research Bronze Working right off the bat to open up forest-chopping (which gives huge production boosts early in the game). Either that or I'll start with a worker tech suited to the surroundings (like agriculture, if I see wheat/rice/corn). One citizen working a 5-yield square (yield = food + hammers) and eating 2 food is better than two citizens each working 3-yield squares and together eating 4 food.

[Llyranor]

Alright, the spot is up for grabs. Next to post and showing interest is the next player.

[Nick_i_am]

Why on earth would you build an obelisk in your capital?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

it's 'inefficent' but either the oblisk is turned into free gold when stonehenge is completed (not likely here) or else it generates a trickle of culture until calender. It's more a case of 'every little helps' since I didn't see the urgent need for a new military unit or barracks that early in the game in this instance.

 

As for the worker, I tend to agree with the 'wait still size 3' but even if I didn't, our lack of agriculture or animal husbandry would have meant that sacrificing city growth that early without being able to gain it back fast wouldn't have been one of my top priorities, though I can see the advantage of capping the jems for the bonus trade.

 

This might well be the differance between a 'good' and great player though, and i'm not going to claim to be great.

Edited February 27, 2006 by Nick_i_am

[thepixiesrock]

My turn!

 

No, not really.

Edited February 27, 2006 by thepixiesrock

[Hurlshort]

I'd go, but it sounds like y'all are kinda nitpicky with this stuff. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...Plus all that posting of pics and journal sounds like school work. I think I'll go grade papers instead.

[Nick_i_am]

looks like it's time to take this over to civfanatics.com

[Enoch]

Okay, I'm taking it on now.

[Enoch]

Okay, here goes.

 

Turn 0 (since I got it with end turn button red, I'm not counting it)

 

Switched Moscow to build a warrior. I would've gone Worker, but the city's only 3 turns from size 3, so I decided to let it grow first. Another exploring unit will come in handy, too.

 

Turn 1

 

Took warrior in Moscow and moved him west, leaving the city undefended. This is low-risk. It's too early for significant barbarian activity at this difficulty level, and the AI really doesn't get aggressive until the available settling space is taken up. Mostly, I want to see what's over those hills west of the city.

 

As for our scout, I'm swinging him back towards the SW.

 

Turn 2: Meet and Greet time!

 

Bismark's scout pops up just south of Moscow (I thought I took a screenshot of him saying "You are wiser than you appear, MCA," but I seem to have lost it). Then, our scout spots a scout from Ceasar in the wild. I leave them both in peace.

 

Turn 3:

 

Moscow grows to size 3. Hooray!

 

Turns 4-5: Nothing interesting

 

Turn 6:

 

Warrior finished; begin Worker. Again, I leave Moscow temporarily undefended and march this warrior north, just to see that little spot of coastline our scout missed earlier.

 

Speaking of which, our warrior marching west has found a damn nice potential city location:

 

Turn 7: Nothing intheresting

 

Turn 8:

 

Scout meets Cyrus, who has a city almost directly to our south (and, oddly enough, an unpopped hut 2 squares from the border). He's also the current score leader of the Civs we've met:

 

Turn 9:

 

Hut gives us 37 gold.

 

Turn 10:

 

Scout spots a Stone resource not far to our SW.

 

Overview:

 

We're 1 turn away from Polytheism, and, surprisingly, nobody else has founded Hinduism yet. Once we finish that, I strongly recommend researching Bronze Working so that our soon-to-be-completed worker can supercharge our settler production by chopping some trees. Moscow is undefended, but the warrior I sent scouting north is on his way back.

 

I've been thinking about potential locations for our future cities Here's a wide shot of the west of Moscow:

The Green Dot is, IMO, an excellent city location.

 

The South:

Pink Dot would be a great production city. Irrigate the rice and the river-adjacent grassland & floodplain, then mine all the hills. Build the national epic there, and it could make our whole military by itself. Blue Dot claims the Stone, Corn and Cows.

 

The Northeast:

I'm willing to let Monte have the first move here. Some good resources, but most of them won't be useful until after Calendar. Plus, they're spaced out just enough so that there wouldn't be any one great city location. Let the Aztecs fill it with unpronounceable cities that we can conquer later.

 

In terms of settling order, I'd go Pink Dot, Blue Dot, Green Dot, although I'd consider moving Green Dot up a bit if we find a rival to the west who might take it first.

[Nick_i_am]

good, just so that you know (in case you didn't) you can lay markers on the map (potential city 1, explore here, ect) on the map with ctrl-p, thereby leaving suggestions to the next player.

 

EDIT: for some reason screenshots don't seem to work while the diplomecy screen is up, all three of us have had this problem.

Edited February 27, 2006 by Nick_i_am

[Enoch]

Alternately, we can move both Pink and Blue dots 1 square to the SW. That would give Pink river-frontage (Three Gorges!), but leave some decent terrain unusued to the north of Blue (and add 2 useless desert tiles to its city radius).

Edited February 27, 2006 by Enoch

[Enoch]

good, just so that you know (in case you didn't) you can lay markers on the map (potential city 1, explore here, ect) on the map with ctrl-p, thereby leaving suggestions to the next player.

 

EDIT: for some reason screenshots don't seem to work while the diplomecy screen is up, all three of us have had this problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I forgot about that. I opened the screenshots in Paint and added the dots.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I'd like to take the next turn - my own computer is in storage and this one is very close to minimum specs, but I've just checked it and it seems to work OK.

[SteveThaiBinh]

First of all, don't worry about the units all looking like they've survived a major battle - I've got the graphics settings on low, so I only see one warrior rather than the usual three. I tried to shrink the screenshots with Paint but my skills obviously weren't up to the task.

 

In my first turn I found the Egyptians off to the west, so there could be some competition for those nice ivory resources at the green spot.

 

 

Second turn, we founded Hinduism (Yay! ), and with none of our immediate neighbours having founded Buddhism, we may not have too many early unnecessary wars. I've converted, so we lose one turn to anarchy. I'm researching the wheel next, so we can get those gems connected soon and a road out to the ivory in the east.

 

I've also set the warrior to return to guard Moscow - I'm not so keen on having an unprotected city:

 

 

Fifth turn, I encountered a Malinese unit to the west:

 

 

Eighth turn, I've met Mao - I thought the pink was the Roman Empire, but it turns out to be the Chinese (this is a very busy map ), and a unit from Isabella who, surprise surprise, has discovered Buddhism. The screenshot shows the positions of the Chinese, Egyptians and us, and the red dot is the Spanish unit whose empire is hopefully far to the west.

 

 

For my last turn, the worker is complete and it's up to the next guy to use it. I'd go mine the gems, myself. I've set Moscow to build a settler next, but as it's the first turn of building that's easy to change. I have a scout exploring the map SW of Moscow to see if there are any claim-worthy resources, but nothing so far.

 

 

Here's the save game - good luck!

 

[Enoch]

Well done. I wouldn't have gone with the Wheel just yet (happiness isn't that big a concern this early on Noble, especially since we have religion), but it's a solid choice and will be necessary to connect our new cities. The techs will start coming in rapid-fire once those gems are mined, anyway.

 

I'd suggest another warrior before starting on the settler. That way, the settler won't have to wait around for an escort or leave Moscow undefended (the barbarian risk will be greater by then).

 

So who's next?

[Nick_i_am]

Personally, I would have suggested animal husbandy, capping those cows can be a huge early boon to a city in terms of production, then saved the forest chopping for one of the early wonders (this isn't me taking my turn, i'll wait for Llyranor).

[kumquatq3]

way to screw it all up enoch

[SteveThaiBinh]

I considered Bronze Working, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture and the Wheel for research, and there were good arguments for them all. I'd also go for Animal Husbandry next so that horses appear on the map before the first settler is built.