Adventure Two - The Frozen Jungle (krys)

[Socrates]

Game : krys_adventure02
Version : Civ4 1.52
Civ, leader : Aztec, Montezuma
Number of AIs : 6
Difficulty : Monarch
Map : Highlands
Size : Standard
Era : Ancient
Speed : Normal
Mountain Pattern : Ridgelines
Mountain Density : Normal Peaks
Water Setting : Seas
Options : none
Victories : all

Link to the game’s page : http://www.realmsbeyond.net/civ/c4tourney/adv2.html



After Adventure 1, a game that went... oh, no spoiler here, since that report will come in one week. This is a mystery for me, as I suppose that a game played on a larger map, on a higher difficulty, with a rather more difficult starting position, on a map script that requires more data processing (as seen after playing both games), would need more time to complete. As a consequence, I have to refrain from referring to a game that clearly helped me doing better here.

And so we’re coming to this starting position.

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Well, that’s not a good starting position, but we have a few things to play with so as to set up a good city, like some deers, some fur, and a marble site, which should play a nice role later on. Sirian also founded Tenochtitlan by a fresh water lake, but not by the sea in the south. You can already note that the southern deer is unavailable as a resource until we find a way around the water bodies or until galleys. Because there’s also a terrible thing : our citizens on the marble/hill tile should see 2 tiles further away, but they cannot. This is the northern limit of the regional map !! On top of that, we’re spiritual, probably not the best trait with this start on this level. As for being aggressive, well, I’m a builder at heart and don’t think it’s an awesome trait.

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The scout revealed more of the same resources and it’s all tundra in there. I had so far never played on Monarch, so this promised to be a very, very difficult game. I started on a worker immediately and went for Fishing, after much thinking about both.

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The scout popped the hut, and I got a second scout ! Probably not what I wanted most, because there were not many directions in which to explore : so far, only the path to the west.

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My second hut popped another hut which provided me with a map of the area. Pff, now that I had 2 scouts, that’s definitely not what I was searching for. Fishing was followed by the Wheel.

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On turn 9, my second scout was attacked by a bear and was killed. One wasted hut (the first one)...

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On turn 10, the remaining scout defeated a wolf. A wolf surely is easier to kill than a bear.

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On the turn I learned the Wheel (turn 15), Tenochtitlan completed the worker, and the scout popped Agriculture from a hut. At least a bit of luck.

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Another victory against a wolfie. I always find it funny when the log says that he has 0.0% chance to win (ie. less than 1 chance out of 1000). I mean, this is not even about a tank vs a spear here...

[Socrates]

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On turn 23, Buddhism was founded far away. Meanwhile, my scout found a river in the south-west.

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One more turn and I met Caesar there. Nothing to do but having a beer with Julio. (TM) Also Pottery in the bag.

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Another turn, and another victory for my scout, against a lion. The odds were still in my favour.

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Hinduism was founded far away on turn 30. Tenochtitlan was building a granary, after getting its barracks.

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And yet another victory against another wolfie. They never win, but they make some damage.

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The hut gave me another regional map. Yeah, but I need more luck than that...

On turn 38, I discovered Archery, after researching Mining first. And Tenochtitlan completed the granary.

[Socrates]

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Turn 43, end of the scouting process : the scout lost to a barb archer on flat land. 100% odds ?? I sure covered the whole odds spectrum in a matter of turns with the same unit !

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On turn 48, Judaism was founded too. At that point, I had discovered Masonry and built 2 archers, 1 for Tenochtitlan, and 1 for the future city.

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The settler was quickly completed (in 9 turns), and on turn 56, Teotihuacan was founded 5 tiles west, by the sea, but also by another fresh water lake. The new site was half-decent, but nothing exciting was available without travelling quite a lot.

Then I discovered Bronze Working, and the capital built another archer, before starting on another settler. The goal was to get more resources, and there were more in the easily-accessible west.

[Socrates]

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A jump to turn 74, when I met Alexander. He met me with a scouting unit in my east (where I had no access without a ship). Nada, beer... (TM) I also founded Tlatelolco in the west, near some silver and silks, on a horrible site (all tundra and hill and forest).

I now knew Sailing, which enables galleys, but there were priorities in my cities, so no galley was built before some time. And another worker was now online, but considering the little landmass I had to improve, I didn’t need more than that at the moment and for some time.

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Alex proposed me an Open Borders agreement, which I signed right away. I only needed more friends anyway. Friends, commerce routes, and everything.

[Socrates]

Tlatelolco in the west built an obelisk, so as to secure both the silver and the silks, which would soon be ready to be connected (silks with Calendar of course).

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On turn 87, Tenochtitlan completed the Parthenon, thanks to its marble resource. And so I declared the Greek Wonders Race (TM) opened !! That was already a nice start : 3 gpp/turn right away ! Stonehenge was completed on the same turn by another civ. I prefer mine...

For the record, the first great person to appear (far away of course) was Merit Ptah on turn 89. I say, this is rather fast.

Barbs started to attack my city of Tlatelolco in the west : an axe on turn 90, who lost to a City Garrison I archer.

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Turn 92, Confucianism was already founded far away. 2 archers on my frontline, because you never know.

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Julio and I signed an Open Borders agreement on turn 93.

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Same turn, and I got to choose a free tech, thanks to the Oracle in Tenochtitlan, so I picked Metal Casting, the most expensive tech at the time.

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And here is the second Greek wonder. Things were looking bad for the AIs now...

Turn 97, another barb attack : a warrior lost to what now was a City Garrison II archer.

The Pyramids were built on turn 98, in a distant land.

[Socrates]

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I got my first great person on turn 106 : Moses, the great prophet. Since we were early in the game, I found it good to use him as a super priest in Tenochtitlan : +2 hammers, as you always need more of them, and +5 gold, which would nicely counter my expansion to come a bit.

Turn 113, a barb axe lost to the same archer in Tlatelolco. And the Great Lighthouse and the Kashi Vishwanath were erected far, far away.

Alphabet was discovered on turn 116. This time, I didn’t beeline towards that at all.

Texcoco was founded on turn 120, a bit more in the west, near some sheep and fresh water. The process of finding more resources was long and difficult. Those new cities wouldn’t be great. Tlatelolco, for example, was stucked at size 3 forever. But how to control resources without settling around ?

[Socrates]

On turn 125, the Temple of Solomon was completed far away. The AIs sure know how to generate great prophets early on. Alexander converted to Confucianism, which wasn’t a religion which he had founded.

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Same turn, I did my first trade : Metal Casting to Julio for Mathematics and Iron Working.

I founded my fifth city on turn 126 : Tlaxcala, in the south of my empire. It was an isolated place, with only 1 outer land tile being available for improvement, the rest consisting in the sea and a mountain barrier that separated me from the Romans (and the juicy land). Fish was to be hooked up in the sea over there.

Turn 127, the Colossus far away. Oh, didn’t think of trying anything else than what has marble. At least, not before getting the tech lead. Julio converted to Hinduism on turn 128.

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And this is it : on turn 136, I finished the Greek Wonders Race at the first place, by completing the Great Library. Things now started to look pretty interesting in the capital city. But the difference was clear between there and the rest of the country.

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On the following turn, Ananda the great prophet appeared in Tenochtitlan. Still no religion in sight, and no golden age to trigger (too small empire), and I preferred to invest, so I got me a second super priest in my greatest city.

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Another trade with Julio : Polytheism and Alphabet for Calendar, which I soon needed for the silks. I had refrained from getting it earlier, because it seems it obsoletes the obelisks. Still not sure how it works (like in Civ2 (any civ) or in Civ3 (you only)), but one thing is sure : buildings’ culture continues to shine after obsolescence, and since that’s the only thing that matters with obelisks... In fact, I waited for my westernest city to get 10 culture points (so as to grab the sheep) before making this deal. Next time I won’t wait.

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Turn 140, Christianity was founded far away. And here is the city of Tlaxcala. Hard times, eh.

[Socrates]

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And this time, a trade with Alex : Currency for Construction and 100 gold. Much needed gold...

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Turn 142 already, and I met Victoria only now ! Sorry I’m late, a cup of tea maybe ? (TM) BTW, she is the founder of Judaism, and I got contact by approaching the nearest Roman city, which had Jewish citizens.

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And immediately onto business : Alphabet for Horseback Riding and 20 gold.

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Turn 143, hello Mao ! A beer for your little red book ? (TM) Also an Hindu, but not the founder. And already annoyed. My type of buddy. Not.

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Literature for Monotheism, but with Vic.

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Open Borders with Vic. Stay tuned on Vic TV, the latest on Victorian news !

On the same turn 144, I completed the National Epic (marble) in Tenochtitlan, and Julio converted to Judaism. Now, that National Epic made of marble is the cherry on top of the cake. I now was at 32 gpp/turn !

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Taoism founded far away on turn 147. And me, I sent an archer to explore other territories, here the Roman Empire.

Mao was the first to trigger a golden age, on turn 148.

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On turn 149, Tenochtitlan popped a great scientist, Zu Chongzhi, which I of course used for an academy. I was late in settling, but science was very fine.

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Code of Laws to Alex for Monarchy and 70 gold. Yes, that’s always me getting the gold...

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Turn 152, I met Mansa. Beer, yeah I like it ! (TM)

The Mahabodhi was completed far away on turn 158, and Alex triggered his golden age.

[Socrates]

And the tribute demands started, as always. Turn 161, Julio asking for Compass, and I said No. Chichen Itza was completed far away on turn 163.

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Same turn, I used a great scientist, al-Khwarizmi, that popped in Tenochtitlan on the previous turn, to found an academy in Teotihuacan.

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Turn 165, a round of trading. Drama, Theology and Compass to Julio for Feudalism and 180 gold.

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Same techs to Mansa for Machinery and 90 gold.

Mao asked me Code of Laws on turn 166, and I said No. (TM)

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But he eventually asked for Open Borders on turn 168, and I agreed. And the Hanging Gardens were completed on the same turn, far away.

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Turn 170, Open Borders with Mansa. I like when we’re all friends. Or so I was thinking...

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Turn 177, Alhazen the great scientist popped in Tenochtitlan. I used him as a super scientist there.

Hagia Sophia was built far away on turn 178. It’s made of marble as well, but I didn’t try to build it. I was finishing the Sistine Chapel instead, also a marble wonder.

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Turn 179, and I got Islam !! Yeah, my own religion, my own virus. (TM) Teotihuacan, the second city, became the Muslim holy city.

But also on that turn, 2 turns before completion, I lost the race for the Sistine Chapel, first time in my Civ4 career. I was a bit annoyed, but at least it got me 524 gold, probably thanks to a 1:1 ratio. 100% science for a long time guaranteed. My Muslim missionary successfully spread the word of Allah and his prophet Muhammad to the city of Tenochtitlan on turn 180.

That’s when I realized a mistake I made. Only now did I realize that I was spiritual and didn’t need to go through anarchy periods !

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I saw that after adopting both Organized Religion and Slavery at the same time, like I would do with a non-spiritual civ. What I lost is some gold, because Slavery has no upkeep, whereas Tribalism has low upkeep. I wouldn’t have used the whip anyway. So I got to remember this : adopt Slavery upon discovering Bronze Working with a spiritual civ.

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And so of course, I immediately adopted Islam as state religion. Very good for my economy. Pretty bad for my relationships...

[Socrates]

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Speaking of which, I met the last AI, Saladin, on turn 181. Here he doesn’t want a beer because I beat him to Islam. (TM)

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So, back to business : Drama and Theology to Vic for Optics.

Alex asked me to cancel my deals with Mansa, and I said No. (TM) I want everyone to be my friends. How utopistic this can be... On turn 185, I still managed to trade him my deer for his cow. And my deer and fur to Mansa for his dye and sugar. Exactly what I desperately needed.

On turn 187, after building so much in Tenochtitlan, the City built a settler, which founded Calixtlahuaca in the east, near the Chinese. Another junk piece of land in my hands...

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Guilds to Alex for Civil Service. Alex, my buddy, right ? Well, not exactly if you look at the summary of our relationship...

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Same turn 187, I adopted Bureaucracy after discovering Guilds. This is a good civic with so few cities.

Mao surprisingly cancelled our Open Borders on turn 189... Notre-Dame was built far away on turn 190. Then on turn 191, Mansa asked me to cancel my deals with Alex (yes, they can’t stand each other), and I said No. (TM)

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Finally decided to give away my monopoly on Divine Right, shared with Vic for Engineering and 110 gold.

Saladin asked me to cancel my deals with Vic on turn 193. No. (TM)

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On turn 194, Mansa asked me 120 gold, and I said No. (TM) But I immediately came back with a nice trade idea : Paper for Music and 20 gold, and he said Yes.

On turn 196, Alex cancelled our Open Borders, and I started to feel a bit isolated on the international scene.

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Same turn, and another great scientist in Tenochtitlan : Isaac Newton. Used for another super scientist there. Angkor Wat was completed far away too.

[Socrates]

On turn 204, the Spiritual Minaret was completed far away. I had considered this wonder, but I didn’t have stone, and it was a bit risky. I think this wonder is good if you put a lot of effort into spreading the religion early on, which wasn’t what I was doing. I also traded deer to Julio for wheat.

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Turn 206 : the beginning of the end, to put it simply. Vic, the chick with who I was getting along quite well, the leader who had never asked me anything, suddenly declared war. The reason for which she did that is a bit of a mystery to me, but it’s clear that I was a tough competitor in the tech race. Who knows ?

As for the determination on her part, no problem : I soon spotted a huge stack of units coming my way, near that Roman city that had converted to Islam before. Alex also ended our deer for cow deal.

On turn 208, her knights, crossbowmen and catapults had reached the city of Texcoco, so she wasn’t kidding. The battle started. I only had archers at the time, and I started to upgrade them to longbowmen, while stopping my building mode in my 2 largest cities. She lost 1 jumbo and 1 crossbow.

On turn 209, it continued, and she lost a knight, while still bombarding the city. But then my 3 longbows lost to 1 knight and 2 crossbows.

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And so Texcoco fell to the evil English. The best part of the story is that they even razed it. Waoh, they’re after me !!!

Alex then asked me Paper, and you know what ? I said Yes for the first time... In the meantime, the city of Tlatelolco was unable to defend itself, since its archer had been lost at the first battle.

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Hence, little surprise 2 turns after that : Tlatelolco was captured and razed to the ground.

Versailles was completed far away, but I would have never been able to get it anyway.

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So I traded Education to Alex for Gunpowder and 150 gold. Why ? Because I was left without any iron, and needed something else than archers and longbows to defend properly.

I lost 1 of my 2 workers while everyone was trying to get back in Teotihuacan.

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Turn 214, in the middle of the war, I discovered Economics first, and this got me a free great merchant : Zhang Qian. That would be beakers into Printing Press.

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And immediately, I adopted Free Market.

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On turn 218, I got a great scientist, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, in Tenochtitlan. He finished Printing Press, a tech that I got for free with 2 great persons, though.

Julio also cancelled our deer for wheat deal. On the following turn, Mansa cancelled our deer and fur for dye and sugar deal. The Taj Mahal was erected far away, probably by Alex, since Alex got another golden age. Anyway, since the English were now pillaging everything in my core, I desperately needed more resources. I signed Open Borders with Alex again, along with a fish for cow deal. And I gave away my only source of marble to Mansa to get his dye again. Did I still need marble anyway ? Mansa asked me Printing Press a bit later, and I cave in. A bit late for that, I guess...

[Socrates]

Vic had started the battle of Teotihuacan, which was defended by 5 units. But eventually...

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On turn 223, the city of Teotihuacan fell as well. The situation was chaotic. In this pic, you can see a graphics bug : there seems to be a knight W-NW of Tenochtitlan, but there is not. In fact there are 2 knights just N of the City, as can be seen with their flags.

On turn 224, Mansa cancelled our marble for dye deal, and I cave into Mao’s tribute demand : Education.

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Turn 225, still doing good in the tech race, but for how long ? I discovered Liberalism first, and I chose the most expensive tech, Astronomy, as my free tech.

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Astronomy to Mansa for Nationalism and 500 gold.

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Same turn, it was only now that Vic was open to negociations !! So I signed a peace deal, and had to give away the city of Tlaxcala, the one in the south.

On turn 226, Julio cancelled our Open Borders. Mao asked me to join him in his war against Julio, and I started to say No again. Julio asked me the same on turn 228, but I also declined.

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I even traded with Mao : Astronomy for Chemistry and 470 gold. Funny because I now didn’t need any gold, since my super priests were now enough to cover all my low expenses !

The funniest of all : Vic asking me to join her in her war against Mao !!! I said No. (TM) Serious...

Then, Alex converted to (his) Christianity, Teotihuacan revolted for the first time (turn 233), Mansa asked me to cancel my deals with Alex (said No), Julio got his golden age (turn 235), Mao and I reopened our borders (turn 236), Alex got a third golden age...

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On turn 239, I discovered Constitution, and adopted Representation at last.

And that was it. Enough of it. I was starting to lose some ground in the tech race, and the loss of a few cities, even crappy ones, plus the lost resources were enough to consider the game as lost. What could I do ? I had no metal, no horse, I didn’t have friends, was left with 2 cities, 1 of them being a junky place... And on top of that, the game was lagging a lot in those days, a lot more than on the Terra map script, for example. This convinced me that I was losing my time, and I decided to stop and retire from the game on turn 240 (1650AD).

What would I learn from this game ? First, that this was a really difficult game. Never played on Monarch, and I started with that ?? How foolish that was ! But I thought I was doing fine, at least in my builder mode. The diplomacy is where I suck big time. The lesson here is to cave in to the demands of the AIs that you fear or that you want to be friends with. Or maybe all of them. After all, if they’re begging for some help, it’s because you’re doing fine, no ? Of course the horrible environment made that the late game would have been difficult, but it would have been worth trying. In any case, I couldn’t have won this game by Space, because I would have needed a few good cities to quickly build the spaceship parts. It would have been a close call at best regarding the tech race, but the production race was already lost.

BTW, I rarely abandon games, but this happens more frequently at RBCiv, don't ask wky... But I had good excuses for this game.

Still waiting for an RBCiv game with a good starting location on a high level !!



Result : Retirement
Score : N/A
Retirement date : 1650AD
Game score : N/A