I fog-gaze two hills, so I'd be disappointed by anything less than that. 
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[SPOILERS] Rusten enters uncharted waters
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I'll report sparingly in the upcoming period. Nothing much is going on and the long term plans have been made and talked about already, so there's not much to say. But I'll throw together a bigger update soon. Think of it as a premature T100 report.
Now's a good time for any lurkers to say what they want to see or if there are any particular questions. Rusten Wrote:2MetraNinja [...] I hope he won't stall the game too much. Yeah, about that... Just like PB38 he often logs in once every two days to play a double turn. He's going to kill this game and I will think twice before joining a PB with him in the future.
Fall fall fall fall, out of the sky
Cover my face as the animals die In the hanging garden  I was hoping for/predicting a 12-city Hanging Gardens earlier. Final tally is 13. Seeing as I'm extremely interested in the GE points too that is a major win. Unless of course I lose another big flip, in which case you can classify me as PKIA.
Depends on whether you count lighthouse coast as unimproved -- some cities are out of green land tiles already. As for worked unimproved land tiles, only 2 in the most recently settled cities (unavoidable). And those can be whipped for 30 hammers anyway. Didn't have time for the bigger empire update yet, but here are some important tidbits:
 Plankton gets my first GP T102 (currently T97, the screenshot is a little old). It will have a 27% chance for a priest, which is the preferrable option. If Christianity is still unclaimed by then I will be very tempted to lightbulb it and build the AP, but the original intention is a shrine. If I get the more likely GS I will follow the previously outlined plan and lightbulb philosophy for pacifism+another religion and get a priest as my 2nd GP (GE as 3rd). I have already started running a priest in a different city for 100% chance if needed. Below is why you set up a parameter against the barbarians, you never know when you're going to get screwed. Lost with 98.6% win probability against a warrior...  Currency finishes end of turn which means an instant +28 commerce. From there the path is likely CoL --> Philosophy (bulb) --> MC --> IW --> Monarchy.
December 20th, 2019, 10:35
(This post was last modified: December 20th, 2019, 10:38 by Rusten.)
What was suppose to be my premature T100 (big picture) report seems to end up a post T100 report. Sorry about that, pretty busy with Christmas things still. Maybe tomorrow I'll go more into detail.
 Someone got a GS last turn. This turn I happened to play at the same time as OH and the mfg had a big upswing. Furthermore the rival best crop kept shrinking with no score decrease in PBspy, so my guess is OH+Hitru got the GS and started a golden age and are running specialists in their cities. But it's just guesswork -- nothing conclusive. I don't think it's a switch to mines, because the mfg went up first, and then the crop dropped after. In fact I believe the mfg dropped a bit too afterwards, which pieced together definitely indicates heavy use of specialists. Tied for #1 in land at the moment after lagging a bit throughout the game. Natural result of starting on a peninsula. Based on F8 screen I think I'm sharing it with Krill who I've met with a scouting work boat, but we are still miles apart (before astronomy anyway). Borsche and 2metra are both between us, but he has met neither. Are other people not scouting with work boats this game?  I decided to delay my GP a few turns to boost my chance of a prophet. I'll have it appear the turn I finish CoL instead. If it's a GS I don't need it until then anyway so no harm in waiting, and I rate the extra ~12% chance of getting a prophet higher than possibly getting lucky with a prophet ~4 turns sooner. Already getting 60+ gpt at 0% science and markets are not completed yet. The economy is well and truly saved with currency completed and I'm free to settle my remaining 5-6 cities to put the peaceful city count to 21 (currently 16).   Got graphs on all my neighbours finally:
Big turn coming up. Sped up CoL 1 turn by adding a few temporary wealth builds so it completes end of turn (~15 hammers worth). I've been unlucky with the dice rolls so far, so I'd welcome a lucky 30% prophet to make up for it.
Already at 80+ GPT without wealth builds and that should only increase even as new cities are added. Nearby civs seem to be in the 40s. OH remains a strong rival, but compared to everyone near me I'm both bigger and wealthier, which bodes very well for the future. Long term prospects with my UU and an excellent shrine are also very good. I'll have a day to myself on the 26th (or evening 25th), so I'll try to catdh up on things then, but the quick word for now is that things are going as planned. 2metra is not sending units towards me, but rather settlers that are founding on flatland in locations hard to defend. It's looking very likely that I can assimilate his empire into mine without much trouble later. I've met superdeath (north of DS) with a work boat. Also spotted Rome (north of Krill) this turn and will make contact next turn.
No Christmas present for me. The game didn't want to throw me a bone (again) and I got a GS end of turn.
 Forced to tech alphabet now to lightbulb philosophy. It's not a problem if people want to open borders, but that's not guaranteed. Long term I'd love to trade and prosper with DS routes and resources, but for the time being he won't improve my trade routes as we were at war recently. He sent a work boat through my territory which reset the timer. Superdeath is not great as he built the Great Lighthouse and 2metra and Borsche are on my continent. Krill won't accept as he gets nothing in return. Not an ideal situation. Demos have been showing someone getting fleeced for trade routes lately, and it keeps getting worse. This turn it's +54 and -78.   Western 2metra front:  Settled in a defensible location and not very pushy. Porpoise can never build a lighthouse, but it was the only reasonable location. And long term those 2metra cities should belong to me so I'll leave the lake tiles to them (with lighthouse boost). Pictured is another 2metra settler that will settle for the pig and clam. A city that will be very difficult for him to defend later. The new city and Matara will both be on flatland and separated from his core. The northern front is a little more rugged (picture 4 turns old).  He settled first, but it was a settling race and my settler party was already on the island when he put his down. TBH I really don't understand why he settled where he did. Why did he not settle on the hill for fish in addition to his other resources? It's very puzzling to me. If he'd gone there I would've settled 1S of the pigs instead, but I couldn't let the fish go to waste.  For the settling race he double-turned me and said that he had no knowledge of the race (PM conversation with him me and game admin (TBS)), and while I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt it's a little strange that he'd settle where he did. It looks like a rushed city to me where any other spot is superior. Hurrying to settle that island pushed back filling out the western area a few turns, so I couldn't make the projected T100 goal. But the settlers are completed and all those cities will be up shortly. Now it's just about getting basic infrastructure and finding the hammers for continued expansion (through war).
Happy New Year!
Completed alphabet and Taoism was still up for grab so I bulbed philosophy as planned.  Long trek for the missionary to reach my prophet city, but at least I have an available galley to get him across the bay area. Also entered my first caste phase of the game last turn to pop some borders. I have multiple cities being settled over the next few turns. As for who to open borders with I decided to be generous and offer to almost everyone. That includes GLH-powered superdeath, but I'm taking the drug dealer approach. The first hit is free to get him hooked, then he has to pay to stay connected. Especially important that he accepts right now as I don't think I have sufficient peace with DS yet. I didn't bother asking Krill as he'll decline 100%. |
