In General...

[Qgqqqqq]

Losing as few units would be annoying with the RNG. I would make it killing as few units as possible, if I went that route.

[Fylix]

That could be interesting too, but given the number of combats that will have to be fought I think the RNG would level out across players pretty well.

[Lord Parkin]

I have an idea that I think would be fun, but I've just lost too much interest in single player to do anything with it.

Name: Zusammensetzung
Leader: Frederick
Theme: You play as a very organized German with strong philosophical ideals. You abhor the barbaric practice in the English language of using multiple words, separated by spaces, for a single concept.
Rules: You can't research techs with multiple words in their English name while you have the option of researching a tech with fewer words in its English name. E.g. you can't research The Wheel if Alphabet is an option, and you can't research Code of Laws for a very long time. Tech trading is off, and stealing is not allowed. However, you MAY use bulbs regardless of which tech you will get beakers into.

This actually seems pretty cool. I presume the Oracle and Liberalism would follow the same limiting rule?

Start: Hunting, Mining

Difficult to research: The Wheel, Bronze Working, Animal Husbandry, Horseback Riding, Iron Working, Metal Casting, Civil Service, Divine Right, Printing Press, Military Tradition, Replaceable Parts, Steam Power, Scientific Method, Military Science, Assembly Line, Mass Media, Advanced Flight, Fiber Optics, Future Tech

Near-impossible to research: Code of Laws

I’m surprised by how many critical early Worker techs would take an extremely long time to research, not to mention some powerful middle-game ones. Interestingly you’d notice almost no difference near the end of the game though.

[pindicator]

I'm intrigued. You would never tech AH though...

[Fylix]

What about a game in which the player is simply not allowed to build settlers?

[SevenSpirits]

I presume the Oracle and Liberalism would follow the same limiting rule?

Yeah, since you are choosing a tech, you need to choose one with a "good" name.

I’m surprised by how many critical early Worker techs would take an extremely long time to research, not to mention some powerful middle-game ones.

Yeah, it's pretty funny how that works out.

[Qgqqqqq]

What about a game in which the player is simply not allowed to build settlers?

Boring, that's just built into the game (One City Challenge option).
It would have to be a good map to warrant a RB game.

[WilliamLP]

Boring, that's just built into the game (One City Challenge option).
It would have to be a good map to warrant a RB game.

I'd think you'd be allowed to capture cities too, and maybe cultural takeover. But I'd rather play the word-count based research game myself.

[Thoth]

What about a game in which the player is simply not allowed to build settlers?

Boring, that's just built into the game (One City Challenge option).
It would have to be a good map to warrant a RB game.

FFH XVIII was a "No Settlers" game. It was anything but boring.

We did start with two settlers each though.

[Qgqqqqq]

Yeah that is a fun setup (gets boring with a AI that can't compete though...), but its hardly comparable to a OCC adventure.