CIV iPhone Notes 2018-06-10 (c) Brett Paufler {I made these notes on my iPhone (my note taking device of choice, far better than a notepad, as I can output to a text file) in-between the two games. Many of these notes find there way into the game two note file (and into the main write-up). But as I am over-posting as it is, I shall post this, as well.} Back track from victory, how many turns? {As in, if one wants to maximize the score, it makes sense to know when one going to win and build up city population in a final dash: i.e. no more Whipping.} Turn to Year Conversion at normal game speed. {I haven't done this yet, the idea is (or was) to make a timeline (or mapping, if you will) from turns to years.} Cites, destruction of buildings upon conquest? Mechanics? {I, still, don't know this. This was intended to be a research question. But as I recall, I got nowhere.} Review ALL Techs & Wonders, prioritize. Skip crap Wonders. As to Techs, what can we pick up on way. List Critical, backtrack from there, as opposed to 'What's next?' {This I did and it was a good exercise, made my research much more focused. I think I back-filled toward the end for Research Points, but it would be interesting to know what necessity left undiscovered.} Buildings in powerhouse cities, ONLY. Barracks, likely, not as good as you think. How does that 10% power translate? {Eh, I still built a lot, but pushed the buildings further back in time, more as needed for happiness and health bonuses.} {As follows are city placement test grids.} X--X--X -------- -------- X--X--X or X---X---X ---------- ---------- --X---X-- So, grid or diagonal grid. {In game, I packed as closely as I could, taking into account bad placement, terrain, the enemy, and all the rest. But essentially, unless I am grabbing territory, I believe the best placement is close-packed, as cities (as people) seldom reach their full potential.} No religion {A month later, I recall founding a religion or two... maybe even a few of the early ones.} Blessed Few Wonders {I am happy to report that I did, indeed, curtail my Wonder Building Impulses.} Technology Recap {See the game two write up for this. I did my pre-game research.} Missionaries as monument +1 happiness +1 culture, more with Civic {This is an idea. As a scenario, I believe Missionaries may be in order. On a standard map, not so much.} {I think the following discussion on cheating will become part of the main webpage write up; and as a result, was edited heavily here, first.} The case against reloading/starting: 1) If one reloads due to battle losses (and/or tech and wonder races), then maybe things are too tight (one isn't playing well enough or a good strategy). 2) Reloading to correct gameplay issues (as I did between games one and two on this map) may lead to too tight fitting, as strategies should be resilient enough to roll with changes in the situation (maps, enemies, etc). 3) After reloading, one knows the map (choke points, city sites, etc). But then, the human player knows what type of map they are playing on, special game settings, and so on. Does the AI? I mean, knowing one is playing on an Archipelago Map is obviously of great importance (or if that seems like it should be obvious from the start, how about the strategic implications of knowing one is starting on a Pangea Map vs a Continents Map). And now, the case for reloading: 1) Reloading is useful for learning strategies. In the beginning, one does not know what a REX, rush, or even good odds look like. It allows one to replay the moment... or the strategically bad decision of declaring war on a superior foe. 2) Post game (or battle) I often think that I should have done things differently. Really? Prove it. I mean, Civilization is a game of constant crisis (you always need more of something). So, what are you going to give up in order to do things differently? 3) I have often heard that a good strategy is to declare war earlier. But how much earlier? When? Why? Or if not an earlier war, more cities or workers or different tech path or whatever. A reload allows one to try these things out. And more importantly allows one to see (and/or or feel) what winning looks like. A Military Strategy Beats All. Any strategy that does not include a Military Component is a failing strategy. Culture, religion, espionage are all secondary, because with an army, you can take over... anything else. Army beats Culture (etc.) The AI played just as poorly (non militarily), even at higher levels. So, one can probably control the difficulty just as well by a differential placing of food, hammers, and other resources. {Change the start and one changes the game.} {added 2018-07-27 (c) Copyright Brett Paufler}