Game Settings
Noble Difficulty
12 Rivals
Fractal
Large World Size
Temperate Climate
High Sea Level
Ancient Starting Era
Marathon Game Speed
No Barbarians
Aggressive AI
No Technology Brokering
No Tribal Villages
No Random Events
All Victories
Playing
Master Controller
of the Netherlands
Better Known as
Big Oranje
of the Dutch / Portuguese Alliance
Traits
Expansive: +2 Health
Creative: +2 Culture
Financial: +1 Commerce
Imperialistic: +100% Great General
Yes, that's right. I'm cheating. Instead of the usual two Traits, I am giving myself four, along with two Unique Buildings and two Unique Units.
Unique Units
Carrack: Troop Carrying Caravel
East Indian: Aggressive Galleon
Unique Buildings
Dike: Ocean Going Levee
Feitoria: +1 Commerce on Water
Starting Techs
Mysticism
Fishing
Agriculture
Mining
It's a whole lot of cheating going on at a much lower level (deep in the XML as it is) than the last few games.
Otherwise, there are No Mods.
Straight CIV IV
Beyond The Sword 3.19
Better directions (or at least, more complete ones) can be found in
022-big-oranje-notes.txt. And the modified files are in
022-big-oranje-game-saves.zip. But what I did is not that complicated. I modified a few of the XML files giving William van Oranje all of Joao II of Portugal's bonuses. And then, put those files in my CustomAssets Folder.
C:\Users\DATA\Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword\CustomAssets
I would have used the BUG Mod, but I couldn't figure out what I needed to do in order to get it to work with my changes.
The BUG Mod is what I use to create a logfile. And without a logfile, there are no graphs.
This write-up could be short.
Eh, I don't know how important this is or whether anyone will learn anything new. But I got a kick out of the Cultural Control Pattern that was achieved after taking over Uruk.
It's because Vassal's cede Cultural Control within a Captured City's Fat Cross. The Cow is not in the Fat Cross. So, Cultural Control resolves (from left to right):
My Land -> Sumerian Cow -> Vassal Yield (Outer Fat Cross) -> Sumeria (Inner Fat Cross) -> City
I have a Cultural Presence in the Outer Fat Cross (but not in the Inner), which is why Sumeria Yields the Outer, but not the Inner.
Not Much Land
Between High Seas and a few more Civilizations than normal. There was not enough land to go around. I believe this stunted the AI. If there had been a little more land, I like to believe the competition would have been better.
Peace Vassals
I am getting better at the Diplomatic game... to the extent, three Civilizations (Japan, Egypt, and England) Peace Vassalled to me this game. It's a very nice feeling.
Of course, I adjusted the initial Diplomatic Modified from -1 to +0, so that may have had something to do with it. But I will argue that +0 is far more Organically Neutral than -1.
Implied Victories
I believe from here on out, I will play with Implied Victories: Victories that do not meet any of the Traditional Victory Conditions, but which are indicative of an overwhelming lead.
- Double the Score
- 100T Tech Lead
These are not hard and fast rules. If I feel dominant after having contacted everyone and can justify calling The Game, I think I will.
Customization Effects
I never got to the late game, so the effects of my Unique Buildings were never felt. Also, it made no difference that I had East Indians, as my Carracks did the job. In the end, it was a mistake wasting any time Researching Astronomy.
The World Size was Large, but the Sea Level was High (reducing land mass). And I had 12 Rivals. All of which means, there was not enough room for the AI. Thus, my opponents were artificially restricted by the settings... or so I believe.
I anticipate allowing the AI to behave normally next game, giving them enough land, but still not allowing Tech Brokering.
Overall, it was fun to play with the XML. And I will have to think about what I wish to accomplish by Modifying the XML in the future.
