I played roughly Six Different Games of LOR on various Maps, including at least two Custom Garden of Eden Starts. The Comprehensive Zip (
038-legends-of-revolution-saves.zip) contains all the Starts, Finishes, World Builder Maps, and Log Files for each of Those Games... with the Running Notes thrown in for good measure.
However, I will also post the Running Notes for each of those six Games at the start of each Game's individual commentary, which will (at least, if nothing else) include note on why there isn't much commentary.
But before I get there, I wanted to briefly make note of my major takeaways regarding Legends Of Revolution... as concerns my Single Player experience.
The Revolutions Mechanic Is Broken
In Legends Of Revolution, if a Civilization treats its people poorly, Revolutions
WILL occur: meaning Cities
WILL break away or loads of Rebel Units
WILL Spawn.
This could be fun.
This adds a new element.
However, The AI is unable to adapt; and as such, is unable to maintain a large Civilization... like ever.
If I had to guess, I'd say Slavery was the culprit. No doubt, Whipping causes instability. And The AI is programmed to Whip. I mean, it's the winning strategy, right? So, The AI finds itself in a state of continual Revolution. Whereas, I despise Whipping, as it simply takes too much mental effort. And so, my Second Class Builder Strategy (backed by a Monk Economy, no less) easily dominates.
Excellent Customizations
I like Wonders and there are plenty of new (or at least, new to me, new to me in this mod) Wonders, National Wonders, Unique Units (so, Unit Wonders), Standard Units, and Technologies. I cannot recall any additional Basic Buildings, though.
For me, this part of The Game was great. It added a new depth and filled many holes, making the leap between Technologies less pronounced; while at the same time, making it all the more important to be the Tech Leader so as to gain those Unique (perhaps slightly overpowered) Units.
For instance, The Barbary Corsair (if memory serves correctly) is enabled by The Discovery of both Divine Right and Optics (many a unit requires Multiple Techs). The Barbary Corsair is something like a Privateer with 50 Experience Points. I mean, it's not that exactly. But I dominated the Shipping Lanes with my Barbary Corsair amassing 100 Kills (per Game in more than one Game).
So, yeah.
Those Unique Units can be decisive.
Silly Beaker Costs
Of the style of Game I am willing to play, I tend to dominate and am able to achieve Victory by around the time I have Cannons or Infantry. So, this never was a concern of mine, as My Games never got that far.
But The Beaker Cost of Late Game Technologies is ridiculous. If I recall, Future Tech cost 160,000 Beakers.
Heck, I should just fire The Game up.
Steel: 16,900 (14,196)
Assembly Line: 30,420 (25,350)
Quantum Mechanics: 37,180 (32,955)
Robotics: 101,400 (40,560)
Smart Matter: 135,200 (50,700)
TECH: Legends Of Revolution (BTS)
DEITY: MARATHON
Now, granted, I never got to The Late Game and there are lots of Food Bonus Technologies (allowing the running of slews of Science Specialists). But that's a hefty Beaker Up-Charge.
Anyway, never getting to the point where Food was free, I don't know what my Cities would look like. But I don't know that I've ever played any Game where I made more than 5,000 Beakers per Turn with half that number being far more likely.
And trust me, many of my Opponents were never going to hit Steel no matter how much time they got.
Though, even with all that, I am eager to craft a Game/Map that will stay interesting (read: challenging) into The Late Game to see what that's like in Legends of Revolution. And in large part, a desire to get on with that activity is what's powering this write-up.
Get it done, so I can move forward.
Or in other words, if I don't write as I go, I'm never going to write. So prior to playing The Next Game, I'm doing the write-up for The Last Game.
I really hope that's clear.
I mean, it really should be clear.
Anyway, that's what I'd have to say, now... if you allowed me to corner you at a party and talk about Legends of Revolution.
Let's see if re-reading my In-Game Notes prompts me to say anything further.
Pericles Crush
The first set of In-Game Notes:
038-00-01-Pericles-Crush-Notes.txt
I started with a Random Map, insured it was isolated, and later added a few Choice Resources (bringing the total to ten). Both Games were abandoned due to boredom. And there is precious little to say about either of them other than that.
Qin Shi Huang
My notes for The Next Game (
038-02-Qin-Shi-Huang-Notes.txt) indicate that I did not have ready access to Copper or Iron and was beset with annoying neighbours. So, I ditched The Game.
In truth, I believe the Map Generation Utilities could be greatly enhanced if one was allowed to describe the type of Start or Game they desired. For instance, if I am going to Build Wonders (perhaps, my favourite strategy), I want to start on or near Stone.
Pericles - Loaded Deity Map
In This Game (
038-03-Pericles-Loaded-Notes.txt), I learned that I was capable of playing so poorly as to lose on Deity (certainly, if my start is not golden) and how much fun sailing around the world with that Barbary Corsair can be.
Antarctica
The highlights as extracted from My Full In-Game Notes (
038-04-Antarctica-Notes.txt, not to be confused with The Map Notes, as posted above) are as follows:
- Kill Zones
- I am a fan of easily defensible terrain.
- Ways To Bake A Map
- Custom Bonus Resources
- Leading to Garden of Eden Starts
- The AI Spams Units on Ruthless AI.
- And The Maintenance Cost hobbles The AI.
- But killing loads of Enemy Units is fun.
- Colonists
- Found Cities with a Religion...
- But not necessarily The State Religion...
- Blitz Promotion
- Enables Multiple Attacks per Turn
- Each costing one Movement Point
- Which translates into that much more Experience
Truthfully, I cannot tell you what motivated me to play The Map twice more, as I'd already beaten it. Though, with all the fighting I'd had to do that might not have been so clear. But then, as I might have mentioned elsewhere, I like winning. I mean, I'm not playing to lose.
Replay of Antarctica Map
The Game Crashed On The Roll at T519. Before that, I was dominating, as My In-Game Notes will attest:
038-05-Replay-Antarctica-Notes.txt
Speaking of glitches (or Poor Mod Design), when Barbarian Cities get promoted into Minor Civilizations any Archer Garrison gets demoted to a bunch of Warriors, which are easily slaughtered. Promotion to a Minor Civilization should not be a retrograde event.
Replay Antarctica Map... Again
Phone Notes:
038-06-Antarctica-Phone-Notes.txt
I jotted these down while thinking about The Game, but when my computer was off; and as such, my regular Note Taking Program was not available.
Here's the down and dirty:
- Shrines appear to require Open Borders in order to Spread Religion.
- Negative Diplomatic Modifiers can be reduced by Never Declaring War or Suing For Peace.
- For one such as I, Automatic Promotions would be nice.
- But I have no idea how one would mesh this with Specialist Units such as Healers.
Running Notes (a.k.a. In-Game Notes):
038-06-Antarctica-Replay-Again-Notes.txt
I can't say there is much new (outside of some rough play-by-plays) and the fact that Winning Battles & Capturing Cities grants a Stability Bonus.
Per the above Combat Graph:
- On T348, I Built The Barbary Corsair...
- which single-handedly decimated the shipping lanes:
- Along with 22 Galleass (2 Lost) and 9 Cogs (2 Lost) in my fleet, I killed:
- 30 Civilizations were Destroyed
- 6 Great Generals Born
Combat By The Numbers
Turns: 600
Combats: 623
Civilizations Dominated: 32
Great Generals: 6
So, yeah. 30 or 32 Civilizations Destroyed? Who really knows? It was a lot.
Max Number of Combats in Turn: 25
Combats by Number
| Win | Lose |
| Attack | 595 | 11 |
| Defence | 14 | 3 |
Maximum Combat Strength in a Turn: 163
Combats by My Unit's Current Strength
| Win | Lose |
| Attack | 3,435 | 23 |
| Defence | 50 | 10 |
Clearly, Combat was a one-sided affair. I destroyed 609 Units while only losing 14.
I like those types of numbers. But one could easily interpret them as a sign of complacency. Certainly, if I was going for High Score, I would have been better served by being a lot more aggressive.
