I would like to start an experiment here. I would like to play such a game, sharing the whole process with anybody who is curious as I let the participating characters explain what they're doing (trying to keep them all in-character as well as trying to make it as interesting as I can while also giving insight of the game for those who are interested). :)
(I highly advise those who know nothing about the game to read a little bit about it so you know a little bit about how it is played. Civ 4 is a turn-based strategy game where you start with as much as a puny group of Settlers. Your job is to turn them into a mighty civilization controlling a huge empire)
I am not playing the vanilla version of civ 4 but a mod made by the german Civ 4 community that I really love because it makes the whole game a whole lot better in a lot of ways. (it's 99% translated, just some little bugs here and there so there maaaaaaaaaaaaay be a german word here and there but it usually works very well :))
The game is more balanced and there are tons of improvements and almost everything is bigger. There are more civilizations to play, more leaders to pick, more units, more religions, more technologies, more... you get the idea :P
For those who are curious, I will explain changes from the BtS version which is the version most people play (probably from the characters' POV whenever something pops up that needs to be explained imo) though I can also add them, highlighting with a colour so that everybody knows it can be skipped and does not belong to the story directly.
I guess I should start with the game now. I'll do so by uploading screenshots from the game with commentary.
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The LBT characters that I decided to use here are: Littlefoot (Apatosaurus/Longneck), Cera (Triceratops/Threehorn), Ducky (Saurolophus/Swimmer (also called Bigmouth)), Petrie (Pteranodon/Flyer), Spike (Stegosaurus/Spiketail), Chomper (Tyrannosaurus Rex/Sharptooth, appears in movie 2, 5, 14 as well as the tv-series), Ruby (Oviraptor/Fastrunner, appears in movie 14 and the tv-series) and Ali (Apatosaurus/Longneck, appears in the 4th movie as well as in one tv-series episode)
In total, 46 players (aka. all playable civs in the BASE mod) will be in the game. That's fairly huge but also lots of fun, especially with such a setup. ^^
I have picked the leaders for the LBT characters randomly, though I used a table that I created beforehand. (In the BASE mod which I'm playing here, there are more leader "traits" than in the normal game by the way) I tried to think about how much each character would represent the different traits so I created that table, each trait getting a certain chance to be picked, some more likely than others. Each leader has a combination of two traits (and every possible combination is available) so, literally, anything goes :P If, by chance, random.org (which I was using to get the random results) would choose the same trait twice, I let it run a third time, until a different trait would be chosen.
(I will go into detail about those traits which are much more developed than in the normal game when the players make their first turn. For now, I just explain what I did and which setting I chose. You can skip that part btw if you're not interested :P)
I did a similar thing with the civilization each players is controlling. (Civilizations have a special ability/trait each in BASE) Each civ had a 1% chance to be picked randomly. So 46%. As for the remaining 54%, I created a pool of roughly a dozen civs for each players based upon their play-style that I have in mind for them. I started at a random civ and counted until I reached the number that the randomizer originally chose (eg. if the number was 51, and the random civ was 2, I'd end up with the 7th civ on the list, just to give an example).
Yeah, I know. Complicated. But it was fun :D Admittedly, the random combination of different leaders and civs may lead to unexpected synergies or total disaster and that's what I'm looking for here ^^
Guess I'll continue with the settings. There are quite some that were added in this mod. I'll make a list that can be skipped, I'll just explain all the options if necessary for those who are curious :)
Settings
Map: A highly customizable map script. The map has over-average density of ressources and has quite some hills.
Size: Gigantic (that's not the biggest you can get. I wanted to avoid having to control too many cities at once due to the mere amount of time this would take me. So players are limited in space which is more challenging, admittedly.)
Climate: Rocky (more hills as I said)
Sealevel: Low, so there's less water stuff and more land to live on, I guess.
Era: Ancient. No tanks yet, sry :P
Speed: Normal. (500 Turns until score victory)
Options: (there we got our first case of something still not translated into english >_<) Well, all options were chosen in a separate screen due to the special map script I'm using. I guess making screenshots of that would have made this way too lengthy...
Victories
(they're the same as in the normal game but I'll explain them anyway...)
Time: Whoever has the highest score after the 500 turns (more or less turns when playing with a different speed) wins.
Conquest: The "last one standing" wins. Though since we have Domination enabled too...
Domination: Whoever controls a certain amount of the land as well as controling a certain amount of the world's population (usually 50+ %, depends on game size) wins.
Cultural: The first to have 3 of their cities reach a Legendary culture level (50000 culture) wins.
Space Race: aka. Tech victory. Whoever launches a spaceship to Alpha Centauri, reaching it first, wins the game.
Diplomatic: One player is elected to win the game if he receives the majority of votes. Very tricky in this game but I enabled it anyway. You either win through the religious election (all citizens worldwide of a certain faith may vote) or through the United Nations (all citizens worldwide).
Options:
(this is gonna take me ages...)
Advanced Start: You start with a certain amount of money that can be spent on units, cities and technologies. Though, in this game, it's only enough to place one city (because the AI doesn't handle it very well at all >_<). The main reason why I picked this, is being able to have a certain freedom in placing the first city since that one is highly important for literally everything. If your first city sucks, you're gonna have a very hard time ^^
No City Racing: Cities CAN be raced to the ground in this game (why not? The AI founds cities in weird places sometimes :D)
No City Flipping from Culture: Cities can change ownership if the cultural influence of a neighboring civilization gets too strong. Actually, cities you conquer can convert back that way at times... annoying, I tell you...
No City Flipping from Culture after conquest: Well, I think I explained it above already.
No Barbarians: Well, we have them in this game. They're gonna be a pain in the... because they always are :P Ain't a challenge without them though.
Raging Barbarians: Uhm, no, no, no :P
Aggressive AI: They tend to declare war more often. Which I don't mind.
Unrestricted Leaders: This allows me to take a leader of Germany but play as China, just to give you an idea ^^)
Random AI Personalities: This would randomize the traits of any leader.
Choose Religions: In BASE there are more religions to choose from if this option is enabled. Stuff like Voodoo, Shinto etc.. Though the total number of religions that can be founded reemains unchanged.
No Technology Trading: Technologies can't be traded in this game. Personally, I don't like this option at all because it makes the game a lot faster.
No Technology Brokering: The same thing, just with the restriction that only techs may be traded that you've researched yourself. Also disabled.
Permanent Alliances: Players may form a team if they like each other. Pretty interesting option in my opinion. Might make use of that one with the human players too (but only those players who are really close in the movies ;))
Always War: I'd be at war with everyone. Sounds like horror but the AI plays so stupid when this is enabled...
Peaceful Start: Would prevent early wars.
One City Challenge: The human player can only control one city at a time.
Permanent War or Peace: In all honesty, I have no clue how this one works...
New Random Seed on Reload: Would change battle results if I reloaded the game for whatever reason (cheating? :P)
Lock Modified Assets: Irrelevant for a multiplayer game. Would lock the World Builder so I can't "edit" the game as I play it :D
Require Complete Kills: Ever since one AI player lost all of his cities despite still controlling an army of about 30 units that didn't move nor attack for whatever reason, this one is enabled by default in my games :D Often, the AI still have scouts left so they don't die right away when you conquer them completely.
No Vassal States: Civilizations may become a vassal of another.
No Tribal Villages: So called "Goody Huts" contain random rewards for those who enter them. Might help some players get a random early boost. It always depends what you get from these. If you enter them with military units such as a warrior, you might actually be attacked so... yeah :P
No Random Events: Hey, random events are fun! Who doesn't love it when tons of barbarians spawn right next to you? :P
Limited Espionage: Well, this option prohibits a few espionage options.
Ancient Era (and the following options): Option to stop technological advance of a game in a certain era. Never used it tbh... The only thing worth mentioning here is the Future Era which is unique to the BASE mod. If we'll ever get there, that is. ^^
No Civilization Specific Traits: Well, every civ has some special ability/bonusses in BASE. This option would disable that.
Choose Starting Technologies: With this option, you can choose two technologies at the start that you consider most helpful. Usually, you start with the unique two techs of each civs.
No Global Warming: Hey, let's stay realistic and use this. Would only be accurate if, suddenly, the sea level starts rising and all that kind of stuff because mankind goes berserk on nature.
No Human Barbarians (Animals only): This option is fun but less challenging so I'm not using it here. Basically, instead of human barbarians, you get twice the amount of animals. You get food for hunting them in BASE btw, which is neat!
No Barbarian Pirates: Those stinkers are going to be a pest but I'll keep them. Gotta love it when ships loaded with tons of these blackcoats appear on the horizon ^^
Advanced Barbarians: This is basically giving the Barbs all techs (except for religious stuff) that at least two players have researched. Pretty mean.
Advanced AI: Same concept for the AI. Hardcore!
Smarter AI: A little modmod that improves AI behavior.
AI Contacts Human Players Less Often: Just what the option says, the AI won't bother you as much as they usually do.
No AI War Declaration On Human Players: Do I need to explain that one?
AI Can Split Empire: Well, sometimes when you get something like Old World / New World type of map, there are huge landmasses to colonize later on in the game. There's the option to start a colony which would act like a vassal of you and, with this enabled, the AI might pull this off too. Though, I've only ever seen it happen once and that was when I destroyed the mainland of that AI player so he released his distant cities to become colonies...
Hegemon Shares Technologies With His Vassals: Self-explanatory
Vassals Share TechnologiesWith Their Hegemon: Same thing.
Enhanced Tech Conquest: This one is really cool. There's a certain chance to capture a technology when you conquer a city (if there's a tech your enemy has that you don't in the first place) depending on the city size. Not using it here though since it could be used as an excuse to put everything into war without giving a damn about economy :P
Limited Foundation of Religions: Well, just what it says. If you got a religion, you can't get another one.
No Corporations: Disables Corporations in late game.
Multiple Research: Can research more than one Technology in one turn. Trust me, it's possible to pull such a feat :)
Multiple Production: This one is soooooo goooooooood :) Sometimes, you really get cities with so much production that you build 2-3 units per turn! Not kidding there!
Higher Tech Cost: Well, makes later techs significantly more expensive. It prolongs the game, especially on large maps with many cities per player, so you have more time to work on units instead of constantly trying to stay up-to-date with all the new cool buildings that you keep researching :P
Higher Unit Production Cost: Works the same way, though I disabled it. More time for war-mongering :)
Scaling Unit Limits Depending On Map Size: This one is a no-brainer for me. The bigger the map, the more Missionaries per player are allowed. In BASE, there are a bunch of other special units that you can only build in a certain amount because of their unique strengths.
Unlimited National Wonders Per City: Well, there's a limit of 2 for a reason. They're pretty strong and some synergies can get pretty insane at some point...
Maximum Of 3 World Wonders Per City: Self-explanatory.
The Great Wall cannot be constructed (I'll skip all options of this kind from now on, since they're self-explanatory): Can't build the Great Wall (or whatever the option says)
Advanced Diplomacy: Adds some diplomacy options, you'll see in-game. :)
Defensive Pacts [...]: These two are pretty self-explanatory too, aren't they?
Unlimited Alliances: Alliances may consist of any number of players.
Fair Alliances: Sets a few boundaries for alliances (I think the total amount of power mustn't exceed 50% or something like that)
Shared Special Units in Teams or Alliances: If your teammate has a special unit you don't have, you'll get it.
No Non-Ally Unit Gifts Allowed: Well, this is mostly relevant in MP games (such as this one even though I'm the only "active" player ;)). I've never seen the AI gift me units they didn't need xD
No Treshold Increase For... : These two things aren't organized within the whole team but every player still has a counter for themselves.
No Victory Requirements... : This applies to the Diplomatic Victory... if it's disabled and this is enabled, the buildings still have their effects/can still be built (like the Apostolic Palace)
Motivated Defenders: Gives your capital as well as any holy city (city where a religion was founded) a 25% Defense Bonus that cannot be bombarded by siege weapons.
Village Protection: Village modernization's can't be replaced by other stuff once they've reached the village level. Pretty pointless imo since you generally don't do that anyhow.
Cargo of Sinking Ships Can Survive: With a 20 % chance if the ship is on a coastal tile :)
No Privateers... : Privateers are like Pirates... they can attack anything without the need to declare war on somebody + nobody knows who controls a Privateer.
*****
(finally done! Whew, that took a while...)
I'll publish separate posts for each character taking a role in this game so this post is coming to an end here now. Every now and then, I may put something like a graph in here to compare the players and how well they're doing.
If you have any questions, ask. I'll be responding happily :) Especially, if they're related to either the LBT characters themselves (if you're not from the fandom) or to the game (if you haven't played it yet) :)
I'll try to publish the respective first posts of the "players" asap, though the first one will be tough since there's so much to explain xD
Oh well, I'll do my best. For now, seeya :)
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