Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. -Abraham Lincoln
Hello, everybody. I'm your host, Gentlemanorcus, master of procrastination. First off: I'm working on the next installment of Tactics Ogre and it should be up tomorrow. Procrastination and Germany delayed my efforts.
This let's play is more of a whim than anything; I was about to play a game of Civilization when I decided, "Hey, why don't I liveblog it?"
Civilization V is a game with many changes, most good, to the Civilization formula, but also suffers from lack of polish and balance issues. I like the Social Policy system, the new Cultural Victory, the hex maps, that cities have innate defenses, archers and siege weapons shoot from a few spaces away, and that only one unit can occupy a space.
I don't like the removal of religion, the balance issues, the overly-aggressive AI, the pooled happiness, the overwhelmingly large amounts of units that come at one time, the poor automate improvement and auto-explore, and the removal of adjustment sliders.
Overall, I like this game, and I think if they put more effort into refining the new features and didn't remove a few good features (religion, adjustment sliders), this would easily stand as the best game in the series.
I'm a decent Civ player. My main weakness is that I make decisions too quickly and don't think about long-term consequences. I tend to be too quick to trust the AI in this game, which is treacherous and deceitful to a fault. More on that later.
I will be roleplaying as Orcus I. We'll just conveniently ignore the whole "lives for thousands of years" thing. This is sort of an exercise for me too; I'm an aspiring writer, and my current story I'm working on is written in first person, which I don't do often. This will be practice for writing in first person.
I have two mods set up: Info Addict and Resource Info Panel. Info Addict adds more diplomatic information, the most important one being a web showing current civ relations. Resource Info Panel give a bit more information about resources.
This is my setup.
I am playing as Bismarck. Bismarck, when taking a barbarian encampment, has a 50% chance of getting 25 gold and getting the barbarian stationed in the camp to join his side. He also pays 25% less for land unit maintenance. That last part is the best. Because of the over-aggressive AI in this game, you're guaranteed to get in at least one war, so you should have units stationed near your borders, even if you're going for a tech or cultural victory. Armies cost money. Bismarck's ability helps that.
My map is set to continental. This will usually create two or three continents that civs will randomly be put on.
The map size is standard. That means 8 civs who share the world with me. Civs love to go to war, so by the end of the game there's usually only three or four civs left.
My difficulty is Warlord, which is the third difficulty setting. I usually play on Prince (the fourth difficulty setting), which is the normal difficulty, but this is an LP so I'll give myself more slack.
I have some extra settings enabled: Allow Promotion Saving and Allow Policy Saving. This allow you to skip adopting a policy or promoting a unit until you need it. I find it very useful.
From the line below and for the rest of the LP, Orcus' posts will be in standard font. My comments and explanations will be in italics. Each part will have a quote.
Without further ado... let's play Civilization V.
I am Orcus, Orcus I of the glorious German empire. Previously my people were nomadic wanderers, without a leader, without a guiding hand. We had lost our connection with the gods, and fell into sin. Infighting and betrayals were common, and strength ruled. The wise sage Gundisalvus was the most respected man in the village. Even the most sinful among us listened to his words. He declared me as Holy Kaiser of the German Empire. Even the treacherous men of my tribe, the most lustful women, bowed to me as ultimate ruler. He went to a better land soon after his announcement. Perhaps it is a sign.
I will soon be settling my own city. It will not be easy. There are reports of other empires who will fight for victory in the eyes of the gods, same as me. I must use everything up my sleeve to keep them at bay. But I will. I have grown up in a world where strength rules- I have dealt with deceitful men all my life. Any who appose me will be crushed, and I will personally tear out the heart of their aggressive emperor. That is the way my rule must be, or I will be crushed.
Problems are all around me. Enemy tribes will take every chance to attack my cities. My people are fickle and easily maddened. I must balance my economy with my technical and cultural output. But my people, despite their differences, are great. In times of need they will band together and build up our towns, crush our enemies, and make wonders of the world. I have trust in them, as the great Gundisalvus did, for we have found the gods once again.
I will outmaneuver my enemies with diplomacy.
I will build great cities and produce great cultural buildings.
I will make my enemies bleed with my mighty armies.
I will make my people happy and ensure their trust in me.
I will do what I have to do, and I will be what I was always meant to be.
I will build a civilization that will stand the test of time.
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