C-IV BtS BOTM 243 (Zulu, Emperor level)

Game started: 22 Oct 2022, finished: 1 Dec 2022

This game has finished. Click here to see the results.

You can no longer submit a competition entry, but you can download any starting save below (click on an icon) to play for fun.

Contender: (The standard save)	Starting save for Windows Starting save for Mac
Adventurer: (The easier save)	Starting save for Windows Starting save for Mac
Challenger: (The extra-hard save)	Starting save for Windows Starting save for Mac
WorldBuilder: (Play or see the map)	WorldBuilder

• Civilization: Zululand - Unique Unit: Impi (replaces Spearman),
• Unique Building: Ikhanda (replaces Barracks)
• Leader: Shaka
• Difficulty: Emperor
• Map size: Small
• Map Script: Big and Small, Massive Continents, Islands Mixed In
• Starting Era: Ancient
• Speed: Normal
• Options: No barbarians, no goody huts, no random events
• Rivals: 4
• Victory conditions: All enabled
• World wrap Cylindrical
• Schedule: Submissions closed on December 1, 2022

You are Shaka Zulu. When you were six years old, you were a mischievious child with an imaginary friend called Hobbes. No, Hobbes was not a stuffed tiger come to life, he was political philosopher with a strange, foreign accent some might identify as "English". Your parents thought Hobbes was a strange playmate for a boy to have, but the conversations he had with you were a great comfort, helping to make sense of the dystopian state of nature in which you grew up. As he explained, "In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently no culture of the earth, no navigation nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Now that you have become leader of your people, these conversations have served you well, for you start the game with the knowledge of Fascism (in addition to your normal starting techs). You may, if you wish, immediately switch to the Police State civic. It may be urgent to do so, because the game starts with a war of all against all. (In other words, each civilization in the game is at war with each of the others.) You may make peace with your rivals, if you choose to do so, but with this particular set of rivals, you may find it difficult to keep the peace. Find a path forward, lest your game be nasty, brutish, and short.

As always, have fun playing the GOTM and we hope you join us in the postgame discussions!

Choose your Game

Besides the normal contender, we sometimes provide an easier save (the adventurer save) and an extra-hard save (the challenger).

Below are the details for the saves we are providing for this game. You can choose to play and submit any one of these:

Adventurer (the easy save)

The adventurer starting save has been changed to make your game a bit easier. However, if you submit an adventurer game, you won't eligible to win any of the medals or fastest finish awards when the results are published.

These are your adventurer bonuses:

Click on the image below to download the adventurer class start save file.

PC File             Mac File

Contender (the standard save)

This is the save that most people play. If you want to enter the competition with a normal game, then download and play this one.

Contender bonuses:

• None.

Click on the image below to download the contender class start save file.

PC File             Mac File

Challenger (the extra-hard save)

Play this save if you want an extra challenge. Your entry will be marked out as a contender entry when the results are published, so you'll get extra kudos.

These are your challenger equalizers:

Click on the image below to download the challenger class start save file.

PC File             Mac File

Other info