EPIC 36

This is one huge game, and I am more than a little bit dubious if I should even try it out. Of course I am weak, and I start the game anyway. Because I was just going to get a feel for it, my planning was perhaps a bit less than meticulous. Here are the parametars I had to plan after:

Map Generation: Random
Difficulty: Emperor Civilization: America
World Size: Huge
Opponents: Ten
Terrain: Continents, 60% water
Climate: Hot, Wet, Rugged
Barbarians: None
Rules: Standard. Cultural Link inactive.
Victory: All Conditions DISABLED. Histogram only

Also, the scoring was somewhat odd. For the rest of the details look here. Basically, you get less score if you play the aggressor, but basically score is based mainly upon size. You can gain a couple of percent extra score by having many size 36 cities. rest does not really matter as regards to positive scores. You will get penalized if you cannot keep the AIs alive though. This will be hard for me, becuase I hate having more than 7 opponent in a game.

Given the odd scoring, and unusual ( for an epic ) game setting, I decided on the following game plan.

There are some wonders that are very very much more valuable in a huge setting.
Assumptions. I will not spread beyond the initial continent. -- Fairly safe assumption.
Pyramids --- With upwards of a hundred cities, this megawonder will be worth at least 60,000 shields. However, only window for building it is right when it is the most critical to get out settlers. Start location looks ideal for cranking out a Pyramids though, with lots of shields on the bonusgrass.
Great Library --- This is something I want mostly because it will save me lots of time. With my almost passable skill at brokering, it is less and less essential for the free techs. I will probably skip this if I get Pyramids, as I doubt I can afford to build so few settlers.
Lighthouse --- This is almost a guaranteed first contact with the other continents. Fairly cheap wonder also. Will go for it if I get a good coastal city.
SunTzu -- This is also a must have, barracks is very valuable for the free healing. Important to have prebuild here though, as AIs will have cascades going.
Leo's -- With the huge number of troops likely to be possessed, this wonder will be huge. Although I do not plan to do much if any modern age fighting, I will need to keep my troops fresh. Also a priority.
Sistines -- Three extra happiness in almost all cities. Very important, but less important than Sun and Leo's I think. ( I assume I can use Future techs to trade luxes in the endgame. Otherwise it may be needed to get enough happiness in Megacities. -- Yup, I had never reached future techs in a game before I played this one, so I honestly didn't know you couldn't trade future techs.)
JS Bach -- Two extra happiness without the need to build cathedrals. This is a great wonder worthy of its name. Only bad thing is that the other three wonders of this period also is very very good.
Magellans -- Skip this. Extra naval movement is not something I need/want when I do not intend to fight on the other continents.
Newtons/Copernicus -- This is just cream. No real need for them. Better to build banks at the phase where they are available. Build only if you got leaders available.
Smiths --- Duh. If I only get one wonder in medieval times, better make sure this is the wonder.
The industrial/modern I hope to net them all after I get Theory of Evolution. Both Theory and Hoovers are priority targets of course.

Initial game plan. A bit of a farmers gambit, grabbing land while building wonders at the same time, prevent any early warfare. We are rewarded if we can kill our blood enemy fairly early, so will try to have a medieval campaign with knights/cavalry. Huge map means movement is really really important, so will try to avoid swordsmen. Also, make sure to hold my warring gambits in check. There are severe penalties to rampant conquests. Make sure to select enemy quickly. Since game is so long, make sure to minimize overlap between cities, as I expect half the game will be played with size 20+ cities. Get bonus points for huge cities also, and that could be hard to reach unless no overlap. Take time out after initial scouting for a dotmap as well. Need to get a clear picture of the lands. So. Time to start game.