Quite the discussion. But no obvious solution. My proposal: a Challenge Game to see who can reach the Enlightenment Age first. If someone wants to propose a different victory condition, that's fine too. See which build pattern can achieve the earliest time! The game is posted at Carch's Site o' Fun. You'll need to load it into your saved game directory (default is My documents/My Games/Rise of Nations/ or something like that) Post your best time and upload the film somewhere. (We'll find it.)

UPDATE: The map is all visible, civ bonuses are disabled, and the game is non-violent, so it will be all about which method is the most efficient. You can pause as much as you like (not that it will help much).

May the best strategy win.
posted by Tim at 10:56 PM