I am currently playing on Noble, standard size Lakes map. I am winning 90% of my games (Space Race) on these maps, and would like to move to Continents. What are the major changes in strategy (techs that were not that important that cannot be missed with water maps...) I should expect?

depends on the map lol. You could start alone on a continent or be on a supercontinent with 6 other civs and play it like a pangea etc.

Personally I find continents to be somewhat easier than lakes because you only have to deal with a few civs to start with. This allows you to establish well defined relations with a few other civs and you can manipulate diplomacy throughout the rest of the game in a fairly predictable manner, compared to when everyone is thrown together and it is hard to do anything without making someone else pissed (-4 traded with worst enemies anyone?)

On resources: the way the map is seeded, one type of resource tends to cluster only on one continent. For example, one continent may hold all the ivory, gems, and rice; the other may have all the sheep, cows and horse. This encourages trade, but it makes it difficult to sustain an empire one a resource-poor island. Whereas in lakes you can just wander for a while and probably bump into the resource you are looking for.

I think one of the (historically realistic) challenges with continents is trying to wage war on a foreign continent. It takes a great economic and time investment to transport and securely escort troops, and by the time a sufficient army arrives you will almost certainly have lost any technological advantage you had when start building the army at home.

Good luck & have fun.

I am currently playing on Noble, standard size Lakes map. I am winning 90% of my games (Space Race) on these maps, and would like to move to Continents. What are the major changes in strategy (techs that were not that important that cannot be missed with water maps...) I should expect?

you have less trading partners but on noble i guess it's not that important because you can keep up in tech without trading. Otherwise it depends of the victory you're aiming at.
For space race, it won't change much. For domination, you'll have to start builiding a navy soon enough to send troops on the others continents, so navy techs are going to be necessary.
After that it depends on the map, being alone on an island require different choices etc.

I think one of the (historically realistic) challenges with continents is trying to wage war on a foreign continent. It takes a great economic and time investment to transport and securely escort troops, and by the time a sufficient army arrives you will almost certainly have lost any technological advantage you had when start building the army at home.


I agree, waging war on another continent is a great challenge, but it can be fun. Its just another way that the game makes you micromanage so to speak, your empire. The key is to have at least 3 port cities (IMO). That way while you are building your armies you can have those cities produce the naval units you need and not waste valuable time waiting for one city to produce transports, and escort vessels.

I think one of the (historically realistic) challenges with continents is trying to wage war on a foreign continent. It takes a great economic and time investment to transport and securely escort troops, and by the time a sufficient army arrives you will almost certainly have lost any technological advantage you had when start building the army at home.

Good luck & have fun.

Of course, the flip-side to that point is that it's also harder for the AI civs to invade your continent. Just keep control of the seas (at least your coastal areas), and you're secure. The Civ4 AI is a little smarter than the Civ3 AI about naval invasions; I've been pleasantly surprised by a few galleons of troops that tried to make an end-run around my defenses. Still, as long as you keep some warships on "Coast Guard" duty, you'll be fine.

I have always that Lakes are Barbarian central for some reason.

I recommend trying a Terra map. Along with the two large continents, are smaller continents usually. The idea of over-seas colonies is quite realistic and interesting.