Ok, I thought I'd ask this question in the strategy forum. So I'm asking for these settings specifically:

Diff: Emperor or harder
Map size: Huge
Leader: I usually play english or Chinese (Qin or Elizabeth)
Map type: Tiny Islands or Archipelago
speed: Epic (I noticed marathon makes cultral victory easier for some reason)

Now the problem is if I don't start with stone or marble, I have to redraw because that puts getting any wonders out of the questions.

On emperor or harder, finding lots of religions isn't an option since the AI will beat you to them.

Also the barbians are the default setting which means that unless your on a very small island, they appear everywhere and bug the crap out of you.

So I haven't been able to win on these conditions yet. Can anyone win under the settings I specified? Or give me tips.

I know the usually hoard religion, etc tips but really, you just can't get enough culture in time under Epic speed.

I've won culture fairly easily on monarch on these settings but emperor is so much harder.