so i started Prince game after seen that Noble has became quite easy for me.
I played Ramasses, and i have to say i had one of the best starting locations ever. Which made me build all the good wonders in the start. such as: stonehenge, Oracle, Pyramids, Great wall, Great Library and some others.

I was doing preaty well in the game, in all aspects; techs, money, production...until...well...untill Brennus decided he should vassalage the world.

I played on Terra map Standard size with 6 civs i think. Brenus, Victoria, Catharine, Tokugawa, the guy that looks like Mr. Eko from Lost (dont know his name) and Hamurabi. I think that was it.

Well, Brenus had england, cartago, ethiopia as his vassal, and Catharine vassaled Tokugawa.

What happened is that they all kept declaring war with me ( even thou almost everyone was pleased or friendly) till they finally beat me around modern era, when they got tanks and i didnt. I was actually holding them off but I started getting left behind in techs and then Brenus won a diplomatic vicotry. But i would lose in another 20 turns or so.

They kept coming tryin to kill me, i kept holding them back, peace and then 10 turns later, war...that happened like 10 times no matter what i did.

My question is: is that normal in Prince games? Or did the random civs made it worse?

Being left behind in tec was a major issue, the other cities didnt have good spots so i couldnt do much with them, except 1. I had a total of 9 cities. (1 didnt actually count since it was all on tundra to get oil). I used all my great people to join my capital ( except cientists) and it was the best city i ever had in a game. But i think the major issue was the lack of cottages cities i made. the problem is that i had lots of Plains and almost no grassland. So i really dont know how to work with plain>grassland cities.:sad:

Any tips on me? if any more details are needed i can upload a save game (if someone tells me how =P ) or answer any questions to help me advance in Prince difculty.

Sorry for any english error, aint my 1st language.

when you move up in levels its more important to not let bigger stronger civs get mad at you. so you will either have to be more carefull or make sure you are the dominant civ. remember that no matter how diplomatic you are sometime war is inevitable.

All those wonders really did you good huh? I can't blame you exactly. You were Ramses so I guess you had to build them.. That's why I don't like Industrious, it makes one feel obligated to wonder whore all game. If you were someone else, you would have played the map much differently, and maybe founded more cities.. Cottages should be present in almost all your cities' BFCs. How many cottages is up to you and the lay of the land. Did you ever declare war on anybody? Did you even pick a victory condition to aim for? You can't always just "wing it" when going up in difficulty levels.

I would suggest: less wonders, more diplo, more cottages, more cities, and try to kill somebody at least.

My first Prince level game ended up much the same except it was Caesar and those damn Praetorians vassalizing everyone.
I agree that it's usually good to find a neighbor and pick on them very early. For example, I finally won on Prince playing as Sitting Bull by picking on Monty (my nearest neighbor) as soon as I researched Bronze Working and pumped out my first couple of Dog Soldiers. Monty only had archers at the time so I was able to pillage all his resources and steal his workers (this can be huge in the early game so you don't have to suspend unit/building production AND city growth by making your own workers) and prevent him from spreading out his borders. Therefore, all of the spots where Monty would've built a city were now mine for the taking (and I did take them!).

To make diplomacy easier, try to share a religion with some of the more powerful civs in your game. I've gone down the wrong path of thinking that just because I found a religion I have the right to be the only civ in the game to have it as my state religion. This is a great way to make everyone in the world mad at you. It's still fine to found a religion but if it's a later religion and everyone else already has an established religion don't try to buck the trend and go it alone. If you happen to be lucky enough to grab one of the earlier religions spread it like wildfire to all other civs possible. Usually only a single missionary sent to another civs capitol is enough to get them to adopt your religion if they don't have one of their own.

If another civ sounds the war trumpets against you, don't rush out to hit them. gather the initiative by choosing a battleground of your choosing (like a forrested hill with a fort behind a river at a natural chokepoint, albeit easier said than done) inside your own cultural borders (so war weariness and troop maintenance don't kill you). Once his initial SoD has broken it's back trying to take your strong, defensive position strike back hard and don't forget to pillage all his resources.

Oh yeah...my reason for picking on Monty was twofold:
1. He was nearest to me and therefore would've had the most competition for prime city locations.
2. If you're next to a warmonger like Montezuma, Shaka, Catherine, Ghengis, ANY Roman, or Boudica, I've found it's best to hit them before they anhilate you. Especially if you get Bronze Working (or an early UU) and can hold them to a few cities (or just their capitol).

i think i might have made a mistake by adopting free religion too early, which took away the religion bonus i had with Brenus and catharine. But still it was a hell with the world vs me.

About cotagges, i would build more, but i had only plains plains and plains. almost no grassland, which was a major issue imo. Wondering if someone could help me how to work on that.
anyway, im going to try again today =P

Build units to bring yourself up on the power graph. If you're high, the AI will hesitate to attack you. If you're not high on the power graph, it will attack you, because it perceives you as weak.

i was equally powerful as Brenus when he attacked me, but after a couple of turns he just sky rocket in power....

On the power graph, or are you just saying that vaguely?

on the power graph
probably due his discover of tank

About cotagges, i would build more, but i had only plains plains and plains. almost no grassland,

Is this because the whole corner where you started only has plains or because you were too late in picking the better locations for your cities due to the early Wonder buildings. ?

Sometimes I quit after finding out that I started in a corner, surrounded by a vast span of desert squares. Maybe it's still possible to play but it's definitely no fun. My level is at around Monarch/Emperor but I usually play at Prince level just to relax (in my last game, I had tanks at around the same time the rest of the AIs found gunpowder).

To avoid early wars, you should give the AIs the cheap techs or gold when they ask for them. they don't declare war on you if you refuse to give them the latest expensive tech but they will surely go to war if you don't give them the gold or the cheap old techs.

It's still hard to see why you could be so much behind. With a good capital city alone, you should be able to do decently against the AIs at Prince level tech-wise. What did you do with all the GPs ? Did you try to build a library early and use the scientist specialists to get the Academy and GPs ?

If you have problems in catching up with tech, you should probably pick a Financial or Philosophical leader.

BTW, in my current game (as Pericles at Monarch), I also managed to build all the wonders you mentioned [since I happened to have Stones right next to the capital, good food sources (fish, clam, and deer) and a few plain hills] but still have a decent foothold on the land grab. Usually I don't go for so many wonders though. I'm about to get macemen while the AIs still defend their cities with archers so I will take some cities for expansion. With a good capital city, an early Representative (thanks to the pyramid) and Bureaucracy will leave the AI far behind in tech.

yes, i was in a corner and probably my location didnt help me much.

the fact about expanding wasnt a issue with my wonder rush because my 2nd city had a nice food source and made settlers real fast.
My major issue is "what to do with plains" i really never know and lose the focus of what the city should be.
I used library and +2 scientist got acadamy and lots of GP joined the city. And i was Friendly with Brennus till he decided he should wipe me out of the game. hehe.

I started another game today and im doing much better since i conquered alexander during medieval era. Im the 1st civ to grab tanks, me and Joao are in a rush fight to see who gets which tec 1st. This time nobody declared war on me, unliky the other game. Just Hanibal but he didnt do much. Nobody invaded nobody, so no one has vassal, making this game much easier. Guess im getting better now or i just got lucky =)
expanding more and using a hell more cottage then i did. Better terrain also, about 3 cities with all grassland to fill with cottages. And i did almost all wonders like before, except for Pyramids.

but im really not enjoying Prince much, its only 1700 and we already have tanks and apollo program. Making the game too much of a rush. And missing a lot of ages. Think ill go back to Noble and try to stay as a small civ (8 cities) and play it slowly with the AI.

but im really not enjoying Prince much, its only 1700 and we already have tanks and apollo program. Making the game too much of a rush. And missing a lot of ages. Think ill go back to Noble and try to stay as a small civ (8 cities) and play it slowly with the AI.

I play Prince (though moving up soon) and I usually get to the Tanks/Apollo Program in the late 1800's, and that's ahead of the AIs. Though I suppose since I war a lot (like to wipe out/vassalize an AI each era) so that probably slows the world down a bit... it's been fun though.

I play Prince (though moving up soon) and I usually get to the Tanks/Apollo Program in the late 1800's, and that's ahead of the AIs. Though I suppose since I war a lot (like to wipe out/vassalize an AI each era) so that probably slows the world down a bit... it's been fun though.

i just won the space race
there was no big war in this game, i guess thats why it went so fast.
Ill give it a try in a huge map with more civs. But i guess help worked real good for me. thanks all!

Congratulations on your victory.

gratz!

and AI doesnt go that much faster on higher diff, its all depending on how the game went.

allthough i have noticed that if you advance fast, the AI tends to trade more techs and catch up sooner. dunno if thats actually the case in the long run.

If you want more time in each era, play Epic or Marathon [= extremely slow] game speeds.

Were you playing Tectonics map? That can give a lot of plains at times. On most maps, Tropical climate will give more grassland, once you painfully clear the jungle.