I was just wondering in a general sense on Emperor and up, what are some of the warning signs that you'd interpret as a cue for abandoning and starting anew?

Incidentally, please give some examples of unlikely comebacks from when you were lagging way behind the other civs.

I was just wondering in a general sense on Emperor and up, what are some of the warning signs that you'd interpret as a cue for abandoning and starting anew?

Incidentally, please give some examples of unlikely comebacks from when you were lagging way behind the other civs.

I generally know if a game is winnable or not around Liberalism. Usually if you get bum-rushed by one of the AI it's hard to stay on track, and it is also very hard to win if isolated w/ a warmonger and a bunch of tech-happy AIs on the other continent.

You never know when you will pull out a UN win if you consider that a win.

On deity, if a nearby civ enters WHEOOHRN mode and you're the likely target - early end game.

On emperor/immortal, I typically won't give up until I know there's a culture victory or domination/space victory I know I can't stop. Infantry/artillery with strong production can compete a long, long way into the tech tree.

Emperor/Immortal I do not give up until the game tells me I lost. Deity I personally lose if I get a BC DoW from a high unitprob AI or buddy up with a power house AI that I find out later I have no possible way of taking down. Really vague question however as a better player will pull out a win when a weaker one would not. There are many players on this forum that make me realize that I still suck so very badly*


*(A more glass half full look would be, I have room for improvement!)

When you look at the cultural victory and find that Gandhi has 10 turns left until his third cultural city turns Legendary.

Of course if you've got 30 modern armor and 10 bombers ready to attack that city, don't worry.

On deity, if a nearby civ enters WHEOOHRN mode and you're the likely target - early end game.

Deity I personally lose if I get a BC DoW


Sorry, what do these terms mean?

'We have enough on our hands right now' and declaration of war in the BC years. (BC is clear, right? ;) )

WHEOOHRN means they've decided to attack sb. You can see it in the tech screen or in BUG mod with the fist icon by their name.

On deity, if a nearby civ enters WHEOOHRN mode and you're the likely target - early end game.

On emperor/immortal, I typically won't give up until I know there's a culture victory or domination/space victory I know I can't stop. Infantry/artillery with strong production can compete a long, long way into the tech tree.

I had 3 AI's (Alexander, Monteuma, and Ragnar) dogpile me in Duckweed's deity challenge (750 BC ish). :goodjob: That was fun.

The key to getting out of a dogpile can be said to rely on the protecttive trait and use whatever tech advantage you have to bribe others to war.

Usually when I'm in pacifism mode with an army of 7 warriors and I get a random DOW on me from a non-neighboring civ with a different worst enemy. It's rare but but it does make me cry.

When my nice, shiny, just newly available little Caravel meets the nice civs on the next continent over...

and quietly sails on... past a fleet of Aircraft Carriers. :(

Alex declare me @ 1850 BC Deity with a stack of 10 Swords/Axes/Chariot/Spear. how gay :(

On a monarch game, I was getting up to assembly line to whack my neighbours, then the guy on the other side of the map completed the apollo program in the late 1790's

Of course if you've got 30 modern armor and 10 bombers ready to attack that city, don't worry.

Unless they can't swim....

On Immortal, when I click 'start game'

When my nice, shiny, just newly available little Caravel meets the nice civs on the next continent over...

and quietly sails on... past a fleet of Aircraft Carriers. :(
And?... You can still win via AP :D

Here is a game I almost gave up numerous times. My first attempt at Emperor. I find out early I am not ready for this difficulty by trying to chariot rush Pacal. Very early in the war I get a reminder he has a chariot slaughtering UU. I get lucky however and manage to take his double holy city capital.

Here is the situation at 70AD
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0017.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0018.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0019.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0020.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0021.jpg
Only 4 cities and I dont even have Alphebet. The eventual double shrines kept me alive though.

At 1914AD
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0022.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0023.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0024.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0025.jpg
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/snake1308/Civ4ScreenShot0026.jpg
If I had a city close enough to the equator to build the space elevator I would have won. As it turned out Hammurabi built the elevator and beat me by a few turns. I thought it was a pretty good comeback after a pretty dismal situation.

I nearly won a game despite being massively behind once. the leader had about double my score, and about 75% of the wonders. He had Apollo and about 75% of spaceship parts before Id even got rocketry.
Bee-lined the internet while spreading sushi and mining inc, so i could rush out a spaceship built out of corrigated iron, cardboard and elastic bands. It had like one casing, 1 engine and about 2 thrusters. :lol:
the leader (i think it was HC) declared on me a few turns before i launched and started absolutely mauling me. It was a race to see whether I could hold out and see if my spaceship would limp to alpha centauri.
In the end he decimated an australia sized colony id built, but didnt get anywhere near my home continent. sadly my feeble rocket crashed into a planet on the other side of the galaxy. :(
I reckon I could have won it if id spent a few more turns building casing, as he didn't conquer me or launch as quickly as i thought he would.

And?... You can still win via AP :D
Did I mention that the Carriers were on the way to Chez Lemon? :p

The UN would've been built already, you may win via AP as long as you were the one to build it. You'd better hope someone doesn't gift you mass media. :lol:

Alex declare me @ 1850 BC Deity with a stack of 10 Swords/Axes/Chariot/Spear. how straight :(
Corrected. :)

Sorry, but I don't think that any self-respecting gay man would wear laurel leaves in his hair, unless it was for Hallowe'en. It's a pretty safe bet that Alex isn't gay.

Corrected. :)

Sorry, but I don't think that any self-respecting gay man would wear laurel leaves in his hair, unless it was for Hallowe'en. It's a pretty safe bet that Alex isn't gay.

Alexander was bi-sexual.

Alexander was bi-sexual.
Thank you for the clarification, but I think you missed the intended sarcasm there...

Thank you for the clarification, but I think you missed the intended sarcasm there...

Your sarcasm was used to make it seem like Alexander was gay, which he was not. He was bi-sexual. You can use sarcasm all you want, it doesn't change the fact that Alexander wasn't gay.

Your sarcasm was used to make it seem like Alexander was gay, which he was not. He was bi-sexual. You can use sarcasm all you want, it doesn't change the fact that Alexander wasn't gay.
I was not alluding to Alexander being gay in any way. I wasn't even commenting on his sexuality. I did not know he was bi-sexual, nor do I care. I was using the sarcasm to mildly convey my irritation over the use of the phrase "How gay", as a pejorative, which casts gays in a negative light. As a lesbian, I think I have a right to object, and I tried to do it without making a big deal of it. Make sense now?

It changes every game and depends on judgment.

The evaluation on whether defeat is guaranteed is a judgment call. Technically speaking, the point at which defeat is guaranteed is the point at which the player decides it so. Regardless of reality, if you perceive a loss and stop trying, that BECOMES the reality.

So where is it? If the AI will win culture before you can so much as attack it, and you can't find any other way to delay it further, defeat is close enough to certain that you can consider it functionally guaranteed. Same with a launched ship, or a situation where you've lost enough cities that recovery can't happen. All of those things are a threshold though, and even that threshold varies by player ----> good players can get closer to absolute defeat and still win, thanks to flat-out skill and the experience to recognize it isn't over.

Nobody bats 1.000, but some of the deity players are damn close. Even I'm pretty close.

I was not alluding to Alexander being gay in any way. I wasn't even commenting on his sexuality. I did not know he was bi-sexual, nor do I care. I was using the sarcasm to mildly convey my irritation over the use of the phrase "How gay", as a pejorative, which casts gays in a negative light. As a lesbian, I think I have a right to object, and I tried to do it without making a big deal of it. Make sense now?

I assume you've seen this?

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/17/

Not to besmirch the reputation of the original poster; I have myself used assorted highly offensive insults in my career as an internet user with very little regard to how they would be received :-)

got declared 3100BC. when I have 2 warriors.

Only one thing will make me consider a game lost: A DOW from a significantly powerful AI in the BC's.