Epic vs. Normal game

[MattJek]

Am I wrong or are there two game settings epic and normal?? whats the difference between them?

 

[oddroot]

epic lasts quite a bit longer than normal, all things take longer to do basically, techs take longer to discover, wonders and other town buildables take more turns... So if a normal game seems too quickly paced, try out the epic.

 

[Mikeytikey]

On epic do you get more turns before the game stops recording your score? (mandatory retirement date?).

 

[snepp]

From another post:

There are 650 tunrs in an Epic game.

There are 430 turns in a Normal game.

And there are 295 turns in a Quick game.

Production of everything takes 150% of normal speed in the Epic game wihile it takes 67% in the quick game.

 

[Pigalle]

To get something to compare with; how many turns are there in a CivIII game?

 

[xxaaaxx]

To get something to compare with; how many turns are there in a CivIII game?

IIRC, 550.

 

[ritterpa]

I like epic. It balances out unit movement to be more realistic.

On normal, unit movement isn't any faster than epic, so it can take 200 years for my horseman to go 500 miles. A battle to take a city can last decades.

I mean, it's still "unrealistic" on epic, but that is somewhat negated. I can get around the world a little faster, explore more, and conduct more war in a shorter period of time, and that's a bit more realistic.

 

[Dida]

Tech still goes too fast on epic, because it also take longer to build stuff. It is the ratio between production and tech discovery that is the problem.

 

[Maximo]

I've read some threads on this, but I still don't really understand. If there are more turns in Epic, but it takes more turns to do everything, doesn't it even out and just make the game longer? For instance, if there are 3 times as many turns in a Epic game, but it takes 3 times longer to do everything, dont you just end up at the same point with the same techs and same units at the end of the game (it just took you 9 hours to get there instead of 3)?

Or is it more like 4 times as many turns, but it only takes 2 times longer to do everything (meaning you can do twice as much stuff in a Epic game compared to a Normal game)?

Can somebody please explain this to me.......

Sorry for the n00b question!

 

[elderotter]

I find "normal" games to be far too quick - its like the game is on speed. I only use epic...and I love it.

 

[Spatzimaus]

If there are more turns in Epic, but it takes more turns to do everything, doesn't it even out and just make the game longer?

Up to a point, yes. If the game lasts 50% longer, and costs are 50% higher, you could build and research the exact same number of things per game. But, there are other things going on in a game, that don't extend like that. For instance, units. Most units can only attack once per turn, or move X spaces per turn, regardless of which game speed you use. So, in an Epic game, your units can do far more before they become obsolete. I'm not sure if city growth rates are altered on different speeds, but that'd be another one to consider.

 

[Lord Chambers]

For instance, if there are 3 times as many turns in a Epic game, but it takes 3 times longer to do everything, dont you just end up at the same point with the same techs and same units at the end of the game (it just took you 9 hours to get there instead of 3)?

That's right. Meaning these extra 6 hours are filled with moving units around or pressing the end turn button. Because, in a quick game, a normal game, or an epic game, you will always start in the ancient era, and by the end of the game be around the spacefaring era. Whether it took 550 turns or 295 to get there.

On a normal game with a standard map I only have about enough time to build up an army and conquer a neighbor before my units are obsolete. Meaning each new conquest is a whole new set of units since I don't dig upgrading. And for me, that's too fast, so I prefer epic.

 

[FenrysWulf]

Tech still goes too fast on epic, because it also take longer to build stuff. It is the ratio between production and tech discovery that is the problem.

Amen to this. I want to be able to build at the same rate and have the technology go slower. I've found in the few games I've played so far on normal that I don't really get around to conquest until everyone has tanks because there are so many buildings to produce. I want to use my knights and my other older units for awhile before they are obsolete, but if it takes 50 turns to build one then I'll still never get a sizeable force put together before they're obsolete.

 

[sturmtrupp]

Amen to this. I want to be able to build at the same rate and have the technology go slower. I've found in the few games I've played so far on normal that I don't really get around to conquest until everyone has tanks because there are so many buildings to produce. I want to use my knights and my other older units for awhile before they are obsolete, but if it takes 50 turns to build one then I'll still never get a sizeable force put together before they're obsolete.

I sort of got the impression from the afterword that they wanted cities to each have there strengths. In other words, some cities would be better off for culture, or growth and other for production. I have sort of adopted this strategy and find a city that can very early on spit out soldiers very fast. I played a game where I was producing praetorians every two turns! Try to do that with swordmen in Civ3...

 

[DrD]

And what about city growth? Theoretically they grow at the same rate, since acertain amount of excess food is needed, and this amount does not change in epic (right?)

This means that your cities can grow more, produce more hammers and commerce, and offset some of the higher costs for techs and units. But of course as they get bigger it's harder to keep them happy and healthy. What do you think?

 

[ritterpa]

And what about city growth? Theoretically they grow at the same rate, since acertain amount of excess food is needed, and this amount does not change in epic (right?)

This means that your cities can grow more, produce more hammers and commerce, and offset some of the higher costs for techs and units. But of course as they get bigger it's harder to keep them happy and healthy. What do you think?

They take more turns to gain population.

 

[Tarkeel]

Because, in a quick game, a normal game, or an epic game, you will always start in the ancient era,

You can select which era to start in on custom game.