Getting destroyed on Prince

[pingu53]

This didn't seem a problem in Vanilla but with G&K's the problem is im getting left totally in the dust on techs, ive never been a good Civ 5 player but it wasn't this bad before.

how do i keep up tech with the AI while still keeping everyone happy, having decent gold and defending/attacking? it seems quite impossible atm.

 

[chazzycat]

On Prince you shouldn't have to do anything too crazy to beat the AIs in tech. Prioritize the national college, and focus on growth/happiness to get your population up. Aim for the techs that give you science buildings and build them right away. Fill all your scientist specialist slots. Take rationalism policies.

 

[DutchJob]

Yes, prioritize the National College, on Prince you can get there quick with the Great Library and choose Philosophy.

After Writing and Calendar (to open up philosophy) you go straight for construction so that you can build/buy/upgrade archers into CB.

Then I would beeline as much as possible to Education and get you uni's up and going A.S.A.P., buy them, build them whatever and fill in the scientist slots!

Now it is time for war.

 

[joncnunn]

Also, in addition to the existing vanilla & DLC civs with science advantages, playing as the Mayas is an option. Just build your UB everywhere and that extra science is probably the only thing you need to do to keep up with the AI.
(Of course the National College early is always a good idea; and on Prince you can easily build the Great Library [as Maya I would be using it towards early Theology to start those great people])

 

[Heretiv]

The main thing I found when working up through the levels was that you needed to divert your habits into making an army of some sort earlier than you did before.
The AI gets help making more units, so you need to make some units too to defend. Nice stuff like libraries and lots of workers has to wait a llittle until you have the ability to defend your assets.

 

[wannabewarlord]

The main thing I found when working up through the levels was that you needed to divert your habits into making an army of some sort earlier than you did before.
The AI gets help making more units, so you need to make some units too to defend. Nice stuff like libraries and lots of workers has to wait a llittle until you have the ability to defend your assets.

I disagree with this. Sure, having an army to defend is a smart thing. No contest on that. But as for it being up early... I play Immortal and still have libraries up before I even have my CBs ready or built a second warrior. I tend to be rather late (sometimes too late), but I would assume on Prince, the AI is even less inclined to rush you.

It depends of course on your playstyle. Expanding wide and fast gets you into wars faster. I am a tall player, so I like my first 2 cities to have their base infrastructure before I even bother with military.

 

[The Pilgrim]

The main thing I found when working up through the levels was that you needed to divert your habits into making an army of some sort earlier than you did before.
The AI gets help making more units, so you need to make some units too to defend. Nice stuff like libraries and lots of workers has to wait a llittle until you have the ability to defend your assets.

It's not about prioritizing military over infrastructure, but about balancing between the two. Each level requires better balancing. On higher levels your are gonna be in trouble unless you have both while on lower levels you're in much safer place if you neglect one or another.

 

[Matthew.]

It is more about abusing/exploiting resources and trading to fund your early army. You shouldn't need to train many military units, if any at all. Selling a few luxuries at 240 each, plus the additional gold from scouting city-states, embassies, ruins. Extra bonus if your scout upgrades into an archer. It is fairly easy to get a standing army of 5-6 bows, later upgraded into composites, all without actually training them.

Then again, there is often a bit of time to train them if needed, too. Market/Colosseum can usually be delayed unless you are playing very wide.

 

[Donaskme]

how do i keep up tech with the AI while still keeping everyone happy, having decent gold and defending/attacking? it seems quite impossible atm.

Focus only on things that produce those goals in the first 100 turns. Three or four cities, as many luxury nodes as you can contain with them, no buildings except granaries, monuments, shrines, and libraries. No wonders except the National College. Build one worker, one settler, and four to six military units. Buy remaining settlers, steal remaining workers.

 

[Bandobras Took]

no buildings except granaries, monuments, shrines, and libraries.

I'd argue that even Shrines are optional.

 

[Donaskme]

I'd argue that even Shrines are optional.

They absolutely are, but considering how powerful religion can be I always build them. Not many hammers, and they don't interfere with a solid start at least at King. I really like Religious Settlements as an early Pantheon, to get on those luxury nodes faster.

 

[earthwulf]

I'm glad I found this thread. I was a little more than a King-level player before, then I DL'd this 4 days ago and my ass keeps getting handed to me, especially if I go up against Gandhi (damn, G-man, who woulda thunk).

I like to play as a random leader, so no help there - but I like the ideas of going for the library-> national college route.

My other problem is that every other Civ has at least 4 happiness nodes, usually with at least one surplus; I'm lucky if I wind up with three. My last game I wound up in a swamp with the nearest node being 20 turns away...

Also: no idea who the frak to trust. Willem seems to be the new backstabbing Isabella.

 

[ense7en]

I'm glad I found this thread. I was a little more than a King-level player before, then I DL'd this 4 days ago and my ass keeps getting handed to me, especially if I go up against Gandhi (damn, G-man, who woulda thunk).

I like to play as a random leader, so no help there - but I like the ideas of going for the library-> national college route.

My other problem is that every other Civ has at least 4 happiness nodes, usually with at least one surplus; I'm lucky if I wind up with three. My last game I wound up in a swamp with the nearest node being 20 turns away...

Also: no idea who the frak to trust. Willem seems to be the new backstabbing Isabella.

When you settle cities, keep happiness in mind.

If you don't have a lot of unique luxuries around, i wouldn't settle a huge number of cities unless you can trade for luxs or ally with city states to keep happiness up, etc.

Religion can add happiness as well to help, as well as building happiness buildings, etc.

As for backstabbing, AI can never be trusted.

If you have a neighbor, they are never really your friend other than in rare cases.
That doesn't mean they will always attack you, but you should always be prepared.

 

[Dentalfury]

When you settle cities, keep happiness in mind.

If you don't have a lot of unique luxuries around, i wouldn't settle a huge number of cities unless you can trade for luxs or ally with city states to keep happiness up, etc.

Religion can add happiness as well to help, as well as building happiness buildings, etc.

As for backstabbing, AI can never be trusted.

If you have a neighbor, they are never really your friend other than in rare cases.
That doesn't mean they will always attack you, but you should always be prepared.

I agree with N7.

The key with happiness factors, and basically everything else in this game, is balancing. Only expand as quickly as your luxury/religion/UA's/Buildings will permit. Don't be afraid to raze those useless AI cities that you will most likely take over on your way to those worthwhile capitals and core cities.

As for 'trust' issues. As a rule you shouldn't trust anyone. Even friends and allies are just temporary. All AI's regardless of their stated disposition can do anything they want. There are just as many backroom deals in Civ5 as there is in real life. Just don't forget a key point though; the A.I. is playing to win.

 

[Traejun]

As for 'trust' issues. As a rule you shouldn't trust anyone. Even friends and allies are just temporary. All AI's regardless of their stated disposition can do anything they want. There are just as many backroom deals in Civ5 as there is in real life. Just don't forget a key point though; the A.I. is playing to win.

This.

I've always operated under the theory that AI civs are your friends when they're far away. Just as soon as your long time "friend" has a border with one of your cities, they are no longer your friend.

 

[mrscotty]

Prince difficulty, I generally attempt to rock a technological superiority as fast as possible. The way to do this is go straight for GL, it shouldn't be all that hard to get. If you want to play faithful, go for stonehenge, if you want to be naval, go lighthouse. That's my general policy.

I like to start with tradition to open straight off, then if you go with the wonder policy you can bang the ones you want out quickly.

The biggest economic downfall is trade routes. A surprising number of people think they're automatic economic benefit, when in reality there's a formula. You want to wait until the city you're connecting (capital only gives you a benefit when it gets to ~8 pop) is around 4 or more population. Since every road costs 1 per turn per section, you gotta do the math on which ones actually get you bonuses. The other economic thing you can do is shill off your early wonders for beautiful, beautiful cash. 1 luxury=optimally 240gp with a computer player. You can make up for that with gold per turn if the AIs are short on cash, just think of each gold per turn as 30gp. If the computer really does like you (this is a great way of checking how they really feel about you) they'll accept 240 gp.

Defending/Attacking: Hitting things up close is so last civ. Those ranged units are your best friends in the ancient/classic/medieval era, right up to cbows they're THE way to take on enemy civs on attack or defense. (after that, hop in a plane and grab some artillery or battleships) They hold out and whittle down enemies without taking any caualties, and 3-4 ranged units and a melee unit in the wings will bring down a city with minimal problems.

Happies: Happiness, besides the obvious exploring/luxes/buildings, religion is your friend. If you're focused on it and get the first one, THE BEST combo is Tithe and Pagodas. Tithe gets you money for nothing and pagodas get your kicks for free (ha! That worked better than I thought). pagodas are probably the best faith sink, tons of bonus happiness with no need for production or coin, and if you snagged an early religion there's really no need to fight to spread it, it'll just spread gradually on its own.