I always win with a scientific victory??

[aprince]

Hello, long time civ fan, first time poster here.

I havent had a lot of time with CIV 5 due to life's commitments (Wife/Newborn/LIFE/Etc)- i dont even have the expansions for 5.

However, when i do play, which has been quite a lot lately, i only get scientific victories. Unless, i set out on domination from the start, which i grew tired of when the game first came out years ago - when i did get a months on end with it.

I mean i played IV for years and could get all the victories if i worked towards it, but it seems like now my strategy always leads me to a science victory. I never seem to have enough time to win by cultural, diplomatic or even time. It seems when it gets to the late game i have to just go science or another civ will win.

Is it me or is science/domination the easiest way to win?

 

[Sherlock]

I can't get to a science win because I always win diplomatic first.

 

[Tabarnak]

I can't get to a science win because I always win diplomatic first.

Don't vote for you.

Is it me or is science/domination the easiest way to win?

Domination is surely the fastest. The easiest? Depends of diff. level and knowledge of AI mechanics.

 

[aprince]

I can't get to a science win because I always win diplomatic first.

I guess its the way i play.. i always just focus on science to play catch up.. i cant seem to find a balance to go for the other ways except for domination.. ive never seen a time victory in civ 5 because if i just wait someone else will win.. i guess i could go dom and then wait it out but... eh....i only play on king, on huge maps with 12 players.

maybe i should look at the strategy forum.

well if you want a sci vic.. all i do is play a 2-4 city strategy and become a semi warmonger taking all the puppets i can once im in position to and without leaving myself exposed of course. i just focus on science.. i generally have a city used to produce units which is normally my second city..if not its the 3rd or possibly 4th if i build that many. i do sneak powerful units in with my capitol here and there, but im generally just building buildings/wonders with it... i do build more units with my capitol towards the end game though.

i start with liberty to get my first settler, i dont build him. i generally dont build workers for awhile or at all. i normally just take them early on from barbarians that are camped near another civ/city state and then from whatever civ i attack. plus, you get one in the liberty tree. oh yeah and research agreements and rationalism are a must

im sure there are easier ways and better tactics for a science victory..

i kind of wish i had the civ 5 expansions but with beyond earth coming out soon enough.. i wont have the time to play both... like i said im just finallly getting some time with 5

 

[Ryika]

Imho all victory conditions are relatively easy to win, but science and Diplomatic are probably the ones that a player can win very easy by just playing the game. Domination and Culture need you to commit much earlier.

Well, on a second thought Culture is probably a bit harder to win because it requires the player to find a balance between cultural and scientific advances.

 

[aprince]

Imho all victory conditions are relatively easy to win, but science and Diplomatic are probably the ones that a player can win very easy by just playing the game. Domination and Culture need you to commit much earlier.

Well, on a second thought Culture is probably a bit harder to win because it requires the player to find a balance between cultural and scientific advances.

i usually do well towards culture but i stall out when i build a 3rd/4th city or annex one or two instead, sometimes more depending on how war goes..especially when rome/france/aztecs/mongolians are on the board.. it would probably be easier without 12 players on the field.. but eh i like huge maps.. even though the end game lag blows..

 

[bhavv]

I find culture the easiest, but it would get harder on higher diffs.

 

[PringleBringle]

I would say culture victory is significantly harder than the alternatives on BNW. If you plan on winning this way efficiently, there is a lot you must manage and keep track of regardless of your situation. Throughout the entire game you must focus on matters such as tourism and great works. I have never even won culture, and I routinely play on King. At least the World Congress is easier to manage through culture, since the AI always prefers resolutions such as Arts funding.

 

[Uzael36]

Cultural victories may seem more overwhelming, in that you have more moving parts, but I'm finding that I win Science, cultural and diplomatic victories all in similar times on Immortal.

 

[Chum]

I would say culture victory is significantly harder than the alternatives on BNW. If you plan on winning this way efficiently, there is a lot you must manage and keep track of regardless of your situation. Throughout the entire game you must focus on matters such as tourism and great works. I have never even won culture, and I routinely play on King. At least the World Congress is easier to manage through culture, since the AI always prefers resolutions such as Arts funding.

It's really no different than managing a science victory. With a culture victory, you follow essentially the same tech path, you just prioritize different things. Like your 2 "extra" policies after you finish your first tree, but before you open Rationalism are best spent unlocking Aesthetics and Exploration, so that you can build Uffizi and Louvre quickly. And you make sure to pick up Archaeology along the way to fill your museums and the Louvre.

I win much slower when I ignore Rationalism, which is unfortunate, because I'd really like Aesthetics to be the "Culture" tree, but science is still such a key part of any victory condition that it's just not as effective. Which unfortunately means you're going to need a metric ton of SP's to finish the game. Fortunately, however, a CV played properly will yield a metric ton of culture, and I routinely end games in ~1850 with 3 policy trees filled out, and 6-8 tenets in Order.

I find it more interesting than Science, and I only go science or diplo now when I'm so badly hosed by my starting location that it's impossible to found the WC (and consequently, meet everyone and start generating tourism on them) before Industrial, and I have no choice but to slog thru a culture runaway.

 

[andreafin]

what happens if you disable those conditions you find easy to win with?

 

[kb27787]

what happens if you disable those conditions you find easy to win with?

Not really. A big part, esp. of culture victories is to get the job done before the AIs launch their ship/Alex or Rammy wins World leader vote. Remove that and it makes it too easy (since you have all the time in the world to become influential as long as you are not conquered)

 

[andreafin]

sounds like you need more higher difficulty levels or something

 

[TractorBoy]

I take it from what you have said that you are playing the Vanilla version. Most of what you are doing points to an eventual science victory. If you want to gain a cultural victory here are a few suggestions of changes you should make.

1 - Get temples as quickly as possible and assign to Great Artist production, when the GA appears plant him and others to follow within the borders of your Capital.

2 - Take the Piety Policy tree ASAP followed by the Freedom Policy tree ASAP.

3 - Build opera houses in all your Cities as quickly as you can, then build the Hermitage in your capital. Assign all opera houses to Great Artist production.

4 - You only require 2 - 4 Cities of your own. If you capture any Cities then do not annex them because they will increase the cost of your next policy quite significantly. The captured Cities when puppeted will add to your science and gold production and they may even add a little culture per turn. The down side is the unhappiness they produce.

The most important Wonders are Oracle, Hagia Sofia, Sisteen Chapel, The Louvre and maybe the Sydney Opera House if you have a City on the coast

By the end of the game you will probably have as many as ten Great Artists planted around your Capital, this will have a detrimental effect on City growth so it is a good idea to become allied with three or four maritime City States as soon as you can.

If you are not playing the original (vanilla) version of the game, then just ignore everything I have said.

 

[aprince]

i finally managed to win a cultural victory. It definitely required me to change the way i like to play. Overall, I just played more defensive, than offensive and slowed on the science front after an early sci start. I had one mid-late medieval conquest to expand my territory by knocking out an over expanded civ and taking 10 puppets to go with my 2 active cities. Other than that, I just defended - no counter attacks, further expansion, pillaging etc. i noticed i fell way behind in science to a couple of civs..

im not sure how well i did on time, i completed utpoia in 1920 (king, huge map 12 civs). i may have been able to break the 1800s but i had to make a detour during the 1800s to boost my tech to protect myself from a couple of aggressive civs i battled the whole game.

now that i know this path.. it seems fairly easy, but at the same time its boring compared to the way i like to play.. maybe i could find a way to be more aggressive early before i fall too far behind on sci/tech. im sure someone has an easier way to win cultural.

anyway... cheers

 

[EgonSpengler]

I actually disable the Science Victory in my games now, I was getting it so often.

 

[reddishrecue]

Scientific victories are there when you need to research a different type of victory. The scientific victory teaches how to get a different victory since science victories take so long

 

[TractorBoy]

im not sure how well i did on time, i completed utpoia in 1920 (king, huge map 12 civs). i may have been able to break the 1800s but i had to make a detour during the 1800s to boost my tech to protect myself from a couple of aggressive civs i battled the whole game.

now that i know this path.. it seems fairly easy, but at the same time its boring compared to the way i like to play.. maybe i could find a way to be more aggressive early before i fall too far behind on sci/tech. im sure someone has an easier way to win cultural.

anyway... cheers

If you are playing the Vanilla version, then any finish around the 1800 - 1900s ADs is excellent.

G&K around 1600s for a good finish.

BNW however the best players are now attaining BC finishes even on immortal, I don't play it myself but I gather they are able to conquer and expand for these BC victories. If you don't own it then maybe you ought to purchase it, because it might just suit your preferred playing style!

 

[DocRock]

I can't get to a science win because I always win diplomatic first.

^this. Always. Unless going domination, I always have to be really careful not to win diplomatically. It takes too long to research everything, by that time I always have so much money that most city states are with me.

Cultural is going pretty well if you delay Musicians. In BNW though, haven't played vanilla for years and actually cannot remember the victory conditions there.

 

[beetle]

I actually disable the Science Victory in my games now, I was getting it so often.

If that is the case, howabout just not building SS parts? IMHO you need to leave SV enabled for the AIs and so that you have some time pressure for the victory you want to pursue.