Large games at high levels

[adsin15]

I like to play games on Huge maps with a dozen or more enemy civs usually. I can't seem to win the game every on difficulties higher than King/Emperor/ Emperor I can only win I'd say 1 out of 3 games if I'm lucky and it takes quite a long time to play a game with 13 civs on a huge map.

Is there a way to win under these conditions? I play on normal speed should I be doing slower speeds? Faster speed perhaps?

 

[Popedesu]

It depends on what victory type your going for, on culture, that's nearly impossible unless you wipe out, or cripple to 1 bad city in the arctic, most civs.

On domination, you'll just need to follow the standard domination formula of, denounce, DOW, liberate city states, it'll take a while, but you seem like you're in this for the long haul anyways.

On science, turtle up, and tech up, basic science victory, try and get good faith production going and rationalism to buy great scientist. Then get a good economy and pick Freedom.

On diplomatic, explore as much as possible, get a fantastic economy, you should be fine if Alexander isn't in the game.

These are just general tips, since I don't know what you're having problems with.

 

[adsin15]

It's funny that you say that bc Culture Vic is usually what I try for and I only end up getting it by capturing the other 1-3 major culture civs that have all the wonders.

Diplomatic Victory is usually my go to type. I usually have problems keeping up with Tech research and eventually 5 civs declare war on me and I get smashed. Otherwise I lose BC a civ on the other side of the map builds the Spaceship while NONE of the AIs declare war on him. Super annoying.

I tend to play random maps/random civ too. This game right now I'm on a small island and I'm the Aztecs. Not sure about the rest of the map. I am going Liberty + National College Opening. I think I can get 4 cities on this island.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198031788634/screenshot/389922548146366835

 

[ShakaKhan]

Otherwise I lose BC a civ on the other side of the map builds the Spaceship while NONE of the AIs declare war on him. Super annoying.

Bribing civs to go to war with a runaway slows him/her down quite a bit. I found I didn't need to use this tactic (which eats some gpt and/or resources, so there is a substantial cost) on levels below deity, but under the parameters that you're playing it may help since you're increasing the challenge by playing so big.

 

[ShakaKhan]

Is there a way to win under these conditions? I play on normal speed should I be doing slower speeds? Faster speed perhaps?

Slower speeds tend to make the game easier, which may compensate for larger maps which make the game harder. But realize that a huge map with lots of civs and a slow or marathon pace will be a very long game; I'd hate for you to be 20 hours into a game only to find that you can't finish it because it crashes when loading. As Popedsu said, it's hard to assess how to help since you didn't mention what you're having problems with - multiple concurrent DoWs crushing you, someone else finishing a spaceship too early, or just nowhere near any victory condition in an acceptable amount of time.

I don't play around with map sizes too much, I used to always play standard and now I play small because my computer performs better, and obviously can't really do much with maps bigger than standard. But my style of play doesn't change that much with different map sizes, there's still a somewhat consistent ratio of civs:terrain, so city numbers are about the same. With larger maps but moderate difficulty level, I'd suggest avoiding domination victories and approach one of the other three VCs with a more peaceful approach. Whether the map grid is 50X50tiles or 10,000X10,000 tiles, a 4-city turtled tradition game is approached the same way. Also, larger maps mean that you'll need more units to have the same unit presence or unit:terrain ratio, and I don't think that the game reduces maintenance costs for larger maps. Think more in terms of "how much territory do I need to win the game?" instead of "how much of this luscious territory can I own?"