Need help on deity

[Sharples]

Hi, I play on immortal for a long time and want to upgrade to deity. I've been watching PCJLaw on Youtube to some mixed success.

On many of these occassions, the settling on population 3 rule often results in expansion spots just not being possible. Even in this scenario where I got a population ruin right after I grew to population 2.

I don't want to spam images showcasing this, but it is a very common thing that happens. (Maybe 60-80% of games I play) In deity, do you always just expect to go to war early? I never seem to have the room to settle my spots in deity but immortal I can expand wherever I want to.

(I usually play Continents/Pangea maps, standard map, standard time).

 

[raider980]

Hi @Sharples , You might want to post this in the Strategies & Tips subforum instead of here in General, that's where people discuss this type of thing. I'm not the best player by any means but I moved from Immortal to Deity a few years ago. And I still lose the vast majority of my Deity games. So Deity is a different animal. You need to be very precise about what you do and when. And yes, the AI taking your expansion locations is one of the difficult aspects of Deity; they get to start off with 2 settlers so its tough. The starting map makes a big difference too. I think a lot of people reroll the start on Deity if its not very good.

In this particular example, I can't even see Carthage's capital so she came a particularly long way to forward settle you. Which is not unusual on Deity. In this case, your settler should veer west and go settle by the cotton and cocoa I think. Regarding war early; I think the best players usually do go to war early - at least to steal a worker from the AI to set them back a bit. Maybe Dido's settler was unescorted and you could steal it. Or if it was escorted, block it from getting to the spot until your settler could get there - settlers can't pass through units so one of the things I do is block their settler from getting to where it needs to be.

Also, check out the Strategies & Tips subforum - there are several strategy threads going on. And there is a thread called Enjoyable Deity Games that was quite popular - it contains Deity games that have good starting maps so they tend to be a little easier, and would be a good way to start learning to play Deity.

 

[Nizef]

Hi Sharples,
I am a little late with my answer, but I hope it will help you anyway. PCJLaw is a great source of knowledge about the game. However, note that he, faced with the same problem as you described above, simply chooses another location (a less attractive) for his settler and still manages to win. So being beaten to the preferred locations is not the end of the world as long as you have enough space to start four cities. It is also beneficial (even crucial) to have an AI city nearby to send (and recieve) trade routes to/from. It is also worth noting that Hippo Regius is in fact the third city of Carthage. It is not uncommon for AIs to go liberty on Deity and they will many times spam 10-20 cities, if they have the space to do so.

But then there is another point of view, which has nothing to do with the possibility to win the game after losing out on one or two preferred locations: the game has to be enjoyable as well (especially when you play with the purpose of having fun). I many times just start a new game after a scenario like the one you describe. Putting in many hours and still being annoyed with the game is not fun nor relaxing. It seems to me you did "everything" right: having your first settler out by turn 25 is a very good performance and should give you the start you want more often than not.

 

[mbbcam]

@Sharples You might find it worth your while to try out the HellBlazers map script (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KiFTUkF8zxbRdN_AmQ-jIwdUAjnriO2wYNGBuqphcCM/edit#!). I haven't used the bundled maps for years now -- I think they are awful.

Even when using the HellBlazers maps I might re-roll ten or twenty times before I get a starting location that looks decent to me. But I always play England, and for some reason it seems more difficult to get a good coastal start.

 

[RuntyBassoon143]

That spot Dido settled isn’t even that good, low on hammers, mostly just food and gold there. I would definitely settle the desert hill across the river from that cotton. Very nice defensive location with lots of hills, and if no AI goes for Petra you can have a nice bonus. Also the spot west of you is premium dirt: 2 wheat on a river with horses and hills.

I see it’s turn 25 and you only have 1 culture and no faith. What was your build and tech order? Which pantheon did you pick? Which policy tree were you planning to unlock?

On deity you must plan ahead, which means having multiple contingencies. The first 50 turns are absolutely crucial.