No wonder Sid is so hard!

[screwtype]

Following a comment by playerfanatic, I went and checked the difficulty levels requestor in the Conquests editor and it turns out that on Sid level, as well as a large number of starting combat units and a research capacity 2 1/2 times faster than yours, each AI civ starts the game with FIVE settlers!

No wonder Sid is so hard. BTW the next level down, Deity, the AI civs start with 3 settlers apiece.

Personally, I think I might step down from Monarch to Regent level. Regent puts you on par with the AI civs, and I think I'd like to play at this level for a while to get a true picture of how well I'm doing in comparison to the AI.

 

[MSTK]

If you posted this to inform us of something new, you're a bit late.

 

[Theoden]

Of course Sid is hard. It's designed to challenge the best players. Remember there are some that have beaten Sid.

 

[screwtype]

If you posted this to inform us of something new, you're a bit late.

I think someone was asking about it on another thread, I couldn't find the thread so I posted it here instead.

 

[LaserSquad]

Once I graduated to Monarch I did a jump to Sid to see how long I could hold out before being defeated. I was the Zulus and I managed to get an army of swordsmen and three cities. My Impi came in very handy too, and I nearly took one of their cities, but as soon as they got their own iron I was facing a swordsmen rush, and I was outnumbered at least 5 to 1. It was a great learning curve though. As soon as I got back to Monarch level I kicked so much ***. I'd recommend playing on Sid to polish your skills, even if you know your facing certain defeat.

 

[Akka]

I don't like super-difficult level like Deity or Sid. The AI has so much advantage, that you can win ONLY by exploiting the game and playing on the shortcoming of the AI. Feel more like trying to rig than outthinking.

 

[morchuflex]

Currently I'm playing on Emperor and perfectly glad with it, but I know I'll try Sid some day. After all, in Civ2, I used to beat deity level almost 100% of the time.
In Civ1, after winning thousands of games on Emperor level, which was the highest then, I used an editor that allowed me to add more settlers for starting civs. I would give the AI twenty (20) starting settlers, and only one to me. Believe it or not, I won at least occasionnally. Because the computer was so dumb it didn't really know what to do with them. Stupidly, it used them to improve land rather than quickly found many cities.
Of course, in Civ3, the settlers no longer work as engineers, so the challenge is harder. I think I'll "stack the deck" for a while by making the world as inhospitable as possible: dry, cold, archipelago, 80% water: this has to slow their expansion. And since they build too few engineers, they may have ten cities before I even have two, but these cities will grow slowly compared to mine. At least, I hope so.

 

[Dogmeat]

Following a comment by playerfanatic, I went and checked the difficulty levels requestor in the Conquests editor and it turns out that on Sid level, as well as a large number of starting combat units and a research capacity 2 1/2 times faster than yours, each AI civ starts the game with FIVE settlers!

Hmm, I always thought Sid AI's started with 3 settlers

 

[IroquoisPlisken]

Originally posted by screwtype:
Hmm, I always thought Sid AI's started with 3 settlers

I checked the editor and you're right. 3 settlers and 5 WORKERS. Start Unit 1 is Settler, Unit 2 is worker. Screwtype probably just read it wrong.

 

[Allemand]

The thing I don't like about Sid is the goodie huts seem to be barren of technology. On Deity they cough it up regularly. Along with Settlers, too.

 

[Kalach]

Does anyone know where I can find a full listing of all the difficulty levels? I think I saw it somewhere before that showed the AI combat bonus, tech bonus, starting units, etc, but can't find it again

Or if I go through the editor will I eventually work it out?

 

[Midnight Piper]

If you posted this to inform us of something new, you're a bit late.

Since I've never taken the time to check, I'm informed. Guess the 'us' above is a small group of your personal friends, and not the totality of worldwide CivFanatics...

 

[Meta]

I am just curious but what are the bonuses on Chieftan difficulty? Right now I can win regularly on Regent level but I am afraid of making the big leap .

 

[MSTK]

Does anyone know where I can find a full listing of all the difficulty levels? I think I saw it somewhere before that showed the AI combat bonus, tech bonus, starting units, etc, but can't find it again

Or if I go through the editor will I eventually work it out?

I am just curious but what are the bonuses on Chieftan difficulty? Right now I can win regularly on Regent level but I am afraid of making the big leap .

Here

Since I've never taken the time to check, I'm informed. Guess the 'us' above is a small group of your personal friends, and not the totality of worldwide CivFanatics...

What I meant was that anyone who needed to know could easily find it at a far-off site called http://www.civfanatics.com (No offense intended)

 

[Meta]

No offense taken thanks for the information!

 

[Roi du Culture]

Impossible odds for impossibly good players only.

 

[screwtype]

I checked the editor and you're right. 3 settlers and 5 WORKERS. Start Unit 1 is Settler, Unit 2 is worker. Screwtype probably just read it wrong.

Yes, you're right Iroquois, but it wasn't my mistake. The mistake is in the Editor Help file, it says type one start units are "normally a worker" and type 2 start units "normally a settler". But when I actually went to the general settings page, it turns out those definitions are wrong, the default type one unit is settler and the default type 2 is worker.

 

[Kalach]

Thanks MSTK

 

[vmxa]

I guess I am not reading the editor properly as I only see two settlers for sid and one for deity. If you make a map for sid and run it in debug, you will see them drop two new cities right away and often start a settler in each city.

Pardon the spacing, but here is what it looks like for each level:

AI Bonuses
Def Land Units 0 0 0 2 4 6 8 12
Off Land Units 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 6
Start unit type 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2
Start unit type 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 4
Extra free support 0 0 0 4 8 12 16 24
Bonus for each city 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 8
Max gov transition 0 0 0 4 3 2 2 1
Cost factor 20 12 10 9 8 7 6 4
AI to AI trade 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 200

Other variables
Citizens born content 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Citizens quelled 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Attack bonus vs barbs 800 400 200 100 50 25 0 0
Percent optimal cities 100 95 90 85 80 70 60 50

 

[vmxa]

Ok, sorry I see what you mean, I am talking about extras. Everyone starts with a settler and a worker and expansionist have a scout type. So true they will have 3 settlers counting the start one.

Anyway it is scary to see them drop the 5th city before you get a settler built.