Not rushing and winning: possible?

[Emanca]

I started playing Civ V recently. I played through difficulties 2, 3 and 4 and won comfortably each time. Now I find that on difficulty 5, no matter what, another civ always rushes for a Science Victory when I'm barely entering the Industrial Era or so. I like to play the game at my own pace, discovering the map and raising my cities before deciding which victory to go for. Have I reached my ceiling at difficulty 4? Is it always necesary to rush for a victory decided at turn 1 on higher difficulties?

 

[dunkleosteus]

I don't think so, but if you commit to something, you should stick with it. I find that what holds me back on higher difficulties is not using all of the resources I have available to me (not in-game resources but ways to control the game, like spies, city state alliances, trade agreements etc) on higher difficulties it becomes more important to focus on all aspects of the game to capitalize on your assets. It's also important to make sure your science is up, because otherwise you lag behind. Getting your universities is important, so education shouldn't be the last thing you research, etc. War is also really important on higher difficulties- the AI has advantages on all fronts but intelligence, so you have to out-think them. Paying two civs to go to war can prevent them from declaring on you, and also stunt their growth as they throw resources into a futile war (don't start a war between mismatched AIs, it will only make one of them stronger) and then you can further yourself by taking out the weakest AIs to get boosts. Higher level games seem to require at least one or two wars to put you on a level playing field with the AI.

 

[wayneb64]

Like dunkleosteus has said, the higher you raise the difficulty, the more you need to take advantage of and master every aspect of the game. I play Immortal and I never choose a victory condition until very near the end of the game. I still feel like I 'play my own game' as the only thing I do consistently from game to game is complete the Tradition tree first. I do not 'rush' to build National Collage, but it's certainly high on my priority list.

Have a look at the War Acadamy here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=451 and read the various guides to start brushing up on all there is to learn about this game.

 

[Puhi]

Paying two civs to go to war can prevent them from declaring on you, and also stunt their growth as they throw resources into a futile war

I totally agree with this. That tactic made a big difference in my games on immortal.

Higher level games seem to require at least one or two wars to put you on a level playing field with the AI.

This hasn't really been the case for me on immortal. I have won plenty of games rather easily without going to war. Could I have had a faster win time if I did? Probably. But it's not necessary. You can win peacefully just by playing efficiently.