For quite a while now, I have been playing the Realism Invictus mod, and have been trying unsuccessfully to move up to Emperor. I play one or two games a night for a few weeks, get trounced, give it a break for a month or two, and come back to try again.
The best game I had, I rolled up the Persians, was located in the middle-east of a big continent with two AIs (Japan and Inca, IIRC) to the east and about 5 or 6 to the West. I used the Immortals to steamroll the eastern AIs, only holding on to the Incan capital. By the time I stabilized from the ensuing barbarian invasion, I had a huge territory under my control, but I had lost out on founding any religions (was hoping for Islam or Christianity), and my neighbor to the west was ages ahead of me in tech and starting to get belligerent.
Practically every other game I play on this level, I manage to grow to 3 or 4 cities, stabilize the barbarians, and just about the time I am deciding to tech alphabet, weaponry, or monarchy, my nearest neighbor decides that my 0.4 or 0.5 power ratio looks tasty and takes a bite. I'm sort of at a loss. If I build more troops, the archers eat up my cash and I stagnate. If I build walls, I can't get any fogbusters out and my improvements get destroyed and I stagnate. If I build workers, my power ratio drops and I get destroyed. If I try a worker steal, the AI doesn't forget, and I get destroyed.
I can regularly beat monarch, but emperor is just kicking my butt.
So, I'm going to put up a thread and hope there are enough better RI players here to show me what I'm doing wrong.
I will be playing and posting short turnsets so I don't burn out. I don't want to play with Persia, because I think their UU borders on cheating, but past that I'm open for suggestions.
I will start a game in a few hours. Unless I get strong opinions toward another path, I will be playing Big and small, huge, realistic, huts and events off. Leader, I'm open for suggestions... Alexander of the Greeks, maybe?
The best game I had, I rolled up the Persians, was located in the middle-east of a big continent with two AIs (Japan and Inca, IIRC) to the east and about 5 or 6 to the West. I used the Immortals to steamroll the eastern AIs, only holding on to the Incan capital. By the time I stabilized from the ensuing barbarian invasion, I had a huge territory under my control, but I had lost out on founding any religions (was hoping for Islam or Christianity), and my neighbor to the west was ages ahead of me in tech and starting to get belligerent.
Practically every other game I play on this level, I manage to grow to 3 or 4 cities, stabilize the barbarians, and just about the time I am deciding to tech alphabet, weaponry, or monarchy, my nearest neighbor decides that my 0.4 or 0.5 power ratio looks tasty and takes a bite. I'm sort of at a loss. If I build more troops, the archers eat up my cash and I stagnate. If I build walls, I can't get any fogbusters out and my improvements get destroyed and I stagnate. If I build workers, my power ratio drops and I get destroyed. If I try a worker steal, the AI doesn't forget, and I get destroyed.
I can regularly beat monarch, but emperor is just kicking my butt.
So, I'm going to put up a thread and hope there are enough better RI players here to show me what I'm doing wrong.
I will be playing and posting short turnsets so I don't burn out. I don't want to play with Persia, because I think their UU borders on cheating, but past that I'm open for suggestions.
I will start a game in a few hours. Unless I get strong opinions toward another path, I will be playing Big and small, huge, realistic, huts and events off. Leader, I'm open for suggestions... Alexander of the Greeks, maybe?