Spaceship Victories

[Johnpecan]

Hi fellow Civ4ers,
I'm relatively new Civ4 (was a huge Civ2 fanatic) and I'm just getting into Civ4. Right now I play in the Noble/Prince skill level.

One thing that bothers me right now is spaceship victories. I remember in Civ2 I always turned them off. It just bothers me that a civilization can abstain from war through making strong diplomatic decisions and teching up and building strong defensive units.

I was playing a Prince game (I think that's the skill level, 1 above Noble) where I played an early game military strategy to see how that went. It went pretty well, I wiped out 2 civs and severely crippled a 3rd civ.

So I have a lot of land (I'm Kublai Kahn), but now the remaining 3 civs that abstained from war are far ahead me in tech, Russians, Mehmed (forget the country) and Vikings. Mehmed is building spaceship parts and defends his base with mechanized infantry. I have infantry and JUST got artillery (aka way behind in tech). For some reason, Mehmed is allied and pleased with ALL 4 remaining civs. And he has no problem whatsoever that the Russians and Vikings are assaulting my territory (although he did offer me Flight which was nice of him).

So now I'm in a position where Mehmed is building a spaceship, I'm trying to defend myself through drafting and massing infantry against the Russians/Vikings who are attacking me constantly (forgot to mention that Mehmed and me share a continent, Russians/Vikings share another). I can't pay Mehmed to help me in war because he's friends with everyone (maybe has something to do with him being the chair of the UN?)

So I'm thinking in retrospec, I should have declared war on Mehmed while he was teching up to limit his power? But if I attacked him instead of wiping out the Americans/Germans couldn't the Americans/Germans do what Mehmed is doing now? Maybe I should have based who I attacked first off of leader traits?

Anyways, kind of annoying watching Mehmed build his spaceship while the other Civs feel like attacking me INSTEAD of Mehmed who is about to win. (Maybe they're racing Mehmed and trying to win Domination by wiping me out?)

I was just wondering if people commonly play with spaceship wins off? Is this a common practice or am I just not appreciating the complexity of the game? Was I just unlucky? Did I just attack the wrong person first?

I realize this post has a lot of questions and not written as coherently as possible but I guess originally, I was just curious if others play with spaceships off.

 

[iamnleth]

A fast-teching AI is one of the many obstacles that you should learn to overcome.

I'd also add that you're usually alone when preventing other AIs from winning... tragic, I know.

 

[Refar]

I usually play with all Victiories on.

Sometimes you will get in a 'unlucky' spot like this, but that's what mekes winning a challenge. On the bright side - the AI is usually building the spaceship rather slow, so you might heve enought time to turn the game around.

 

[obsolete]

How would you feel if the AI were to turn off the Warmongering option on you?

Cheating is cheating young man...

 

[Johnpecan]

How would you feel if the AI were to turn off the Warmongering option on you?

Cheating is cheating young man...

I guess my point is that it's a lot easier to tech/defend/make friends with everyone than to try to dominate them militarily (in my opinion of the game, not claiming to be an expert by any means ) and also it is more boring in my opinion to go down this path.

The path of warring while at the same time trying to balance the other aspects of the game is the most fun to me. To me, this is what Civ is all about.

I suppose I should actually try to win by spaceship and see if it's actually as easy as I thought!

 

[AlessioCerci]

I suppose I should actually try to win by spaceship and see if it's actually as easy as I thought!

Go do that. Diplomacy is not easy. And regardless of the victory type you want, a strong economy is a must.

If you want more warring, go play something else like medieval 2 thats more war-orientated. (just a suggestion )

 

[ICNP]

It is true balance when you must not only go for victory but must achieve that victory before everyone else. If your goal was either Conquest or Domination then you should be close enough to that victory to beat mehmed. Otherwise you just weren't as good as him as achieving victory.

And Mehmed is Ottoman.

 

[solistus]

If you're going for a dom/conq victory and your rivals have Mechanized Infantry, you probably waited too long. Far too long. You should have your continent dominated before industrialisation.

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

Is it possible for you to get the Manhattan project and nukes? That'll stop his spaceship spree.

 

[GKrause]

The BTS expansion has fixed the spaceship victory so it's a little harder for the AI's to pull off. I felt the same way at first when I first started playing Civ IV from Civ III. I found that the reason I felt that way was because of how important the economy is in Civ IV. It takes a little while to get the hang of, but once you've had some games under your belt, you'll realize that you can manage your economy so that you can warmonger AND keep up in techs, especially at Noble and Prince levels.

Hope you're enjoying Civ IV!

 

[Verge]

If the AI is beating you by pursuing a space victory, then consider that a challenge instead of a cheap tactic by the computer player.

Furthermore, you might want to reconsider your strategies. If you are chasing a military win, you should be firmly in control of the global situation by the time the modern age rolls around. As you said, balancing all aspects of the game is critical, and that means nurturing your economy, furthering research, working diplomatic contacts, building up cities, and developing your military. By endgame, all these things should be on their way to falling into place, if they haven't already.

It sounds like your current game is lacking in some of these respects.

 

[toug]

If Mehmed is the chair of the UN I'm assuming he built it. If he's got good relations with all other civs then you've got more to be worried about than just the spaceship victory.

Just sounds like you warred to frequently and too early and didn't keep a close eye on the diplomacy and tech race.

You will notice that there are certain opponents that, given the right difficulty, always seem to have a tech lead (I'm thinking Mansa). So your assumption that attacking Mehmed would have allowed other civs to continue in his path isn't true, each civ plays entirely different. You really need to adjust to who is in the game.

 

[cabert]

first, congrats for playing prince already and welcome here in CFC!

Second, enjoy the game. If it's no fun for you to see the AI fly away in space, feel free to remove the option.

Third, if you want to compete in some events here (Game of the month or Hall of fame), you will need to get used to preventing the AI from winning as much as winning yourself. Second best isn't a win .
It's usually a good strategy to attack the tech leader first. It's pretty rare than every AI is miles ahead (at least on prince). So bringing the leader down is certainly a good move.

fourth, you can still prevent mehmed from winning by using spies, but it will cost you a lot.

 

[Gooblah]

I agree with Cabert!

Anyways, try a Space Race with all options on. For more fun, add Aggressive AI!
To win a Space Race, you'll need careful diplomacy, a tech lead, a strong economy, and a massive military to defend your cities. Plus, city placement is crucial due to the massive production you need to have. Conquest/Domination Victories require only a military, since you can swamp a Musket-era Civ with Maces and still win..

 

[Zanttu]

Only victory type I turn off is the time victory. I just don't get it, how the world can just "end" suddenly. And I don't like rushing in the end just because the time is just running out.

 

[noto]

Would it really be fun for you if you turned off the space victory? I find it interesting in my games that sometimes the AI will get close to a space win or a cultural win and I'll have to deal with that. Also, you shoudl try going for those wins yourself. If you are warmongering and another civ starts to run away in tech, they should become your primary target. You should get other civs to attack them and/or attack them yourself. Don't just pick on the weak civs that are easy to conquer, they aren't a threat to you. If there is a civ with a better economy, better tech, and juicy wonders but has a small military compared to yours, what the heck are you waiting for and go bonk some heads!!!

 

[noto]

and do it fast before they get so far ahead in tech that they have better military units than you