Recent content by MrBrown

A lot of games seem to have some achievements which seem like they're just used by the developers for statistics on how people play the game. The easiest achievement is probably used a baseline to compare the others. I checked my other games, and Fallout4 for instance has a "play the prologue...

Research writing ASAP, and start running those specialists. It's as simple as that. When I run SE, or something similar, I go for Bronze Working/Iron Working/Hunting/Archery or whatever is needed for decent defense, first. After that it's straight to Writing, preferably through Agriculture...

Cultural victories that rely on turning commerce->culture should always run commerce->science until they've got their cathedrals and stuff ready, and then switch for the last spurt. So, ideally, you're running with 0% tech only for a few dozen turns in the end (on normal speed), up till...

And Monarch will teach you to let the AI build them, and then conquer them? ;) Anyway, back when I was fine tuning my playing at Noble, I played several games where I decided to simply not build any Wonders, even if it seemed 100% certain I'd get it, or I had the resource. Afterwards...

I've played a few games with this kind of economy. It works well. I'd say it's the optimal teching method for any leader that is Financial but isn't looking to build many wonders (with wonders+Financial it's better to use priests and prophets, IMO). That said, I don't see reason for all that...

After 3.13, I've started seeing barbarians taking down AIs early in the game... As I understand it, this is because of a change in AI behavior in that patch. Apparently they take more risks. And that's with your average mildly angry barbarian on Noble.

If you have a method of generating wealth directly (instead of commerce), then it's probably better to run cottages instead of specialists. This is because you can then turn 100% of that commerce to science, while the wealth generated pays for your upkeep. It's not that hard to run a 10+ city...

I used to think the Move of 2 wasn't that useful, but ever since I learned active defense is the best defense, I've started liking everything that moves faster.

I have to admit that I've never liked Slavery. I recognize it usefulness, but so far, it's simply something I've never used. I can certainly win on Noble without ever using it, and on Monarch on some tactics.

The Colossus isn't bad either. Then, use the economic advantage to get Privateers out fast, generate lots of Great Generals, use those for stronger privateers, and you'll quickly control the seas until destroyers start coming out.

You can expect the EP cost to steal a tech to be around 150% of the tech's beaker cost, varying depending on the various modifiers... Distance, state religion, EP spent, buildings, stationary spy etc. Because the success of missions and chance of spies being discovered is always random, the...

As I understand, the Resources: Balanced option in a Custom Game spreads all the resources evenly around the globe, instead of piling some of them in specific areas. Playing with that and Pangaea should give you a reasonable chance of acquiring it, without making it too easy.

Personally, I liked Civ3's cultural victory requirements better than Civ4s. In Civ3, you needed a certain amount of points in one city, and a total amount of points in all your cities. I think something like that would allow for a variety of tactics, and would scale better for different map...

Seriously, if you're having trouble with barbarians, you're behind in tech/military, and will get stomped by the AI. Well, unless you've turned wars off. ;)

As some have said, learn SE. It is more "advanced" and harder than simple cottage spamming, but it is really about nothing more than city specialization. And that is the key in Civ4. And, Alexander is one of the leaders ideal for it. Here's a more in-depth guide to how I would run Alexander...