AspiringScholar
Prince
Hello forum, I am a veteran player, and although I was never good at the game (I could beat Monarch a few times), I played it ridiculous amounts of time while I did. In all honesty (and I'm sure most of you are familiar with this), it almost consumed my life during some binges, and most of the rest of the time, I would still play it consistently for unhealthy intervals of time for weeks at a time, off and on for a period of a few years at least. All in all, I'm sure I've clocked at least 1500+ hours on this game. I actually got the vanilla game the Christmas of the year the game was released, and since then have upgraded to Beyond the Sword. The reason I think I didn't progress to a level that that amount of a time investment would deem realistic, was because for the most part, at the time I was just a kid having fun with the game, and for the most part I wasn't taking the game seriously or playing to win.
That aside, I just wanted to let you know that I have prior experience with the game, and I am familiar with all (or at least most) of the rules and features, so relearning the actual mechanics and stats of various components of the game (such as units, buildings, promotions and such) is not my concern at all. My problem, of course, lies in the strategic application of them.
I keep most of the basic principles of a 4X game in mind as a general basis of play, but what has really struck me lately, is that everything is a trade off. These past few days, I've played (got to an un-winnable situation and then quit) about 3 or 4 games, and every time, I got punished for some minor lack in one or various fields. In one game, I'm ravaged by enemy spies because I've devoted my commerce to research instead. Or if I've focused my hammers to maintaining a sizable enough military to prevent getting run over, that usually comes at the cost of adequate infrastructure in my cities, and I fall behind in tech (or whatever else is the consequence of that), etc. In the event of one of these scenarios occurring, I tell myself, "Okay, I'll be sure to devote more energy to that field in my next game" and it usually comes at the cost of another inadequacy in the following game. If I go for complete balance (which I'm sure s feasible), it would come at the cost of gaining the lead over the AI in one or more fields whereby I could beat them down a little. I digress...
Negligence of one or more areas of advancement in exchange for a solid advantage whereby the player can exploit the AI suddenly for long-term gains sure is preferable to an even devotion of attention to everything, right? If so, what are the most prominent means of doing this?
I'm playing on Monarch (and my pride would be hurt if I stepped down a level). Keep in mind, that I'm not failing miserably (in fact, in most games I have a realistic shot at the win until something goes sour unexpectedly). I thought I would continue the trial and error, but upon thinking about it, getting solid advice from the forum (and thus, those that have already made those mistakes and have the practical knowledge) would be better.
I apologize for the length of this, and thank you for your help in advance.
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Short Version:
I'm a returning player who's having a difficult time re-familiarizing myself to what strategies work and what don't, and finding that 'niche' where I can make decisions based upon a working knowledge of what needs to be done in a given situation.
That aside, I just wanted to let you know that I have prior experience with the game, and I am familiar with all (or at least most) of the rules and features, so relearning the actual mechanics and stats of various components of the game (such as units, buildings, promotions and such) is not my concern at all. My problem, of course, lies in the strategic application of them.
I keep most of the basic principles of a 4X game in mind as a general basis of play, but what has really struck me lately, is that everything is a trade off. These past few days, I've played (got to an un-winnable situation and then quit) about 3 or 4 games, and every time, I got punished for some minor lack in one or various fields. In one game, I'm ravaged by enemy spies because I've devoted my commerce to research instead. Or if I've focused my hammers to maintaining a sizable enough military to prevent getting run over, that usually comes at the cost of adequate infrastructure in my cities, and I fall behind in tech (or whatever else is the consequence of that), etc. In the event of one of these scenarios occurring, I tell myself, "Okay, I'll be sure to devote more energy to that field in my next game" and it usually comes at the cost of another inadequacy in the following game. If I go for complete balance (which I'm sure s feasible), it would come at the cost of gaining the lead over the AI in one or more fields whereby I could beat them down a little. I digress...
Negligence of one or more areas of advancement in exchange for a solid advantage whereby the player can exploit the AI suddenly for long-term gains sure is preferable to an even devotion of attention to everything, right? If so, what are the most prominent means of doing this?
I'm playing on Monarch (and my pride would be hurt if I stepped down a level). Keep in mind, that I'm not failing miserably (in fact, in most games I have a realistic shot at the win until something goes sour unexpectedly). I thought I would continue the trial and error, but upon thinking about it, getting solid advice from the forum (and thus, those that have already made those mistakes and have the practical knowledge) would be better.
I apologize for the length of this, and thank you for your help in advance.
--
Short Version:
I'm a returning player who's having a difficult time re-familiarizing myself to what strategies work and what don't, and finding that 'niche' where I can make decisions based upon a working knowledge of what needs to be done in a given situation.
