Any Tips for Keeping Things Straight?

[Bluesman]

I suspect I'm at an awkward stage some of you may have gone through way, way back. I have read and played for only a short time, but the basic structure is starting to fall slowly into place.

In the early game (and an early player!) as units pile up in cities and on tiles, I get a sense of being swamped. Did you (or do you) have some tips on how to stay organized, both in the big view and in keeping track of details.

For instance, I'd think from what I read that perhaps trying to designate certain cities as "centers" for things like food, production and commerce is a big help in keeping things straight (although I'm not totally clear on the qualities/placement of cities that do best, as in a capitol, one farthest out, etc).

I got my wife playing just yesterday and she loves it and will be an avid co-reader on this thread, I guarantee!

Blues

 

[6K Man]

Use the Alt-S and renaming functions to remind you of what specific cities/sites or units are intended for.

 

[TheWilltoAct]

If Alt-S is how you place signs, then I second that. It's quite helpful!

Welcome to you and yours Bluesman!

 

[Bluesman]

Great idea! What about trying to keep track and find where types of units are......or a bit of help in seeing who's automated in their duties (although I think it's best if I stay away from that automated stuff!). I find myself quickly cycling through a turn when I know there are others out there in the cities doing something!

Blues

 

[TheWilltoAct]

Well one helpful tool is your Military Advisor (the gray shield icon) which has a list of all your units and how many you have and their positions on the map.

I don't understand what you are asking in that second part, are you saying you have units automated that you don't know about?

 

[binhthuy71]

I bind my Workers together in pairs and I don't automate them. A pair of Workers will take orders just like a single one so pairing them cuts their management in half. When building and SoD (Stack of Doom) to invade an enemy civ I set one appropriately located tile as the rally point for the cities that are producing military units. While travelling I group the whole SoD together and then ungroup them to attack a city.
You can leave yourself a message by using CTRL+TAB to open the messages. It's also handy for scrolling through the last several messages that have popped up to make sure that you haven't missed anything. You can also check on any Quests that you've been given.

Finally: Install BUG mod. Download it HERE and install it before you play your next game. It is the single most useful tool for keeping track of the game as a whole.

 

[davelisowski]

late in the game, when using bombers or fighters for recon (to see the map), i'll rename the unit with the city it is supposed to recon over or near.

same with transports (galleons, caravel, etc.) i'll rename them for what i use them - e.g. infantry transport #1.

using the number buttons, you can assign units to a group. I think it's CTRL+# to put that unit or group of units in that number. then you just push the number to get that group.

 

[Woodreaux]

Definitely follow binhthuy71's advice about BUG. Use BUG's F1 (Domestic advisor to help micromanage building rushing), also use BUG unit naming feature to have it automatically apply your naming convention to units being built. Also when REXing, use the dotmapping feature to plan out your land usage.

 

[6K Man]

Stacking ground units/ships is good practice. You don't have to attack as a stack, but units tend to be safer from random attack in stacks, and you don't have as many to cycle through.

Note: disregard in the nuclear age.