[Vanilla] Bored.

[Naokaukodem]

Hi folks,

Right now, i'm bored with Civ6. Playing vanilla. Emperor difficulty.

I don't know. Some cities I have conquered, after peace, seem hopeless. They don't grow, if I don't force food they will be stuck at 4 pop, they cannot produce many things quickly.

My gold is fed by ransoms from peace treaties, otherwise i'm at like +0.X or +1 gold per turn. If i upgrade my crossbows into field cannons I will start to lose money. (have the -1 gold military card) (I think i'm at industrial era and the best trade route are 3 GPT only !!! :crazy: )

But the funniest is that I don't even need that. I could wait there forever until a science victory. I'm first in science. Maybe equal in tech number with Monty.

I conquered Brazil, a part of Spain because they were forward settling me (I think GS is better for this, but grass is always greener side house), now everybody denounced me except monty that is still my ally.

I wish I could exterminate all those monkeys. But it would take too much time and i have not the money, not to mention the hassle to move troops.

I'm bored. What should i do ?

I like the starts of games, when you early conquer. Even in multiplayer i conquer my neighbour then quit because i lost interest or can't conquer next neighbour so easily. (love Scythia, lol)

Everything seems so heavy. Slow. Soporific.

I usually hate reloading old games. All this wait and, Firaxis, RUBBISH TALK, I can't stand it anymore, for something so old and static at the end : my current game.

Maybe i'm not the type of player for this type of games. (4X) I loved Civ2, Civ3, a little bit of Civ4 (mainly online because the AI was too hard for me), and beat Civ5 once in Deity. Other 4X i don't like. I have a story with Civ. I can barely stand 6 though.

Oh ! Even my kindergarten Settler games when i try to build ALL THE WONDERS is a miserable fail, because AI, yes, even in Settler (!!) prioritize them so much and so early. And, no civ with a bonus for EARLY wonders, the most important to my eyes because the easiest to build maybe. (I mean find a suitable place)

Hell, what should i do ? Uninstall it ?

 

[8housesofelixir]

Maybe try a no-conquering play next time.

 

[Naokaukodem]

Hi,

Thx for your advice.

By trying to settle space before i get forwarded ? Seems touchy to me. For sure a monkey will forward settle me early ! I'm not lucky. But ok. I will try to turtle. Like snowballing and all. It's the right strategy right ?

 

[iammaxhailme]

China has a bonus to early wonders by boosting them with workers

 

[Naokaukodem]

Oh right... i used it a couple times... I could try again... thx.

 

[KayAU]

Since you own Civ V, have you tried Vox Populi? I find it both a more refined and more challenging game. It's what I went back to when I got too bored with Civ Vi.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Hi,

Thx for your advice.

By trying to settle space before i get forwarded ? Seems touchy to me. For sure a monkey will forward settle me early ! I'm not lucky. But ok. I will try to turtle. Like snowballing and all. It's the right strategy right ?

Do you have the expansions? The loyalty mechanic should stop you being forward settled. Otherwise, try playing on a map with fewer AIs = more space for everyone. 7 seas I find is a good map with plenty of space to settle, especially towards the poles.

 

[Naokaukodem]

Since you own Civ V, have you tried Vox Populi? I find it both a more refined and more challenging game. It's what I went back to when I got too bored with Civ Vi.

Yeah, I found Civ5 more interesting, but i watched Marbozir play some Vox Populi, dammit it looks so hard ! Even Marbz who usually plays (and wins) on Deity could hardly beat it in Emperor.

Do you have the expansions? The loyalty mechanic should stop you being forward settled. Otherwise, try playing on a map with fewer AIs = more space for everyone. 7 seas I find is a good map with plenty of space to settle, especially towards the poles.

Yeah i have them but not updated. I'll wait a little bit before playing them again. (basically until the release of the final patch) I know it's harder for the AI to forward settle with loyalty, but strangely they manage to do it still while i cannot, which is frustrating. (double-edgy, that's why i said earlier "grass seems greener side house") However, I don't forward settle usually either in vanilla, because i fear the DOWs. (or learned to do so) So it might be better with loyalty still.

Map with fewer AIs is double-edgy, because AIs have more place to snowball. So i don't like it too much. I'll try the 7 seas map, thx for the advice !

Now on i've started a Settler difficulty game with China, i built the three first main wonders, except i have no desert to build Pyramids argh godammit ! I shouldn't have set weather on wet maybe. I have only two cities while Monty have 3 lol. In Settler ! Kinda funny.

 

[KayAU]

Yeah, I found Civ5 more interesting, but i watched Marbozir play some Vox Populi, dammit it looks so hard ! Even Marbz who usually plays (and wins) on Deity could hardly beat it in Emperor.

There's a bit of a learning curve, and it is certainly a lot harder than Civ V. That's mostly because the AI is way, way smarter, and can effectively fight against you, both militarily and diplomatically. The simple solution is to lower the difficulty to whatever you are comfortable with. I currently play on Prince with Vox Populi. It isn't hard for me at all at this point, but unlike Civ V or VI, I do need to keep an eye on what the AI is doing, even in games where I manage to pull ahead early.

 

[Naokaukodem]

Yeah it must be equal or even harder than the 'Sid' difficulty of Civ... 4 if i'm not mistaken. (Sid above Divinity, I knew Sid Meier was Satan ! )

But it for sure puts up some challenge... I will probably start this mod in Prince too, to see a little what i'm capable of. But not for now. I'm sticking with 6 for a bit. In my China Settler run the AI couldn't build a single wonder yet, and I just settled a coastal city for GL and Colossus. It's in good shape, best Settler game i ever made ! China helps a lot.

 

[Naokaukodem]

Just done a quick (online speed) Rome Emperor game, scientific victory with wiping out the only 3 cities of Egypt. As advised, was not planing to conquer, but Egypt put a city where i wanted to put one of mine... so war. Oh, 2-3 Legions and 2-3 archers only. (plus a ram but she hadn't even walls)

Was fun, I love the pace of online game in solo. If you don't plane to go to war, it's perfect I think.

 

[Isengardtom]

I would at least get Rise and Fall
Loyalty and governors add a lot of strategy and fun to the game

 

[Naokaukodem]

I would at least get Rise and Fall
Loyalty and governors add a lot of strategy and fun to the game

Yeah i have them but not updated. I'll wait a little bit before playing them again. (basically until the release of the final patch)

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

When the game starts feeling dull, I set Personal Victory Conditions.
Like:

Build only the Wonders that belong to the Civ I'm playing. So, as Egypt I build the Pyramids and the Great Library and the Great Lighthouse - no others, and if I get all three: Game Over, I Win - in the Classical Era. Playing Australia, of course, I have to get the Sydney Opera House so the game's going to take longer.

Set up a game playing a European Civ like France or Spain and then include the Aztecs, Inca, Maya, Cree and whoever else the map has room for. Victory Condition is to get Christianity as my religion and spread it to all the Americans - wherever they are on the map, which can make for a devilishly hard game even on lower settings.

As America on a Pangaea Map, build the Transcontinental Railroad from one side of the continent to the other. This invariably requires the conquering of a bunch of other cities and City States to open a path . . .

Just suggestions. Personal Goals can change a game dramatically, because they can force you to play differently than the 'normal' Victory Conditions do.

 

[8housesofelixir]

As America on a Pangaea Map, build the Transcontinental Railroad from one side of the continent to the other. This invariably requires the conquering of a bunch of other cities and City States to open a path . . .

I had been doing this in literally every one of my game, and always try to role play as the ultimate railroad mogul of the world. Although I think one can build railroad into other civ's territory as long as borders are open, and City States will be no problem the moment you slot in the Gunboat Diplomacy card, so no wars or conquerings are needed.

But I agree, conquering for "infrastructure week" can be fun, I have also heard players taking AI cities only for building Harbors in them for trading, effectively turned the war into Opium War or Perry Expedition. "War of Open Door" should definitely be a game mechanic in future civ games...

 

[Naokaukodem]

Or play my country (France) with England, Germany, Italy (Rome), Spain, Netherlands, etc... and conquer them all ! Problem : Medici sucks, i don't want to incarnate her (she is ridiculous when you have her as AI in the game) and her lame traits. That's why I always wanted neutral/customizable civs/leaders like in Civ2. Not to mention culturally linked start positions.

I remember a game in Civ2 when I realized as France that my neighbours was real... loved to kill England...

 

[Aurelesk]

Watch your language! Catherine de Medici is a very capable leader... except in vanilla. I am not even joking, she is one of the great leaders of the game.

She rised (7th/36) during the R&F age. This is due to how diplomatic visibility changed: less information noises and can increase combat strength to your units. Then fell a few places (12th/45) is GS. Basicly, Catherine is a light early warmonger leader with a huge propensity to be annoying to other civilizations.
She probably fell even more in the NFP age due to the rise of new way to counter spies (diplomatic quarter, spyproof alliance...) and the addition of powerful new leaders. But now we have a new variant of Catherine de Medici: the "Magnificent", which is a Tourism beast (that work better on bigger maps). Furthermore, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a weak but really fun leader to play as France too.

But I agree, France is a weak civilization in the game. It is getting better: the Château changed and is really good tile improvement... cursed by a really bad tile restriction. That tile improvement is underestimated: it is powerful. The Garde Impériale is rather situational to say the least, but useable in some extent... I guess?
The Grand Tour ability is getting indirectly better and better, due to the addition of more and more wonders in the game: they are more and more leftovers. France can quickly build ancient, classical or medieval ones in later era for a few turns with no real harm, and gain a serious Tourism boost. For example, let's say the Great Lighthouse and the Jebel Barkal are not claimed during the Industrial era. You can build them for 5 - 8 turns each, and ends up for a nice 10 Tourism each, and they will get +2 Tourism for each new eras.

In Vanilla, yeah Catherine is not as good, neither is France overall. Outside of the cultural game, France has no real strength even if it is supposed to have a "edge" with the Garde Impériale at conquering the home continent. Since all civilizations have a unique units, it is like saying all civilizations are potential warmonger.
Their gameplan consists to put production in wonders, and milks those wonders by surrounding them with Château that generate Tourism at flight. That gameplan is quite bad, maybe harmful to some extent: most wonders are production traps. So you end up to build only useful one, or leftovers from early eras. Since all their abilities rely on wonders (Grand Tour and Château), if you ignore that side, then it is like playing the game without any abilities at all.

In a sense, France is the perfect civilization if you want to face some challenge!

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Watch your language! Catherine de Medici is a very capable leader... except in vanilla. I am not even joking, she is one of the great leaders of the game.

She rised (7th/36) during the R&F age. This is due to how diplomatic visibility changed: less information noises and can increase combat strength to your units. Then fell a few places (12th/45) is GS. Basicly, Catherine is a light early warmonger leader with a huge propensity to be annoying to other civilizations.
She probably fell even more in the NFP age due to the rise of new way to counter spies (diplomatic quarter, spyproof alliance...) and the addition of powerful new leaders. But now we have a new variant of Catherine de Medici: the "Magnificent", which is a Tourism beast (that work better on bigger maps). Furthermore, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a weak but really fun leader to play as France too.

But I agree, France is a weak civilization in the game. It is getting better: the Château changed and is really good tile improvement... cursed by a really bad tile restriction. That tile improvement is underestimated: it is powerful. The Garde Impériale is rather situational to say the least, but useable in some extent... I guess?
The Grand Tour ability is getting indirectly better and better, due to the addition of more and more wonders in the game: they are more and more leftovers. France can quickly build ancient, classical or medieval ones in later era for a few turns with no real harm, and gain a serious Tourism boost. For example, let's say the Great Lighthouse and the Jebel Barkal are not claimed during the Industrial era. You can build them for 5 - 8 turns each, and ends up for a nice 10 Tourism each, and they will get +2 Tourism for each new eras.

In Vanilla, yeah Catherine is not as good, neither is France overall. Outside of the cultural game, France has no real strength even if it is supposed to have a "edge" with the Garde Impériale at conquering the home continent. Since all civilizations have a unique units, it is like saying all civilizations are potential warmonger.
Their gameplan consists to put production in wonders, and milks those wonders by surrounding them with Château that generate Tourism at flight. That gameplan is quite bad, maybe harmful to some extent: most wonders are production traps. So you end up to build only useful one, or leftovers from early eras. Since all their abilities rely on wonders (Grand Tour and Château), if you ignore that side, then it is like playing the game without any abilities at all.

In a sense, France is the perfect civilization if you want to face some challenge!

Good analysis, @Aurelesk.

 

[jasper]

Pick a new game. This isnt hard.

 

[Victoria]

Everything seems so heavy. Slow. Soporific.

There is a couple of things here

1. Your gold shortage indicates you pushed science too hard, too early at the cost of gold, slow science and get more gold will keep the upgrades rumbling and make for a more interesting fight which you seem to enjoy more than the ‘management’ side of the game.

2. the slow side of the game past T100 comes from managing the cities. Perhaps a mind shift here would help. A city does not have to grow, indeed once you have decided not to grow a city you can use more specialists boosting your science in pop 4-6 cities. Use the production queue to make these cities feed you rather than you have to manage them. Place either science or gold projects in their production queue for the next 100-200 turns.

Once the large majority of your cities no longer have a need to be maintained your turns run a lot faster and if you have that bit more gold your military is where you can spend all your time playing.