Olson
Warlord
I'm new to Civ4, and after playing through several games and reading some articles I have a decent grasp of what to do. However, I never know when I'm doing well or when I am behind.
What are the common benchmarks to shoot for? Like, for example, how many cities should I have by a certain turn? By turn 100, say, how many beakers should I have minimum, or conversely, how many would I need to run away with a tech lead? When should I get my first Great Person?
If I knew these standard benchmarks I could evaluate my play so much easier. As it is, I have to play the game out before I suddenly discover I have a research shortage or lack of production.
JoeZoo, I think I might be at about the same circumstance as yourself; I certainly have the same question. I think I've found not one definitive answer (which there probably isn't one) but a number of possible indces.
At first I watched the scores but this only indicates the current actual status and not the potential of a civ in the near future. Then I learned to check-out the [F9] Info Screen/Demographics but I only got a general sense of how I was doing but I didn't have a clue what, exactly, I was looking at.
Then, a few days ago, I came across Robi D's article http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/demographics.php explaining the Demographics (updated for Warlords & BtS).
I found section "3. So what does it all mean?" particularly useful, particularly the subsection, "Mfg. Goods and Crop Yield".
While this won't tell you how well you're doing compared to what a more efficiently skilled player would be doing in your stead it can indicate how well you're doing compared to the other, AI, civs in your game.
One other note, if you search YouTube, keyphrase: "civilization IV walkthrough", Sullla (Icscullla) and CF's own TheMeInTeam and have some good vids to watch. They may help get a sense of how fast/efficient/etc. one should be to play well on the higher levels. Vids by other posters tend to be, well...not so worth one's time.
BTW, I discovered I have a real knack for efficient worker management, compared to what I saw in the vids, which makes me feel hopeful I have something going for me.
Hope this helps. BTW, Sisiutil has two "Civ IV Strategy Guides for Beginners" be sure to read the updated for Warlord/BtS version 5.0 dated Oct. 17, 2011 (and not just the Vanilla CivIV version 2.0 of Dec.22, 2006).