Condensed tips for beginners?

[Dratagh]

I'm new to this forum, surprise. I have played the Civ IV quite a long time. I just got the bts and warlord expansions and started playing them. The problem and this problem is driving me insane, is that no matter what I do or how I play the game I always end up with this shithead dan quayle score. Recently I have been reading these threads and getting really good tips for the game, but still the same thing. Last night I started playing with the egyptians and hoped to gain a culture victory, but no. So ANY MORE TIPS?

 

[mystyfly]

Your score increases if you win earlier and if you play on a higher difficulty. If you manage to beat a higher difficulty you'll see this in your score. Also, try other victories like Domination. When you win dom you have lots of land/cities/population which are good for your score.

 

[readit]

i've only played the game about 5 times now. on noble, i always start well in the hope of keeping it up to record a points win by 2050. but after most of the early wonders have been built, normally by me, the other civs catch up and the overtake me.

it's so tough to then catch them up and i often don't know which way to go about it. is there a guide to what gets you points? it's incredibly frustrating and it happens every time. by the rennaisance, i have no chance of catching up and therefore winning.

any tips?

thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Sisiutil]

i've only played the game about 5 times now. on noble, i always start well in the hope of keeping it up to record a points win by 2050. but after most of the early wonders have been built, normally by me, the other civs catch up and the overtake me.

it's so tough to then catch them up and i often don't know which way to go about it. is there a guide to what gets you points? it's incredibly frustrating and it happens every time. by the rennaisance, i have no chance of catching up and therefore winning.

any tips?

thanks a lot in advance.

Check the War Academy at this site, which includes articles by many regulars here, including your truly.

On another note, however, very few Civ IV aficionados play to a time/points victory. Other victory conditions are, in fact, easier to achieve, and your final overall score is higher the earlier you finish.You may get beaten by the AI to a space race or diplomatic victory if the game goes on that long. Always remember that you can still win the game even if you're behind other civs in points.

Also, don't let the overall score distract you. It's common to be behind the AI in points for much of the game. If you want to pull ahead by mid-game or thereabouts, the best way to do that is usually through war.

 

[rooban]

Hail fellow CivFanatics!

I've been playing BTS for the last several months and reading some good tips as well

I am now playing at Prince difficulty and the only on my last try I was able to win it (culturally). But the end score was 19k (the reason my real score being only 3k). So far my personal best is 37k (Noble difficulty, huge map size, random map, standard speed). Is there a formula that allows to calculate your final score based on your settings? Does the score differ from game speed, game ending time (the earlier the better?) or win type (Cultural, Domination etc)? Map size and difficulty level do play a major role of course.

AFAIK one should always aim for a population 20 in every city except the GP farm. But isn't it sometimes better to rather have a specialist than an extra pop? For instance, if the city is not purely specialized for Commerce or Production? In other words, if I decide to go for ~21-23 and build more farms to support a few specialists instead of just building cottages, watermills etc?

Can I raze a city (mine) at any random moment? Donating does not offer all cities. Right now I rush it to pop 2-3, start a war and leave it unprotected, then take it back

How useful is giving a siege unit a GG to promote it to 2 moves so it can keep up with the horse units?

Thanks a lot, I am sure more questions to come if you don't mind

 

[Sisiutil]

Hail fellow CivFanatics!

I've been playing BTS for the last several months and reading some good tips as well

I am now playing at Prince difficulty and the only on my last try I was able to win it (culturally). But the end score was 19k (the reason my real score being only 3k). So far my personal best is 37k (Noble difficulty, huge map size, random map, standard speed). Is there a formula that allows to calculate your final score based on your settings? Does the score differ from game speed, game ending time (the earlier the better?) or win type (Cultural, Domination etc)? Map size and difficulty level do play a major role of course.

AFAIK one should always aim for a population 20 in every city except the GP farm. But isn't it sometimes better to rather have a specialist than an extra pop? For instance, if the city is not purely specialized for Commerce or Production? In other words, if I decide to go for ~21-23 and build more farms to support a few specialists instead of just building cottages, watermills etc?

Can I raze a city (mine) at any random moment? Donating does not offer all cities. Right now I rush it to pop 2-3, start a war and leave it unprotected, then take it back

How useful is giving a siege unit a GG to promote it to 2 moves so it can keep up with the horse units?

Thanks a lot, I am sure more questions to come if you don't mind

• I don't know how the score is calculated, but the biggest factor is definitely how early you finish, followed by your population size.
• Your cities will only be capable of growing to full size quite late in the game when the happiness and health caps are no longer limiting them. For most of the game, your cities will be smaller, so growing their pop size is not as much of an issue as how the city is specialized.
• No, you can't raze one of your own cities. Try planning ahead so you don't found any where they're not supposed to be. Dot-mapping may help.
• Not very. Mounted units aren't very good at capturing cities, which is the main use of a siege unit. Melee units and gunpowder units are the city nabbers, and they move at the same speed as siege weapons. Use your mounted units for scouting, pillaging, active defense, stack protection, and so on--but not for attacking cities.
• Keep the questions coming. That's what this forum is for!

And welcome to CFC!

 

[phoinix]

Hello to all CIV fanatics!

I've been playing CIV for a couple weeks now, on Noble difficulty mostly. Usually I play Islands huge maps Standard speed but i'm really having difficulty wining. Most of the time I'm in an island with a lot of tundra, and plains. I try to set up a decent commerce city but it never grows to a good size because of the lack of food. Furthermore I get really scattered hills so almost all of my cities are hybrids (commerce-production). As a result I'm getting low research-commerce.

What are your advices about sea maps? Early attacks are impossible and when Galleons are available usually the enemy has 10 or more guarded cities, and getting reinforcements there in time is a bit difficult. What about techs? The AI seems to spread on every little tiny island it can get and that makes it difficult to eliminate. Also sometime in the game it says "You declared war on X" but I didn't do anything! I checked if my units entered some newly expanded borders by accident but no. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Caspar_Esq.]

Hi All

Can anyone tell me - what things can I do to get a city to culture flip?

I know about 'culture bombing'

Do missionaries make a big difference?

Would starting a revolution or fermenting unhappiness using a spy help at alll?
Oh and you can spread culture with a spy is that effective?

Any other things?

Ta

 

[Sisiutil]

Hi All

Can anyone tell me - what things can I do to get a city to culture flip?

I know about 'culture bombing'

Do missionaries make a big difference?

Would starting a revolution or fermenting unhappiness using a spy help at alll?
Oh and you can spread culture with a spy is that effective?

Any other things?

Ta

Basically, load up your city nearest the target with culture. Settle Great Artists there (more effective in the long run than a culture bomb), build culture-producing (temples, libraries, etc.) and culture-multiplying (wonders, "cathedrals", Hermitage, Globe Theatre, etc.) buildings , run artist specialists, Free Speech...

What I find more valuable than flipping a city is flipping nearby tiles. I can sometimes gain resources that way and also increase my "defensive zone" in case of invasion.

 

[mystyfly]

The only way to stop a city from culture flipping is to load many units inside it. If you find the city you want to filp is full of units, you need to get them away from there. Bribe someone against you target. The AI hopefully moves those units out of this city. However I never tried that, so enjoy with caution...

 

[fizbankovi]

i feel i spend most of the game selecting new buildings, placeing the citizens back to the spots where they are meant to, and giving workers orders. Any tips how to help this?

-i generaly have 1-2 workers on "build trade network" Those arent actualy that stupid.
-In rare ocasions you can put something in the build que of a city which wont actualy need micromanaging untill both things are built.
-If i can i use a CE economy, cos the AI uses your citizens better that way.
-I fall asleep around 1400A.D where turns start takeing FOREVER.

 

[fizbankovi]

i cannot seem to understand how hammer overflow translates to gold. Which multipliers are added? if i build wall with stone do iget 2x money from overflow etc? any good articles about this out there. Search for hammer overflow gave my like 1000 threads, no answers...

 

[Sisiutil]

i feel i spend most of the game selecting new buildings, placeing the citizens back to the spots where they are meant to, and giving workers orders. Any tips how to help this?

-i generaly have 1-2 workers on "build trade network" Those arent actualy that stupid.
-In rare ocasions you can put something in the build que of a city which wont actualy need micromanaging untill both things are built.
-If i can i use a CE economy, cos the AI uses your citizens better that way.
-I fall asleep around 1400A.D where turns start takeing FOREVER.

Well, frankly, this is a game that involves a certain amount of micro-management. There are automation options, but most players prefer not to use them, as they can make better decisions on their own.

I do automate Workers in the late game sometimes to complete my trade (railway) network, but I have the "leave existing improvements" and "automated workers don't chop forests" settings on. I never use the city governor, not even for "prevent growth", as I often forget to turn it off.

I actually find the mid to late game speeds up; if things have gone well, your build times and research times have accelerated considerably. One way to keep interest, I find, is to set certain goals, such as winning the race to a tech that gives you a free Great Person, or the classic, building a world wonder, to give you mini-goals (besides just winning the game) to keep you focused.

i cannot seem to understand how hammer overflow translates to gold. Which multipliers are added? if i build wall with stone do iget 2x money from overflow etc? any good articles about this out there. Search for hammer overflow gave my like 1000 threads, no answers...

Hammer overflow becomes more hammers, not gold. The overflow hammers go towards the next build. The only time hammers become gold is when you start a wonder in a city but don't finish it. I can't remember what the ratio is, but I'm sure someone else who frequents this thread can provide it.

 

[qwertz]

Hammer overflow becomes more hammers, not gold. The overflow hammers go towards the next build. The only time hammers become gold is when you start a wonder in a city but don't finish it. I can't remember what the ratio is, but I'm sure someone else who frequents this thread can provide it.

Also if the overfolw is greater than the base hammers, the overflow of the overflow is converted to gold

For a bit more clarification:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=218272

 

[Incan Emperor]

This is absolutely off topic but since the title of the thread says "Condensed Tips for Beginners" I didnt thought there would be an ongoing debate and I just feel like I have to say this.

Specialize your cities, not your economy; allow enough flexibility so that you can achieve optimum output from each individual city.

IE: Cottage your Capital on an SE if running Bureacracy.

Ex2: Farm your Gpt city on a CE, building Banks, Markets, Grocers and WS wont yield much if you work cottages and run a high science slider.

 

[black3car]

I'm a noob. I'm in the middle of my 4th game of CIV IV BTS. It is the only flavor I have ever played and only 4 times so far. I love it, but was wondering what you veterans had to say about screen options. As far as noobness goes, what would be the best options to have turned on as far as "seeing" everything that is available to see on the map. What information is most important to have on the map as far as a beginner level goes. Do I want to see resources, do I want to see other civ's moves etc. I have played around with the settings some and I can make the map look very busy or practically bare.

I have a space victory on chieftain but have moved up one level and I think I need to be on my toes more but really don't know for sure what information is most important to me as far as seeing it on the map.

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[phoinix]

As far as noobness goes, what would be the best options to have turned on as far as "seeing" everything that is available to see on the map. What information is most important to have on the map as far as a beginner level goes. Do I want to see resources, do I want to see other civ's moves etc.

I'm usually playing on the noble difficulty and i turn on the grid, the option that shows resources (it really helps cause sometimes you can miss resources) and the other option that shows what each tile produces (i use it to decide city placement and improvements on each tile). It really is up to you, whatever you find comfortable

 

[mystyfly]

I usually have ctrl-R on, those Ressource-bubbles.

When I decide on where to place my cities, I also use:
alt-f for satellite camera (flying camera doesn't seem to work)
ctrl-t for tile grid to see the city's bfc better. I don't use it normally as I prefer those 'dynamic' changes from a plains to a grassland tile
ctrl-b for bare map. You don't see units and city names. Also, all the tiles you've ever seen (all those that are not completely black) are as bright as if you're having a unit near. This helps very much to spot nice sites.

I don't use ctrl-y to see the tile's yield. This is somewhat redunant for me, except when I check those sea tiles. I'm not that familiar with their yields as with the land-tiles. Seeing the yield on every tile is ugly

 

[fizbankovi]

Also if the overfolw is greater than the base hammers, the overflow of the overflow is converted to gold

For a bit more clarification:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=218272

many thanks! thats what i meant!

 

[Sisiutil]

Here's one from a recent game of mine: pillage selectively.

I was axe-rushing Shaka (like Monty, it's the only thing to do with him when he's a neighbour). He had no copper, but he had horses and iron. I pillaged his iron... but left the horses alone.

Why? Because I wanted him to build Chariots rather than Archers. I had Spearmen to handle the Chariots in the field, and taking cities from Chariots is a lot easier than taking them from Archers--they can't fortify and don't receive defensive bonuses.