Cultural Win on Immortal / Diety

[nemke]

I used to be able to an Immortal Cultural victory no problem in Vanilla.
I also won on Diety with Persia once.
After the G&K I am unable to win even on Immortal. I have adjusted my strategy quite a bit. Using India now for extra happiness and going tall (2 cities max). Playing on a standard map with small islands (less aggressive AIs on islands map).

Not sure if I need to adjust my strategy further?

Rushing Oracle, then Terracotta, then Sistine, the the Louvre.
Last game I got them all and also was able to ally all of the cultural city states for the entire game. I was generating about 450 culture per turn at the end (not even close to 600 - 650 I generated in vanilla). Happiness was obviously very high and pretty much a constant golden age.

I went Tradition, Piety, Patronage opener, Freedom, and then finished with Commerce.

Was 1 social policy behind from winning (on immortal). Obviously I am not generating enough culture since playing on quick speed I am still not winning past turn 250.

 

[Tabarnak]

If you want to cheat a bit you can reroll until you get a start in desert and aim for Petra. A 2 cities(nice cap combined with Petra in 2nd city) approach is probably the ''safier'' of all them. But if by any chances you can get a 3rd and/or a 4th city on riversided spots too(with appropriated luxs and ressources), well go for it.

An archeology beeline is needed. Try to build Oxford for this tech for better results. If you go with 3/4 cities, get Reformation from Liberty first. If not get 10% reduction from Piety. As soon as you hit industrial you should fill Freedom. 600 cpt isn't enough. Try to reach at least 900. Pretty doable with 3 cities. Take cathedrals and fill gr. art. as soon as you can. Try to get Oracle and Chichen Itza. Try to be under a very long golden age about at least 100 turns before you end the game. Expect a sub 280 turns win to ensure victory on immortal.

 

[glory7]

Tabarnak wrote a nice guide. I also recommend you to play and read reports for gotm culture games. From my experience, 2 cities with 450 culture ... is just too low. You should aim to get industrial about t150-160 (normal speed) with oxfording archaelogy and fill artist slots asap (5 total). Of course you need to ally all culture CS.

You may miss some important wonders (alhambra, for example) at immortal level, but you should aim for at least 900 cpt for 2 cities. For example, in recent gotm (emperor level) I hit 900 cpt in the end with 1 city. From deity games (you cannot get most of wonders so it slows down a lot), I found that I could win with 2 cities at t190-200 quick speed, if other AIs won't launch spaceship before that.

 

[nemke]

Thanks for the tips guys. I will try that.

I forgot to mention that I am filling the artist slots immediately as soon as they are available.

 

[sufficiency]

Immortal CV is really not that hard. 1~3 cities, Tradition start, focus on (in no particular order) Petra, Oracle, Terracotta, Sistine, Louvre, Porcelain, Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, Cristo Redentor, Sydney Opera House (plus w/e filler wonders you might want to get for some extra CPT with Freedom - Constitution)... and wait. It's not too hard to do on a Pangaea map. Generally speaking, so long as no one becomes a runaway you should be fine.

Deity CV on Pangaea is a completely different beast.

IMO, the easiest CV civ is Korea, because you basically get Secularism for free from UA and the science boost is very significant. India, Byzantium, Ethiopia, the Celts, the Aztecs, the Dutch are also pretty decent, either due to growth bonuses or religion bonuses (run World Church + IP/RT when feasible).

I forgot to mention that I am filling the artist slots immediately as soon as they are available.

I don't think that's terribly important. Culture doesn't snowball your empire like science does, so there is no need to staff artists slots ASAP. If you think growing is more worthwhile, just grow.

 

[Tabarnak]

Yeah entire Tradition first for growth then Liberty or Piety depending of choices.

I don't think that's terribly important. Culture doesn't snowball your empire like science does, so there is no need to staff artists slots ASAP. If you think growing is more worthwhile, just grow.

I like to fill gr. art. immediately but i often halt the progression until i get my 1st gp because i want a gs first of all so i will try to make a double spawn(both gs and ga) for the first step.

When you have your 1st gs it's not obligatory to continue filling gs points. Some RAs are enough to reach Radio in time. If no RAs are available it means that your relations are bad and you should warry a bit more and self produce beakers!

 

[nemke]

I always have trouble reaching the late wonders because of my poor population with two cities. I may try another civ (like Korea) to see if this helps.

Mind you, going tall with India is pretty easy since you generate tons of happiness. Also, with Piety the extra happiness = extra culture as well. Is Korea worth the trade off?