Early Game Dont's

[svv]

Just starting on Civ4, and I find I'm making a lot of mistakes in the early games. So, I'm compiling a list of early game dont's. I'd appreciate any additions or disagreements with the list:

- When building early workers and settlers, don't forget to change the squares being worked to production squares instead of food squares.
- Don't forget to research wheel and bronze working ASAP so your early workers can do what they need to do.
- Don't send your settlers/workers off away from your initial city without a warrior escort to protect them from barbarians/animals.
- Don't chop forests when building something other than settlers and workers; it's better to chop when you're building something that doesn't allow population growth, to get it done faster.
- Don't forget to build a granary before you start on your first wonder, so your population can grow faster while the wonder's being built.
- Don't waste your workers' time building improvements you won't use for a while.

 

[Chunkylover77]

I find that if I have a really good food square that it is just as good as a production square early in the game. The extra food just goes towards the production. Am I wrong?

 

[a4phantom]

I find that if I have a really good food square that it is just as good as a production square early in the game. The extra food just goes towards the production. Am I wrong?

You're right when it comes to building workers and settlers, the food that isn't going towards growth is instead being added to production. The point about chopping forests only for settlers and workers is likewise strange because the food raised in this period is not wasted but added to the settler or worker production.

 

[Zophos]

- When building early workers and settlers, don't forget to change the squares being worked to production squares instead of food squares.

Actually, you want to work the tiles that give the highest hammer+food total, since BOTH contribute to building settlers and workers. Working an improved fish tile is GREAT for building settlers, even though it doesn't give any hammers at all. If two tiles tie, choose the one with the higher commerce (coins).

- Don't forget to research wheel and bronze working ASAP so your early workers can do what they need to do.

I would say instead, "Don't build a worker unless he'll have something useful to do." The best tech to get first could be agriculture or hunting, depending on what resources you have nearby, and wheel may not be needed right away. Also remember that you can usually research a tech or two WHILE building that first worker, or as he's building his first improvement(s).

- Don't send your settlers/workers off away from your initial city without a warrior escort to protect them from barbarians/animals.

Agree.

- Don't chop forests when building something other than settlers and workers; it's better to chop when you're building something that doesn't allow population growth, to get it done faster.

It can often be worthwhile to chop for wonders, too. Also keep in mind that early chops (pre-Mathematics) waste some of the potential hammers in those trees.

- Don't forget to build a granary before you start on your first wonder, so your population can grow faster while the wonder's being built.

Perhaps. Sometimes you'll build a wonder (e.g. Stonehenge) before you even have Pottery. A Granary is VERY important to have before you get into heavy whipping, though, since you want to grow your population back ASAP.

- Don't waste your workers' time building improvements you won't use for a while.

Mostly agree. If you can build an improvement that will be worked, do that first. If can't, go ahead and pre-improve your cities for future growth, or just flexibility.

I would also add the following:

• DON'T overexpand too early - maintenance costs can kill a young empire
• DON'T neglect your military - the Pyramids won't help you defeat the barb axemen when they come knocking.
• DON'T automate anything, especially workers. (Well, you can often let the governor choose which tiles to work, but not always)

 

[RobertTheBruce]

You're right when it comes to building workers and settlers, the food that isn't going towards growth is instead being added to production. The point about chopping forests only for settlers and workers is likewise strange because the food raised in this period is not wasted but added to the settler or worker production.

The split production strategy for a settler or worker doesn't prevent food from being wasted, it tries to grow initial cities quickly while producing a settler. 'Population is everything' is a very effective strategy in CIV.

Normally excess food is converted hammers at 1:1 while building a settler. By switching the queue between a worker/settler and something else, it is possible to build that unit from chopped trees while producing say an escort warrior and growing with the hammers and food from your tiles. An early city often has a number of good (4 food, production and commerce sum) tiles to work and benefits from rapid growth. The queue micromanagement delays the settler/worker production slightly but allows a small city to grow at the same time.

With the reduction of hammers per chop in v1.61 this strategy has been reduced, it takes too many trees now to purely chop settlers. If you live micromanagement, it still is a good tool.

 

[Petrucci]

Something I still do, is waste that first turn researching something. So I would add,

~Don't forget to manually queue up your first tech before ending your first turn!

 

[roadie]

Something I still do, is waste that first turn researching something. So I would add,

~Don't forget to manually queue up your first tech before ending your first turn!

Yeah, it's amazing that the game tries to cheat you out of your first turn!

 

[Beamup]

Something I still do, is waste that first turn researching something. So I would add,

~Don't forget to manually queue up your first tech before ending your first turn!

Unnecessary. Unlike Civ3, you'll get the first turn beakers even if you wait for it to prompt you.

 

[Cervus]

Perhaps the following tips might be of some use too:

- From the very first turns do your best to define your strategy: military (if you are looking for an early rush or not), building (if you are planning to build as many early cities as possible or looking for an early wonder), research (an early religion, Alphabet, war technologies or something else).

- If you have a scout, do not waste a turn and send it to explore the surroundings and search bonus huts.

- Explore some territory before your first settler has been built, so you can send it to the best location for the second city right away.

 

[Petrucci]

Unnecessary. Unlike Civ3, you'll get the first turn beakers even if you wait for it to prompt you.

Oh hey alright! Learn something new everyday.

 

[theos]

Just starting on Civ4, and I find I'm making a lot of mistakes in the early games. So, I'm compiling a list of early game dont's. I'd appreciate any additions or disagreements with the list:

I understand you're just starting out, but I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on all of your points below. I think you'll find that it's quite difficult to boil Civ4 down into simple lists of DOs and DON'Ts - almost every DO or DON'T will have an exception. I hardly consider myself an expert player so take the comments below with a pinch of salt.

- When building early workers and settlers, don't forget to change the squares being worked to production squares instead of food squares.

Food contributes to settler/worker production. Choose plots with the highest combined food plus production.

- Don't forget to research wheel and bronze working ASAP so your early workers can do what they need to do.

Bronze Working is very useful early for forest chopping and slavery. Wheel gives you only roads which are only really useful early on for connecting up resources. Much more useful than Wheel are Agriculture and Mining for giving your workers something to do, or use Wheel to get to Pottery for cottages.

- Don't send your settlers/workers off away from your initial city without a warrior escort to protect them from barbarians/animals.

Having a warrior/settler moving as a group through unknown lands is very slow. Settlers move 2 squares/turn and warriors only move 1 square/turn. Sometimes it's worth the risk of sending out a lone settler to get a city founded 5 turns earlier. A warrior already near the settler's destination with good visibility means your settler is vulnerable for fewer turns (maybe 3 fewer) since barbs/animals won't spawn in visible tiles.

- Don't chop forests when building something other than settlers and workers; it's better to chop when you're building something that doesn't allow population growth, to get it done faster.

I'm afraid that this doesn't make any sense to me. If you're concerned about the lack of population growth then you can use the queue switch method described elsewhere. Otherwise forest chopping is used to accelerate your city's start whatever you're building (though early on this is typically workers and settlers, but in later cities it might be a library or granary), to race to a wonder or quickly build something as soon as a new tech allows it.

- Don't forget to build a granary before you start on your first wonder, so your population can grow faster while the wonder's being built.

Either you're building a very early wonder (in which case you probably don't have time, or possible even the tech, to build a granary) or you're building it mainly with forest chops (in which case population is immaterial) or you're building it with hammers (in which case you should be maximizing hammers at the expense of food and this city won't be growing). In none of the above cases does a granary seem particularly useful.

- Don't waste your workers' time building improvements you won't use for a while.

Prioritize improvements. Build those you'll use immediately now and only when those are done, build improvements you'll only use later. I often find myself (with 2 workers) having built all necessary improvements quite quickly and so build some extra improvements to cater for future growth.

I think early game tips might be a better aim than a list of DON'Ts - I like Cervus's tips. To these I'd add:

• Try to get a worker as soon as possible to start improving your tiles.
• Think carefully about your early research. Bronze Working is often a good early tech to get, but if you've got some food resources in your border, you might go for Fishing, Agriculture or Animal Husbandry first.
• The best early wonders are the Pyramids and the Oracle. The Oracle is relatively easy to build and a human player can often beat the computer players to it and should have a good expensive tech available to learn (such as Civil Service).

 

[shivute]

Just starting on Civ4, and I find I'm making a lot of mistakes in the early games. So, I'm compiling a list of early game dont's. I'd appreciate any additions or disagreements with the list:

- When building early workers and settlers, don't forget to change the squares being worked to production squares instead of food squares.
- Don't forget to research wheel and bronze working ASAP so your early workers can do what they need to do.
- Don't send your settlers/workers off away from your initial city without a warrior escort to protect them from barbarians/animals.
- Don't chop forests when building something other than settlers and workers; it's better to chop when you're building something that doesn't allow population growth, to get it done faster.
- Don't forget to build a granary before you start on your first wonder, so your population can grow faster while the wonder's being built.
- Don't waste your workers' time building improvements you won't use for a while.

Sorry, I think these are rubbish apart from the last one.

1. It doesn't matter, just ensure that your best tiles are worked - most food or production.
2. Research first what you need depending on surrounding resources. If on a river don't need a road to get the resource to your city. Sometimes other techs are better than BW - depends on location.
3. Better than a warrior or 2 warriors would be better
4. Guff. Get those early wonders chopped!
5. Total Guff. Building a granary or not depends on the cities requirements not on whether you are building a wonder, delay too long in building stonehenge or the oracle and the AI builds them 1st.
6. I agree with this

New ones
1. Don't ignore your cities, look in on them when big cross is gained and when population increases - ensure the tiles you want to be worked are being worked.
2. Don't declare war if you don't have a decent army, apart from the start when you pinch workers.
3. Don't sacrifice units needlessly
4. Don't laugh at Mansa's tech level. He will catch you up (on higher levels anyway)
5. Don't ignore Monty as a guy with a funny hat. He normally has loads of units and likes to use them.
6. Don't give up if the current game is too hard, you will learn from it. The learning curve is higher the higher the level you are playing on.
7. Don't build the chicken pizza
8. Don't build monuments if you are going to try for stonehenge
9. Don't build explorers
10. Don't cry if iron is popped under one of your cities! I really hate when this happens.


Theres a few, but as this is a public forum where everyone has their own views, there are bound to be people who disagree.

 

[GoldenWheels]

- Don't send your settlers/workers off away from your initial city without a warrior escort to protect them from barbarians/animals.

Anytime I play a civ with a scout, all I do is double back your scout along the intended settler path to clear out the fog. If the coast is clear, settlers are fast enough to get to that new spot and drop in.

Hell, sometimes i'll even take the chance and use a worker to clear the fog. Reward of not waiting another 5-8 turns for an escort>risk of losing a unit IMO.

 

[Beamup]

Either you're building a very early wonder (in which case you probably don't have time, or possible even the tech, to build a granary) or you're building it mainly with forest chops (in which case population is immaterial) or you're building it with hammers (in which case you should be maximizing hammers at the expense of food and this city won't be growing). In none of the above cases does a granary seem particularly useful.

Or you're building it with whip overflow, in which case the Granary is critical.

 

[Zophos]

10. Don't cry if iron is popped under one of your cities! I really hate when this happens.

Why would it be bad to have un-pillageable iron? Granted, you lose the potential hpt from improving it with a mine, but you still have the use of the resource.

 

[shivute]

Why would it be bad to have un-pillageable iron? Granted, you lose the potential hpt from improving it with a mine, but you still have the use of the resource.

The Ai isn't good enough to pillage my resources - Only useful at start of game with those pesky barbs swarming about.

 

[wgauld]

you raise some good points which i will try to use, I am still struggling with Civ IV its lask of soul drives me back to civ III

 

[Cam_H]

9. Don't build explorers

... unless you can provide them with the Medic promotion out of the blocks. Medic Explorers are cheap and allows 'fighting' units to focus on 'fighting' promotions.

 

[phl]

Don't over expand, research what helps you for the moment, you don't need BW if you don't have an enemy right beside you (if you don't want to chop rush, which I consider legimet cheating because of my knowlidge the AI dosen't use it (it really depends of your goal of the game, if you want to win ASAP or as me play the game til the bitter end with a time or spacerace victory)). Letting yourself behind in tech is your worst enemy because when the AI starts traiding with each other while you are a few techs behind theres rearly no turning back if you don't realise it in good time and can take countermeasures.

Remember with choprushing the onlyone you cheat is yourself (if it's as I think, please correct me someone if i'm wrong).

Yeah I know I sound like your mom but this is how i play it.

 

[a4phantom]

Having a warrior/settler moving as a group through unknown lands is very slow. Settlers move 2 squares/turn and warriors only move 1 square/turn. Sometimes it's worth the risk of sending out a lone settler to get a city founded 5 turns earlier. A warrior already near the settler's destination with good visibility means your settler is vulnerable for fewer turns (maybe 3 fewer) since barbs/animals won't spawn in visible tiles.

Every time I tried sending a settler off alone I lost it to a barb or animal but at the very least preposition the warrior at the edge of your visibility and have the settler meet him there.