Emporer help please

[Berkswolf]

Hi guys, first post for me, but have been lurking and learning for a while.

My problem is with Emprorer level. Basicly, I just can't seem to crack it. I usually play Elizabeth 1st, I like the traits she has, on a Pangea map normal size and speed. This is on "vanilla" Civ4. I normally start of pretty well, holding my own with IA. keeping pace with all the other civs by trading technologies,perhaps having a short war to grab a the odd city, but then, in a VERY short space of time I find myself about 4 techs behind 3 of the other civs. And its the same techs for each civ, as though they have all suddenly got the same 4 techs at the same time. The other civs I match or better, but can never catch up with the leading 2-3 Civs. I have tried invading the civs that I equal, or better in weapons and technologies, but never can get enough land for a domination victory, and In the meantime one of the other civs will complete the space race.

SO...... any tips or advice gratefully recived. Best starting strategies. What techs to go for first. (I know this is heavily dependant on city location) Best Wonders Best order to "grow" wariors/settlers/workers. Would I do better playing Warlords or BtS? Any tips at all really.


Thanks in advace.

 

[helemaalnicks]

Hi,

I would start with playing a random civ. By trying to leverage traits you never played you'll often learn new strategies.

Best wonders: great lib., great lighthouse, sistine chapel, pentagon, dunno, rest of ancient at least is pretty meh.

Start with a worker mostly, landlocked at least. Otherwise a WB is often best.

 

[Gumbolt]

Hi guys, first post for me, but have been lurking and learning for a while.

My problem is with Emprorer level. Basicly, I just can't seem to crack it. I usually play Elizabeth 1st, I like the traits she has, on a Pangea map normal size and speed. This is on "vanilla" Civ4. I normally start of pretty well, holding my own with IA. keeping pace with all the other civs by trading technologies,perhaps having a short war to grab a the odd city, but then, in a VERY short space of time I find myself about 4 techs behind 3 of the other civs. And its the same techs for each civ, as though they have all suddenly got the same 4 techs at the same time. The other civs I match or better, but can never catch up with the leading 2-3 Civs. I have tried invading the civs that I equal, or better in weapons and technologies, but never can get enough land for a domination victory, and In the meantime one of the other civs will complete the space race.

SO...... any tips or advice gratefully recived. Best starting strategies. What techs to go for first. (I know this is heavily dependant on city location) Best Wonders Best order to "grow" wariors/settlers/workers. Would I do better playing Warlords or BtS? Any tips at all really.


Thanks in advace.

My advice is upload a save around 1ad for people to give advice on. In terms of being able to tech trade. Go for techs like asthetics which the Ai do not trade.

if you build the oracle and have writing you can often get codes of law to trade wit the Ai.

A lot of people use a good gp farm and scientists to bulb their way to liberalism. That or building the mids and using representation approach with specialists.

Hard to really advise without a save to look at.

 

[JammerUno]

Pangea is significantly harder than continents, so maybe try one of those.

 

[Sleepless]

I haven't played plain CIV for a long while but some thoughts. You said some of the top civs have 3 or 4 techs on you. They've probably traded them around between each other so what could you learn which will enable you to join the party?

Bulb philosophy is usually a good one. Liz can get plenty of GPs. Use 2 on Education will normally get you a lot of techs as well. If its later steel/elec/rr are usually good for trade as well. Be wary of trading for the little techs as the dreaded WFYBTA (we fear your becoming to advanced) can set in. Always annoying when there more advanced than you.

 

[RRRaskolnikov]

Learning emperor is the goal of this: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=314555.

Cheers

 

[pigswill]

OP is playing vanilla. Is there enough interest to run an emperor cookbook type game playing vanilla rather than BtS?

 

[shyuhe]

Emperor on vanilla is harder than BtS if you don't kill it early. It techs a lot faster and loves to insta-upgrades to rifles (which is brutal). And it'll hit space around the 1800's I think. It is more vulnerable to early rushes though.

 

[Berkswolf]

I haven't played plain CIV for a long while but some thoughts. You said some of the top civs have 3 or 4 techs on you. They've probably traded them around between each other so what could you learn which will enable you to join the party?

Bulb philosophy is usually a good one. Liz can get plenty of GPs. Use 2 on Education will normally get you a lot of techs as well. If its later steel/elec/rr are usually good for trade as well. Be wary of trading for the little techs as the dreaded WFYBTA (we fear your becoming to advanced) can set in. Always annoying when there more advanced than you.

Indeed, that is one of my major problems, other civs won't trade with me Maybe I will backtrack a few years and be much more selective in what I trade early doors if this causes problems later on. I seldom research any of the early religious civs, prefering to go for other techs and trade them for two or three minor ones later. Perhaps I should just leave them untill they only take a single turn to reasearch and then go for them rather than trade? Will it help if I just trade with say one other civ early on? And save one or two other civs for later trades?

Thanks for everyones input. I shall now have a good look at that link in RRRaskolnikov reply, and consider playing on Continents. I thought Pangea would have ben easier, as less need to build an early navy? But clearly I need to reconsider.

 

[Sisiutil]

Hi,

I would start with playing a random civ. By trying to leverage traits you never played you'll often learn new strategies.

Best wonders: great lib., great lighthouse, sistine chapel, pentagon, dunno, rest of ancient at least is pretty meh.

With all due respect, this advice doesn't make sense for someone attempting a new difficulty level.

First off, you'll probably feel more comfortable playing with a leader you're used to. You're not trying to learn any daring new strategies; it's difficult enough adapting tried and true ones to the new challenges of the level. Try out unfamiliar civs and leaders once you gain a certain amount of comfort with the difficulty level.

Second, on a new level, wonders are a distraction that are best avoided completely in your first few games. The AI will probably beat you to the ones you were used to pursuing. Furthermore, any wonders you choose to build have to fit into your overall strategy. Do NOT build a wonder because it's shiny and cool; build it because its benefits will help you win. The Sistine Chapel is rarely worthwhile unless you're going after a cultural victory, for example; the Pentagon is really only worth it for domination or conquest wins; the Great Lighthouse is only worth while if you will have several coastal cities (and you're not isolated); and so on.

Back to the OP: as others above have said, I highly recommend posting a save (or several) from a typical game in a new thread and asking for advice. This would give us some specifics to comment on.

Pangaea can be a tough map (unless you play as Rome ). I rather like archipelago with low sea levels and snaky continents for a new difficulty level: lots of land, but with plenty of choke points to avoid being attacked on several broad fronts. An early navy is not usually necessary, and the expense of building a handful of triremes won't break the bank.

A lack of available tech trade options may indicate diplomatic issues, if no one is friendly enough to trade with you. Or it may be that you are pursuing techs the AI also goes after. Aesthetics and Metal Casting are good early techs to pursue as trade bait.