Equalizing immortal starts for a Noble player

[tlhingan]

I enjoy playing most maps posted on here, but as someone who plays at Monarch only on a good day

Spoiler CGQ's recent Russia/Catherine map :

I got wrecked on this one despite only playing on Noble because I didn't even get to the copper

If I want to be on equal footing with AIs when the map started at Immortal, do I give myself a few techs, a worker, etc?

 

[pmarc]

I enjoy playing most maps posted on here, but as someone who plays at Monarch only on a good day

Spoiler CGQ's recent Russia/Catherine map :

I got wrecked on this one despite only playing on Noble because I didn't even get to the copper

If I want to be on equal footing with AIs when the map started at Immortal, do I give myself a few techs, a worker, etc?

The first thing would be to open worldbuilder on the map (Ctrl + W on windows), save it as a worldbuilder save, then you can play it at any difficulty (zoom in all the way before opening worldbuilder to avoid spoiling the map).

It won't change however starting units/techs, if I remember well. Those are listed here: https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Difficulty_level_(Civ4). So for example on immortal the AI starts with Agriculture, Hunting and Archery. The AI also starts with 3 archers ("iAIStartingDefenseUnits"), 2 workers and a scout.

 

[tlhingan]

I did make the worldbuilder save, play it on Noble, but didn't give myself any techs/units to keep me on equal footing.

 

[Gumbolt]

On immortal they start with 3-4 techs. Usually a worker and a few archers. However on immortal they get other bonuses on research. So techs for the human player require more beakers than they do on monarch. You will never truly equalise the match up.

They may start with workers but the AI at times will do odd things with workers. If they have a lot of forest sometimes the worker will just sit in their capital doing nothing.

Worker stealing on immortal has more value given the AI all start with one.

Try posting a save for advice and see if we can help you beat immortal without gifting yourself techs and units.