Game speeds

[CrazyCanuck87]

When I played my first game of Civ4, I played on normal speed, simply because it was the default. Not seeing any reason to change, I've stuck with it ever since. With the exception of a few MP games at quick, and one attempt at SP on marathon out of curiosity (which I gave up very quickly because of the slow progress relative to normal speed) I have pretty much never used any other speed. I've noticed that a lot of people who post on these boards use "abnormal" speed settings. Why? Besides the different build and research times, what are the effects on gameplay? I've heard that slower speeds benefit the human, but why is this? I'm sure I could get used to a different speed after a few games, but I'd like to have an idea what to expect first.

Thanks!

 

[MrCynical]

The slower speeds generally allow more use of each unit type before it goes obsolete (unit production isn't slower as much as everything else in the game, and essentially they get to the frontline faster). This tends to favour warfare, since on Marathon you could have time to axe rush multiple civs, whereas on Quick the axes are going out of date by the time they get to the frontline. Since the AI is at its least competant when it comes to warfare, this makes the slower speeds an advantage for the human player.

 

[The Flame]

Slower speeds, in adition to avoiding early unit obsoletion (if that is even a word), mainly allow you to use larger maps more effectively. You can control more cities, have larger battles with more units (which can be very cool), have enough space for lots of civs, and enjoy the full scope of the game. If you feel more comfortable on normal speed, just go with it. Personally I enjoy larger maps. the ideal settings for me are Marathon speed/Large map (huge maps, even on this speed, can get quite overwhelming unless you have lots of civs).