I played 5 modern age deity games so far (4 pre-1.2, 1 post-) achieving quick culture victory (CV*) in all by T65 latest. No mementos or special civ / leader combos**, or much dependance on previous ages.
I am annoyed that CV is too consistent and virtually unchallenged by the AI as long as you follow this playbook. It makes other victory paths and ideologies completely irrelevant. After giving it 5 chances, I find the Modern age no longer satisfying given this strategy is pretty much guaranteed to work.
I have been voicing this since game launch in context of AI improvements (RQH AI mod). Devs made changes to CV in an early patch but it did not change the outcome. I am thus posting this with the hope that devs might take notice one day and make further changes to either the CV system or AI’s performance, so quick CV is not a given every time. Hopefully as more players use (or are already using) this strategy, word will spread and change will happen down the road.
In all 5 deity games:
Perhaps the devs will read this and conclude "this is what we want from the game, CV should always be winnable even at the highest difficulty setting the game can offer, as long as one 100% focuses on it". If that's the case, I won't like that answer because I am of the camp that believes the highest level difficulty of any video game should have a lower chance of winning (<50% max). But if that's their ultimate position, I will accept it and move on, and hopefully I will have done the community a service by posting this.
Enjoy!
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My deity CV playbook
This summary is self explanatory, key point being you only need 15 artifacts to win (= start world's fair wonder) and there are 33 up for grabs which is generous.
Long before it comes to that, in all 5 games I was able to grab 15 out of the 17 initial pool, without even having to bother with Antiquity age artifacts! Once you collect 15, slot them into museums, start world fair, sit back and hit end turn about 10-15 times.
8 Exploration artifacts: In all my 5 games I was able to grab 6 of these 8. The AI tries and does grab a few, but isn't as laser focused, thus giving human a huge advantage. I observed AI explorer behavior very closely and it is doing the right thing but 2-3 turns too slow, giving that advantage to human. (Eg in last game a dig site was revealed and AI had an explorer 3 tiles away, but it sat idle for a turn, allowing me to claim it). In short, key is to exploit AI's suboptimal explorer management. (My dream = devs read this an improve the AI!)
Even if you grab fewer, this means it'll delay victory a couple of turns as you will need to dip into the 16 Antiquity artifacts, but won't change the ultimate outcome.
5 wonder artifacts: These are guaranteed. The AI plays suboptimally and usually goes for these right away. Don't do that; focus all explorers you can afford on beating the AI to the 8 EXP artifacts. Dig the 5 wonder artifacts after that, while waiting to unlock Hegemony.
1st researcher: Once you or AI unlocks Hegemony, you get 4 free artifacts from being first to research. Key here is to have an explorer on each of the 4 continent research locations ready waiting before Hegemony is unlocked. Once unlocked, research is instant on that turn and you can slot 4 artifacts right away and build the world's fair.
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* Why CV? Because it’s the fastest way to win the game. I’ve been playing since Civ 1 and always go for the quickest victory path. Not here to discuss that - of course there are lots of play styles and many prefer other victories.
** Civ/leader choice doesn't really matter; some choices will make it even easier (eg those giving free artifacts) but this is totally doable without any special civ/leader
*** Even with silver more scarce post 1.2, this had negligable effect. Pre 1.2 I hoarded 10+ silver whereas my post 1.2 game I could only get 4, but negligable difference in # of turns. I use Moxl search tool which makes it easy to locate the silver. Also great for locating your explorers.
^ In my last game there was zero marble on the map, but this had negligable impact on the outcome.
^^ If you've come this far in the guide, end of game screenshots and further commentary here.
I am annoyed that CV is too consistent and virtually unchallenged by the AI as long as you follow this playbook. It makes other victory paths and ideologies completely irrelevant. After giving it 5 chances, I find the Modern age no longer satisfying given this strategy is pretty much guaranteed to work.
I have been voicing this since game launch in context of AI improvements (RQH AI mod). Devs made changes to CV in an early patch but it did not change the outcome. I am thus posting this with the hope that devs might take notice one day and make further changes to either the CV system or AI’s performance, so quick CV is not a given every time. Hopefully as more players use (or are already using) this strategy, word will spread and change will happen down the road.
In all 5 deity games:
- ~T50 = Hegemony unlocked, 15 artifacts collected, start world fair immediately
- WF takes ~15 turns, hit end turn ~15 times
- ~T65 = WIN
Perhaps the devs will read this and conclude "this is what we want from the game, CV should always be winnable even at the highest difficulty setting the game can offer, as long as one 100% focuses on it". If that's the case, I won't like that answer because I am of the camp that believes the highest level difficulty of any video game should have a lower chance of winning (<50% max). But if that's their ultimate position, I will accept it and move on, and hopefully I will have done the community a service by posting this.
Enjoy!
-----------
My deity CV playbook
- Max your settlement cap at end of Exploration (more towns = more gold) and make sure the entire map is revealed. Having settlements on as many of the 4 continents as possible helps, but is not mandatory.
- Save up to 3000 gold (if you can) entering Modern to get head a start on explorers.
- Starting Modern T1, ignore science altogether. Focus on gold and culture only. I choose Republic for the 20% culture boost.
- Don’t spend precious gold on anything other than explorers. Purchase explorers; don't build them otherwise takes forever. I buy 6-8 max.
- Completely ignore your civ's civics tree** and beeline Hegemony.
- Collect 15 artifacts. Once you or AI hits Hegemony, game is effectively won. Explorer management / pathing and buying them in closest settlements to dig sites is key to success here. Spend 95% of your brain energy on this. I summarize this in below table.
- Use influence to appease the AI - want peace in this age so you can trade for all silver*** on the map = discount on explorers. You also don't want any distractions. Let the AI fight each other to your amusement.
- Leave museums to end, have them ready by the time you have all 15 artifacts. Build them if possible so you don’t have to spend your gold on them, unless you have to or have gold to spare.
- You only need 1 high production city (usually capital) for Worlds Fair. Marble helps but doesn't matter ultimately. ^
- Don't need to a huge culture output relative to AI (I'm usually behind in culture vs the leading AIs and pathetic in science) but gold is paramount. IMO this is more of a gold victory (with culture as an enabler), thru converting gold > explorers > artifacts. ^^
This summary is self explanatory, key point being you only need 15 artifacts to win (= start world's fair wonder) and there are 33 up for grabs which is generous.
Long before it comes to that, in all 5 games I was able to grab 15 out of the 17 initial pool, without even having to bother with Antiquity age artifacts! Once you collect 15, slot them into museums, start world fair, sit back and hit end turn about 10-15 times.
8 Exploration artifacts: In all my 5 games I was able to grab 6 of these 8. The AI tries and does grab a few, but isn't as laser focused, thus giving human a huge advantage. I observed AI explorer behavior very closely and it is doing the right thing but 2-3 turns too slow, giving that advantage to human. (Eg in last game a dig site was revealed and AI had an explorer 3 tiles away, but it sat idle for a turn, allowing me to claim it). In short, key is to exploit AI's suboptimal explorer management. (My dream = devs read this an improve the AI!)
Even if you grab fewer, this means it'll delay victory a couple of turns as you will need to dip into the 16 Antiquity artifacts, but won't change the ultimate outcome.
5 wonder artifacts: These are guaranteed. The AI plays suboptimally and usually goes for these right away. Don't do that; focus all explorers you can afford on beating the AI to the 8 EXP artifacts. Dig the 5 wonder artifacts after that, while waiting to unlock Hegemony.
1st researcher: Once you or AI unlocks Hegemony, you get 4 free artifacts from being first to research. Key here is to have an explorer on each of the 4 continent research locations ready waiting before Hegemony is unlocked. Once unlocked, research is instant on that turn and you can slot 4 artifacts right away and build the world's fair.
------------
* Why CV? Because it’s the fastest way to win the game. I’ve been playing since Civ 1 and always go for the quickest victory path. Not here to discuss that - of course there are lots of play styles and many prefer other victories.
** Civ/leader choice doesn't really matter; some choices will make it even easier (eg those giving free artifacts) but this is totally doable without any special civ/leader
*** Even with silver more scarce post 1.2, this had negligable effect. Pre 1.2 I hoarded 10+ silver whereas my post 1.2 game I could only get 4, but negligable difference in # of turns. I use Moxl search tool which makes it easy to locate the silver. Also great for locating your explorers.
^ In my last game there was zero marble on the map, but this had negligable impact on the outcome.
^^ If you've come this far in the guide, end of game screenshots and further commentary here.
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