[R&F] Having Problems with Last era Dark Age

[LethalLeigh]

I am have trouble avoiding a Dark Age in the last Era, which means I am in a Dark Age for the rest of the game.
I like to play long games, and by the time I get to the information Era all wonders are built and there is almost nothing left to give me Era score other then National Park.

I know National Parks gives a lot of era Score, but is there anything else I can do to eran late game Era score? Anyone able to help me on this one?

 

[Zdarg]

Wars.
Killing enemy unit gives score relatively often.

 

[Tech Osen]

Districts with high adjacency scores also score well.

 

[Furycrab]

Districts with high adjacency scores also score well.

Isn't that a one time thing for each district type?

Happened to me once, game was basically over so it didn't really matter, but the prospect of having permanent low loyalty pressure wasn't very fun. You basically need to try and pace your Era score, and try to avoid overshooting your Golden Ages since all that really does is waste the era score and potentially make later ones more expensive.

 

[Victoria]

So you have to make 12 points for each age and this is modified by +1 for each city, +5 for each previous golden and -5 for each dark.
Too many golden ages and cities will make you collapse at the end, I guess that is why it is rise and fall.
Are you sure you are scraping everything you can? I have only played a couple of long games but I have found going for normal ages is just fine and then when your cities are large getting a dark makes little difference as your large cities will not suffer loyalty.
There are things like launching landing on the moon is well worth doing as not only will it give you an era point but give you good culture for a bit of you do it right.
Great Generals and admirals are another... you can even save some up hidden in a corner of your empire and then wheel them out for a skirmish at the end where you take no cities but kill the odd unit which will give you +1 era for each admiral and general.

Bodyguard of lies, Wish you were here and Sky and Stars will all give plenty of era points if you concentrate on them

Placing a city near a natural wonder, settling a new city in bad lands, getting great people (run projects if need be), levy a CS military, finish spaceship components, and a trading post in a civ you have never had one with all will help and I just do not see an issue unless you have had too many goldens and have a massive empire... in which case you probably deserve to be dark as you should have won by now...

Bottom line... if you want to play a long game for fun, being too large and too successful early will come back and bite you later. If you want to avoid a late dark you need to concentrate the era before the last on just getting normal.

overshooting your Golden Ages

Not 100% sure this will help their problem because late in the game most era scores are gone... the overshooting is about holding back era score from one era to the next and that late in the game there is maybe the odd 1 point that would be valid but not large amounts... still a fair point but just not big.

 

[LethalLeigh]

thanks for the info I will try these on my next play though... right now I am just building an ungodly amount of National parks My Naturalist's are up to costing me 17,000 gold each I might just avoid a Dark Age

 

[Kaan Boztepe]

relics. especialy in the sea helped me out a lot.

 

[Zdarg]

but the prospect of having permanent low loyalty pressure wasn't very fun.

Well, if you have any concerns about loyalty at all, even being in dark age, it probably means you conquer enemy cities (or settle close to enemy borders, but it's more rare situation?) So you do war anyway. So you should get era score from killing units.

relics. especialy in the sea helped me out a lot.

Artifacts, you mean?

 

[Disgustipated]

I noticed this in my Spain game I was trying to extend out into the future. Once you finish the tech and civics trees, you really run out of things to give era score. I ended up in a dark age. Which is kind of strange. My civilization is so technologically advanced and cultural superior that it's in a dark age.

The only solution I can think of is to err not blow your w.. so early. Which is what I did. I screamed through the tech tree, built all my spaceship parts, and then waited. I was trying to see what turn the AI would win in, and then finish my last part. Problem is era score (my other problems were getting bored and having nothing to do). You get a ton of era score from spaceship parts. I recommend saving that era score. Also I recommend digging up artifacts including sea wrecks.

 

[blackcatatonic]

Purchasing great people gives a lot if you can afford to keep doing it.

 

[Kaan Boztepe]

yes, artifacts and also getting culture and science after you are into the future stuff should give you also era points. so dont stop research and culture gain , even dial it up to +1000 with the policy cards +10% to each per suzerain

 

[Disgustipated]

getting culture and science after you are into the future stuff should give you also era points

I did not get era score for future era techs/civics. Which perhaps is something Firaxis should put into the game.

 

[Starwars]

I wish they had put a timer or something instead once you hit the final era. Even though the game usually don't last much longer it's still an immensely unfun feeling to hit a Dark Age in the last era and be like, whelp... this era will now last until the end of the game!

I quite like the Ages system but that, and the fact that there is no bonus at all for points above the limit for an age, makes it feel pretty half-baked I think.

 

[Josephias]

While i’d say first is a lack of polish in the system to get you stuck in gold/dark for the last era (provided also you can hit that era by turn 300-sth or so, specially if you have a Pericles or Gilgamesh in your game), the response on how to solve it is
1.Planning (avoid an atomic age golden, so you can get the normal age dedication points, at least, and the cap does not rise by a new golden age) and
2.WAR (i find it much easier to get era points during a war as the “kill corps/army with a smaller unit” and “kill inside a generals’ aura” points do not seem to exhaust.
3. National parks, archeology and buying GP (if possible, when you are less than half is GPP value) also can provide you era points.

Corollary to 1: get an Atomic dark age if possible, so you have the option to be stuck in a Heroic age with tree bonuses.

 

[Arent11]

I am have trouble avoiding a Dark Age in the last Era, which means I am in a Dark Age for the rest of the game.
I like to play long games, and by the time I get to the information Era all wonders are built and there is almost nothing left to give me Era score other then National Park.

I know National Parks gives a lot of era Score, but is there anything else I can do to eran late game Era score? Anyone able to help me on this one?

Just ignore it.

 

[Victoria]

While i’d say first is a lack of polish in the system to get you stuck in gold/dark for the last era

Just ignore it.

The bad design at the end of the game to me is the dark screen which is not so pleasurable to play with, I never liked the dark screen anyway, I know I am in a dark age, do I have to suffer with dull colors anyway? It may have been fun and different the first time... no it wasn't even then, it was just less pleasurable. (equally heroic is too bright)
So I cannot ignore it and at least for the last age they should make the screen normal

 

[Disgustipated]

any chance GS allows an option to turn color saturation in golden/dark ages off? Would be a welcome addition.

 

[Arent11]

The bad design at the end of the game to me is the dark screen which is not so pleasurable to play with, I never liked the dark screen anyway, I know I am in a dark age, do I have to suffer with dull colors anyway? It may have been fun and different the first time... no it wasn't even then, it was just less pleasurable. (equally heroic is too bright)
So I cannot ignore it and at least for the last age they should make the screen normal

Lol, so the actual disadvantage of a "dark age" is not the game mechanics, but the dark colors which might strain the eyes. So, you're hunting era points just to keep your screencolors bright

 

[Victoria]

you're hunting era points just to keep your screencolors bright

succinct and correct. It is about pleasure over pain and the endgame is painfully slow, making it painfully dull to look at is too much for me.
Making a game look crap if you are in a dark age is a step too far. Note I also hate heroics and to a degree goldens. Too bright. A toggle button would be good for this option.

 

[Archon_Wing]

If you really want to farm era score, all you need to do is convert cities in the middle of a war. You can do that as much as you want.

Of course this requires religion, so it's not always a good idea.