Help an overwhelmed Civ newbie!!!

M

MBison

Chieftain
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
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I'm pretty new to Civilization, wanted to check out Civ 4 based on the fantastic reviews.

I'm a little overwhelmed. I believe I understand the concepts of the worker and how to improve tiles to gather resources and the necessities. And I basically understand buildings but technologies has me lost... mainly because I have no clue what I should be researching and when... or why really.

Are there some posts or thoughts on how to understand the technologies a bit better, for instance which are better suited for diplomacy, resource heavy, or military strategies.. if there are such a thing..

Anyhow, any help would be appreciated :)
 
I could use a little schooling, as well :)
 
a lot of what you need is just to experiment and it will become clearer. but when trying to decide which tech to research, i try to look at what my empire needs and what my overall goals are. i decide if i want or need to improve science or commerce or military strength and then decide which tech would help most. you can click on the techs and it will show you what improvements, buildings, wonders, etc. will become available when you research it. but in general, after you play through a few games it will make much more sense.
 
Yeah.. hehe.

It's mainly the techs.. new tech choices arrive so fast I feel like I'm just selecting the next one at random. Is there some guidence somewhere on tech selection and how it relates to your overall strategy? I imagine there must be some importance to focusing your techs in a particular area to strengthen an element of your civ isntead of spreading it too thin, so to speak.

Help :)
 
You should be able to get to a screen that displays the techs in depth and what improvments they get, then click on the improvments etc. to read about them in the civilpedia and see what they do. It may be slow getting the concepts down, but you should be able to get it with that. I suggest doing more playing than reading about it. That'll help you faster.
 
The game will present your current choices. Hove each one and decide based on what effect you need more. If you don't need anything in particular, look for one that says something like 'First Civ to discover gets...' And if that's not good pick out of the two recommended. This isn't the best solution for more advanced players but it'll get you through the game until you learn whats more effective. And honestly, all of us are learning what is more effective with Civ 4 since the techs seem to always change between versions.
 
MBison said:
I'm pretty new to Civilization, wanted to check out Civ 4 based on the fantastic reviews.

I'm a little overwhelmed. I believe I understand the concepts of the worker and how to improve tiles to gather resources and the necessities. And I basically understand buildings but technologies has me lost... mainly because I have no clue what I should be researching and when... or why really.

Are there some posts or thoughts on how to understand the technologies a bit better, for instance which are better suited for diplomacy, resource heavy, or military strategies.. if there are such a thing..

Anyhow, any help would be appreciated :)
Click to expand...

You're in the same boat as everyone else who just got Civ IV, I'm afraid. The Techs have changed since the last version so everyone has to learn from scratch again. Just try different things until you figure out the best approach for your style of play.
 
I was the same way when I first played Civ3. I actually read the entire manual cover to cover. Being a noob at a game like this can suck, but eventually you'll learn everything. :crazyeye:
 
Atlanto said:
nice avatar ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks :) Ahura Mazda aka Farvahar or Ferohar. I wish Zoroastrianism was a religion in this game!

Well judging from the replies, I suppose I shouldn't feel bad about not winning a civ game just yet :P
 
if you havent played before Play The Tutorial - it is very important it works you through it. And got to Sulla's site for another walkthru. I did the walkthru about half way got bored and started a game. Quit that game after I had some things figured out and am playing a good game as Mali. Got a good start and then was almost swamped by barbarians 4 units of them 3 on 1 border and 1 on the other. Lost a mine to the one and 2 units to the 3. Barbarians are alot tougher. Usually didnt lose to them in civ 3 on cheiften, which is not the easiest lvl anymore. If I win this game I go for warlord next.
But play the tutorial itll help.
 
This requires alot of reading, but this is what I did to learn Civ3: Read the Succession Game Forums. Most of them will list a turn by turn detailed log of what happened, what they did, and alot of times why they did it. You'll want to read a few so you don't try and use just one gameplan, but it will give you an idea what following different paths will do.
 
When the tech research popup comes up, click on what's the big picture, the first choice, and it will take you to a graphical representation of the tech tree, what leads to what, what a certain tech does, etc... etc... You can then scroll sideways along the tree to the techs yet to be discovered. right clicking on any tech in the tree will take u to the tech's civilopedia (help) info, there you can decide if it offers what you want NEXT. If it doesn't, you can go back and check the other available ones. Pick the one that A. Offers that shiny new unit u want, B. gives you a new advantage, resource, etc... C. Moves you closer to a tech you want badly, or D. Just need to research it b/c everyone else already has it.

It is possible to run up the branches of the tree in any order, going for military techs, or resource techs, etc... but if you're new, i'd just advise looking at the tech tree, figuring out where u are, and simply taking the techs in the general area of the tree you are in, in whatever order u wish, then move on further down. that's a kind of well rounded approach.

Good luck!
 
I remember being a newb to civ 3. I remember how i would always play chinese....and send out the Imperial Armies (which consisted of two warriors), and attempted to kill the cheiftain computers;) . Of course, I was 9 years old when that happened....anyway, just keep playing, you'll get used to it. No worries. All games have a "lurning curve", unfourtunately, all the civ's "learning curves" are slightly longer.

If you don't want to figure out yourself, im sure someone will have made a thread about: "your favorite tech path", or something of that sort. Good luck!
 
Tech choices varies from one person to the next depending on the goals and play styles. I found it easier when I first started playing with Civ1 to focus on one type of play, rather than naturally wanting them all :lol: Hover over the choice or looking at the big picture can help, think about the direction you want your civilization to head and pick up those techs. If you want to take advantage of the nearby resources, hover over the resource and see what it takes to harvest it and then pick the techs that open it up to you. This game takes a little more planning than other games and most of all practice, so many ways to get ahead and win. The strategy boards can be very helpful with information that is missing from the manual or hard to find, but the best way is trial and error while playing. Good Luck
 
A good piece of advice is to diversify. Even if your goal is, for example, to found as many religions as possible don’t neglect other aspects of development. You also need techs that let your workers develop the terrain: agriculture, mining and the wheel makes it possible. If you have a coastal city you might want to develop the sea tiles, then go for fishing and sailing. You also must be able to defend yourself and archery gives you a good defensive unit.
 
here some general tip
if your starting position has lots water, lake or coast, and/or fish/crab etc research fishing
starting position have rice, corn, wheat, research agriculture
starting position have cows, pigs, research animal husbandry
starting position have deer, fur, etc, research hunting
starting position have hills, or gems, gold, silver, research mining
starting position have marble, stone, research masonary

the above are resource wise to optimise your capital, while u need to aim for these early techs ASAP
wheel - u need roads to connect resource to your city, and connects cities
mining - build mines on hills increase your production by alot, also leads to IMPORTANT bronze working and iron working
bronze working-reveals copper, enables axeman, enables forest chopping!, top prioty in my games after hooking at the first resource.
hunting, archery - archery enables you to build archers(lol) important early defense before axeman,swordman.

after u got animal husbandry, horses show up in maps, now if u can access it, research horseback riding.
 
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