I am new to the game. Can someone explain what is the best way to acquire technology? It's awfully difficult to protect yourself when you shooting muskets at people with M-16's and Planes. I am always so far behind the curve, what I can do to get on the same level?
Help Me! I can no longer be Dan Quayle
- Thread starter Dubliner1
- Start date
nbcman
King
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- May 10, 2007
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- 896
@ Dubliner1
I suggest that you read Sisiutil's beginners guide as a start. It will help with all aspects of your game. It can be found here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632
But the basic questions are:
1. Do you have a good amount of commerce available to allow research (build cottages or specials like mined gold/gems)?
2. Have you built things like libraries and universities to multiply the amount of commerce that is directed to research?
3. Have you overexpanded (too many cities and not building courthouses in your cities to reduce the amount of maintenance)?
As DMOC has said, do you have specific questions or a save game that can be looked at so better advice can be offered?
I suggest that you read Sisiutil's beginners guide as a start. It will help with all aspects of your game. It can be found here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632
But the basic questions are:
1. Do you have a good amount of commerce available to allow research (build cottages or specials like mined gold/gems)?
2. Have you built things like libraries and universities to multiply the amount of commerce that is directed to research?
3. Have you overexpanded (too many cities and not building courthouses in your cities to reduce the amount of maintenance)?
As DMOC has said, do you have specific questions or a save game that can be looked at so better advice can be offered?
I will try and screen capture some game aspects on my next attempt. Thank you for the link, I plan on reading that through today. I do feel as though I build cities that are near resources, but ultimately at the end of the game I am so far behind in development when compared to other nations. Here are some specific questions:
1) How many cities should I develop and how long after the first city should I start developing others?
2) What are the first steps after setting up a first city? Do I build military first? Settlers? Workers? etc.
3) Is it best to automate workers or assigned them specific duties?
4) What is the best way to setup your military for defense? That includes within cities and outside of them?
I apologize if these questions are already answered throughout the forum, but I do appreciate your help. This seems like a really great game. Thanks for the link to the guide, it looks like that might address many of my questions. Cheers!
1) How many cities should I develop and how long after the first city should I start developing others?
2) What are the first steps after setting up a first city? Do I build military first? Settlers? Workers? etc.
3) Is it best to automate workers or assigned them specific duties?
4) What is the best way to setup your military for defense? That includes within cities and outside of them?
I apologize if these questions are already answered throughout the forum, but I do appreciate your help. This seems like a really great game. Thanks for the link to the guide, it looks like that might address many of my questions. Cheers!
Kadazzle
Emperor
1) You should develop as many cities as you possibly can afford while either keeping up in tech, or trailing behind slowly. You should start to building settlers once you reach your capitals happy cap (Can be seen if you go to the city screen, to the right of where it shows the population growth). Don't grow your city passed its happy cap! Work on production tiles or getting out workers instead of growing your city once the happy cap is reached.
2) The first step after setting up a new city is to get/build some workers to start building upgrades around the city. You should have some defensive units with the settler when you settle him, so don't worry about defense right now. Workers are some of the most important things in the game. Your cities don't make any money unless they're working on commerce tiles, so the best thing you can do to an early city is first to hook up a food resource, then to start working on commerce tiles so the city can support itself.
3) It is best to assign your workers to specific duties. Always try to hook up resources (Mainly Food/Commerce ones) first, then try to hook up production/commerce tiles. You should try to hook up and utilise bonus resources first, then flood plains, then hills. Plains and forest squares can be worked on later, once you get some good early growth, production and commerce.
4) The best way to set up defense is to put a mix of defensive and offensive units in the city the AI is attacking. Make sure you always have 1 or 2 archers in every city, but in a city that the AI is most likely to attack, or is attacking try to put a mix of Archers, Swordsman, Axes, Chariots and Catapults. If they attack with a large stack, sacrafice a catapult then attack them with your other units. For later in the game, use the same tactic but put more modern seige units and infrantry in the city.
You don't get any commerce without any workers. Always try to have a lot of workers, because you'll always need to improve tiles. Try to cottage flood plains for now, and then once you get a CE down and understood, try to set up a GP farm and a SE.
2) The first step after setting up a new city is to get/build some workers to start building upgrades around the city. You should have some defensive units with the settler when you settle him, so don't worry about defense right now. Workers are some of the most important things in the game. Your cities don't make any money unless they're working on commerce tiles, so the best thing you can do to an early city is first to hook up a food resource, then to start working on commerce tiles so the city can support itself.
3) It is best to assign your workers to specific duties. Always try to hook up resources (Mainly Food/Commerce ones) first, then try to hook up production/commerce tiles. You should try to hook up and utilise bonus resources first, then flood plains, then hills. Plains and forest squares can be worked on later, once you get some good early growth, production and commerce.
4) The best way to set up defense is to put a mix of defensive and offensive units in the city the AI is attacking. Make sure you always have 1 or 2 archers in every city, but in a city that the AI is most likely to attack, or is attacking try to put a mix of Archers, Swordsman, Axes, Chariots and Catapults. If they attack with a large stack, sacrafice a catapult then attack them with your other units. For later in the game, use the same tactic but put more modern seige units and infrantry in the city.
You don't get any commerce without any workers. Always try to have a lot of workers, because you'll always need to improve tiles. Try to cottage flood plains for now, and then once you get a CE down and understood, try to set up a GP farm and a SE.
how do you know what techs to go at first? i know the fact that if you are in a the middle of nowhere with no water close to your city, you dont need to research fishing or sailing. same with some of the others. but im not sure if later on in the tech chart if i should go with higher cultural ones or i should go lower military ones. i have try both... going up and going down and sometimes a mix of both... but nothing. AI always seems to catch up and leave me behind.
Kadazzle
Emperor
You should always try to get techs that help out your economy. Meaning, that if you have say.. Ivory, you should research Hunting to be able to build a Camp on it, the later go for Construction to be able to use War Elephants. Same things goes for Calander, make it a priority if you have Dye. Another good economy tech is Printing Press if you're running a Cottage Economy.
For Military techs, the AI will normally rush to them. Try to get any techs that give a major bonus to your empire in your situation, then just try and research the military techs if you're leading in tech, trade for them if you're just keeping up or behind.
For Military techs, the AI will normally rush to them. Try to get any techs that give a major bonus to your empire in your situation, then just try and research the military techs if you're leading in tech, trade for them if you're just keeping up or behind.
Gooblah
Heh...
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2007
- Messages
- 4,282
It depends on your situation:
Say I overexpanded a bit, after doing a bit of conquering and stuff. Now, I'm running a deficit at 0% research. To help ease the pain, I choose to research Code of Laws. This tech enables courthouses, letting me build/chop them everywhere, and suddenly my maintenance costs get cut in half, allowing me to ramp up my science slider to get me back in the game.
I'm isolated, and I don't know how advanced the other players are. I'll focus on settling my island and hitting military techs so I can defend myself, and then researching Optics in order to build Caravels and meet some AIs.
These are really vague answers though. Keep your military either overwhelmingly large or modern to deter attack (preferably the latter) - this requires hitting key technologies to build newer units. If your economy is weakening, head for techs that enable Civics or buildings that'll help you (for example, if maintenance costs are killing you, consider Communism for State Property, or Economics for Free Market).
Edit: If the AIs are ahead of you, see what techs they researched. Then, research techs they don't know. A dead-end stretch such as the Aesthetics-Literature-Drama line may not be your first choice, but you can trade those techs around with other players to get the ones you need.
semirami
The Wolf
Read the forum, war academy has some great articles, look some onine games too. Orion's noble school is especially good for beginners.
Godfried Josef
Chieftain
I would think that at a very basic level you want to make sure to improve all workable tiles in your city. That enables you to have commerce points to spend on research.
To do this, have at least a 1:1 worker:city ratio.
Again, on a basic level, chop rush, slavery rush, and great people points seem to be critical concepts in moving from the starting blocks in understanding this game.
Also, if you have an agressive AI neighbor you must garrison border cities or he will attack you.
Just some observations from another beginner.
Cheers.
To do this, have at least a 1:1 worker:city ratio.
Again, on a basic level, chop rush, slavery rush, and great people points seem to be critical concepts in moving from the starting blocks in understanding this game.
Also, if you have an agressive AI neighbor you must garrison border cities or he will attack you.
Just some observations from another beginner.
Cheers.
Supr49er
2011 Thunderfall Cup
Dubliner1,
Don't get discouraged.
Read the guides, ask questions.
Follow along or play the games in this section.
Study at the War Academy.
Welcome to the Forums.
Don't get discouraged.
Read the guides, ask questions.
Follow along or play the games in this section.
Study at the War Academy.
Welcome to the Forums.
slobberinbear
Ursine Skald
1. A rule of thumb is to keep building cities until your research dips to 60% and you are not losing gold every turn. Build your second city when your first city is able to quickly produce a settler -- which is almost always after having built a worker and improved some tiles.
2. Building a worker first is almost always a good idea, unless (a) the worker will arrive without having anything to do because of your technologies or (b) you are willing and able to get a workboat out first to get some seafood. I usually don't build a settler until my city is size 3 or bigger.
3. Automating your workers is usually a mistake. In particular, the AI will not chop wood early, even after you've learned bronze working. Wood chopping is vital for extra production and clearing out grassland forests for farms and cottages.
4. Your cities need at least one decent defensive unit (axeman or archer). Once you learn Monarchy, you can switch into the Hereditary Rule civic and build more defensive units to raise your cities' happiness and your power rating to deter other civs from attacking. You should also have a few offensive units (axeman or chariot) to repel barbarians and keep them from pillaging your land. This means researching military techs and hooking up military resources is vital in the early game.
henrebotha
proud Fender owner
To give you a more straightforward, specific research tip: the techs required to hook up various resources are known here as 'worker techs'. This includes Agriculture, Mining, Animal Husbandry, and so on. The first few things you research will generally be worker techs that you need for the resources that are near your capital. For instance, if you have Corn near your capital, it is imperative that you research the Agriculture tech immediately. You may also need The Wheel to get additional bonuses from these resources, such as the +1 happiness bonus from Silver.
My tip: make sure the third tech you research is Bronze Working. The moment you get BW, your workers can chop down forests to get big once-off production boosts. You can also then adopt the Slavery civic, which will allow you to sacrifice city population for similar production boosts. Finally, BW will reveal the all-important military resource Copper. It's just a very useful tech to get your civ up and running.
My tip: make sure the third tech you research is Bronze Working. The moment you get BW, your workers can chop down forests to get big once-off production boosts. You can also then adopt the Slavery civic, which will allow you to sacrifice city population for similar production boosts. Finally, BW will reveal the all-important military resource Copper. It's just a very useful tech to get your civ up and running.
Skallagrimson
Deity
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2,043
My two cents, others will differ:
1) How many cities should I develop and how long after the first city should I start developing others?
a. There is no "number" of cities. Watch the slider and your main enemy is "STRIKE". My own practise is to halt at 30% because the dip from 30 to 0 tends to be too fast to counter when on a downward spiral. When you're back up to a surplus of gold at 30, consider more expansion. If you're at 40, 50, 60, and there's open land, GET it. One settler is easier than 600 axemen suicide-raiding Saladin's longbows, now isn't it? So get it now, if you can.
2) What are the first steps after setting up a first city? Do I build military first? Settlers? Workers? etc.
a. Unless you start with fishing on a coast, get a warrior going just so your city can grow to at least size 2 (preferably 3). The get a worker out, so he can work your food resource. When you've got your food going, your settler will build quicker. Use your warrior to escort the settler. If possible, keep the first city in a warrior/settler cycle until the second city has built enough units to where it can just do settlers full-time until all your cities are settled.
3) Is it best to automate workers or assigned them specific duties?
a. Assign them specific duties. Automation is the devil.
4) What is the best way to setup your military for defense? That includes within cities and outside of them?
a. On border cities, keep at least two City Garrison types (archers, and later longbows/crossbows), as well as at least one spear, one chariot, and 2 or more axemen. That won't stave off a HUGE stack, but it's enough of a deterrent that you won't lose it right away to a "recon in force" type of attack that some of the aggressive civs like to do early, with smaller stacks. In the "back" cities, cities not along a border or a coast, keep more of a skeleton crew. I typically keep it to an archer and a mounted unit, to bat away the odd barbarian incursion, etc. These units won't be built right away, but you should work toward that as a goal, of higher importance than building wonders and most building types except barracks, courthouses, and libraries.
If you have an "aggressive" civ next to you, increase the defenses to at least double the axemen, and have a mobile reaction force of axemen (and later, catapults) to respond to threats.
If you get attacked, all cities except one should switch to unit builds. The one that doesn't should be the top earner of beakers and coins (usually the capital), which should stay working on any buildings it needs, to increase its income, or, if those are built, to work on any wonders that might help militarily (e.g., Statue of Zeus) or with a technology boost (Oracle). Many other wonders will look enticing, but are not as important as they seem.
Good luck!
1) How many cities should I develop and how long after the first city should I start developing others?
a. There is no "number" of cities. Watch the slider and your main enemy is "STRIKE". My own practise is to halt at 30% because the dip from 30 to 0 tends to be too fast to counter when on a downward spiral. When you're back up to a surplus of gold at 30, consider more expansion. If you're at 40, 50, 60, and there's open land, GET it. One settler is easier than 600 axemen suicide-raiding Saladin's longbows, now isn't it? So get it now, if you can.
2) What are the first steps after setting up a first city? Do I build military first? Settlers? Workers? etc.
a. Unless you start with fishing on a coast, get a warrior going just so your city can grow to at least size 2 (preferably 3). The get a worker out, so he can work your food resource. When you've got your food going, your settler will build quicker. Use your warrior to escort the settler. If possible, keep the first city in a warrior/settler cycle until the second city has built enough units to where it can just do settlers full-time until all your cities are settled.
3) Is it best to automate workers or assigned them specific duties?
a. Assign them specific duties. Automation is the devil.
4) What is the best way to setup your military for defense? That includes within cities and outside of them?
a. On border cities, keep at least two City Garrison types (archers, and later longbows/crossbows), as well as at least one spear, one chariot, and 2 or more axemen. That won't stave off a HUGE stack, but it's enough of a deterrent that you won't lose it right away to a "recon in force" type of attack that some of the aggressive civs like to do early, with smaller stacks. In the "back" cities, cities not along a border or a coast, keep more of a skeleton crew. I typically keep it to an archer and a mounted unit, to bat away the odd barbarian incursion, etc. These units won't be built right away, but you should work toward that as a goal, of higher importance than building wonders and most building types except barracks, courthouses, and libraries.
If you have an "aggressive" civ next to you, increase the defenses to at least double the axemen, and have a mobile reaction force of axemen (and later, catapults) to respond to threats.
If you get attacked, all cities except one should switch to unit builds. The one that doesn't should be the top earner of beakers and coins (usually the capital), which should stay working on any buildings it needs, to increase its income, or, if those are built, to work on any wonders that might help militarily (e.g., Statue of Zeus) or with a technology boost (Oracle). Many other wonders will look enticing, but are not as important as they seem.
Good luck!
henrebotha
proud Fender owner
As for automating workers: I do it in only one situation. When my land is improved to my liking and my workers have nothing left to do (usually around the late Renaissance), I select a few of them and click 'automate trade network' (bearing in mind I have 'workers leave old improvements' turned on in the options menu). This achieves three things:
1) Those workers stop pestering me for orders every turn.
2) When I discover techs that reveal new resources (such as uranium), and these resources appear far from my cities (where I haven't built improvements yet), the workers will automatically build a road there and hook the resource up. (The 'leave old improvements' setting means they won't tear down improvements that I built over hidden resources; but this is a good thing as it lets me decide for myself whether I desperately need a Mine on that Aluminium, or if I'd rather keep the Town I built on it. This is what I use my other workers for.)
3) The moment I am able to build railroads, these workers will immediately upgrade my road network, saving me a hell of a lot of admin.
One comment on your initial build: some guy on here did a big mathematical analysis of the ideal starting setup and his conclusion (I think) was that, barring starting with a work boat to hook up some seafood, the best build is worker-worker-warrior-settler, using the first worker to chop a forest down to get the second worker out nigh-instantly. (Note that you'll need to have researched Bronze Working by the time the first worker is completed, otherwise you can't chop forests yet.) I may be wrong, though... I should find that analysis and read it again.
1) Those workers stop pestering me for orders every turn.
2) When I discover techs that reveal new resources (such as uranium), and these resources appear far from my cities (where I haven't built improvements yet), the workers will automatically build a road there and hook the resource up. (The 'leave old improvements' setting means they won't tear down improvements that I built over hidden resources; but this is a good thing as it lets me decide for myself whether I desperately need a Mine on that Aluminium, or if I'd rather keep the Town I built on it. This is what I use my other workers for.)
3) The moment I am able to build railroads, these workers will immediately upgrade my road network, saving me a hell of a lot of admin.
One comment on your initial build: some guy on here did a big mathematical analysis of the ideal starting setup and his conclusion (I think) was that, barring starting with a work boat to hook up some seafood, the best build is worker-worker-warrior-settler, using the first worker to chop a forest down to get the second worker out nigh-instantly. (Note that you'll need to have researched Bronze Working by the time the first worker is completed, otherwise you can't chop forests yet.) I may be wrong, though... I should find that analysis and read it again.
Skallagrimson
Deity
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
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- 2,043
Assuming you have forests to chop.
henrebotha
proud Fender owner
Aye, truth...
In unrelated news: "I'm a lead farmer, mother. .. .. .. .er!" I loved that movie.
In unrelated news: "I'm a lead farmer, mother. .. .. .. .er!" I loved that movie.
Skallagrimson
Deity
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2,043
"HIT THAT DIRECTOR IN THE FACE! REALLY F***ING HARD!" ....lulz!
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