Help Me!

[Arkilae]

I need help.

The help that I need and the scenario of which I am about to explain will be off the fudgingg wall. Right now my mother who is an avid Civilization 4 player, is A) Blaming me for all of the games current problems. B) Believes that with BTS and the latest 3.1.3 patch that all the game is nothing but a war game when all SHE wants to do is play a culture victory. C) Believes that all Civilization 4 is nothing but a war game now entirely and complains non stop about it. Yes, that last one was a bit redundant but, damn this is getting annoying!

I note she has previously beaten Civilization 2 on Deity and has these claims of being part of the very few to have beaten the game legitimately on that level. Now keep that in mind, for she can barely beat the computer on Warlord difficulty with Civilization 4. She had a strategy guide for Civ2 which she used extensively.

Now I have tried to help her with this problem myself, I tell her to go look on the forums (these specifically) and find guides on how to beat the computer, this however just goes through one ear and out the other without registering so much as a bit in her mind that with a game as expansive and complicated as Civilization that it will take time to learn how to cope effectively with the computer; she doesn't understand this, and seems to refuse to understand all the while I'm arguing with her she's calling most if not all of you war-mongering idiots who only writes guides for the warring aspect of Civilization. I know this myself not to be true for I have read some bits and pieces of guides on here.

I try to tell her that trying to gain victory by playing passively alone is not a wise idea, and again go look for guides on these forums to help her, but alas, she does not and refuses to listen. I need help, I have uploaded one of her most recent saved games to filefront and I hope someone here can analyze one of her games and show her what she could be doing better or is doing wrong.

http://files.filefront.com/AutoSave+AD+1530CivBeyondSave/;8911003;/fileinfo.html

What else? Oh yes, I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but I believe I put it in the correct area. I also was not quite sure on what to upload regarding the Saves, but I hope what I did upload is of some use.

Once again, I need help, I also need someone here who has a decent reputation for being a long time Civilization player or who understands the mechanics of Civilization 4 in modest detail to analyze this otherwise she may not heed any advice whatsoever.

Thank you CivFanatics, for your time and any help on this bizarre issue of mine.

 

[Cam_H]

First things first ... Welcome to CivFanatics!

I am kind of struggling to understand exactly what to advise on this one (that seems as much about family harmony than it does with Civ) although my first thought is;

"Why doesn't she click the 'Always Peace' option instead of the other ones that she's selected?"​

Anyway, one of the problems is that there are only two victory conditions allowed, and while both are quite possible, really no great progress has been made on either - most concerningly the Cultural win which seems to be the one she's after:

Conquest

She's got a decent enough military - although hideously out of balance, with a desperate need for Siege weapons to bring down city defenses, while some anti-Horseback troops would be handy - esp. as Charlemagne has loads of Horse Archers and is researching Guilds. There is a 'Paper-Scissors-Rock' element to Civ4 that favours mixing up your troop types (e.g. Chariots kill Axes, Axes kill Spears, Spears kill Chariots). If this were not such an easy level, I would be very wary of being 'dogpiled' by both Babylon and the Holy Romans. No warfare whatsoever means no impressively promoted troops and no Heroic Epic. The thing that's really causing a rift is the decision to run Christianity when Hammurabi's Jewish and Charlemagne's Buddhist. Converting to Judaism changes the diplomatic dynamics significantly - immediately taking Hammurabi to Cautious, and in time patching up any rifts. Gifting a resource such as Pigs to Babylon would also help mend relations, where in time the dogpile can be arranged against Charlemagne. Conquest from this point will require a real focus on military superiority, and will also mean an impressive navy because the rest of the world is waiting.​

Cultural

Despite this being the preferred option for your mother, I hate to say that there doesn't seem to be an understanding of how to engineer a Cultural win.

The one technology that seems to have been avoided is Drama - the technology that provides the culture slider and the culture generating Theatres and Globe Theatre. Theatres also allow for Specialist Artists and these in turn encourage the generation of Great Artists - one of the best tools available to head towards a Cultural victory. The Caste System alternately (or additionally) allows for 'unlimited' Specialist Artists to be run, yet this option hasn't been taken.

Another tool is the widespread building of Temples so that Cathedrals (Buddhist Stupas, Hindu Mandirs, Jewish Synagogues, etc.) can propel the culture point generation in the target cities - no religious buildings at all?!

There has been little attempt to spread religion around - not only the State religion of Christianity, but all available religions, and despite building the Shwedagon Paya - the basic Religious civic of Paganism has been chosen.

The 'good news' is that all is not lost. There are five religions in the empire to spread around and start generating some culture and work towards Cathedrals in the target three cities. Islam is still up for grabs too although it's probably not required. Neither the National Epic nor the Globe Theatre have been built - so there's opportunity to set up a Great Artist Farm. The focus will probably be to getting the Modern Cultural Wonders (Rock 'n' Roll, Broadway, Hollywood, The Eiffel Tower) and look at founding Corporations that will generate extra culture. The Hermitage National Wonder too plays an important role.

A shift to Free Religion might appease the neighbours - and ideally their own religious differences might be enough for them to burn troops on each other while your mother can act as a bystander. Alternately, switching to Pacifism-Judaism will keep Babylon at bay but won't help with Charlemagne's disposition.​

As before - I wasn't quite sure what kind of advice would be helpful. Sisiutil's Guide is both easy to read and very handy in terms of getting beyond the basics but not pitched at experienced players either. I too was a Deity Civ2 player, but the game has changed so much that the majority of Civ2 strategies are largely unworkable or flawed - REXing leads to commercial demise, Wonder Addiction won't usually get you far, and Whales just aren't the resource they used to be!

Best of luck ... on multiple fronts!