Help with higher levels?

[Garab]

I'm new here ...

But not to the world of Civilization...

Ive been playing this game ever since the first game came out (civII is still my fav)

Ive been reading these forums before, but now I went ahead and registered.

As I said (wrote) before I'm not new to this game, there is only one thing I have never managed to do, and that is to beat the game, any game (1,2 or 3) on any of the harder levels.

Thats why I finaly decided to registere, because I need some help, I have been reading some post in here, but either Im doing things wrong, or Im just not getting it, becasue I can still not win (almost did on monarch the other day, but thats the closest one yet)

So, heres how I usualy play, I always start of with building as many settlers as I can and try to get my hand on as much land and resources I can, I have a lot of workers, 2-3 per city. so far so good...

but later on I always get the same problem (on the harder levels that is) my pop gets upset, because the citys grows to big, the AI speeds past me on the science and I almost never build any of the wonders that I want to have.

its not uncomon for the AI to just attack me and take my out quite early in the game, either by killing me, or damage me so much that I have no chanse to get back in the game again.


So please, help an "old-timer" out a bit, I need atleast one high scoring game before I turn 25...

 

[Garab]

oh, and I'm plying ptw...

 

[Tomoyo]

Welcome to CFC!

On expanding, have you tried making a 4-turn settler factory? Are you letting your cities grow to a decent size before building settlers?

On happiness, the best way to make happies is by getting a lot of luxuries, and increasing their effect with marketplaces. The extra income from the marketplaces should help your cash flow too, and don't be afraid to use the lux slider.

Empty cities look very tempting...

 

[Garab]

I try to make the city build a settler at the same turn as it gets 3 pop, is that to fast?

 

[Tomoyo]

It doesn't leave much room for any else then, and it takes 30 turns to get the settler. If you wait for it to grow, you could get a settler in 15 turns (granary), as well as some units and infrastructure.

And a lot of workers. Don't underestimate the power of the mighty worker...

 

[TimBentley]

It is difficult to get any early wonders on higher levels. I usually don't bother building any wonders (except maybe one or two) until the Industrial Age (Theory of Evolution and Hoover Dam, in particular). However, you can always use your shields to build an army to capture the wonder.

It is difficult to keep up in science with the other civilizations, so trading becomes vitally important. You should expect to be a little behind and try to catch up (getting technologies for peace is a nice way to catch up).

 

[Ginger_Ale]

Even something as simple as trading with the AI improves your relationship with them and lessens the chance of unprovoked war.. it sounds like you are doing well with the worker area, as they are important.

For keeping cities happy, temples are one of the best early on, and then Cathedrals for late Middle Ages onwards. (Combine it with Sistine Chapel to give 6 content faces, and you'll be good to go). Luxuries are also important, as other people have said, but they don't get really useful until you have 3+ luxuries (via trading or not) and have a marketplace.

One other good rule of thumb (I use) is to keep my science as high as it can be without a deficit, or at least in the ancient and medieval ages. (In the real early beginning, sometimes it makes no difference between 10% and 100% - then you go with 10% to get all the gold per turn). And...welcome to CFC, and enjoy your stay!

 

[amadeus]

Got in before the close

Seriously, it's great to have you onboard, but introduction threads aren't uh...kosher?

 

[Padma]

tsk, tsk, sharpie. It's not like you have to spam here.

If this was *just* a "Hi, I'm new here" thread, it would be closed. But he is asking for specific help. Maybe I should "adjust" the thread title ...

 

[Garab]

tsk, tsk, sharpie. It's not like you have to spam here.

If this was *just* a "Hi, I'm new here" thread, it would be closed. But he is asking for specific help. Maybe I should "adjust" the thread title ...

ah, sorry about that, and thanks for changing the name of the topic.


I have noticed that a lot of people build there citys close togheter, I have always worked after the rule that no city should "steal"land from another, is this a bad way to go?

 

[sabo]

I would say all these things everyone else said plus TRADE!! trading techs is one of the best ways to get ahead and stay ahead, say for instance you are 6 techs behind everyone else, in theory then you could discover a tech no one else has and trade it to each of six AI's for one tech, you would have 7 techs for the price of one, it works like a charm. After a while (Industrial and modern age) the AI is usually at war with each other which in turn slows down their rate of tech discovery so staying ahead usually isn't a problem, especially if you are a scientific civ. I have had no problems being the tech leader in the industrial and modern age with this strategy even up to demigod.
Just don't let your self get TOO far behind at first

And welcome to CFC!! There are alot of good people here.

 

[Padma]

Garab: The "Fat X" of a city controls a total of 21 tiles. Now consider that the population of a given city will not go over 6 until you build aquaducts (unless on fresh water), and definitely won't go over 12 until after you build a hospital. Until relatively late in the game, many tiles for a city are *wasted*.

A "close build" early in the game can make for a very powerful empire.

 

[SJ Frank]

I try to make the city build a settler at the same turn as it gets 3 pop, is that to fast?

I think there is a very important change between civ3 and previous versions. In civ 1 (I don't have civ2, was it the same way?), growing from size 1 to 2 takes 20 food, growing from size 2 to 3 takes 30 food, and from 3 to 4 takes 40 food, etc. So the most efficient way to use the population when building settlers was to build them as early as possible.

In civ3, the amount of food that it takes to grow is constant: 20 food per citizen between 1 and 6; 40 food per citizen between 7 and 12. So the most efficient way to build settler is to build the granary first, and keep the city as large as happiness allows. (larger city = more production = faster settler and units between settler when waiting for pop to recover).

I actually tried to go back to Civ1 and play the granary route, and got my tail handed to me. I was never very good anyhow.

The point is, civ 3 is a very different game. Well, the basics are the same, therefore you can still win at lower difficulties, but you'll need to unlearn some of the civ2 tricks in order to master civ 3.

 

[Jon Shafer]

Hey Garab, check out the link to my strategy article entitled "Case for Food." That gives some good tips to newer players who need some help.

Fact is that economics is the most important thing to master to become a better player. Once you do that, everything else gets a lot easier.

Also, I never build Settlers whenever my city is only size 3. I usually build them when I get to size 6 or 7. This is because the larger a city is the more production, gold and even food it will generate depending on the terrain that's around. If you build a Settler as soon as you get to size 3, then you only have 1 or 2 citizens working the land max at any time! At size 6 or 7 you always have at least FIVE, which generates a LOT more shields and gold.