Help with Tall Strategy

[Unresolved]

If winning is winning, then "really" either higher or faster is equal as they are both wins.

I am more impressed by higher score unless it is a race. But a faster win is still a cool win. That's just me.

For me, I'm much more impressed by a fast game than a high scoring game. A high scoring game just means you can keep the computer barely alive while you spam wonders/cities everywhere until the late turns. A fast win requires more finesse and knowledge of the game. I believe anyone who can achieve remarkably fast times can easily score a huge amount of points if they wanted to. I don't believe the reverse is true.

 

[Crustacian]

This is an oversimplifying of things IMHO:

A high scoring game just means you can keep the computer barely alive while you spam wonders/cities everywhere until the late turns.

1) The "one city challenge game" is an example of large scores without spamming cities cuz you are not allowed more than one. It started being popular to limit yourself to one city on the honor system (it was not a toggle option then) back in Civ II I believe.

2) My style, tho I try to be adaptive, is usually not more than a few cities. My wide growth then comes from conquest, IFI even go for that. And I am no stranger to large scores.

Your statement:

A fast win requires more finesse and knowledge of the game.

is also just an opinion which I respect as being different than mine.

Tho I can understand why you say it based on many players style. It simply isn't really true all styles considered.

I will agree that to be among the best in ANY particular style of play requires more finesse and knowledge of the game...

So yeah, a better than average player should be able win a fast one or a high score one. Each shines best on different days!

And no one, myself included likes the experience of going for a longer curve development game strategy (tall or wide) only to get dealt a decisive blow just at the last possible time one could be dealt by a shorter curve strategy opponent.

 

[Unresolved]

As I understand it, the very highest scoring games are achieved when you go to turn 400-500 and just spam cities out like no tomorrow while completing future techs until the very end of the game. All that is in essence is dominating everyone, leaving one capital, and then bloating your score for another 200 turns. I have no experience doing this since playing long games is tedious with all the units and cities and such.

My reasoning that faster games require more finesse is because you can follow a general strategy and win in a reasonably good time(like the 260's for science). But getting to the great times requires a lot of experience and timing. There's really no room for error to get those amazing times that you see from the top players in GoTm and Deity challenges.

 

[Crustacian]

You can get tons of future techs with only one to four cities, and a huge score. You are talking Hall of Fame score not in game points right?

Have you ever tried the "One City Challenge?" On Deity with however many ai's? It is fun, non tedious in the since you mentioned, and talk about need for finesse, timing, balance and no errors! Diplomacy is taken to new heights as well.

I agree that lots of cities is too tedious for me to enjoy as well. Razing the lesser of them to a "better place" helps me limit them in conquest. Hey, no one is perfect heh heh.

But never the less, even ICS or worse requires finesse to be done in the best of that bracket. Read some old posts by Carnide or Kengel if you doubt this. They loved it and were top players knowing the game inside and out in every detail, all styles of play. They are only two examples of many.

Not my style though. But I can do it in a non-mindless manor with finesse...Well, I'd like to think so.

I am quite sure that you are great at your favorite style, and are a fine tuned machine I would find a challenge in dealing with. I appreciate how timing and balance have to come together with precision and no room for error, like in a tournament in what you are saying. Been there, tho maybe not quite on your level in the "little" things.

I only maintain that the other styles can be played on an equal footing of skill and knowledge of the game...depends on the player, not the style IMHO.

 

[Unresolved]

Hmm, I'm by no means a great player. I'm still trying to piece everything together to get a sub-250 SV and sub 270 CV. But I am trying to get to the level of players that I'm talking about. But I have no doubt that I can get a ridiculously high score by city-spamming and future teching(though not on Deity). But spending a week to do the later parts of the game for a tedious monotony doesn't really appeal to me. I just think that a fast player can do a high scoring game while a high scorer can't necessarily do a fast game.