Here is the save need quite a few pointers...

[Melhisedek]

Hi there folks!
Well after quite some time (read after WoW let me go) I'm back and its time to learn all from scratch again

Anyway this is the easiest level IIRC and I'm Roman. Just fooling around learning stuff before I up the difficulty. Still I have a few problems:

1. Happiness. In Civ3 I had all those temples and stuff that made people happy, I can't seem to be able to build any of those still and people are pretty mad at me. What to do about that? In this game and more in general...

2. As was the case in Civ3 I try not to be too fond of building wonders but it looks like I really would need a few early ones...

3. Another mistake I can see is that I miss hammers, I have plenty of cottages, but no hammers and very little food. City placement is pretty bad as well.

4. I've got one GP, how would you use him guys?

Well thats all I can think about right now, here comes the save and all your comments are greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time!

 

[vampy420]

First off - use slavery - whip that library in city with unhappiness.

Use GP to found Christianity (Theology!) - send free missionary to capital to end unhappiness there.

send settler to floodplains to west (ping in ss).

Hook up Iron .. build an army and kill !

 

[Cam_H]

Melhisedek,

(Simplistic answers ...)

1.

In Civ4, in order to build a Temple, you need to have some religion active in the city in question. There are seven religions that can be founded, and these are each given to the civ that first discovers the requisite technology (for instance, the first empire to discover Code of Laws founds Confucianism in one of their cities). Religion can be spread to other cities naturally, such as along trade routes (which can be a slow and random process - improved if you have a 'shrine'), or better chances through sending out Missionaries. In your game however, none of your cities currently has a religion and therefore your civ itself has not converted to a 'State Religion'. You are not able to make use of the Organised Religion civic as a result. Religions can spread between tribes, and it is likely that most cities will have multiple religions as the game progresses into the later eras.

Happiness can be improved by various other techniques including; providing luxury resources (such as silver), constructing particular buildings and Wonders (such as Notre Dame and colosseum). In the early game, keeping the populations of cities down can help over-crowding, so Slavery and starvation can be used to ironically improve the happiness of the city under some circumstances.

Check the 'pedia for more information.

2.

By-and-large most Wonders are less important in Civ4 than its previous incarnations (not wishing to 'over-generalise' and doing so!). The value of particular Wonders tend to become increasingly reprioritised as you play higher levels of difficulty. You have picked up Stonehenge, which is good for not only spreading your cultural borders, but as you have noticed, you have popped a Great Prophet thanks to the Great People Points that it generated.

3.

In Civ4 it is generally a wise move to specialise your cities. Cumae for instance would seem to make a good production city, where you have a few hills for production supported by several tiles that you can farm to support the population of the mines. Rome has less apparent production, but has plenty of grassland and floodplains which lends itself more so to either a commerce-city (cottages) or a Great Person Farm (farms).

4.

As vampy420 indicates, the best use for this particular Great Prophet is to burn him on a technology advance by getting Theology (which is the technology required to found Christianity). The 'later' founded religions will get a free Missionary unit which, again as vampy420 advises, can be used to spread your religion to another city. There are many uses for Great People, although their best use will vary depending upon your circumstances. A 'shrine' may be constructed by a Great Prophet in the holy city (the founding city) of each religion. Again, refer to the 'pedia.

Sisiutil's Strategy Guide for Beginners, I feel is likely to be of help in your familiarisation of the game in addition to playing the tutorial and reading the game's guide.

If you're pressing ahead with this game, vampy420's suggestion of getting a city within range of accessing Iron would be beneficial, as Rome's unique unit - the Praetorian - is a very powerful unit. You will want to get some units in your unprotected cities to at least improve happiness (your citizens are unhappy; "We fear for our safety").

I hope you enjoy Civ4!

 

[Melhisedek]

Oh believe me I will I already do. Sadly I have way too much stuff going on right now so my playtime is really limited for a next few weeks, after that it should get better.

So you would recommend going for some religion early on right? In my case I went for Bronze/Iron Working to be able to chop so AI beat me to it.

Hehehe didn't know the stuff about slavery, I just thought it was but un-civilized if you know what I mean so I didn't give it a thought, will check it out.

Thanks for the guide it will be great help! And thanks Vampy for your input as well, that iron sure came in handy

 

[Cam_H]

Melhisedek,

Actually I was thinking that Sullla's Civ4 Page's introduction and walkthrough is another reference point that might be of interest.

On "So you would recommend going for some religion early on right?"

It will depend upon your circumstances as to whether 'going for a religion' is a good move or not. Certainly up to Noble level you have a very good chance of founding several religions if you pursue them. From Prince level and up it can be 'less certain' (please forgive the qualification of a superlative) as to whether you can beat the A.I. to the religious technologies - at least to the early ones.

Also worth understanding is that religion can be one of the most important factors in many civ's' attitudes to you - for instance, Isabella of Spain will adore you if you've got the same State Religion, or detest you if you have different State Religions. Most tribes with the Spiritual trait respond similarly. You can remain in a state of neutrality through either 'No State Religion' or 'Free Religion' (available with Liberalism). By selecting a State Religion you can improve the happiness of your citizens and make use of the Organised Religion, Vassalage, and Pacifism civics, and also improve the attitudes of A.I. tribes with the same State Religion.

There's a lot to religion in this game (a lot more than the quick points in the above paragraph!), so it is something worth trying out and reading up on.