How about a real first footer guide?

[realTeahead]

My head's spinning from trying to get a handle on anything much in 'condensed tips' section. I get vinstafresh on research but that seemed like the easiest bit in the first place.

Mainly, I just feel like I'm running around, planting a village here and there, taking my turns and getting carried along by the tide. I'd normally regard myself as reasonably literate on a PC, used to love SimCity (and even A-train) but I'm wondering whether I'm up to this...

Civ4 sounded just what I was looking for, but I can't 'feel' it yet. Help!

 

[Ecofarm]

The complexity of the game is certainly daunting. If you read the manual carefully a couple times and then try a couple games with any leader that appeals to you (or perhaps you have an idea about how to play them), I think you will be better able to understand the forum guide. Try to pursue a victory type (conquest or domination being the most straightforward). Sometime after doing that (perhaps a long time after), I started understanding the advanced strategies discussed in the "ALC" and "Immortal Challenge" threads (as well as other threads, but those 2 are very informative).

My learning went something along the line of:
1. Building and using a military
2. Specializing cities
3. Basic tech tree strategy
4. Diplomacy
5. Tech and resource trading
6. Lightbulbing
7. AI personality codes
8. The synergy of all of these things, within the context of a particular leader's traits, starting techs, UU, and UB.


Do not worry, you will feel it soon. You will feel it so intensely that eating and sleeping will be lesser priorities.

 

[OTAKUjbski]

The complexity of the game is certainly daunting. If you read the manual carefully a couple times and then try a couple games with any leader that appeals to you (or perhaps you have an idea about how to play them), I think you will be better able to understand the forum guide. Try to pursue a victory type (conquest or domination being the most straightforward). Sometime after doing that (perhaps a long time after), I started understanding the advanced strategies discussed in the "ALC" and "Immortal Challenge" threads (as well as other threads, but those 2 are very informative).

My learning went something along the line of:
1. Building and using a military
2. Specializing cities
3. Basic tech tree strategy
4. Diplomacy
5. Tech and resource trading
6. Lightbulbing
7. AI personality codes
8. The synergy of all of these things, within the context of a particular leader's traits, starting techs, UU, and UB.


Do not worry, you will feel it soon. You will feel it so intensely that eating and sleeping will be lesser priorities.

QFT

Especially moving up from previous civs, CivIV can be a confusing mess.

After winning a number of games without even knowing how, I started focusing on specific elements of the game, like Ecofarm listed. And, oddly enough, except that I reversed 1 & 2, his list 3 through 8 is identical to the order I learned in.

Instead of trying to focus on everything at once, just take little elements and concentrate heavily on them each new game. About the time I got to #4, I really started enjoying CivIV. I'm pretty much on #7 & #8 right now, and Diplomacy is still a little weak for me sometimes.

 

[bardolph]

My head's spinning from trying to get a handle on anything much in 'condensed tips' section. I get vinstafresh on research but that seemed like the easiest bit in the first place.

Mainly, I just feel like I'm running around, planting a village here and there, taking my turns and getting carried along by the tide. I'd normally regard myself as reasonably literate on a PC, used to love SimCity (and even A-train) but I'm wondering whether I'm up to this...

Civ4 sounded just what I was looking for, but I can't 'feel' it yet. Help!

There's a ton of stuff to learn, but you will only be able to learn it a little at a time. For now, just follow your advisers' "recommendations," and automate all of your workers. That will get you through your first couple of games, and give you a chance to see how it plays out. As you gain experience, you will want to take more and more control over your empire, ignoring the AI's advice and controlling cities and workers by yourself. When that happens, you will know that you're catching on .

 

[Ecofarm]

Worker automation will end when you have a basic grasp of city specialization. I guess micromanagement from Civ3 spilled into Civ4 for me - I've never automated workers (except in late MP wars, when almost all improvements are done and there is no time to both fight a war and take care of workers). I still grit my teeth when I happen to see them irrigating tundra tiles. I feel like telling them "Just stop it! I'm never going to work that tile, and no, it doesn't need a road. I'm not paying you for this meaningless work!" Delete unit.

No, I don't actually delete them, I just want to - they are useful after capturing cities (though less so in MP). When I will need them post-city-capture, I try to get them moving to the area asap. I just go to the tundra section of my empire and there they are - irrigating, windmilling, and roading away like some kind of army corp of engineers/polar bear club.

 

[KMadCandy]

it's a game, play to have fun, when it gets frustrating take a break, is my main thing that i always ramble at people. there is a big huge learning curve since it's a complex game. for me, that's why i love it and am still playing it after a long time. if it was so simple that it was easy enough to learn in a day, i bet i'd be bored by now. it did make my head spin at first for sure.

while you're starting out, F12 is your best friend! F12 opens the civilopedia (unless you're on a mac, in which case i don't know the key). i have played for i don't know how long now, and i still often hit F12 to look up this or that and make sure i remember XYZ properly. it's not organized perhaps in the easiest way to follow, but it does have useful stuff in it, and a lot of the things in it are linked in a pretty logical way. it helped me a lot when learning the game and still does (yes, i'm a permanoob, and am still learning).

welcome to CFC, you've found the right place for help. good thing the tutorial did not scare you away. that thing is broken and frustrating and it kind of is frightening! we'll teach you tons more than it will. but so does reading the box . yes i think they ought not to have even bothered with that tutorial, does it show?

 

[mice]

Also you can play a spiritual civ which means there is no anarchy when you switch civics.

What's a civic? F3 will show you , and one game where you just learn about these is a good idea.

Go to strategy articles and read Sisiutil's beginner's guide, Wounded Knight's beginners guide.

here's a link

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632


Also, when you settle new cities, make sure they are near a food resource.

 

[lukep]

while you're starting out, F12 is your best friend! F12 opens the civilopedia (unless you're on a mac, in which case i don't know the key).

surprisingly, on the mac, the civilopedia key is F12

 

[KMadCandy]

surprisingly, on the mac, the civilopedia key is F12

yay! now i know it in both languages! thank you lukep

 

[kuukkeli]

What I'd like to see is a some sort of guide about controlling the later stages of the game. Some guidelines on how to keep the large empire under control and how to plan an actual victory. There are times when I'm leading in the score around Democracy but I still have clue about how I'm supposed to win.

 

[InFlux5]

Having played this series since the original Civ, I can only imagine how overwhelming Civ 4 must be to a total newcomer. I guess I would give some very general principles to keep in mind:

1. Always have a goal. It will change as you play each game, and right now you may not have many goals to "choose" from, but that's ok. Tell yourself "I'm going to take over that neighbor" or even just "I'm going to take that city." Or how about "I'm going to be the first one to Alphabet, then broker tech trades among the AIs."

A big goal, like "I'm going to take over my neighbor", will obviously require lots of smaller goals, such as setting up a military production city, and building up your economy to handle the additional territory. How to accomplish those goals leads me to my other word of advice.

2. I have thought about this a lot, and I think what this game mostly boils down to is converting one type of "resource" into another. By "resource" here I mean, basically, everything in the game: population, commerce, luxury, shields, etc.

Let's say you start next to a LOT of food. Then you realize you're boxed in and need to go to war with your neighbor. If you try to hard-build military units it's going to take forever. But with Slavery you can convert food into shields.

Or take science. The standard place to get your science is from coins produced in your cities. But by assigning scientist specialists in your cities, you are essentially converting population into science.

I'm not sure if that makes sense, but to me the game is about figuring out the best way to use all the resources available to accomplish the goals you set. Therein lies the challenge. The random factors in each game mean one or another of the "resources" will be holding you back: be it happiness, your economy, lack of food, etc. Figure out how to surmount those hurdles and accomplish your goals in the best and fastest way possible, and you're on your way to getting better at civ.

As you learn, you will basically be discovering more and more ways to quickly and efficiently convert one thing into another. Maybe a certain wonder provides a great economy for a high-food start, or maybe a certain starting strategy gives you the biggest military possible in the very early stages of the game. Experienced players choose strategies like these based on their starting civ and location, then use the tricks they've learned to implement them.

For now I would just focus on exploiting advantages that you have. If you find yourself next to two gold mines, focus on your economy for a while. If you have 3 aggressive neighbors, go all out war. If you are isolated, try to build up your culture and grab key wonders.

I think isolating one area of the game at a time would be a good idea, like some others above me suggested. I'm sure the order doesn't matter. Just focus on what interests you at the time.

P.S. Yes, the Civilopedia is essential to playing the game. I don't think any of us can remember all the details for all the stuff in this game. I still hit F12 all the time.

 

[realTeahead]

Wow! Can't stop just now ('needed' in an office somewhere) but thanks very much indeed for the ideas and backup.

 

[Ecofarm]

Culture may be the best way to go when isolated or only 1 civ on continant. You can spam cottages and capitulate a viable Mansa, trade etc. And when you meet the other continant (they meet you), on levels higher than emporer, you are backwards technologically.

And don't forget to always burn Paris (those damn French bastards). Don't get pissed, cabert, it's just a joke in America to pick on France (mostly due to opposition in the UN, as far as I can tell).

 

[Hold The Onion]

easiest way IMO is to play a dozen or so game, who cares what happens in them, and then come back here and you'll know better what people are talking about. then ask questions on what areas you find confusing. don't forget to play the demo. it helped a lot to learn WTH was going on.

 

[KMadCandy]

don't forget to play the demo. it helped a lot to learn WTH was going on.

the tutorial? i know people who started posting on these forums and then gave up on civ4 complegely because that tutorial frustrated them so badly! it's buggy and it doesn't work right. don't get me wrong, i'm really glad that it helped you, but i want to caution realTeahead that it does it in fact have some problems and if you get stuck in it, you're not the first one, and the game is more than the tutorial is so don't give up .

 

[cabert]

P.S. Yes, the Civilopedia is essential to playing the game. I don't think any of us can remember all the details for all the stuff in this game. I still hit F12 all the time.

really?
I rarely use the civilopedia. Here on the forum are a lot of much better references .
disclaimer : this is not about a first shooter guide.
Some references (I'll add the links later, one at a time) I use very often (not when playing the game, but when planning for a "large scale strat" :
- reference charts (duh!) : downloadable in the dowloads section
- GP tech preference : downloadable
- combat explained (don't use it as often as I should, but this really helps understanding what you're doing with your units in a war)
- AI personnalities : downloadable


On topic, about a real first shooter help, here are my views (4 levels):

Level 1 : understand what it's about.
What you need to know after that is :
- what are cities, what are they doing, how are they working?
- what is terrain, how to use it?
- what are units, what are they doing, how are they working, including workers, settlers, spies, scouts, missionraries and military units?
- what are AIs, what are they doing (how are they working is level 2 )?
- what are techs, how to get them, how to use them?
- what are resources, how to get them, how to use them?

At this stage, you can't really win, since you didn't yet check the victory conditions. If you win, it's an accident.

Level 2 : How to get a good working empire
What you need to work on at this stage is :
- what are buildings? what do they do, when are they useful, how can I build them (this is where mining, chopping, whipping can be compared/combined)?
- what are wonders, what are they good for ?
- How do I grow my cities? Where do I get happiness and health from?
- What are civics? How can I use them? When?
- What is culture? how do I manage my cultural borders? What for?
- economy : how do I fund my empire, my units, my research?
- defense : how do I protect my empire from attacks?
- offense : how do I take other empires' cities (and what for)?

At this stage, you could aim for conquest or domination or cultural or space at lower levels. If you stumble across diplomacy, you'll learn a lot but it's the next level .

Level 3 : how to win a game?
At this stage you should understand most of the game mechanics. The game is fun now, and you start to feel comfortable enough to actually look for strategies.
What you want to master now are more in depth moves. Some more tools to work with :
- Great Persons. You should have seen a few before, but now you really want to use them for the best. What are GP? How can I get them? What can I use them? How can I be in a situation to either have the GP I want when I want it or to use the GP I know I 'll get when I get him?
- planning ahead, towards a specific goal, you'll need to check the various screens : victory screen, diplomacy screen, domestic advisor, civic screen, economic report, military advisor, power graph, GNP graph, ...
- What are my traits? what are my neighbours' traits, personnalities? What is my UU? my UB? my neighbours'? How can I use one or more of those to get an edge and leverage it towards a win?
- How can I trade? what for? How is trade helping my goals?
- How can I use some basic diplomacy moves to help my goals?

If you can answer all those questions, winning games isn't a problem anymore. You can mostly chose your victory condition at lower levels, and see which victory condition is possible at not so low levels and aim for them. Managing those things make you a good prince level player.

Level 4 : superman is a sucker

You can already win at prince with ease. Now you try the higher levels and need to see/feel the differences. Sure all the AIs have massive bonuses on you, there are a bunch of supermen. But you're going to teach them (not really, they never learn) a lesson or 2 .

Here are the basics for succesful monarch+ games :
- no fat. The higher you climb, the less you can allow yourself to overbuild, overresearch, over anything. Strike when you're ready, not earlier, not later. It's not necessarily militarily, but you want to get your GP right on time, you want your borders to pop right on time, you want your worker available right on time...
- diplomacy. They are a bunch of supermen alright. SO if they hit each other, it sure will hurt a lot, don't you think ? . Having friends and enemies or having no enemies, or making sure each AI has enough enemies are various ways to leverage diplomacy. You can't tech as fast as the AIs, so you need to trade techs. You can't build as fast as the AIs, so you need them to waste a lot of hammers...
- focus. You cannot run for space and cultural at the same time. At least not above monarch. You really need to push in a given direction with all your strength.

OK, it's not a good recipe for the higher levels. There are enough guides out there adressing this later stage. I just wish you to get over level 3 and understand the issues of level 4. I'm not good enough to give more specific advice here .

How to climb the levels?

For level 1:
- play the tutorial. It's boring, but at least you'll face those otherwise boring issues
- read the manual. It's boring, but full of good informations.
- play a settler game and check the points I mentionned (city screen mainly). scratch your head and you'll understand. It's not that hard.

For level 2:
- the war academy is your friend.
- some guides already mentionned above will help (wasn't a newb anymore when they where written, so I can't tell if they're really good, but at least they contain good informations and tips)
- play some games, from beginning to end, try to keep up at cheiftain, warlord, noble level.

For level 3:
- Succession games subforum and GotM spoilers threads will give you invaluable information.
- Sisiutil's ALCs are great walkthroughs. The early ones are at prince level (vanilla), the later ones are at monarch level (warlords).
- strategy articles will seem readable after a while
- play games, first reloading to check various ways around a difficulty, then no reload at all and see if you can make it.

For level 4 :
- same as level 3, but look for the best players
- Aelf's emperor/immortal challenges will show the benefits of in depth diplomacy.
- HoF reports can be very valuable, especially at super high levels.

And don't forget to always burn Paris (those damn French bastards). Don't get pissed, cabert, it's just a joke in America to pick on France (mostly due to opposition in the UN, as far as I can tell).

you mean the americans still think the french should have said war in Irak is a great idea, and yes of course we're in?

Can it be that some people are this dumb?

 

[lukep]

you mean the americans still think the french should have said war in Irak is a great idea, and yes of course we're in?

Can it be that some people are this dumb?

People are dumber than you can imagine. just wait for May 6th for confirmation (i may seek political asylum in swiss )

 

[KMadCandy]

really?
I rarely use the civilopedia. Here on the forum are a lot of much better references .

i don't always want to tab out of the game

Can it be that some people are this dumb?

my father has a saying, "You have to stand in line to be stupid in this country." i think that's true for every country

 

[PublicEnemy]

As an Englishman I'm not happy about Americans insulting the French.




That's OUR JOB.

 

[cabert]

As an Englishman I'm not happy about Americans insulting the French.
That's OUR JOB.

La perfide ALbion est de retour!