How do you get better?

[HrVaTsKa]

I posted this because I want know how to get better at playing civ 3 faster. Whether by playing small maps at around your skill level or playing huge maps at an easier skill levels and trying to conquer the whole map before the game is over. I want to be able to survive on diety for more then a minute or two and I justed thought I'd ask how you think is the best way to get skills.

 

[Yndy]

I think you should work your way up to harder levels. Playing a smaller map makes the game faster so you can play more games.

You should try large landmass and maybe 4-5 AIs to help you in the initial stages. I found small landmass to be best for continuous wars but you should first try for the peaceful victories like diplo and space race.

Edit: Are you from Croatia? Because your nick means Croatia in Croatian language.

 

[Shabbaman]

I missed the option 'Game of the month and GOTM spoilers thread combined with massive amount of civ2 experience'.

I wouldn't play huge maps. They tend to get really boring (read: long)

 

[col]

Play in the tournament.

Its the variety that leads to the fastest improvement. Being able to switch strategies betwen conquest, dom, culture and spaceship makes you a much better player. Trying to do it quickly and without a milking bonus sharpens up the skills.

 

[Darkness]

you could try finding a training game, where you get critiques on your moves by experienced players... It's in the succession games forum.

 

[Scyphax]

To improve my early game I like to try different strategies and civs on the tiny map.
You will usually have won (or lost) well before you have the railroad.
To improve my military skills I take the largest pangea map with the maximum number of AI Civs, increase the water % to maximum, and set the level to be one easier than I usually play (I am here to practice fighting, not building). I find this an extremely fun game, however I have never finished one as I game slows down as the number of cities increases and I quit when the wait between turns becomes to much.

 

[ControlFreak]

Of course I'm not headed to Diety anytime soon but I find that shadow games and parallel games teach alot. I'm in two games now that everybody plays the same turns and commentary is generated by the thread starter. I've learned techniques and thought processes from other players, teachers advice and even from trying things on my own and getting credit for good moves.
I really thing that once you hone your basic skills, Diety is a matter of attention to detail and sometime a little luck.

Check out the Succession Games in the Stories Forum. The two games I spoke of are:

HandyAndys - i am not that good

and LK33 (link in my signature). LK33 is a "best ball" scenario where a winner is picked every twenty turns. Everyone plays from the last rounds winner. You can jump in whenever you want and skip rounds if you can get the turns in that week.

 

[HrVaTsKa]

Originally posted by Yndy
Edit: Are you from Croatia? Because your nick means Croatia in Croatian language.

Yes I am Croatian. Je ja sam Hrvat.
Thanks for the replies all I think I will do harder opponents on smaller maps so I can learn more faster.

 

[Rammstein]

For a very long while I exclusively played huge maps at lower levels, and that was fine until I tried my luck on a smaller map at a higher level. I had to reinvent my entire gaming style, so I'd say smaller maps, higher levels.

 

[SanPellegrino]

I would say only higher levels hone your skill, you are likely to adopt some "bad habits" on lower levels, I can tell from myself

 

[ControlFreak]

Plus on lower levels there's no happiness problems which is the whole key to winning higher levels. You don't truly learn about luxuries and culture improvements until your faced with lots of unhappy civs. On higher levels you'll understand the value of trading for luxuries or even going to war for that extra luxury!

 

[Gothmog]

Myself, I would say small maps (tend to be easier than large maps and as Yndy says you can play more games) at your level. Then when you win once move up to the next level. While there are a few things you must unlearn to move to higher levels, there are also more basic skills that are easier to learn playing at your own level. Also play to the end, you would be surprized that games are not over when you might think they are.

Also since no one else has said it yet: check out the war accadamy.

 

[Bamspeedy]

I almost always play huge maps. Strategies for huge maps compared to small maps are so different you really can't compare them, or say which is harder. Huge maps give you more space to allow you to build your first few cities and more time for you (and the AI) to recover from a bad terrain starting position. But sometimes if you try and start a war, your units will be obsolete by the time you get them to the other side of the map to fight an AI opponent. And if you give the AI enough time to build their own cities their civ will be BIG. Tech speed is usually slower on larger maps.

But on smaller maps, you need to pay more attention to detail since each city will make up such a larger % of your empire. And the early land grabbing phase is so much more crucial, because the AI might not allow you ANY space to build a city! But if the AI starts off in bad terrain, he won't get any cities, so he'll be easy to kill off.

There are many options that others have mentioned:
1. Tournament (5 different divisions, so you can play in a competitive season, no matter what skill level you are at.) Tournament has different goals for each game, so you'll learn alot of different strategies for each victory condition by the end of the season.

2. GOTM - The spoiler thread will show how some people played towards their preferred victory condition and you can play and compare notes with other players. If you are going to submit your game, you can't read the spoilers thread until you've seen most(or all) of the map, though. You could also download old GOTM's
and play them at your own pace and read the corresponding spoiler thread.

3. Succession games and 'training day camps' - expert players will play along with you and give you tips and advice as the game goes along. This would give you more of a turn by turn analysis of your gameplay.

4. War Academy and the Strategy Articles forum.

 

[hbdragon88]

Challenge yourself more by adding in harder opponents, harder civs to play (England), and working up the levels. Also resist the tendency to RELOAD. Reloading doesn't get you any better; on the contarary, since you're so used to it it softens you.

 

[Yndy]

Originally posted by hbdragon88
harder civs to play (England),

Heh, heh,

I won deity with England. Guess that makes me a good player

 

[Gothmog]

Re Bamspeedy: Well you certainly can compare them (small and large maps), I think you did quite a nice job of comparing them in your post. I agree with your analysis of the differences and that it is hard to say which is more difficult, many factors come into play including ones style of play.

 

[anarres]

Variety. Mix it up and play on harder levels.

IMHO, I improved the most and the quickest when I started playing in the tounament. The ability to play a game and compare it against other's stratagies is a real big help.

I imagine (as others have said) that GOTM is also good (I don't play GOTM because you can't decide the difficulty level ). I think you should always play as high as you can...

 

[Ronald]

Play on harder levels.
Improve your first 80 to 100 turns. There is a great article (thread), if I'm not mistaken by cracker called how to improve your starting sequence.

Compete in the tournament.

Ronald

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Ronald
Play on harder levels.
Improve your first 80 to 100 turns. There is a great article (thread), if I'm not mistaken by cracker called how to improve your starting sequence.

Compete in the tournament.

Ronald

Play to 1000 BC, decide if you "won," then start another game.
Or, play until you complete a specific task, such as building the Great Pyramids, or the destruction of a hated foe.

Most games are won in the first few turns. By the end of the initial expansion or the start of the first war, the game is usually decided.

 

[hbdragon88]

Originally posted by Yndy



Heh, heh,

I won deity with England. Guess that makes me a good player

I had read Sultan's document "The Five Pillars" in the war academy and he was writing that civs with weak trokias (expasionists, commercial, military) are harder and gives you more of a challenge. Iroquois, England were some examples.

On topic:
As for map size, smaller is harder. Those give you a bigger challenge than standard or huge.