How do you keep Civ 4 interesting?

[MantaRevan]

My suggestion is that if you get bored, stop momentarily, play something else for a few days, and return again later. That's the best for me.

 

[krikav]

I try to set up challenges for myself that increase the pace of learning.
Playing a game w/o building granaries was a eye-opener for example.

 

[2metraninja]

I try to set up challenges for myself that increase the pace of learning.
Playing a game w/o building granaries was a eye-opener for example.

Try playing humans and learn TON of new things about the game the hard and painful way Be amazed how sly and innovative things that you always knew can be used. Widen your thinking and stop being overconfident for beating the stupid AI or being frustrated of the AI overpowered bonuses.

In a TBS game, it just doesn't cut it.

Excuse my bad English, but what exactly "doesn't cut it" means?

 

[salty mud]

Excuse my bad English, but what exactly "doesn't cut it" means?

It means it's not quite good enough.

 

[2metraninja]

Hah, and why it is supposed to be not good? The same way you play against the AIs you can play versus humans Only you will get owned more frequent of course, or it will take you a lot more to win games.

 

[Pir Lan Tota]

Personally, i like coop play....nothing nicer then a couple of humans vs AI teams

 

[jonesinski]

Lately mods. After FFH2 vanilla barbarians don't scare me anymore. But I've dabbled in a lot of the options. House rules like only ever one defender per city (makes HR useless and really changes the game). Automating all my workers from the very beginning made me want to cry at their stupidity but made for an enjoyable challenge. And one I'm going to try next and probably really, really regret. Whenever the game says I can give a city to another civ I'm going to accept.

Yep, me too. Automated workers has the added effect of less micromanagement while making the game harder. It's also more realistic that the ruler of a nation (me) is not always able to control every facet of city governance. I also like to avoid slavery and religion for extra challenge, and because that is how I feel in real life.

I'm also starting to play on archipelago with high seas to focus more on navy and economy than I usually did before. This is pretty fun with the Dutch.

 

[jonesinski]

Does anyone ever play you VS everyone else on the same team? In other words, you take on several other nations by yourself that will all gang up on you as soon as one of them declares on you.

What are some good ways to make this challenging, but not too hard? Assuming you have five opponents on a standard size map, what difficulty level do you think would be comparable to, say, Prince?

 

[Tycho]

Mods, mods, mods, and more mods. Ones like Neoteric World and Realism Invictus keep in fresh and interesting with their different styles of control and whatnot, along with the difference in map sizes. Map sizes and extra resources are really what I like to see, adds more strategy to the game. For me at least.

 

[jtb1127]

I set up maps as well. Mini scenarios that aren't worth publishing but fun enough for me.

 

[bestbrian]

Just like in real life, when the relationship gets a little stale, it's time for some role playing, and then a break to see some others.

Currently, stepping out with EUIII, but I know that someday soon I'll be back to CivIV (LoR). Papa's a rolling stone, but he always rolls home.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Random civs and leaders tend to help a lot. Also, try out new strategies to see if they'll work or not.

Recently, I've been trying 2 kinds of things. One is a quick bulb to machinery, which is a change of pace from the typical bulb to lib thingy, and the other is a religious trolling strategy with the AP. I try to oracle theology. Then bulb Divine Right and trade it.

 

[Optical]

I roleplay a bit, but not historically; much like MadScientist's RPCs (particularly the Next Generation ones), I pick a person and play like they would.

Other than that, I switch between Civ and EU3 quite a lot.

 

[2metraninja]

I see a lot of civvers talk about EU3 - how good it is actually? Compared to Civ?

 

[Optical]

I consider them both to be of equal merit, and to compare any other game to Civ is high praise indeed . EU3 is more historically accurate. Civ is more alt-history centred.

 

[Elite]

I play to create a vast Empire, and keep at least a few AI around to keep me company in a world where the majority is ruled by me, and I always play as the Germans.

 

[Ambidexter]

One word: mods.

I've played six different mods since I've last played vanilla. I'll probably not play vanilla ever again.