How to live in peace?

[KevinMiles90000]

Tech to artillery and build a bunch, it will be peaceful......... for you.

 

[Nyanko]

If you want peace prepare for war.

Couldn't say it better myself.

I find a middling strenght, modern army is the best key for keeping the peace. If you're too weak they'll attack you, if you're too strong, they'll see you as a threat and attack you.

 

[PRCouture]

Couldn't say it better myself.

I find a middling strenght, modern army is the best key for keeping the peace. If you're too weak they'll attack you, if you're too strong, they'll see you as a threat and attack you.

Also, you don't want to field a MASSIVE army at that either.. it's just not good for gold and it's production time that you could be using to build a temple instead!

 

[Robin_Cox]

why would you play a peaceful game in the first place except to win culturally or diplomatically just for the sake of it?

Thats just the way I like to play Civ. I don't really care if I win the game at all, I just want to creativly build my little empire and have a good time.

 

[CYZ]

Easy, play Archi/Tiny islands map and make sure you settle in such a way you will never be close to any ai territory and they can't settle close to yours. Works best with high sea level. You'll see everybody will be supernice all of a sudden, if you're lucky there might even be world peace.

 

[Deggial]

Plenty of good advice so far and I'll not waste my breath repeating them.

I just missed one point:
Keep them busy! Bribe them to war with each other. If they hate each other (which they will very often for declaring war) and are in a mutual war, they will leave *you* alone.

Downside of this is, that maybe one side will actually win the war and you might face a to powerfull contrahent without any help of others...

 

[SRG]

Because this has become an interesting thread, and I am still very interested in playing this way (and learning more about it).

1) The AI diplomacy is not random. If you can not understand this fact, you may just be too stupid to play this game correctly.
2) The AI is often tactically incompetent. It is a known issue, and it only HELPS us try to play peaceful games. Artillery in the early to mid ADs, garrisoned in a city with Walls, Castles, and maybe even a Military Base can completely decimate most AI strategies.
3) Diplomacy and Battle Tactics are two entirely different things.

And in regards to living peacefully... I've done it in the last 6 of my 7 games now. Once I was playing Rome and got 8 Iron within my first two cities... how could that end peacefully?! I am confident that unless something strange happens, I can play a very peaceful game virtually anytime I want. If you have nearby warmonger neighbors - there will be at least one defensive war. But if you play it well, and do not turn aggressive, it will be quickly over and you will have a buddy for life (if you want one and it doesn't upset your other friends).

I am now working on ways to repair relations with civs. So far all I can report that I am 100% sure of is Denouncements have a HUGE temporary impact on world relations. Often times when someones denouncement of me fades, a formerly Hostile civ will go Friendly or at least Neutral in just a turn or two. They seem to have a snowball effect as well, as would be expected.

This is a very, very fun way to play Civ V. I have never before (Civ 1-4) been able to have a really good chance at winning by purposefully staying small and growing tall. I like it. It really feels good when you are in the middle of the game, in relative peace, 3 or so cities - each armed to the teeth - spectating the world wars (with my massive naval fleet which will be disbanded as soon as I meet everyone) while quietly and stealthily (made up word?) playing to win.

Key advice, learned recently: Every turn, or close to it, mouseover all of the leaders to see what their interests are atm. Sometimes a DoF is sitting there waiting to happen, you just gotta decide if its right for you and go get it.

Playing peacefully is very entertaining to me. Diplomacy is not broken, it is merely much different.

 

[RuntimeError]

After a couple of peaceful games played (King and higher) I felt that you need a little more military than you needed in Civ4. It's harder to get away with a couple of past era units, eventually your neighbour will invade you because, well, they can.

Also if you are agressive about getting influence with CS be prepared to get some enemies.

The best strategy for me is find a block of friend civilizations (2-4, depends on the size) and stick with them. Maybe you'll get wardec one time or another by their enemies, but it won't be a mass wardec.

 

[Nyanko]

Also, you don't want to field a MASSIVE army at that either.. it's just not good for gold and it's production time that you could be using to build a temple instead!

Yes. And be sure it is updated. The AI doesn't go off what troops you have, but your strength score. 5 Longswordsmen is worth far more than 5 Swordsmen in the score. By keeping your troops updated, you can keep that strength score up. For example, in the above said babylon OCC game, I was third in strength with Two Mech Infantaries and 2 Modern Armours.

 

[Kerosene31]

I always focus on iron and eventually rifling even if I'm going for a peaceful victory. If you have updated units and don't attack anyone, they may leave you alone.

You don't want to be caught with a warmonger neighbor who gets iron before you. I always check my military advisor. Anytime he says someone has a much larger military you need to build units asap. (this can change rapidly if they beat you to tech).

Building an army slows down other areas, but it is still better than getting wrapped up in endless wars with the AI.

 

[SRG]

After a couple of peaceful games played (King and higher) I felt that you need a little more military than you needed in Civ4. It's harder to get away with a couple of past era units, eventually your neighbour will invade you because, well, they can.

Also if you are agressive about getting influence with CS be prepared to get some enemies.

The best strategy for me is find a block of friend civilizations (2-4, depends on the size) and stick with them. Maybe you'll get wardec one time or another by their enemies, but it won't be a mass wardec.

This is a great point too, which I have consistently forgotten to mention. Allying CSs is a quick way to piss people off. Much like expansion, you need to carefully pick a few very early - maintain them - and leave the rest alone. Otherwise you need to very carefully research a CS to be sure noone is allied with them, OR protecting them.

 

[zergrush]

I for one land on the side that thinks the ai is just broken and crazy. As for what some of you have mentioned how do you account for the fact that the ai has switched from friends to enemys on me in a single turn? also you say that you cant expand or ally city states and just keep a few citys I dont find that to be a fun way to play having the ai act crazy is not much fun it hurts the imersion.

 

[SRG]

I for one land on the side that thinks the ai is just broken and crazy. As for what some of you have mentioned how do you account for the fact that the ai has switched from friends to enemys on me in a single turn? also you say that you cant expand or ally city states and just keep a few citys I dont find that to be a fun way to play having the ai act crazy is not much fun it hurts the imersion.

On that single turn something happened. Maybe you didn't see it, or notice it, but something happened. Perhaps the turn before it a friend of his denounced you.

You don't usually spend a lot of focus on expanding (after the initial expansion) during peaceful (culture or science, usually) games.

Stealing CS from other civs is a surefire way to piss them off. Would it piss you off?

If you do not find that to be fun, then don't play peaceful games. If you want to discuss diplomacy for warmongers, there is a lot I am sure you could learn (if you were willing) to achieve your goals.

 

[King Patrick]

It really feels good when you are in the middle of the game, in relative peace, 3 or so cities - each armed to the teeth - spectating the world wars (with my massive naval fleet which will be disbanded as soon as I meet everyone) while quietly and stealthily (made up word?) playing to win.

I do this, too. I'll send out naval or scout "observers" to check out the wars between other civs. Once saw an Indian elephant tackling American minutemen, that was odd.

 

[SRG]

I do this, too. I'll send out naval or scout "observers" to check out the wars between other civs. Once saw an Indian elephant tackling American minutemen, that was odd.

Yea, and it is pretty cool because usually I keep open borders with everyone, so I get to start wars between other people, and watch them play out. All the while finishing up my Sistine Chapel.

I do wish there was some form of Privateer. Maybe in a future DLC civ or something. Even just a submarine can go in enemy borders, but if spotted would screw up diplo or something. Some way to sneak in there and take a peek at isolationist civs.

 

[King Patrick]

I for one land on the side that thinks the ai is just broken and crazy. As for what some of you have mentioned how do you account for the fact that the ai has switched from friends to enemys on me in a single turn?

Perhaps you were dealing with one of the more deceptive AIs - just like a deceptive human player, some of the AIs pretend to be your best buddy until they are ready to swoop down and take you out. More likely, something went off the rails and you didn't notice - you built a wonder just before they did, you settled in territory they consider their own, you allied with one of "their" city-states, you refused one too many requests, you became friends with their bitter enemy civ ... something. Some of the AIs are pretty impulsive, and there's no rule that says they have to progress step-by-step through guarded, hostile, denouncing, etc., before they can declare war. Some of them will just snap and declare war on you if they feel provoked. You may not feel you provoked them, or that they ought to recognize why you did something, but they aren't playing the game from your perspective - this seems to be one of the hardest things for people to grasp. "I only did X because of Y, why doesn't the AI understand that and cut me a break?"

also you say that you cant expand or ally city states and just keep a few citys I dont find that to be a fun way to play having the ai act crazy is not much fun it hurts the imersion.

That's the fun thing about Civ 5 - there are good strategies to play and win the game many different ways, at least at the lower difficulties. I've always been more of a "builder" in these games -- I've told myself many times that in my next game, I'm going to be an all-out bloodthirsty warlord ... then the other civs are too far away, or I end up with a nice neighbor like India or China, and I just can't bring myself to do it.

 

[alexcross]

Perhaps you were dealing with one of the more deceptive AIs - just like a deceptive human player, some of the AIs pretend to be your best buddy until they are ready to swoop down and take you out. More likely, something went off the rails and you didn't notice - you built a wonder just before they did, you settled in territory they consider their own, you allied with one of "their" city-states, you refused one too many requests, you became friends with their bitter enemy civ ... something. Some of the AIs are pretty impulsive, and there's no rule that says they have to progress step-by-step through guarded, hostile, denouncing, etc., before they can declare war. Some of them will just snap and declare war on you if they feel provoked. You may not feel you provoked them, or that they ought to recognize why you did something, but they aren't playing the game from your perspective - this seems to be one of the hardest things for people to grasp. "I only did X because of Y, why doesn't the AI understand that and cut me a break?"



That's the fun thing about Civ 5 - there are good strategies to play and win the game many different ways, at least at the lower difficulties. I've always been more of a "builder" in these games -- I've told myself many times that in my next game, I'm going to be an all-out bloodthirsty warlord ... then the other civs are too far away, or I end up with a nice neighbor like India or China, and I just can't bring myself to do it.

Yeah thats the excuse for the ai acting crazy its being deceptive, give me a break here is another example of the ai needing to be fixed.

 

[alexcross]

This post is nonsense. Gibberish. You say it's impossible to play peacefully because the AI is random. Aatami and many other users, including myself, present proven strategies for playing a peaceful game. How could we all experience repeated success using these strategies if the AI is truly random? Answer: We couldn't. If the AI was random, the same strategy would never work twice, let alone numerous times for different players. So the AI is not random. You're wrong. (And you turned nothing around on anyone.)

my post makes perfect sense. and I did turn it around on him.

 

[hix]

To the OP:

The main loose strategy of diplomacy in ciV is to create an "in" group with as many members as possible. Any civs who are not part of the in group are thus subject to war, exploitation, etc.

While you may not have a totally peaceful game playing this way, it will provide you with a basis upon which to ensure peace, or at least the successful defense of your land.

Also lots of pointy sticks.

 

[aatami]

I did turn it around on him.

Sorry, but no, you didn't...