I almost cried!

[black3car]

Sooooo close to a win. I came up about 4 turns short of a cultural victory because someone else finished the spacecraft first. I'm playing a continental map on normal speed and in this instance was Songhai. It took me way too long as I believe the year was 2034 approx.

I seem to miss things along the way or am late on things I should be doing earlier. I really don't want to have a bunch of notes scattered all about to remind of things but darnit, I'm getting frustrated.

Anyone care to share how they keep track of what they need to do? Do you have notes? Do you take a long time between each turn to mouse over everything to check yourself? Do you check advisors, and diplomatic screens every turn or so? I really enjoy this game but I gotta win on normal sometime!

Picture yourself setting down to play a game. How do you prepare and stay prepared for all of the different things that can and do happen during a game. I apologize for being broad in scope here but I feel I need general tips in keeping track of what is going on in a game instead of specifics.

Just one more turn!

 

[blasto]

Sounds like it was a great game at least.

 

[JaGarLo]

Well, I'm not good at this game, but I'll give my opinion anyway.

Something you should avoid is making decisions without thinking first. To win, it is necessary to stay focused and taking all the time you need when planning a strategy.

If you try to win the game without taking your time to think, you'll eventually fail. At the end, this is a strategy game, right?

So yeah, better luck next time!

 

[ShunNakamura]

Wait. . . you are supposed to think?!

I'll admit I tend to go turn to turn with little thought of what goes on in 10 or 20 turns(certainly weakens the RA for me, very bad at maximizing it I am). However, that said even up to King I haven't had much of an issue.

I suspect this is because I play in one sitting(more or less) . If I don't finish in one sitting I pretty much never come back(which is why I play so rarely, basically only when I have an entire day free to play games). Makes it a lot easier to keep track of things.

When loading a game I started earlier that week though. . . woah boy, I can really end up in a mess.


Now if you problem is losing track in single sitting games. . . I am not sure what to say since I personally haven't had that problem(I occasionally miss something when I am bored and rushing but otherwise no issue).

 

[Corvus corax]

I regularly check the victory, diplomacy and demographics screens. This gives a rough idea whether an AI may be ahead of you in some aspect and may reach victory conditions.

 

[The_Quasar]

One time I was 1 turn away from victory with the Utopia Project, clicked on next turn, expecting the Victory screen to pop up, and I got the defeat screen... some {edited} AI had built the rocket!

 

[OneOfOldiest]

Generally speaking turn 310 is dead line, yours win is assured almost 100% if you can win until turn 310 on standard game speed, deity. With every level below, dead line increase for 5-10 turns, which means you must win until turn 360 on prince to be assured in yours victory.
For cultural victory uppers means, go OCC, build cultural wonders, build culture buildings, buy culture city states, SP policies are: Tradition, Piety, Patronage, Freedom and Honor or Commerce.
You must have good population grouth and you must trade with AI as much as you have resources for trade.
Try, cultural victory can be achieved before turn 310.

 

[chazzycat]

Are you using RAs and/or great scientists effectively? If you aren't sure, the answer is probably no. Even if you make a lot of mistakes, you should blast off around the 1800s if you know how to use those two science mechanisms to good effect.

 

[eris]

To follow the somewhat vague nature of the question, which actually worked for me....

If you are missing things like "I need to switch to building unit A when I get tech X." Then some sort of reminders might be needed. But, if you are like I am, you will misplace the notes. If you are geek addicted, use some sort of note pad app on your phone. You could set yourself timed reminders with loud alarms if you need really active reminding.

If you are missing things like races to key wonders or when to start roads because of situations and developments, you are likely in need of a better habit of micro-managing for fun. Strolling through the city list or scanning the map just to see things are valuable habits. They provide opportunities for in-game triggers. "Oh yeah! The Sydney Opera House is supposed to go here!" The focus buttons are a good compromise to check out as opposed to individually placing citizens ff the latter is keeping you from frequently checking your cities. Checking cities is definitely a good habit. The idea is to find some sort of obsessive behavior that is fun for you. We are fanatics after all.

I also have to praise Info Addict and Civ Willard as tools to check out what is happening and being reminded of the brilliant plan I had in mind before the cats started chasing each other across the keyboard.

The most likely answer is "practice". Keep playing and the needed flows will develop without being canned or memorized.

 

[Hammer Rabbi]

i launched the spaceship on the turn i had to take a UN Vote that i was guaranteed to lose. That was pretty sweet knowing that you only have to take the vote at sometime in your turn, not immediately.

i dont know if it is this way or not, but it should be that the AI doesnt launch until the very end of your turn so you can have the opportunity to first. my clicking speed will never match an automated programmed click.