I am at my wit's end with this game, and the series

[CraigMak]

The AI is pretty easy to rollover all the way up until Immortal. If you are having trouble with the AI's bonuses below Immortal you're just plain not doing well. IMO Emperor is the last some what realistic difficulty setting. After that the AI's bonuses are completely absurd.

You can still do a pretty good composite rush or xbow rush to kill your nearest AI neighbor quite easily. If you wait all the way until renaissance to attack you may as well wait for artillery while you're at it. Then you can really roll the AI over with little to no effort.

The trick is to get 4 cities ASAP, get caravans running food to grow your cities ASAP, Start your last couple of cities out on libraries so you can get your national college relatively early.

Easily grab stonehenge or pyramids because the AI doesn't prioritize them at all in my experience. Rushing for GL is not recommended.

Make cities and workers/ enough units to protect workers, infrastructure trumps wonder whoring.

Even if you are behind in tech you can still destroy the AI because it is epically stupid in battle.

 

[GoStu]

@OP:

Without seeing some kind of breakdown on what you're doing every few turns, I couldn't give you any feedback other than some useless blanket statement like "focus on science" or "try and grow a lot".

I will say that I find this game unfun past about Emperor because of the AI start advantages - those are the last difficulties where I feel like I have much leeway to do other stuff. Getting into anything like Immortal or Deity is where you've got to start micromanaging citizens rather than generally trusting the AI Governor.

If you're not having fun, don't feel an obligation to force it. You'll never get the hours back, and forcing it will never make it fun for you.

 

[Magma_Dragoon]

You can't outgrow the AI because it gets happiness boosts. You can't outproduce. You can't attack with an army because it will be several techs ahead of you (owing to large population growth), and because tech shoots past so quickly by the time you've built a few swords and catapults it will have walled cities, composite bowmen and pikes running around.

I know it's depressing how inept the AI is as dealing with human aggression, or anything else for that matter. Try ninakoru's (sp?) balance mod, or maybe he spun off the better AI into its own mo-

Wait... wait... what? The AI is too good for your liking? Sonic '06 was a good game?

Why are you attacking with swords and catapults? You use comp bows and one spearman and your starting warrior unless he got an upgrade ruin, then he's the spear.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Posting saves does jack because nobody can be bothered to look at them.

That's not entirely true -- I have posted several saves, and have read the feedback from other, more experienced players.

I have also received better feedback here when I pose a more specific question:
what are your common first 4 builds? which techs are important when playing tribe X?

 

[Securion]

My wife win the game regularly on Immortal, and she automate all the workers and let the cities themselves decide what specialists to run.

Just wanted to let you guys know that.

 

[Novalia]

I vaguely remember that guy Sonereal saying something to me in the past that I did not like as he is the only person here on my ignore list.

Posting saves does jack because nobody can be bothered to look at them.

does that mean the ignore function does not work?
sadly i dont have anybody on ignore.. impressive list sonoreal =)

re saves.. you kinda sound like a spoiled child.. complaining and asking for help and then when help is offered you storm off in a huff.. no offense..
i'd look at your save file.. i'm no expert but i can beat immortal pretty easily.

 

[Dylan96B]

@OP

If you're having trouble out producing, growing, and are behind in tech. You're simply playing the game the wrong way. Immortal is the only level worth playing at, if you're looking for a fair game. The bonuses aren't that amazing, if you play your game properly you can surpass tech in the medieval era.

Honestly, it looks like your attitude restricts you from improving. If you're not willing to ask for help or do your own research. You may as well play Candy Crush.

 

[Wodan]

Posting saves does jack because nobody can be bothered to look at them.

Then post some screenshots.

And yeah, I am sure Firaxis turn every version of Civ into the same crap because of 'fan' feedback. Same old, same old. Lots of choices nominally, but effectively few because if you don't do certain things - you lose. Yawn.

Well, you're not giving much info about what your'e doing / not doing, so basically you're just posting a strawman. If you really want help, post some screenshots. You have a point that only a couple of people might open a game save (but even a couple is better than nothing), but if you post a series of screenshots and maybe a game summary and you'll get lots of advice.

anyway I play different strategies all the time. The game hardly boils down to just 1 or 2 strategies. You may get that impression from people who play competitively, but you're not talking about that for yourself, are you? If so, then that's a completely different question. But if not, then the game has a LOT of variety.

That said, there are a couple of things you really HAVE to do in every game. Such as, don't neglect your defense. If you're not doing even a small military to protect yourself, yeah, you're not going to have much success. Maybe you're wonderwhoring every game? Point is, again, we don't know what you are or aren't doing.

Civ4: Colonization was the absolute worst for this.

Yeah, I gave Colonization a fair shot, and then shelved it. Had too many game balance issues and didn't have much variety, seemed like.

 

[Tavenier]

Up until Emperor there is room to roleplay. I mean picking wonders, city sites, civics etc that are fitting to the Civ you are playing.
Above emperor you really should use tactics like beelining for certain techs, etc.

At emperor level you do, however, have to play smart and pick your fights or restart if you see you don't have a good starting location. But even that gets less and less the more you play it. I sometimes used to reload an autosave if I didn't get a goody hut. Now I don't do that anymore.

I solely play emperor, because it's the last level that is doable without using the previously mentioned beeline tactics. I found that above emperor every game was about the same. Always get the national college asap, etc.

 

[Chum]

I feel special, and slightly awful, since I haven't been as faithful.

Spoiler :

(Some of you are on there because I'm too lazy to remove you. Love you guys. <3 )

I'm confused as to who you actually converse with on these boards with an ignore list that big.

Horizons - have you actually TRIED posting a save or a screenshot of your capital or something? Because this game has a pretty decent learning curve. There's a fair bit of nuance to it that goes a little beyond what you can pick up on your own. It's a good bit of reading and researching to understand why you're performing suboptimally.

My only regret is that once you figure out how to perform optimally, it's so trivial to beat the AI that every game might as well end right after I start.

 

[Sonereal]

I'm confused as to who you actually converse with on these boards with an ignore list that big.

Unsurprisingly, a good chunk of those people don't actually post here anymore.

Horizon threads are always interesting, because they can be summed up by saying he's playing on difficulties too high for him.

This isn't Galactic Civilization. The difficulty rate doesn't make the AI more intelligent. It only gives it bonuses. Archipelago maps are just about always one difficulty easier than pangea on the same difficulty level, and somebody who has been here since 2007 should really know that a Monarch Archipelago -> Monarch non-island focused mapscript jump is going to have a noticeable jump in difficulty.

Really, it is like me saying that because I play cs_office all the time in Counterstrike, I should be able to play just as effectively on de_aztec.

 

[dw0]

My wife win the game regularly on Immortal, and she automate all the workers and let the cities themselves decide what specialists to run.

Just wanted to let you guys know that.

Why not post her earlygame strategies (or yours, for that matter) to help OP out?

I realize OP's attitude isn't the greatest, but I'm guessing that if someone posted a concrete list of strong earlygame tactics, OP might come around. Some of the folks kicking dirt on OP are long-time forum members; we'd all do well to remember that this forum exists and grows in part because newer players eventually come into the fold if they are not turned away at the gates. (NB: It's true that Civ is NOT the right game for some players, but at least those players should get solid gameplay advice before realizing that.)

To OP's point, there are certain strategies that I've found to work in most games on most Civs - if you don't have a grand strategy from Turn 1, science can be the backbone of any Civ which allows pursuit of any victory. If I'm just aiming to make my way into the Renaissance with several victory options open, here is a general strategy you can use often... I tend to play on difficulty 6-7, so this may be less viable for Deity:

1) Settle on a hill if you can; early production is important for an early Wonder or two.
2) Tech-wise, head straight for Pottery and then Writing.
3) Building-wise, start with at least 1 Scout (map-dependent) to find early ruins, and then I like to make a Monument. After that it varies; I often go for a Shrine to get the pantheon I want, or you can settle a second city if there is a good nearby location, or you can keep it on one city and make a Worker (or military unit if nearby Barb camps threaten your ability to make tile improvements).
4) Policy-wise, I often start Tradition, and it can be useful to pick up the Wonder production policy (Aristocracy) if you want to avoid losing Great Library.
5) When you finish Writing, or shortly thereafter if you are producing something that is about to finish, start on the Great Library. Don't be afraid to manage your citizens and hold back growth a little bit in favor of working production tiles. This can shave several turns off the Great Library.

That's it! On difficulty 5-7, this will often give you the Great Library, which includes a free tech: if you aim for a cultural victory, you can use the free tech on Drama/Poetry and be virtually guaranteed the Parthenon Wonder to start your Tourism flowing. If you aim for other victories you can still use your free tech on techs that take longer to research, which puts you ahead scientifically. Eventually you'll want to roll into the National College about as early as you can, which further improves your science.

As you may be aware, strong science can let you pursue almost any victory. You may not surpass higher difficulty AIs in techs until midgame, but by that time you will really be rolling. Also, generally, you want to use early Great People (Scientists and Merchants in particular) for tile improvements rather than burning them for a weak one-time boost.

For military, as mentioned, ranged units (Comp/Crossbowmen) are the way to go almost until Artillery arrive. Generally you want a few semi-expendable melee units alongside several ranged units (ideally ones that survive many battles; take either Drill or Shock exclusively up through level 3, then get the Logistics promotion in order to steamroll almost any city in the midgame).

This is just one approach, and there are many better players who can tell you other approaches, but I've found this one to work very often. That said, nobody should be above asking fellow players for help, and I'm about to create a topic asking for some strategic feedback myself hope this helps.

(Another NB: I know Great Library start has been debated for its optimality; my reason for mentioning it is to give OP a helpful start which has not yet been provided, NOT to assert its superiority over every other strategy.)

 

[Evie94]

Why not post her earlygame strategies (or yours, for that matter) to help OP out?

I realize OP's attitude isn't the greatest, but I'm guessing that if someone posted a concrete list of strong earlygame tactics, OP might come around. Some of the folks kicking dirt on OP are long-time forum members; we'd all do well to remember that this forum exists and grows in part because newer players eventually come into the fold if they are not turned away at the gates. (NB: It's true that Civ is NOT the right game for some players, but at least those players should get solid gameplay advice before realizing that.)

To OP's point, there are certain strategies that I've found to work in most games on most Civs - if you don't have a grand strategy from Turn 1, science can be the backbone of any Civ which allows pursuit of any victory. If I'm just aiming to make my way into the Renaissance with several victory options open, here is a general strategy you can use often... I tend to play on difficulty 6-7, so this may be less viable for Deity:

1) Settle on a hill if you can; early production is important for an early Wonder or two.
2) Tech-wise, head straight for Pottery and then Writing.
3) Building-wise, start with at least 1 Scout (map-dependent) to find early ruins, and then I like to make a Monument. After that it varies; I often go for a Shrine to get the pantheon I want, or you can settle a second city if there is a good nearby location, or you can keep it on one city and make a Worker (or military unit if nearby Barb camps threaten your ability to make tile improvements).
4) Policy-wise, I often start Tradition, and it can be useful to pick up the Wonder production policy (Aristocracy) if you want to avoid losing Great Library.
5) When you finish Writing, or shortly thereafter if you are producing something that is about to finish, start on the Great Library. Don't be afraid to manage your citizens and hold back growth a little bit in favor of working production tiles. This can shave several turns off the Great Library.

That's it! On difficulty 5-7, this will often give you the Great Library, which includes a free tech: if you aim for a cultural victory, you can use the free tech on Drama/Poetry and be virtually guaranteed the Parthenon Wonder to start your Tourism flowing. If you aim for other victories you can still use your free tech on techs that take longer to research, which puts you ahead scientifically. Eventually you'll want to roll into the National College about as early as you can, which further improves your science.

As you may be aware, strong science can let you pursue almost any victory. You may not surpass higher difficulty AIs in techs until midgame, but by that time you will really be rolling. Also, generally, you want to use early Great People (Scientists and Merchants in particular) for tile improvements rather than burning them for a weak one-time boost.

For military, as mentioned, ranged units (Comp/Crossbowmen) are the way to go almost until Artillery arrive. Generally you want a few semi-expendable melee units alongside several ranged units (ideally ones that survive many battles; take either Drill or Shock exclusively up through level 3, then get the Logistics promotion in order to steamroll almost any city in the midgame).

This is just one approach, and there are many better players who can tell you other approaches, but I've found this one to work very often. That said, nobody should be above asking fellow players for help, and I'm about to create a topic asking for some strategic feedback myself hope this helps.

(Another NB: I know Great Library start has been debated for its optimality; my reason for mentioning it is to give OP a helpful start which has not yet been provided, NOT to assert its superiority over every other strategy.)

good post but the problem is OP is not a new player.

 

[dw0]

good post but the problem is OP is not a new player.

Admittedly I don't know OP's history, which seems to be what most posters in this thread have been talking about... I apologize if I've taken the bait.

But at least this way OP can't say no one offered to help. If he genuinely follows the strategies players post, I'd be surprised if he still has these issues.

 

[Evie94]

Admittedly I don't know OP's history, which seems to be what most posters in this thread have been talking about... I apologize if I've taken the bait.

But at least this way OP can't say no one offered to help. If he genuinely follows the strategies players post, I'd be surprised if he still has these issues.

Fair enough. No need to apologize! Was a very good post, have noted the strategies

 

[danaphanous]

Does...does anybody who plays Civilization care about ranking? Civilization always felt intrinsically solo.

That's how I play it. I'm not even sure where you post your ranking games or how that works.

As for levels: well...I'm not sure what OP is talking about. What he says might be true of Deity but in my experience, even my first game of CivV, King was pretty easy. Emperor was not too difficult. Immortal produced at least one or two AI that was good competition and taught me to prepare for many DoW's. And Deity took some skill--but it did feel like he said. I could win, but it was only difficult because it was glaringly obvious how many boosts the AI were given. They were still ******** at war...made me kinda sad as I'd always idolized Deity in my mind before playing it.

However, I play for fun...I don't use cookie-cutter strategies or whatever. Each game I play to the terrain and make choices that seem to benefit my civ. Science research is kinda redundant after a while but hey, there's only like 3 ways to play the tree: culturally, scientifically, and militeristically. And all 3 need you to keep a good rate of advancement.

OP, if you are still reading this thread take hope! I think the best strategy for you is to stop worrying what other people say and just play things your own way. You admitted that's what makes you happy. Mix up some map types. Learn to embrace losing and if you don't like "cookie-cutter" things, then do nonstandard strategies. I've found you don't need to take the optimum route to win high levels. Heck, I just heard about this abuse called "worker-stealing" that is apparently indispensible for Deity. I never did this and was fine. There is always another way of doing things. Since I'm a loner player almost all of my strategies are things I've learned. I might be playing suboptimally but it's fun because I figured all those things out. I think over-reading the forums and getting discouraged by formulaic players is part of the problem. You need to learn the game yourself...not be told how to do it by others. I've done that and now enjoy swapping strategies with other fans, but it would've sucked a lot of the fun out of it if I'd copied other people right away and just tried to play games the way other players told me too. Most of the fun of Civ V is matching your own wits against the challenges. Do that at whatever difficulty you like and this game'll be a lot more fun. I would mix up the map-types if I were you as things do get really patterned if you know what to expect of terrain and AI placement though.

~Danaphanous

 

[manu-fan]

This will make you get out of the personal and into the friends or global top ranking easier. You know that already, but just saying.

I honestly don't have a clue what you're talking about.

 

[danaphanous]

me either manu. I don't think half of civ fans even care about global rankings. It's about you and the game.

 

[duezeone]

I think my biggest mistake, when I was new to the civ series, was playing this game like an RTS (Starcraft II). I had this idea that every game I could come in and do the same thing and my strategy would out-right win me the game, but it is not so. Every game you have to adjust how you are playing based on the situation (what civ bonuses you have, UU, UB, UA, what civs are around you, resources available, etc...). In civ it is also important to understand the game mechanics. If you are going into each game and don't have an understanding of happiness/science/faith, then you are just making decisions on bad knowledge. If you play through a game slowly and try to learn the game mechanics you will have a better chance of success later on.

 

[andreafin]

There are mods out there that remove bonuses for the AI. Give them a try.

please can u name them? i see one described in forum but it seems to just disable bonuses for both players and ai is that what you refer to? i dont want to turn off happiness with advanced options