I can't win a science victory on emperor.

[jmeyer73]

I've tried 5 times already and can only win emperor with a diplomatic victory using Greece. I just don't understand what i'm doing wrong. Every time the AI massively out techs me or wins a diplomatic victory. One time herald blue tooth killed every single person on the map yet somehow managed to have more techs than me, more culture than me, had 32 delegates and won a cultural victory. With nearly 20 cities. They're cheating so hard I don't see how it's possible at all. I attached a screenshot of the last game where on turn 243 multiple people had denounced me and someone had 12 delegates ALREADY with 6 cities. Really early in the game the huns declared war on me and I killed all of them and took his capital. For some reason I got a warmonger penalty despite Attila refusing to have peace. Then I killed the city state next to me to get 4 cities. The AI for some dumb reason pledges to protect every single city state in the game even if they aren't friends with it so I got denounced by 3 people and they all declared war on me. Is there a short guide that will help me because I don't want to waste an hour on reading a boring guide which i'll just forget.

 

[Sclb]

You need to learn how to maximize growth and therefore science. On Emperor, the AI start with certain advantages, and you'll need to overcome them. There are many guides on how to start game, build settlers, and NC, then focus on reaching science milestones such as Civil Service, Education, Astronomy, Scientific Theory etc.

 

[mbbcam]

If you want to do well at the game, you have to understand how the game works, which is not how the real world works. At first glance it may seem that the game is set up to mimic the real world, but in actual fact the game has mechanics and logic that do not do a very good job of such mimicry. Unfortunately, as I have discovered, the only way to be able to play the game on its own terms (which is the only way you can be successful at playing it) is to read a lot about the game mechanics. I would suggest that the best place to start is with Tabarnak's Three city approach.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=523371

At least that will give you the basis for development. Having a good foundation is vitally important and has a huge influence on what happens afterwards. If your cities are in the wrong place, it can be very difficult to recover from the mistake.

In effect, the game is all about decision-making and judgement. You have to assess everything that is in front of you, and base your decisions on what you see and what you know about how the game works. Civilization is complex because you have to keep track of so many things at once. The best players seem to be ace multi-taskers who never lose sight of any of the factors, be it science, diplomacy, economy, etc. As soon as you concentrate on one thing and drop the ball on another, you are toast.

 

[enslingkorp]

My advice is to forget about Science victories and learn how to win by Domination and Cultural.

 

[mbbcam]

You might want to look at this thread, too.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=13673417

Not everyone will agree with it, but it raises some valid points.

 

[beetle]

OP, I bet we can work you through this. Prolly you just have a couple bad habits to give up. Like going for early wonders, too many idle units, or not paying enough attention to science.

I attached a screenshot of the last game where on turn 243 multiple people had denounced me and someone had 12 delegates ALREADY with 6 cities.

Not finding an attachment.

Then I killed the city state next to me to get 4 cities.

Two rules of thumb: Never kill a city state. Never DOW more than one CS.

My advice is to forget about Science victories and learn how to win by Domination and Cultural.

Terrible advice IMHO. SV is good choice for learning the game, experiencing the complete game (in turn length), moving up in difficulty levels, comparing civs, and transitioning to other VC type.

 

[gobbledydook]

Yeah, I started off in Immortal and Deity level with Science and Diplo victories. CV is always situational (it's hard to do it every game), and DomV is one of the harder of the victories to pull off.