I really want to love this game, please help :)

[grechzoo]

Okay, basically I got Civ4 complete for a bargain and was very eager to play after reading so many great reviews. After getting lost and confused in the game proceeding the tutorial I took a step back and read the whole manual as well Sulla’s walkthrough from start to finish. I think I got the gist just about every concept within the game, and it all seemed so exciting and well made.

The first game I played was on settler, but I realised I was just researching and building whatever, and the difficulty was so easy that I had no tangible feedback of whether I was playing well or not. So I quit after a few hours.

Then I bumped it up to noble, and went in with a patient attitude, looking at all the adviser screens and trying to plan out my game. But that again didn't last long because of the fact that for some odd reason I never knew when a good time to build settlers was. I thought maybe workers, and even wonders might be more important.

So I'm looking for advice on good starting strategy as even on my third game I still built too slow even though I knew that was what went wrong on the game before. I just couldn’t figure the right time. Also the third game put me on an isolated land mass, so I didn't really know what to do and ended up falling into the same traps. Except this time without any allies or enemies to interact with.

So that's my experience with the game so far. Basically I'm not just looking for game-play advice, but also encouragement, maybe some people who have shared similar experiences like me when they first started. I want to know if its just beginner's ignorance, or do I simply not have enough patience to enjoy these types of games.

Also some advice on starting out would be great too .

I got so excited reading up on the game (Esp Sulla's walkthrough) but playing it so far hasn't come close

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Post a save and ask for advice. You'll get suggestions and then you can try things out.

 

[Paboots]

Try playing an OCC (One City Challenge) game. You can't build any settlers that way.

If you are playing a full game try to build a settler relatively early. Usually you want to be cautious about making it the first thing you build, because it will slow down city growth, but I almost always make it the second thing I build in my capitol city.

From there on out you want to push to about 7 or 8 cities...just watch your science slider...if it starts to go down you are starting to build up too much maintenance costs and you should stop expanding.

 

[Rusty Edge]

Welcome to the CFC forums, grechzoo

Isolated starts put a civ at a disadvantage ( think Aussie Aboriginals ) . Don't take it too hard. Lot's of people quit those games and start over. If you want to learn to handle those kind of starts search Lonely Hearts Club , and/or LHC on the strategy and tips forum.

Posting some saved games and screen shots on this forum will get you some help.

Try playing as the Inca or Rome, that often helps.

There is more than one way of doing many things in this game, that's the beauty of it.
Find a way that's fun for you, it's a game, it's meant to be fun.

 

[Sisiutil]

Welcome to CFC, grechzoo.

In a nutshell:

• While you do want to eventually win the game, Civ is really about setting "mini-goals" for yourself. For example, "I want to conquer my nearest neighbour"; "I want to found and spread a religion"; "I want to build the Pyramids"--all are valid goals you can set and achieve in the game's short term. They are usually mutually exclusive because of the focus and resources required, but not always once you get skilled with the game. Once you achieve one mini-goal, work toward your next one.
• Each mini-goal should be chosen because it gives you some sort of advantage that will help you achieve your overall goal of eventual victory. Ideally they should have synergy with one another, so that achieving one mini-goal helps you achieve a subsequent one. For example, "I want to settle or conquer a city to claim a source of marble. Marble will help me build the Great Library. The Great Library will help me produce Great Scientists I can use to 'lightbulb' techs on the way to Liberalism. Being first to Liberalism will give me a free technology..." and so on.
• Try a standard map such as continents which should plunk you down on a land mass with at least a couple of other civs.
• At the start, make researching to a strategic resource a key goal. Bronze Working is highly valued as an early tech because it reveals copper so you can build Axemen (and enables forest chopping and slavery, too). Try to time the building of a Settler so that it appears close to the same turn that you finish researching BW, then found a city to claim copper.
• Once you can build Axemen, you can use them to (a) fend off barbarians and (b) go conquer a nearby civilization.
• Look for other valuable resources to be had and found cities to claim them. Resources that increase happiness (gold, gems, silver, fur, ivory) are highly prized for this reason; they also contribute valuable commerce to the city working the tile. Other strategic resources like horses and iron should also be claimed. Finally, be on the lookout for additional health resources, or just extras of resources you already have so that you can trade them for those you lack.
• On the low to mid-difficulty levels, try following the "60% rule". Build Settlers and found cities until the cost of city maintenance forces you to lower the science slider to 60% in order to have a positive income. Build your economy and research techs that will allow you to raise that slider (e.g. Sailing, Pottery, Writing, Code of Laws, Currency). Once you can push the slider above 60% again, it's time to build more Settlers.
• Oh, is there no more land to settle? Then it's time to build military units instead of Settlers and go conquer somebody. It's fun and profitable!

 

[Zubbus]

The jump from settler to noble is HUGE.
Settler is completely gimped. AIs will not start a war against you, etc. Your handicap bonus is like 90% (someone correct me before I keep making this number bigger?).

In Noble the AI's production handicap is almost non-existent: (and as you reported, you got your ass handed to you)
In Prince you and and the AI are even money. Obvious the matter of beating them wouldn't be easy if there is 1 of you and 11 of them (AND that they outcalculate you like chess), now, would it

Solution. Play Chieftain. Play Warlord after you beat Chieftian. The difficulty levels are there for a reason. So take one at a time.

Also, there are a lot to learn in this game. While it's fun to try out different civs, if you really want to learn, you need to learn very hard how to play each civ or leader to the best of their abilities. 1 way to help with that is to stick with the same map. earth18 is quite good for that. The map itself can also look familiar.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

The best advice that I can give is to read some guides, like Sisiutil's guides that are in his sig.

Then go out and play, and play, and learn, and fiddle around with the game, and try new things until you get good at it. Then play some more.

There are so many ways to make this game interesting and fresh, and so many different strategies to try. I've been playing now for two years, and almost every game is still an adventure.

Most of all, the best advice is to have fun.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Wearing fluffy bunny slippers whilst playing makes the game interesting and fresh Lemon?

 

[grechzoo]

thanks so much guys, ill take your advice and also read some more guides

alos will lower the difficulty to chieftan for a start as well, and work my way up.

i have another question though. about in game music.......is there any? i love the menu music and was suprised in game there is nothing bu sound effects. i could use the custom music folder option, but i dont really have anything that totally suits the relaxed atmosphere of the game, like the menu music for example

if there isn't any in game music as default, can you guys recommend any artists or composers that produce music similar to the menu music?

 

[Sisiutil]

i have another question though. about in game music.......is there any? i love the menu music and was suprised in game there is nothing bu sound effects. i could use the custom music folder option, but i dont really have anything that totally suits the relaxed atmosphere of the game, like the menu music for example

if there isn't any in game music as default, can you guys recommend any artists or composers that produce music similar to the menu music?

There's lots of in-game music! Ctrl+M toggles it on and off. Also check the options dialog to make sure it's enabled, unmuted, etc.

 

[grechzoo]

thanks

i think i know why i might not be enjoying the game as much as i had hoped.

having done a game just now, i expanded in good time to great rescources and really played my first moves well. but after a while my research and buildings and improvements came so thick and fast i lost all sight of what i was doing, i didn;t have a grand plan for each city and i just basically built anything that looked cool including lots of wonders. as well as making lots of cats and horse archers to take out a close neighbour early on.

it is fun, but quite frankly i feel totally lost in my empire now (like i filled 15 ft swimming pool while i was standing in the deepend ). there is way to much going on and im finding it hard to know what to do next. and thus im not really having "fun" even though im doing well (on the difficulty just below noble)

i think maybe im just not cut out for this genre of game. im sure most of you love the fact there are so many things to keep track of, and love planning ahead, but i just am not enjoying it myself .

 

[Ataxerxes]

thanks

i think i know why i might not be enjoying the game as much as i had hoped.

having done a game just now, i expanded in good time to great rescources and really played my first moves well. but after a while my research and buildings and improvements came so thick and fast i lost all sight of what i was doing, i didn;t have a grand plan for each city and i just basically built anything that looked cool including lots of wonders. as well as making lots of cats and horse archers to take out a close neighbour early on.

it is fun, but quite frankly i feel totally lost in my empire now (like i filled 15 ft swimming pool while i was standing in the deepend ). there is way to much going on and im finding it hard to know what to do next. and thus im not really having "fun" even though im doing well (on the difficulty just below noble)

i think maybe im just not cut out for this genre of game. im sure most of you love the fact there are so many things to keep track of, and love planning ahead, but i just am not enjoying it myself .

A lot of cities can get a little overwhelming at first. You might want to try a one-city challenge. The games takes a few hours and you don't have as many things to keep track of.

 

[Kullervo]

Or try a tiny map game with just a few civs, on quick. That can help you get the basic gist of things. Then, you can try bigger maps or more civs (there is very little more amusing than playing on a tiny map with 18 civs). From settler to noble is a huge jump, though. At least try warlord first.

 

[Sportyatuncw06]

thanks so much guys, ill take your advice and also read some more guides

alos will lower the difficulty to chieftan for a start as well, and work my way up.

i have another question though. about in game music.......is there any? i love the menu music and was suprised in game there is nothing bu sound effects. i could use the custom music folder option, but i dont really have anything that totally suits the relaxed atmosphere of the game, like the menu music for example

if there isn't any in game music as default, can you guys recommend any artists or composers that produce music similar to the menu music?

The music is ok but I open up Itunes and select my personal playlist, then start Civ. I do have the sound effects playing in the background though so I can kind of stay focused.

 

[Willem]

So I'm looking for advice on good starting strategy as even on my third game I still built too slow even though I knew that was what went wrong on the game before. I just couldn’t figure the right time.

It's always the right time. Unless your economy is completely tanked out and your troops are deserting because of lack of pay, you should always consider trying to build a new city. At least until there's no more land available anymore.