Iggy the Idiot - Prince /Monarch training

[Sir Clive]

Greetings all

I have been dabbling in Colonization / Sim City / Civilisation and a few other games for many many years now but I never get incredibly serious in any of them.

I bought Civ 5 when it came out but couldn't get on with it at all so if I want to play a civ game it is always Civ 4 BTS

I love reading the SGs and SGOTMs and it is a constant frustration that whenever I venture beyond Warlord towards Noble/Prince I tend to get hammered despite having studied threads from the experts in detail.

So does anyone fancy playing a standard SG ( random everything , large map , no random events ) at Noble/Prince/Monarch so that I can improve my game.

I don't want to micro manage too much - I read some SGOTM where it can take 3 weeks to determine a 5 turn plan . It's fascinating to read and I do learn stuff but I don't have the patience to play at that level myself.

But I would like to move my current level up a couple of notches.

I have only ever played one SG before and I think that was probably at least 7-8 years ago so I will probably need some help with image / save uploads, Buffy / other variations and etiquette etc .

I know a non variation game will probably not be that interesting but hope there are enough Civ4 people still out there to get this off the ground.

If not , any help with raising my game a couple of levels without having to spend the rest of my life as a hermit would be appreciated.

Cheers

Niall

 

[Rusten]

You can try advertising for this in the strategy&tips subforum. Few people come in here (many don't even know of SGs), but it sounds like something that could catch their interest.

 

[Yudishtira]

You can try advertising for this in the strategy&tips subforum. Few people come in here (many don't even know of SGs), but it sounds like something that could catch their interest.

Yeah and unless you find other players who all want to learn Prince/Monarch, wouldn't you be better off doing as they do in Strategy & Tips - playing a few turns at a time, posting a save and asking for advice?

 

[Folket]

I could join in this.

As far as I understand you correctly it is fine that I'm able to play far above prince/monarch?

 

[TheSunIsDark]

I could play. I'm normally a Prince player, I've won on Monarch three times (although two were duel, the other one was Standard Terra UN Diplo) and I'd be happy to give this a go. If you want to use BUG or another mod (unless it's vital for what is being played, like a scenario mod), put it in Custom Assets rather than loading it as a mod. Epic or Normal are generally the best speeds to play at, Normal might be better for an SG though.

 

[lymond]

I've always been a big proponent of shadow/learner games over in S&T as a way to improve quickly. However, I think an SG game with a mix of newer players with experienced players can be a nice tool to learn as well. I've learned tons over the years playing in the SGOTMs and SG here, so I don't see why not.

However, this forum has been a little quiet over the last several months to a year. so it may be wise to post an announcement over in S&T to lure over some interested parties.

I don't have time myself, but guys like Folket will be an immense help to you. Just discussing and planning turnsets will allow you to pick up a tremendous amount of knowledge quickly.

Yeah, I just recommend using BUG/BULL in CA for now and learn the base game.

Folket can probably work with you on setting up a reasonable settings for the game. Keeping it simple and normal. I guess a theme is ok as long as it's not too wonky. Maybe focus on a specific victory condition.

 

[Sir Clive]

Thanks all - looks like we just have SunIsDark and Folket so far.

Folket - I have followed some of your SGs before and you are a fair bit above my level but as I stated I need to learn how to get to a higher level so input would be very useful.

As I said in the original post I would a fairly relaxed game without huge amounts of micro-management but with the opportunity to learn new techniques. I may be working abroad quite a bit and although I have site access I don't always have the time to play / contribute as much as I would like.
This is why I have never joined a SGOTM team as I feel I don't have enough time.

In particular I have neve really got the whipping / overflow thing right so that is the first thing I would like to learn properly.

I think I would like 6 participants if possible so I will put out some feelers on the Tips and Strategies forum to see if I can whip up another 2-3 people.

Cheers

Niall

 

[lymond]

Good job. I hope you get this one going. You might want to start discussing settings for your game so you can put a map together and post the info/screenies in the OP. Once that is done you may start getting more interest.

With your mention of whip/of stuff, I'll post a link to an old post of mine that discusses the subject and has links to more in depth posts I made for several newer players. It just touches the surface on the subject, but may give you some good starting pointers to consider:

lymond knows best........in his own mind

 

[Sir Clive]

OK all - thanks for the replies

A few thoughts on some specifics to hopefully help get this underway.

My normal settings are normally large map, pretty much everything random.

I like random maps for the suprise factor but I hate finding lack of resources due to Arid / cold so always go temperate.

I normally tend to try to play peaceful trading / diplomatic games at the lower level aiming for corporations and financial security but as soon as I go up a level or so I tend to get caught out by the opposition killing me off.

I never attack anyone early and tend to be bad at getting military ready early enough and almost always get to the early ADs before fighting.

So I think I would improve with a slightly more warmongering strategy and would therefore like to play an aggresive Civ.

So here are proposed settings but I am open to any proposals from anyone wanting to take part or advise / lurk

• Victory condition- Conquest / Domination
• Options - No Random personalities, no Random events
• Opposition - Random
• Map - Shuffle
• Climate - Temperate
• Sea Level Medium
• World Size - Standard
• Civ - Random
• Level - Prince
• Particpants - Folket, TheSunIsDark, Sir Clive. Htadus

 

[TheSunIsDark]

The problem with those is bad UUs, apart from the Mongolian Keshik. Kublai Khan might be a good leader, but you could just pick random.

 

[Sir Clive]

The problem with those is bad UUs, apart from the Mongolian Keshik. Kublai Khan might be a good leader, but you could just pick random.

OK - I am happy to go with a random civ

But I want to improve warmongering and still want to keep the victory conditions as conquest / domination.

But I assume that should be possible at Prince level even if we get someone very peaceful like Gandhi .. ??

 

[Htadus]

If you can play on a standard size map, you can add me to your roster. Large size map is not a good learning map. Also you should play on standard speed.

As for the leaders, those leaders are fine to learn the game since what you need to learn is playing the map more than playing the leader. If you choose, say, Darius, then you already made the game easy for a conquest/domination type of game.

 

[TheSunIsDark]

OK - I am happy to go with a random civ

But I want to improve warmongering and still want to keep the victory conditions as conquest / domination.

But I assume that should be possible at Prince level even if we get someone very peaceful like Gandhi .. ??

Spiritual is a good trait for any victory condition. Very winnable, even with no traits.

 

[Htadus]

Gandhi has 2 of the best traits and the best UU in the game. That is like cheating on lower level.

 

[Sir Clive]

OK - I am happy with random Civ and standard size rather than large size map.

So Htadus you are welcome.

But would still like minimum of 5 participants ( and preferably 6 ) to start ...

Also would preference be to just take system generated map or ask one of the experts to generate one through WorldBuilder ?

I am also OK going from Prince up to Monarch but it is a bit of a jump for me so I hope people will be sympathetic when I make bad moves ( as will probably happen ) As I said origianlly I would like a fun learning game without months and months of discussion involving extreme micro management

But hopefully with a good pre turn prep that should be avoidable to some degree....

 

[Folket]

I think monarch should be fine. Playing SG is much easier then a normal game since we discuss the plans. And we will have immortal/deity level that should be able to make a difference during their sets if a weak player make something strange.

I prefer standard size map. As for map scripts I like "big and small" and fractal. I like not knowing how the map turns out.

 

[Sir Clive]

I think monarch should be fine. Playing SG is much easier then a normal game since we discuss the plans. And we will have immortal/deity level that should be able to make a difference during their sets if a weak player make something strange.

I prefer standard size map. As for map scripts I like "big and small" and fractal. I like not knowing how the map turns out.

I have played Fractal a few times so am happy with that.

And I am also OK with bumping up to Monarch as long as I don't get too much hassle for mistakes


Revised settings ....

Victory condition- Conquest / Domination
Options - No Random personalities, no Random events
Opposition - Random
Map - Fractal
Climate - Temperate
Sea Level Medium
World Size - Standard
Civ - Random
Level - Monarch
Particpants - Folket, TheSunIsDark, Sir Clive. Htadus

 

[Htadus]

Fractal is a good learning script. It does have a known issue. Sometimes it can leave more space to expand for one of the civs. Sometime it is for the player and sometimes for one of the AI. But I think it is good to play on that kind of map where the player has to adopt to the map.

Monarch is also a good learning difficulty. I think the game settings are very good. Looking forward to the game.

 

[TheSunIsDark]

What do you mean by No Random Personalities? Do you mean Random Personalities, or do you mean that it is not checked?

 

[Sir Clive]

What do you mean by No Random Personalities? Do you mean Random Personalities, or do you mean that it is not checked?

Sorry that was not clear TSID - I meant Random Personalties not checked

Just makes it easier for me to follow the AI.

But it is definitely not a big deal , especially when playing with so many radom factors so I am not really fussed eaither way.