I'm going INSANE!!!

[CenturionV]

i'm having an extremely hard time playing on regent level and i cant seem to do ANYTHING about it every game goes exacly the same. i start out as romans defualt rules random barbs, size, land, before i leave the first age i'm always way behind tech wise of everyone (dont knwo why considering i have just as many cities and they have way more military) i fight a war with egypt and there ally greece (generally at this point i'm getting about -5 gold a turn from to many units unhappinies all the time and i ahve about 20 gold in my treasury) i lose about 2 cities int he start of the war gain them abck (usually there destroyed) and then go after there capital meanwhiel i meet up with a few other races (the oens that werent around for cleapatra to get to fight for here and there all anoyed at me even though i never touched or seen em before (amazing i just love the ai in this) all the civs i meat woudlent trade with me if i had the words >>>>god all worship!!!<<<< stamped on my head in gold and everyoen hates me how do i turn things around in this type of games? how do i manage any better teching in sutch and early age? i explore around my emediate vicinity (generally i never find anyone cept egypt) i build plenty of cities and lotsa units i also research a much as possible??? but yet in the late first age i'm always at war, hated,broke and tehcnologicly backword? can somone pelase tell me what i'm doing wrong?

 

[Hurricane]

Some random thoughts:

* You might want to turn off "culturally linked starting positions". This way you'll get some other neighbors than Egypt and Greece (and their Hoplites).

* Explore as long as you can. Use your spare warriors to scout all land around, not just you near vicinity. The more civs you have contact with, the better. Try to trade techs with them and sell it to other civs who lack them. Don't even try to get a tech lead before the late Industrial ages (it's impossible anyway). Instead, always sell your techs if you can get an even slightly good deal.

* Use the governors to manage city happiness.

* Try to get hold over at least 2 luxuries, even if it means you need to move a settler 15 turns to get to the luxury. Build roads to the city as fast as possible.

* Switch to Monarchy as fast as possible and stay there until you have ended your first wars.

* Don't let your cities grow over size 6 (except maybe for one wonder-building city which has a temple). Make sure the cities pour out settlers as quickly as possible. Most of your cities will stay at size 1-4 because they pop out settlers and occasional workers all the time.

* Establish embassies with everybody. As soon as you have an embassy, the AI mood will change from annoyed to polite.

 

[Shabbaman]

* Don't use random map size. A normal (or small) sized map is easier.

* Try another civ, like Egypt. That could make things easier.

* Read some articles in the war academy on fast expansion and tech trading.

 

[billindenver]

I'm not sure what you are doing, or when, so I'll give you a few suggestions.

1) Set your science rate to 80%. Research up the tech tree. Don't go for all of the lowest techs. The higher up the tree you go, the more other civs are willing to trade you for the new tech. Every time you get a new tech, as soon as you get it, contact EVERY other civ you know and offer the tech to them. Trade for their techs, gold, or communications. The reason you are so far behind in tech is cause they are trading with each other. You've got to do the same.

2) As Rome, research Iron Working ASAP and build a road to iron. The Legion is one of the best early units in the game.

3) In despotism, stationing troops in your cities helps with happiness. Keep one there for small cities, 2 for larger cities.

4) Avoid going to war TOO early. If Egypt demands something and threatens war before you have 5-10 legions, give in to their demands. Once you have 5-10 legions (depending on the game), you should be able to kill anything they throw at you and start taking their cities.

5) Remember that you are a militaristic civ. You military units gain experience quickly, even against barbarian attacks. Get lots of elite units, and you will probably get an early Great Leader.

6) A victory by a legion will give you a Golden Age. A very early golden age isn't a good thing. Try to delay winning a battle with a legion until you have at LEAST 5 cities.

 

[CenturionV]

Set your science rate to 80%. Research up the tech tree. Don't go for all of the lowest techs. The higher up the tree you go, the more other civs are willing to trade you for the new tech

hmm i always thought youw ere suppost to gof or the etchs that take the least time? oh well i'll try that and see if it works
also is it wise to spend large amounts of my cash early buying techs or save it and only trade for computer civs techs?

 

[billindenver]

The reason they are quick to research is because everyone else has them. E.g., if nobody has Literature, it may take 40 turns to research. Once one civilization has it, it takes other civs 20 turns. Once 2 civs have it, it takes 10 turns. (I'm making these numbers up, just for illustration purposes).

However, if you are the first civ to gain Literature, you can probably get 2 lower technologies from other civs when you trade it to them (maybe the Wheel and Pottery, or something), or they may give you contact with other civs, which means you can trade the tech to more civs for more techs.

I didn't realize the part about researching up the tech tree either, til I started coming here. You can gain ungodly amounts of cash and luxuries during later stages of the game if you have a tech like gunpowder, nationalism, or electronics before anyone else and are willing to trade it.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by CenturionV


hmm i always thought youw ere suppost to gof or the etchs that take the least time? oh well i'll try that and see if it works
also is it wise to spend large amounts of my cash early buying techs or save it and only trade for computer civs techs?

I'm almost always willing to trade cash for technology, especially if only one civ has that tech. E.g., if Egypt has Horseback Riding, and nobody else does, if you buy that from Egypt, you can very likely sell it off to other civilizations and make up some, if not all, of the money you spent, or gain new technologies too at the same time.

 

[Hades]

Begin backward doesn't bother me anymore. I did not reseach a single tech until late industrial age. Cash is far more versatile than tech. Also, if I try to do both reseach and cash flow, I have to build libraries, universities, marketplaces, and banks. If I concentrate on cash I only have to build marketplaces and banks.

 

[Fierro1816]

Patience. Rome wasn't build in one day.

Just ajust your strategy to your civs advantages, build cities like crazy and keep playing. Eventually you will catch up on the other civs. Remember, this is not Real Time Strategy. If you are last in the first 30 minutes is not the end of the world.

Also, try the smaller maps first.

 

[CenturionV]

waoh i tried what you guys said i'm the richest coutnry int he world i got 7600 cashs aved gettign aroudn 250 a turn everyoen else is so poor its not even worth giving them techs anymroe i cant get anything for them. and i'm not gettign imvporvments fast enoguh to us emy money up on them

 

[billindenver]

It's amazing how much difference good research and good trading makes!