Increasing difficulty?

[Deonnim]

So I've returned to playing Civ IV again after a fairly long hiatus; the game is good, I'm not a fan of Civ IV and unsure if EU IV will work with my Macbook Air. I used to play well on Noble and Prince, and I'm finding myself doing fairly well again. Yet my play is sloppy again because of the fact that most times the AI is so stupid that it means I can wonder and tech whore, which doesn't really improve much of my game. I was wondering if y'all thought it would be a good idea to up myself to Monarch and see if I can shore up some of the holes in my game that way, or should I just keep playing at Noble until I train myself out of bad habits.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

P.S. I have watched TMIT and AbsoluteZero on YouTube, and I've learned a fair amount from them. It's a little difficult to apply some of their strategies because they AI plays much poorer on the lower levels. I'm even ok with losing on the higher difficulties, it will most likely be a learning experience. And I would also come to the forums with my first higher difficulty game so that I can lean on your knowledge and possibly apply the stuff I've learned from watching all those videos.

 

[lymond]

Definitely move up. It will accentuate the problems in your game and allow you to improve more quickly, even if you lose in the short term. I think Monarch is a good place to start as Prince is very much like Noble really.

Yep, post up a game and get advice from the start and you will improve quickly. Play short turnsets and use standard settings and mapscript.

I learned a tremendous amount from AZ, but I was already playing at a higher level. Most of his games are on Deity so some of the strategies don't translate to lower levels. However, you can still pick up some very important basic mechanics that can apply to any level like worker management, city specialization and placement and whipping.

Before that - early on - I learned a lot from TMIT. He plays very fast but if you are unfamiliar with the game his videos can help clue you in on what is going on.

If you really want to improve, you might as well just make the jump.

(And keep GOTMs and HOF in mind too)

 

[Deonnim]

Thanks for the response, Lymond. I'll probably put up a post later tonight or tomorrow with a new game started to see what I can do.

In regards to the GOTM & HOFs, I'm looking into them now (I saw your post earlier regarding them). I just need to get BUFFY mod again and make sure that I understand the rules and regulations properly before starting. I had always stayed away from them out of fear of failure and not necessarily playing a tight enough game.

 

[lymond]

I had always stayed away from them out of fear of failure and not necessarily playing a tight enough game.

It's all about "perspective" (I say that a lot ). You don't need to treat GOTMs and HOF as competitive ventures, except for yourself. The point is having fun and learning. I'm confident in asserting that there are many more players of your level or thereabouts participating in GOTMs and HOF than Civ elite. If you don't play them, read about them, discuss them, you don't get better at them.