Is the game harder on faster speeds?

[Stringer1313]

I'm in a post-patch Emperor game where for the very first time I'm playing on Quick mode. I am in the industrial era and I am losing!!! This makes me very happy because I usually crush Emperor easily. But I'm now wondering whether the game is generally harder on faster speeds. Is it?

 

[BarbarianHunter]

If you are a militarist I think it is harder. The AI can more readily react to (and recover from) its various blunders. That and your plans become outdated quicker due to faster unit obsolesce times. At first I didn't care for the online speed at all, but I have learned to plan accordingly and rather like the it now.

 

[Draco84]

Yes the game is more difficult the faster you play, and conversely easier on slower settings.

On faster speeds the AI can produce units almost every turn so you have to be fast to take a city. And on slower the AI can never produce units before a city falls.

Not only that but by the time you cross the continent on faster speeds you are likely fighting units a age higher.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

AFAIK every main-line civ game is harder on fast speeds.

 

[liv]

It is also tougher to get to golden ages on quicker speeds

 

[Tiger Genocide]

It is also tougher to get to golden ages on quicker speeds

I did not realize that, but it explains alot. I play on Quick speed at least 80% of my games and only on those games I seem to get dark ages on rare occasion and normal ages most of the time. On Normal speed games when I think about it, I get rolling Golden Ages...

 

[BarbarianHunter]

I did not realize that, but it explains alot. I play on Quick speed at least 80% of my games and only on those games I seem to get dark ages on rare occasion and normal ages most of the time. On Normal speed games when I think about it, I get rolling Golden Ages...

Agreed. The era score is quite challenging with faster speeds, especially online speed.

I also prefer to wait for conquests until mid game with online speed, as I believe it is more conducive to a build out model than an early war model. I always seem to get ripped to shreds when I approach an AI city that produces an archer every other turn. I suppose I could create 20 archers and rush the civ, but then I’d have a bunch of archer units I really don’t want.

I choose instead to build until I reach at least the mid game, then train 4 or 5 knights in an armory (+25% experience for stable, +25% for armory). I’ll often buy the armory to expedite as online moves quick! By then, for whatever the reason, the AI doesn’t usually have all that many units anyway.

The trick with the mid game armory trained knights (or late mid game military academy trained knight corps) is they promote at the drop of a hat. I think the online experience accumulation is also double speed. It’s almost like having a Mamluk. They seem to promote every 3rd turn.

I find this works exceptionally well with Shaka due to early arrival of corps.

 

[Nimbit]

I find it more difficult. Mistakes seem much less forgiving.

 

[BarbarianHunter]

Agreed. The era score is quite challenging with faster speeds, especially online speed.

I also prefer to wait for conquests until mid game with online speed, as I believe it is more conducive to a build out model than an early war model. I always seem to get ripped to shreds when I approach an AI city that produces an archer every other turn. I suppose I could create 20 archers and rush the civ, but then I’d have a bunch of archer units I really don’t want.

I choose instead to build until I reach at least the mid game, then train 4 or 5 knights in an armory (+25% experience for stable, +25% for armory). I’ll often buy the armory to expedite as online moves quick! By then, for whatever the reason, the AI doesn’t usually have all that many units anyway.

The trick with the mid game armory trained knights (or late mid game military academy trained knight corps) is they promote at the drop of a hat. I think the online experience accumulation is also double speed. It’s almost like having a Mamluk. They seem to promote every 3rd turn.

I find this works exceptionally well with Shaka due to early arrival of corps.

I just called this online game I was tinkering with. Played it essentially as stated above, only I waited for tanks to begin the endgame warring cycle. I suppose I could have gone for the science win, but what would be the fun in that?
Turn 97, peaceful harmony. Steel 3 turns away. Combustion 4 turns away...

Turn 118, Genghis annexed.