Is there a secret to my sucess?

[michael4000]

I am curious about this: I have been doing pretty well at Warlord but was in over my head in Regent -- e.g. I was getting pasted in the current GOTM, and had to throw in the towel.

But this weekend, I played 16 Civs on a huge map, and well into the Industrial Age I am way, way ahead of everyone else. I pulled away almost immediately in tech and gold, and in fact trading has been nonexistant, since there have only been a few times that someone beat me to a tech. I am so dominant, I assumed I must have selected Chieftain by accident, but no, it really is Regent.

So, here's my question: Does the AI fare worse on a huge maps or with lots of opponents? I'm sure I'm learning and improving and all, but it seems like the other Civs just rolled over and died in this one.

 

[Dreadnought]

Maybe its the civs: are they the same as the other game, or are they different? Also, are most of the AI in wars? Are there any factors in the current game that have changed the outcome (like location, size, better city locations, etc.) Or maybe the AI is just doing bad during this game Strange, the AI does reletivly good on pangaea. What were the map sizes and types in the other game when you lost?

 

[predesad]

if you are a buider, huge maps are better. huge maps also slow down tech pace and allows the human plasyer more turns of micromanaging / building as tech advances. or maybed your style is just inclined to huge maps. i am unstoppable vs AI on huge maps, but reduce the map size and even at the same difficulty the game is harder for my preferred style of play

 

[Kalach]

With lots of other civs they would all have less land to work with until they take some, so if you were a bit more competent then they were in early wars you should be able to get a larger more powerful empire.
It really depends a lot on your starting location and early turns, sometimes I will lose a game, but then with the same settings but better starting spot/management I will be the world superpower the whole game.

 

[Pook]

if you are a buider, huge maps are better. huge maps also slow down tech pace and allows the human plasyer more turns of micromanaging / building as tech advances. or maybed your style is just inclined to huge maps. i am unstoppable vs AI on huge maps, but reduce the map size and even at the same difficulty the game is harder for my preferred style of play

I don't play many huge maps just because of the time required. I'm interested in your comment about how a huge map slows down tech pace. Intuitively, I thought it would be the opposite- that having more nations tech-trading would speed up the tech pace. Is my intuition off here?

 

[IbnSina]

No, your intuition is right - with more civs there is more trading. On the other hand, the cost of techs depends on the number of tiles in your world. More tiles mean higher cost. Early in the game the civs are more widely separated on the huge map, meaning less contact, and less trading initially. As a result, the tech pace can be quite slow very early in the game, and a human player who explores aggressively can clean up. However, by the middle ages, normal service is restored.

 

[michael4000]

Hmm... having drawn Russians I used scouts pretty aggressively to wrangle techs from huts. I forgot that the tech pace is slower on huge maps -- maybe my lead from that was just so commanding that I'm still coasting from it.

I'm a definite builder, too, and I see how the larger map sizes accomodate me there. And I did have a dynamite starting location. Throw in a touch more aggressiveness (traditionally, I've never liked starting wars), and my romp starts to make more sense.

Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[viper275]

One more thing: I think part of the reason the GOTM was at Regent was that it didn't have the greatest start locaton, and you mentioned you had a good one.

Also: the Russians (Expansionist and Scientific) seem like a very good civ to be if you want a tech lead (lots of free techs early on from scouts, free techs at the start of each era which I find expensive at the start of the Middle Ages, and cheap libraries/universities later.)

One last thing, if you're looking to improve your gameplay and consistently win at Regent, I suggest going to the Succession Games forum, here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=67 . You will learn a lot! If there isn't a Regent game feel free to make one.

 

[sabo]

It's probably the other civs and their starting locations. You must have had a great one and the AI had poor ones.