Level of Difficulty differences?

[LadyLeigh]

Can anyone tell me what are the differences in each difficulty level (Warlord, Prince, etc)? My husband just moved up to Emperor, basically is playing his 2nd game at this level to "test" the new waters. Alas, I still play on Warlord. <img src="graemlins/blushing.gif" border="0" alt="[Blush]" /> I was wondering if there are "documented" specific things to watch for. We have noticed things like the AI & barbs are more aggressive, citizens go unhappy quicker, seems harder to get the Wonders, etc. We have figured out that you don't necessarily want to grow as fast to keep unhappiness down as in lower levels. Plus the scoring is higher as you go up a level. Any suggestions would be appreciated. <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

 

[shadowdale]

Well first of all I would suggest that you read the War Academy - there are lots and lots of good stuff there and most of it takes in account the different levels.

But to give you a few of the major differenceses between the levels:

Your cities get unhappy quicker<br />The AI gets techs faster<br />The AI needs less sields to build unites/improvents<br />The AI goes more aggesivly after the wonders<br />The barbs might be more aggesive - I can't remember!! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> <br />There seems to be a decrease in chance that you win combat situations

About the expansion and unhappiness - there is an essay about how many cities you can have before they start getting angry - and it is dependend on both level and government type.

well that is more or lewss what I seem to be able to remember at the moment - I might come up with more later on - but others will probably have posted it before I get around to it - But first of all:

READ THE WAR ACADEMY, it's really good.

<img src="graemlins/snipersmilie.gif" border="0" alt="[Sniper]" />

BTW there is nothing wrong with "only" playing at Warlord - I play at King level and enjoy it!!!

[ September 17, 2001: Message edited by: shadowdale ]</p>

 

[starlifter]

There many places, such as the War Academy and lots of threads.

Another thing you might try is the GOTM (Game of the Month). Anyone can play that, and it is an "informal" thing, e.g., no pressures & take a month to do it. This month, it is a Warlord level game.

It happens that I made a little thread about the differences in Warlord and Emperor/Deity, mainly to "remind" those that are used to higher difficulty levels about some of the differences when playing at Warlord. But a Warlord player (or anyone "moving up" in difficulty) might find them equally helpful for playing at higher levels.

Here is the link:<br /> <a href="http://forums.civfanatics.com/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=20&t=000139" target="_blank">http://forums.civfanatics.com/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=20&t=000139</a>

It is in the GOTM Forum, in a thread called "Warlord Differences ('Help' for Diety Players <img src="icon12.gif" border="0"> )".

 

[jc011]

well, im playing prince right now, and one thing i can tell you is to keep your citizens happy at the start, but the luxuries to 10% when you get monarchy, you may have to put the luxuries rate higher depending on the government and the number of "happy wonders" you have. Don't have a disorder for more than 2 turns or your government falls. The civs are definetly faster than in warlord and cheiftan, and a good start is cruicial. have fun <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

 

[starlifter]

<br />posted September 17, 2001 07:31 PM <br />well, im playing prince right now, and one thing i can tell you is to keep your citizens happy at the start, but the luxuries to 10% when you get monarchy, you may have to put the luxuries rate higher depending on the government and the number of "happy wonders" you have. Don't have a disorder for more than 2 turns or your government falls. <br /> <hr></blockquote>

Several comments that may be of assistance:

1. My personal playing style refuses to ever pay luxuries while in Monarchy. Instead, as I get 50 or 60 cities at Deity (where happiness is an extreme factor), I just turn citizens into taxmen or scientists and let their growth grind to a halt at size 6, 7, or 8. When Democracy comes, which is not long by this point in the mid-game, then it is time for all to grow to 20+ in about 15 turns.

2. michelnagelo's Chapel is crucial, or else you will stymie growth by putting huge resources into Cathedrals throughout your empire. MC is the most important wonder in the game, bar none.

3. JS Bach is also crucial, esp. for a mid-game democracy. Nothing else can duplicate its unique effects on happiness, esp. on units(s) away from home in a Republic/Democracy.

4. To my knowledge, a Democracy is the only government that can fall if a city stays in disorder. The democracy will fall on the second consecutive turn of a given city being unhappy (the anarchy fist will be seen). BTW, Nuclear Plants in the respective unhappy cities may detonate, too. All other forms of government may have cities in Anarchy for as long as you desire, but they won't contribute any science or taxes to your empire.

<br />

 

[LadyLeigh]

Yes, we have read thru the War Academy section several times, and it has helped out a lot. I just wanted some ideas from the "experts" of things to watch out for in the higher levels. There are so many good players on this board!! Gives me something to aspire to.....Thanks for all the suggestions! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

 

[Magnus]

KING is my favorite level, because everything is equal. With 7 civs and raging hordes and the biggest possible map (100X100), it is enough of a challenge for me; for me, anything below is too easy and anything above makes the happiness wonders too important and unbalances the game.

 

[starlifter]

<br />by LadyLeigh, posted September 18, 2001 11:54 AM: <br />Yes, we have read thru the War Academy section several times, <br />...<br /> <hr></blockquote>

If you are new to the game, something physical that might help is the book "Sid Meier's Civilization II: The Official Strategy Guide", by Prima Publishing. It is hands down the best Civ II book. Don't bother with the other crappy Civ II books.

However, advanced strategies (and more basic ones, too <img src="icon12.gif" border="0"> ), "cutting edge" stuff (like Oedo years or Key Civs), etc. are in these forums.

EDIT: Typos in book title.<br />

[ September 18, 2001: Message edited by: starlifter ]</p>

 

[growthudemocracy]

I realy stunk when i first started playing civII...i would only build a few cities and consentrate more on land imprvmnt and city imprvmnts than BUILDING MORE CITIES...i now never play below prince and mainly play at king....the thing to do is GET MONARCHY as fast as possible...then pursue mystism and philosophy/polytheism to get monotheism and mike's chaple, during these pursuits build a city then a settler then defensive unit the settler, do the logrythmicly (man my spelling, whoa) trying to get between 15 nad twenty cities, i build a lot of "coastal" cities to have a poerful navy later on and for the trade arrows thw ocean provides, defend your cities well in Monarchy as this will ensure good protection but also KEEPS YOUR CITIES HAPPY without having to build tons o' city improvmnts as in the early game ya need settlers/defensive unitz/CARAVANS more than anything....<br />P.S. In a good grassland/river/coastal city build colosus/copurnicus lab/issac newtons in that same city!!!!!!!!also send and recv caravans to this city, WOW the amount of scince/money produced!!!!!!!!!!111

 

[Archbob]

A couple of things:

AI get more aggressive
Citizens grow unhappy faster
AI and barbarian units get tougher(yes their stats actually get better)
Science takes longer

Wonders get harder to build.


On chiefstan your units have a big advantage over yor enemies, on diety, they have a advantage over you. It balances out around prince or king.

 

[starlifter]

Wonders get harder to build.

Just to avoid confusing some people, I should point out that wonders never get harder (or easier) to build at changing different difficulty levels. Wonders always cost the same, and even the rush buy cost never changes.

However, at Chieftan, there is no 50% penalty for switching production... but this still does not make it easier to build a wonder.


Now at Diety, it might SEEM like the AI is ripping right thru the wonders... and it will be, so get efficient and build only the most critical wonders for your own playing style.

What changes, among other things like science rates, is that the AI gets a huge shield multiplier (bonus). Two shields of AI output might be credited as 20, 30, .... even 40 shields per turn. Plus, the "price" of the wonder is much cheaper for the AI at higher levels.

But again, for the Human, the difficulty of building at wonder is not changed.

 

[jc011]

Originally posted by starlifter


Two shields of AI output might be credited as 20, 30, .... even 40 shields per turn.

WHAT!!!! THAT'S INSANE!!!

 

[Dexter]

Whoa!! The AI gets upto 40sheilds prod. for jus 2 shields!!! That's crazy!!!

 

[starlifter]

Whoa!! The AI gets upto 40sheilds prod. for jus 2 shields!!!

LOL, that's life at Deity... and how an AI Deity republic can keep up.... and why you normally must pick your wonders carefully early on.

The ratio tends to go down and the AI city increases it's size, but I have never tried to quantify it.

Try putting a spy next to their city (stacked with a defender) and watching things.

BTW, the ratio is most commonly in the 3 to 8 to one range, not 10 and 20 to one. But I have seen it spike up there when a 1 or 2 shield city is making a big item like a Nuke or a wonder.

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

That would explain those 19 cruise missiles that just hit my AEGIS (shot by the tribe with 4 small cities remaining )

If you need a particular wonder, and you have the infastructure with which to do so, send a boatload of diplos over to continuously knock down their production every few turns.

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

Oh and Starlifter, have you, during any of your little breakdown-the-game sessions, noticed a ridiculously high quantity of VETERAN AI units? It would seem to me that they are EVERYWHERE on the higher levels, though I've never bothered to confirm my suspicions.

 

[starlifter]

noticed a ridiculously high quantity of VETERAN AI units?

No, not really. I know many AI leaders really LOVE to build barracks, and it does seem to help the AI defend agains barb attacks. I watch them lose many more cities defended by non-vet phalanxes, musketeers, etc. than if they have Vets. Myself, I really don't care that much what kind of units I face... when I'm playing a game whose object it to do some good fighting, and not just cream the AI with my Vet Stealths vs. their Warriors (like GOTM 8 is). I do pay close attention to what unit I'm attacking, however... and will always get a unit that will defeat the defender, or else wait until I'm ready. And while I'm waiting, I often get tens of thousands of gold from the AI with trade. I trade with the AI even in the middle of a huge,all out battle. Nothing slows my trade, except possibly stretching the Army to take that one more city before the Senate interferes on a turn.

But no, I have not ever notinced anything unusual about AI units being vets.

However, the AI is able to "upgrade" land units, esp defensive units, sort of like Leonardos does. I've only watched this at deity, when Warriors suddenly become Riflemen, for instance. But the riflemen are not vets when that happens. I've never seen a unit upgrade to Alpine or Mech Inf, either. I have never seen planes or ships "upgrade", BTW. I've never investigated the exact pattern, or conditions of the "upgrade" thing... just taken note of it.

 

[Heffalump]

I'm not too familiar with the differences between levels, having played almost exclusively King since the game came out. (I played Civ I for years before Civ II and decided to jump into the sequel at King.) Once, maybe it was twice, I played a game at Emperor but can't remember much different in the way of tactics from the AI. Lazily, I never developed much interest at playing at these levels since it seemed the only additional challenge came from the AI's cheating, and not any improvement in strategy. And I play for the sake of imagination, not score, if that makes sense....

But I am curious if I missed something in terms of different tactical and strategic choices by the AI. Particularly, does the AI use spies more aggressively (planting nukes in cities, etc) at the Deity level?

 

[Sodak]

Originally posted by Cunobelin Of Hippo
...noticed a ridiculously high quantity of VETERAN AI units? It would seem to me that they are EVERYWHERE on the higher levels, though I've never bothered to confirm my suspicions.

Keen observation, CoH! Barbarian attack strengths vary with difficulty level. The unit's normal attack value (e.g. 4 for legion) is multiplied by 0.25 for each difficulty level:

• chieftain -> 25% normal strength
• warlord -> 50%
• prince -> 75%
• king -> 100% (remember, at king level the human and AI play on equal terms
• emperor -> 125%
• deity -> 150%, the same as if the unit was a veteran.

Defense strengths do not change.

 

[jc011]

well, i was playing on king before, and won 2 consecutive games, then gotm9 came out, and i'm having a hard time keeping up with the ai's, they are sooooo ahead of me in terms of science and land, power, everything. The hardest thing about going from king to emperor is the time. Time is like gone in an instant, you really have to set your strategy down to the finest detail. I'm doing poorly on emperor. any tips?