Master at Civ 1, 2 and 3 but suck at 4...

[ew0054]

Ive been playing the Civ games since Civ I came out for Super NES and have been very good at it. I preordered Civ 4 but even after all this time I have yet to win above warlord difficulty, and even winning on that level is a rareity. Ive tried different things I could think of, alternate between building/unit/building/unit... or build as many cities early (the AI does it, how come they dont have massive corruption) or just build as many units a spossible but then I run out of money. I cant seem to find a sure-fire way to win like in the previous games. I am trying to come up with a way to play that makes me win every time like in the previous games it was just build as many cities and units as possible. That doesnt seem to work for the player but the AI does it. What am I missing here?

 

[r_rolo1]

Settler spam simply doesn't work in Civ IV...until you get Code of laws ( that allows courthouses ) you should not try to get more than 3-4 cities, otherwise you'll be broke....

BTW, which version of Civ IV are you using ( simple or one of the xpaks ( warlords or Beyond the sword ) ) ? The Ai behaviour that you are describing looks more alike of the plain Civ IV or of the warlords x-pak....

 

[DaveMcW]

Cottages!!

 

[ew0054]

I have done both cottages and courthouses bvut it seems by the time these are effective for me the AI has already spread across the whole continent. How do they do it so fast? I am playing Beyond the Sword now. It seems like the AI cheats. I have even used worldbuilder to rig the map to give me more favorable land, resources etc and I still fall behind.

It is becoming frustrating because after all this time I still can't ''click'' with this game. Aside from these issues I think Civ IV is an outstanding game however I still find myself playing Civ II more than Civ IV and I dont want to be left behind.

 

[cabert]

the AIs go broke, let them

 

[GKrause]

There are so many factors that might be affecting your early game that they're somewhat difficult to list, but I'll give some suggestions:

1. Not working enough improved tiles/working towards improving tiles early on (especially resource tiles)

2. Not properly balancing the need to grow your cities and hence work more (hopefully improved) tiles with the need for early workers and settlers.

3. Not properly prioritizing techs and research paths to utilize advantages or address needs specific to your start

4. Not properly developing your economy! (This is the biggest adjustment necessary from other Civ games IMO) Cottages, CoL, Currency, even better understanding trade routes are useful here.

5. Not utilizing Slavery or Chopping when advantageous and appropriate to accelerate key settlers/buildings

6. City specialization is so important in this game. Gone are the days of building every building in every city and just spamming mines and irrigation. Learn which buildings your cities need and which ones they don't. Libraries in a city not producing much commerce won't do much, and a barracks in an interior commerce city with little production isn't that necessary either.

There are plenty of great game walkthroughs available on the site. Some are definitely written more for an audience very familiar with the basic mechanics and challenges of the game. Sisutil's earlier walkthroughs (on lower difficulty levels) are good, as are Orion071's Noble walkthroughs. They are fairly detailed, and give thought processes and reasoning behind decisions.

In any case, there really is alot of information to absorb at first. It wasn't until I was trying to teach my girlfriend how to play that I realized how much I had learned about the game. And you are on the right website to get better. Just keep at it and keep checking in with the great community of players here and you will see results soon. The best part is, the game doesn't even REALLY get fun till you get to Monarch or so!

 

[Abegweit]

The principle mistake that players of previous versions of civ make is city-spamming. It worked in 1-3. It does not work in 4. In fact, one very good way to change your ways is to play OCC.

Given that you don't want to go that far, here are a couple of simple rules which should help. By following them, you should be able to win at emperor and above. Later, you can decide to relax them a little.

Do not start a new city until all current ones are at their happiness cap and working no undeveloped tiles.

You will find that your first city will need two workers or one worker plus two-three workboats if you are going to get up to the limit efficiently. Check out Snaaty's Deity guides for more info.

Your first 4-6 cities should all contain 2 food resources and another resource (which can be food too). One city is allowed to be devoted to a critical resource like copper. Don't make any further exceptions.

Civ4 is all about good cities. Make sure that yours are. It is possible to win this game with one uber-city. Even if you don't want to play OCC, three good ones are quite ample to start. obsolete's immortal guides are all about having one excellent city and a few others to support it.

 

[vicawoo]

The principle mistake that players of previous versions of civ make is city-spamming. It worked in 1-3. It does not work in 4. In fact, one very good way to change your ways is to play OCC.

Given that you don't want to go that far, here are a couple of simple rules which should help. By following them, you should be able to win at emperor and above. Later, you can decide to relax them a little.

Do not start a new city until all current ones are at their happiness cap and working no undeveloped tiles.

You will find that your first city will need two workers or one worker plus two-three workboats if you are going to get up to the limit efficiently. Check out Snaaty's Deity guides for more info.

Your first 4-6 cities should all contain 2 food resources and another resource (which can be food too). One city is allowed to be devoted to a critical resource like copper. Don't make any further exceptions.

Civ4 is all about good cities. Make sure that yours are. It is possible to win this game with one uber-city. Even if you don't want to play OCC, three good ones are quite ample to start. obsolete's immortal guides are all about having one excellent city and a few others to support it.

A contrary play style is horizontal then vertical expansion, that is, expand a lot, then grow.

The problem is civ 4 is too "balanced" to allow overly simple methods to win. Lots of units means you can influence the world more, by conquering or pillaging, which means more gold and more cities. Lots of cities means you have more production, which means more units. Developed cities = more commerce, undeveloped = less, roughly speaking.

 

[Abegweit]

A contrary play style is horizontal then vertical expansion, that is, expand a lot, then grow.

In general, this is wrong. More to the point, following this kind of advice is exactly the way that players of older versions of civ go wrong. So don't tell them to continue to make the same mistakes.


The problem is civ 4 is too "balanced" to allow overly simple methods to win.

Bullsh!t. As obsolete has proven, simple methods do indeed work even at the highest levels. Earlier on this thread, a top player, DaveMcW, gave a one-word answer to the game. How more simple can you be than that? Despite Firaxis propaganda, it is not "balanced" in the least (why did you feel the need to put quotes around the word anyway?). Dave is pretty close to the truth, actually. The one thing I would add to his advice is to make sure that your cottage-to-city ratio is high and that your cottages are worked.

Failing to do that is the kind of mistake that players of older versions of the game tend to make. Let me be even more succinct in my advice. Make sure all of your cities are powerful and strong. For strategic reasons, you are allowed to have one which is not - but only one. This, of course, applies to the early game, which is the part that counts.

 

[vicawoo]

Dave's answer is the closest you can get to a simple method. Wonder spamming doesn't win games on its own.

If you wait to grow to size 4 in vanilla immortal, you'll be lucky to get more than one city before the AI squeezes you out. Few posted games follow those rules, either.

My advice, er, plan out your games more before you play them. Civ 4 is a lot harder to win if you don't understand the nuances.

 

[Xurr]

I suspect that since you were so used to the earlier versions of the game the Normal speed for a civ 4 game is throwing you off. I would suggest setting the game speed to marathon or even epic for a civ 1,2,3 feel.