New to civ series.. A few questions

[charmangler]

First off I'd like to say that I love these forums. I've learned a ton. Being totally new to the series (played the demo the day before retail was released, knew I was hooked) I guess I don't have the same qualms that players of previous civ iterations do. To me, this game is fun.

Questions:

I see all these posts talking about a variety of wins and game scenarios. How are you all completing so many games? It takes me upwards of 5 hours minimum to get a tech win, and that is on normal difficulty. I assume you all are playing more efficiently than I am, but the implied volume of games played on these forums is staggering to me.

For city specialization, should production centers ideal final version be half farms and half mines? I don't see any other way to support a 15+ city pop dedicated to hammers.

Should the only difference between a military production city and a wonder production city be the choice of buildings (e.g. barracks)? What I mean is, should the tiles be pretty similar in layout?

How do I achieve the 'afraid' status from AI? I had it once from Germany and he had a much larger army.

Even with all luxuries I still need to build happiness buildings in all cities to stay above negative. This regularly gimps me when I'm primed for some military takeovers. Is this normal?

If I'm planning on going for a tech or military win, is it best to basically ignore culture after my initial growth spurt?

How do I get the overhead 2d tile view?

 

[SuperJay]

I see all these posts talking about a variety of wins and game scenarios. How are you all completing so many games? It takes me upwards of 5 hours minimum to get a tech win, and that is on normal difficulty. I assume you all are playing more efficiently than I am, but the implied volume of games played on these forums is staggering to me.

It's just time spent, really. I've played about 30 hours total since release... which probably isn't even that much compared to some. And like you said, a lot of people will go straight for a military victory, finish that game early, and start another immediately. I tend to take my time on my first few games and not rush anything - I'm not playing for score, I just want to see everything first.

For city specialization, should production centers ideal final version be half farms and half mines? I don't see any other way to support a 15+ city pop dedicated to hammers.

It depends on a lot of factors - how many maritime city-states you're allied with, for example. Plus, you don't want to neglect lumber mills once you have the tech to build them. They can be a better bet than clearing a hill tile and mining. Sorry, I know that's not the cut-and-dried answer you're looking for, but I think you want to consider more than just that particular city's tiles.

Should the only difference between a military production city and a wonder production city be the choice of buildings (e.g. barracks)? What I mean is, should the tiles be pretty similar in layout?

Tile layout isn't as important as total hammers being produced, which includes specialists, wonder effects, policy effects, etc. But yeah, IMO the primary difference would be the lack of military buildings.

How do I achieve the 'afraid' status from AI? I had it once from Germany and he had a much larger army.

Don't know that one - maybe you had a significant tech advantage?

Even with all luxuries I still need to build happiness buildings in all cities to stay above negative. This regularly gimps me when I'm primed for some military takeovers. Is this normal?

No, I don't think you're doomed to always have that happen. Social policies and wonders can play a very large part in counterbalancing unhappiness, for example - you have a few wonders that will increase happiness empire-wide, and some social policies that reduce the unhappiness from specific penalties, so there are other options. You can also trade for luxuries with other civs to help keep happiness up.

If I'm planning on going for a tech or military win, is it best to basically ignore culture after my initial growth spurt?

Again, it's a matter of playstyle, but IMO... no, I wouldn't ignore it. These systems are interrelated to a degree that many 'secondary' factors can support your primary strategy. In this case, a decent culture output can drive the acquisition of social policies that would make your army more powerful (Honor), or your research more efficient (Rationalism). So I wouldn't neglect culture completely, since it's your currency for buying policies.

How do I get the overhead 2d tile view?

Next to the minimap, click the little button with the image of hexes on it. Be sure to play with the customization options on the menu connected to it - you can tailor the strategic map to show different items and use various overlays to help you easily access the information you're looking for.

Hope some of this helps, good luck

 

[charmangler]

Thanks for the great response!


What is a GL slingshot?

 

[SuperJay]

Basically it's a tactic for getting an advanced technology much earlier than you'd normally have it.

"GL" stands for Great Library, a wonder which gives you a free tech. The "slinghot" is a tactic where you ignore all other techs and research directly to a certain tech advance to unlock access your goal (like Civil Service, for example). Then, you use the free advance from the Great Library to get Civil Service tech for free, very early on.

This thread has a recent example of another slingshot strategy for Civ5, and will describe the concept in more detail. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=382651