No wonder Sid is so hard!

[dgfred]

I don't like super-difficult level like Deity or Sid. The AI has so much advantage, that you can win ONLY by exploiting the game and playing on the shortcoming of the AI. Feel more like trying to rig than outthinking.

I play mostly at emperor, it is the most fun level to me . Diety and Sid
take too much MM to win, along with AI bonuses and too much thinking . Emperor is just tough enough for me and the
most enjoyable .

 

[alexman]

on Sid level, as well as a large number of starting combat units and a research capacity 2 1/2 times faster than yours, each AI civ starts the game with FIVE settlers!

It's "only" 3 Settlers, actually. They get 5 workers though.

 

[Akka]

I play mostly at emperor, it is the most fun level to me . Diety and Sid
take too much MM to win, along with AI bonuses and too much thinking . Emperor is just tough enough for me and the
most enjoyable .

But are you able to win with just outthinking the opponent, or do you need to do some "computer game" tricks (ie : exploits, abuses, things that would be illogical IRL but are efficient in the game because of an AI flaw, and so on) ?

 

[vmxa]

You do not need to use exploits perse, but most of us need some help. One way is to use a large or huge map with lots of water.

Another is to restrict the start civs to not having seafare or commerce trait. I am talking about Sid only. I am playing deity right now, but I do not pkay it as much as Sid, so I do not know it as well. I stick in a deity about every other month or so.

I know some make big use of armies for conquest, but I find taking down two or three civs is enough to get all the land I need to hold off the culture wins. Also after 700 or more units for each one, you get burned out and are happy to get a launch.

That is my take anyway.

 

[dgfred]

But are you able to win with just outthinking the opponent, or do you need to do some "computer game" tricks (ie : exploits, abuses, things that would be illogical IRL but are efficient in the game because of an AI flaw, and so on) ?

Emperor is best for me because something new seems to happen each game.
I refuse to use exploits, unless you consider my armies as one .
All my play is probably illogical to many, but I enjoy . Above
emperor gets too tedious for me due to MM and AI bonuses .

 

[Bad Brett]

Following a comment by playerfanatic, I went and checked the difficulty levels requestor in the Conquests editor and it turns out that on Sid level, as well as a large number of starting combat units and a research capacity 2 1/2 times faster than yours, each AI civ starts the game with FIVE settlers!

Welcome to 2003

 

[Tomoyo]

The higher levels just feel really pressured. I like playing variants on Emporer and Monarch but rarely do anything at Deity anymore because I know I will have to have a Modern war (AI attacking me) and the last time that happened, I was stuck at war for 15 turns even though I razed 7 of their cities...

On all levels I do things "Illogical IRL" (like who would tell his governor to emphasize production because there is a patch of forest just outside town and the town is about to grow? )

 

[Sayounara]

It's hard, but it's fun if you want something other then culture victory. The 4/10 cost factor and extra starting units is what makes them worth fighting IMO, since they're so militarily stupid in Vanilla Civ (tell me they're better in conquests...).