Brother I knew there would be a rather steep learning curve from Civ II to IV BTS, but there are some aspects I almost don't recognize. I started out with the Terra map (medium size), American, four other civs, and a difficulty one step above settler. I wound up starting about four new games with the same settings. Each one was similar - I started up north 'somewhwere' with plenty of tundra and not much else. But the thing that really threw me is that I don't think I got to 2000 BC before I 'met' at least three of the four civilizations on the map! I tried again with a large Terra map and got almost the same result. With Civ II I had built tons of cities. Civ IV BTS seems to make building numerous cities almost impossible due to maintenance and of, course, AI opponents hemming me in before I could really explore and expand. I was prepared to thoroughly enjoy Civ IV BTS, but so far it's been nothing but frustration. Can anyone provide some real early starting game advice? I have all of the updates loaded including Solvent's.
NOOB Question
- Thread starter bk6583
- Start date
LiberiGlacialis
To the stars!
Get used to it? I had the same problem (Civ II -> Civ IV), but find it easier now. Having a lot of cities was a lot of extra micromanging.
SlipperyJim
Prince
Yes, city-spamming is no longer a viable tactic. Each city in Civ4 is much more important as a result....
So, Sullla posted a Civ4 introduction a while ago:
http://www.garath.net/Sullla/civ4intro.html
His intro game is using the original "vanilla" Civ4, but many of the same concepts will apply to Civ4:BtS.
Also see Sisutil's strategy guide for beginners, available on these forums:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632
If you need more detailed advice, try posting a save game. Or you could post some screenshots and a few specific questions. Basically, the more information you can provide, the more help people can give you....
So, Sullla posted a Civ4 introduction a while ago:
http://www.garath.net/Sullla/civ4intro.html
His intro game is using the original "vanilla" Civ4, but many of the same concepts will apply to Civ4:BtS.
Also see Sisutil's strategy guide for beginners, available on these forums:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632
If you need more detailed advice, try posting a save game. Or you could post some screenshots and a few specific questions. Basically, the more information you can provide, the more help people can give you....
Ok - I'll take you up on your offer. I read through the documents from your links but I know I've made some pretty nasty mistakes and will probably start over - but I'd love some advice / comments. Game is on large Terra map, 4 AI civs (one of which is already smooshed up against me - is this a bug?). Only option turned 'on' is no barbarians. Ok - I think I successfully attached a save game file (Bob the Great...) - I just don't know where it went.
GenocideBringer
King
- Joined
- May 29, 2005
- Messages
- 628
Hehe, yeah. Civ IV is hugely different. Some things of note from Civ II
1) Resources have been introduced. Some of them are required for certain units (for example, no horse archers without horses). As such, one of your primary objectives should be securing important strategic resources such as Copper/iron, horses, oil, and aluminum. They are all revealed by certain techs.
Other resources include food resources (give you extra health in your cities) and luxury resources (give you extra happiness). Keep in mind that to connect a resource, you need to have the correct improvement on it-for example, pigs need a pasture. Improved resource tiles give better income when worked, too. A grassland iron tile gives you 2 food and a crapload of hammers
2) City maintenance is important. Do not just spam cities for the hell of it, plant a city down when you think it would be best
3) City specialization is important, and workers now have the ability to do it. Early on you get the generic farms, cottages (replaces roads from Civ II for commerce) and mines. However, you also have improvements like workshops, windmills, lumbermills, etc. that come later that help you more. As such, consider them when placing your city. Think about what you want your city to do. Tailor the improvements to fit this city.
4) I'd add in some more civs if I were you. I'd have around 10 or 12 for a large sized map.
Civ IV is a big change from Civ II, but I think you'll find all the new stuff is awesome
LemonJello
Warlord
I'm finding BtS is a big change from Warlords, and Vanilla. But it is refreshing to have to really dig into the gameplay and do a little more thinking about other aspects of the game.
Now, if I could just put together a successful military campaign instead of falling back into builder/wonder habits...
Now, if I could just put together a successful military campaign instead of falling back into builder/wonder habits...
Oddible
signal / noise > 1
Nope, in a Terra map you will get several AI on your continent or very close to you - it isn't an even distribution.
As far as city development goes - make sure to micromanage your citizens in each city and prevent growth when you are getting red faces. Also - VERY IMPORTANT - get some cottages started EARLY. Think about having a financial city which has a LOT of cottages and maybe 1-2 cottages around other cities - and make sure your citizens are working them.
Don't let your tech slider fall too low - if you are having to pull it back past 50% then you are expanding too quickly. Once you play to the end of a game and see a 3 city AI kicking your a$$ in the tech race you'll reform any notions of needing to cover the earth with your color (of course those 3 cities aren't going to build space ship parts in time to beat a bigger civ, but you can hang in the game with few cities and plan strategic wars to expand rather than overwhelming slugfests).
Just some ideas... enjoy!
On a Terra Map, all the civs are condensed into an area usually never more than 2/3 of the landmass of the map, so try playing a different map size if you think it's too crowded. But also remember that you don't need to be as big as one did in Civ2.
