Play epic or above (if you can)

[Bone Crusher]

As I most often play on 'fast' setting to test out different strategies, it provides very big disadvantage when it comes to the inevitable war.
Also, the slow start on epic is too slow and boring (for me).

But unless you have the 'always peace' selected, you should try to play epic or marathon games at it offers somewhat an unfair advantage.

EG, you decide to attack your roomie and get 2 of his/her cities for your own little growth boost. Lets say that it takes 20 turns in total to do it, you got the army pretty much ready etc.
Now, that is lots of years on the quick speed setting, but much less on the epic. (It takes exactly the same amount of resources to build the units, but you 'save time' on the slower speeds).

Few war campaigns on the quick settings will see you fall behind too fast I have found.

Cheers

 

[MrCynical]

Now, that is lots of years on the quick speed setting, but much less on the epic. (It takes exactly the same amount of resources to build the units, but you 'save time' on the slower speeds).

This is incorrect. Units cost significantly more hammers at epic and above, even if it doesn't quite scale to the number of turns. At quick speed units are 80% of the normal cost and at Epic they are at 125% of normal. in any case there isn't really an advantage over the AI as the game speed changes are applied for all civs. While it is true that the actual war lasts for a smaller percentage of the game at slower settings, unless you get into war weariness issues the actual war shouldn't harm your civ if you built the units in advance.

 

[Indiana]

This is incorrect. Units cost significantly more hammers at epic and above, even if it doesn't quite scale to the number of turns. At quick speed units are 80% of the normal cost and at Epic they are at 125% of normal. in any case there isn't really an advantage over the AI as the game speed changes are applied for all civs. While it is true that the actual war lasts for a smaller percentage of the game at slower settings, unless you get into war weariness issues the actual war shouldn't harm your civ if you built the units in advance.

I agree. I play mostly at Marathon speeds on Huge maps and everything is relative. The amount of time to research, build building and units is also increased.

The one thing that have noticed is that you are more likely to research or build buildings/wonders or units you might have avoided in faster paced games in fear of them being out dated more quickly.

My Strategy now has to consider things I would normally just skip in a faster game.

 

[Jonezee]

I always play on Marathon. I find it forces you to consider the full scope of the game, thus making you consider your options more seriously. In faster games, you often completely skip certain units since the game moves so quickly. In marathon, you actually have a chance to use those units.

Marathon all the way!

 

[Bone Crusher]

Yes MrCynical, I should have stated that it takes the same amount of resources relative to number of turns, as of course the cost increases/decreases depending on the game speed.
I do assume that unit building/tech research does scale down perfectly, else playing at different speeds would make game easier/harder, but I have not done the math on it.

But the unquestionable advantage of the war and the time remains.

My mistake was to get hooked too much on the quick settings, now going to epic is like pulling teeth at the beginning.
Marathon just send shivers..... Luckily for me my Russian made Civ 4 version doesn't even have that option.

Cheers for your thoughts.

 

[Brighteye]

In epic/marathon games everything is scaled, so that buildings and units take longer. The point is that in a turn you're getting the same amount of movement and fighting from your units as in a quick game turn, so that wars take the same number of turns as before. In effect, this makes planning far more important, because a blitzkrieg will be far harder to respond to quickly.

Since it is harder to respond quickly to an attack it becomes more important to build units pre-emptively, and so in epic games it becomes harder to overlook your military and chase some other sort of win, because if someone attacks you you'll suffer far more before you can gather a defense force.

BoneCrusher's statement of an advantage is just pointing out that slower building times means slower responses, but this is only in an unprepared opponent, who deserves it anyway.

 

[Bone Crusher]

Another thing I have noticed is that the time cities are in revolt is about the same for quick and normal games I have played.

I can't remember how it was in my epic game, but I do not remember city being in revolt after capture for 25 turns or so, which would be about the time equivalent. In marathon it should be 40 to 50 turns in revolt, if in quick mode I get cities in revolt for 10 turns or so.

However, this is just my feeling, not sure how it is in real slow games.

Still, no question you should play at the slowest possible speed, unless you have 'no war' selected, or are just messing around, experimenting. It's just logic.

Cheers

 

[Patriarch]

Anyone notice that the timeline gets skewed when playing Marathon? On normal the periods progress nicely, Classical starts in the BC, Medieval about 800-1100AD, Renaissance in 1400ish, and the Industrial Revolution during the 17th-19th Century.

But I've played a couple of Marathon games and I end up getting Gunpowder at about 1100-1200AD, but once the late Industrial/early Modern era comes in, it starts to even out.

I think this has to do with the turn lengths and how they get split up. Seeing that on Normal speed 1950-2050 is 100 turns, and is the same with Marathon (years aren't split into months/quarters). This means it has the effect of pushing the turns back, making it appear that you have made really early discoveries.

Still great though. And I've just answered my own question.

 

[joasoze]

I play only marathon. A civ is not built in a day :d

 

[Indiana]

You know....it is funny but I wish there was a slightly slower setting than Marathon

When I hit the Industrial Revolution era...things really speed up still.

Granted it takes me about 4 nights+ to play 1 game

 

[Andrei_V]

The slow speeds definitely favor warmongers.

Suppose on normal speed the enemy can produce 1 unit in 4 turns, and it takes 9 turns for my stack to reach its city. By the time I am there, I have to fight 2 new units, while on Marathon the same units are produced in 8 turns, so I face only 1 new unit.

It makes a HUGE difference, actually.

 

[SlipperyJim]

I like Marathon, too. And it definitely favors warmongers ... as long as you're properly prepared for the war. It's much harder to "improvise" during a war when playing a Marathon.

On the other hand, building a spaceship is agonizing at Marathon speed. I did it once, just to see it, and I won't do it again. The next time I want to win a Space Race, I'll play a Normal game....

 

[slimpikuns]

The first 1 and 1/2 months of playing I only played quick, because I wanted to experiment with numerous different strategies and numerous different games. This helped a lot with my strategies and I feel I am a better player for it. And dont think you cant fight numerous wars on quick and still end up winning the space race. (Noble level) I now play normal speed and still get lots more games in and can still fight a number of wars throughout a game and still most often win space race (prince level)
I do see a pattern here however, and if I move up in difficulty I may very well have to also increase the time frame to epic. We shall see.

 

[Hanno]

For me, the slower the game develop, the better. It adds to the story telling value of the game. I don't want to rush through the game, because you loose the feeling of each era. I aspecially do not like having a unit for only 3 turns before it becomes obsolute, or starting a war with knights, and ending it with nuclear weapons. (Exagarated, I know)

In fact, I always go for a time victory. I don't like having my game shortened by an early victory (or defeat) and I don't like reaching 2050, because I've always got lots of unaccomplished pipe dreams.

In Civ3, I've always changed the game settings to have 1000 turns, and I've always played on the maximum custom size maps.

For me, Civilization is like reading a good book, and just like a good book, I don't like reaching the end.

But it is no fun to continue playing when the stats is no longer recorded.

 

[Zombie69]

Then you should play with all victory conditions turned off, including time victory.

 

[civictor]

It does take longer at marathon speed to build units, but they move and attack at the same rate. This means that the human advantage over the AI in executing wars is maximized by the slower setting because you can leverage your intelligence over more turns.

This is especially true at higher levels where you need to outwit the AI and destroy his military units faster than he produces them while conserving your army intact. But you had better be fighting or the AI will overwhelm you by growth advantages compounded over more turns! Like the game quote says, "Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe..."

 

[TyloniusFunk]

Still, no question you should play at the slowest possible speed, unless you have 'no war' selected, or are just messing around, experimenting. It's just logic.

No it's not. Maybe strategy, maybe. But not logic.

 

[pigswill]

My impression/experience is that at slower speeds (epic/marathon) everything is scaled except unit movement with the effect that units move relatively faster. Given the human's advantages over AI when it comes to warmongering (which often boils down to getting there fastest with the mostest) this does give a real advantage to the player.

 

[dh_epic]

I definitely find that marathon is INCREDIBLY easy. This is because they pretty much added it at the last minute, after a bunch of whiners said the other game speeds made it too hard to take advantage of their units and wage a war. The AI isn't really good at dealing with marathon, and the war-peace balance of the game is organized so time IS of the essence. Giving players more time ensures that they never have to make the difficult choice between war and peace.

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

disclaimer: I'm really dumb

i've only played on normal to date. i usually do the stonehenge use the GP to rush CS thingy. How does that work on epic or marathon?