Play style

[Sandman2012]

I've read a lot of the articles in the War Academy, and I'm trying to change my style of play in order to go up in difficulty levels. I'm not quite a noob, but probably can't boast being a moderate level player just yet. I can consistently win at Regent and I'm so-so on the Monarch level. FYI, I'm playing C3C.

As I said, I have read the War Academy articles and my question is not so much about strategies as it about play style. For example, On lower levels I was always automating my workers whereas now I control them myself. I always have the preferences set so that my advisors always ask for build orders and that the game always waits at the end of the turn. I remember from the install that this is not the default setting, and I wonder if maybe this isn't the best way to play?

For example, if I have a large empire, I find that all the popups at the beginning of a turn asking what to build sometimes distract me from a more pressing matter. I would think this could be alleviated by changing the prefs? Or letting the governors control production?

I usually use the governors to manage citizen moods in all cities, leaving no preference for emphasis (commerce, food, etc.). I find managing each and every citizen in the empire is a big job. Any advice on how to manage?

Do you usually confer with the advisors at the beginning of each turn? I've been doing it at the end, which is why I activate the "wait at end of turn" setting.

And how about troop movements. I find it easier to fortify my defenders, but this makes them easiet to forget about sometimes. Do most people hold their troops if they aren't moving them, letting the turn end on its own? Or do you just move who you need to meve and end the turn manually?

I love this game, but trying to figure out the subtleties now that I have the basics is doing my head in.

 

[SJ Frank]

I always have the preferences set so that my advisors always ask for build orders and that the game always waits at the end of the turn. I remember from the install that this is not the default setting, and I wonder if maybe this isn't the best way to play?

Yep, those are my preferences as well.

For example, if I have a large empire, I find that all the popups at the beginning of a turn asking what to build sometimes distract me from a more pressing matter. I would think this could be alleviated by changing the prefs? Or letting the governors control production?

Letting the government controlling my production? Never! I actually like those pop-ups, that's how I initiate most of my micro-managements. After the expansion phase, I ususally only zoom into my cities after 1) the city grows, and 2) the cities finishes something. It's just very natural to zoom into the city after something's done, picking out the new project, then MM the citizens accordingly.

I usually use the governors to manage citizen moods in all cities, leaving no preference for emphasis (commerce, food, etc.). I find managing each and every citizen in the empire is a big job. Any advice on how to manage?

I always disable the governor, and check "emphasis production". I think, that in the long run, you're better off letting a city riot for one turn and manually fixing it, then letting the governer hiring an entertainer for 20 turns without you knowing. In the first case, you lose 1 turn of production for that city. The loss is equal to the amount of production per citizen times the city size. In the second case, you're losing the production of 1 citizen for 20 turns, plus the loss in city growth beause the entertainer isn't gathering food either.

Do you usually confer with the advisors at the beginning of each turn? I've been doing it at the end, which is why I activate the "wait at end of turn" setting.

Yeah, check at the end of the turn is fine. One quick skim over the F1 screen alleviates the need for the mood management governer. Checking the F4 screen every 4 or 5 turns will keep you in the trading loop. Checking the F8 screen every 1000 years or so will ensure Ghandi doesn't suprise you with a 100K culture victory when you're building your 4th space ship part

And how about troop movements. I find it easier to fortify my defenders, but this makes them easiet to forget about sometimes. Do most people hold their troops if they aren't moving them, letting the turn end on its own? Or do you just move who you need to meve and end the turn manually?

I always fortify. They should be easy enough to find unless you leave them fortified all over the place. So, concentrate them. That's how you want to use your units anyways.

 

[Sandman2012]

Thanks for a thorough response. One thing I'm confused about. You say you disable the governors, but that you check emphasize production. If you check anything on that page, doesn't that mean you are using the governor?

 

[SJ Frank]

If nothing else is checked, then "emphasize production" only affects one thing: when the city grows, the governer gets to pick which tile to place the new citizen on. If the emphasize production is on, then the new citizen will likely be placed on a good shield producing tile. The player can't control the placement of newly grown citizen at all except by the governer setting, because it occurs during the inter-turn.

The reason why we want "emphasize production" involves quite a bit of inner game mechanics. During the inter-turn, the game calculates commerce, food and production in phases. It first calculates all the commerce in the cities, and determines if new techs are research or if you're running a deficit and will lose a building, etc. Then it calculates the food for each city, determining if each city should grow or starve. Last, after having placed the new citizens in the field, it calculates the amount of shields that's gathered by each city, and if anything is produced or not.

So, because commerce and food are calculated before the new citizen is grown, any commerce or food gathered by the new citizen will not be counted that turn. (which is the way it's suppose to be) However, because shield is calculated after growth, any shields gathered by the new citizen will count. (free shield ! Many micro-managers depend on these free-shields to operate their settler factories) Hince, shield is the only resource that you want from the new citizen, and "emphasize production" is the only real option among food, prodution and commerce.

 

[Methos]

I think, that in the long run, you're better off letting a city riot for one turn and manually fixing it, then letting the governer hiring an entertainer for 20 turns without you knowing.

I can't stand when my cities go into disorder, even for a single turn. My suggestion would be to use a utility program that helps keep track of such things. My personal preference is CivAssist located here:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=98630

This program is nice as it allows you to see the turn before when a city is about to riot before it does. It does more than just a happiness check. It is very helpful, you might want to look into it.

 

[Nooble]

I am a peacekeeper of the UN.

 

[Jaybe]

For garrisoning of reserves, especially after railroad nets are in place, I will find a tile not in a city radius and gather them there. Often I will build a fort there to indicate it as a rally point. Outside of any city radius so graphically large units (e.g., tanks) will not conceal pollution to clean up. I might also build an airbase in a similar location to stockpile aircraft.

Frequently set up negotiations with major opponents to see what opportunities knock (or use CivAssist). Keep track of when trades or agreements expire (I need to do this more often).

Most of all, treat the game as a role play. You do NOT need to do everything perfectly. If you make a strategic blunder (e.g., bombard someone who has MPPs with powerful neighbors), just deal with it. Surprises (pleasant and unpleasant) add spice to the game.