question from a total newb

[Nayas]

Hi All!
My 1st post, yay~

I just got my hand on CiV. I never played any release before (I am thinking buying 4 + expensions). **edit: actually, my 1st time was Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri ... if anyone remember this game

I played my 1st game this week-end on earth map, 5 players, normal difficulty/speed.
To my great surprise, I totally destroyed every civilisations/city-states. Even more, I actually went totally random in units/building/research/adopt those thing (forgot the name, like freedom, commerce, etc). I also had my workers on automatic and city specialist on automatic.

I think I totally fail to understand this game and TOTALLY fail to see strategy involve.
Am I wrong?

I tried to find some website for strategy or build order/etc but didn't find anything really.

Anyone mind to share some help/tips/insight on the game?


Thank you,
Nayas~

 

[The Lewtz]

I feel the same. Build some units. Click Turn. ..click turn, click turn... click turn..

Move unit, win city.. click turn...click turn..

Win.



I'm guessing I need to play on a harder difficulty, or more computer players, with a bigger map.. something.

I've enjoyed 4x games of the past... MoO, Sins of a Solar Empire, moreso the sci-fi ones. I've never truelly gotten into the Civ Games but I'm trying. I want to love them, as I miss a deep turn based strategy game.

Something about Civ 5, seems shallow though. I totally feel like I'm missing some deeper game play strategy, just not seeing it.

 

[Morfolk]

Don't be afraid to increase the difficulty, right now it seems on lower ones you will win no matter what you do. On middle ones it's not so much opponents as your own unhappy, poor and unproductive population that will bring the empire down (or let it stagnate and rot) on higher ones the AI still doesn't have brains but has brute force to substitute for it.

For example my first game I chose Germans on marathon and huge Pangaea map, my first worker soon turned into a horde of brutes that no city could defend against. But I learned about new game mechanics very quickly, since my income was deep down negative zone, happiness was unheard of, research even less and it turns out with a huge army your cities begin to decrease their production output so a library would require as much time as a wonder for anyone else. Soon I realized I have not conquered all the barbarians but I have become one...

 

[delra]

You shouldn't bother with anything below Prince, those difficulties down there are for people who are... challenged. You should try to push difficulty up every time you win a game until Deity and until you realize even there AI is a ret ard and you can beat them with what you've learned on your way up (which is cavalry > *).

 

[The Lewtz]

Yep, that fixed my problem. I upped the difficulty and BAM, ran into a wall of doom where I was at war with everyone, made some bad unit placement choices and lost horribly. But I learned more about the game in that one game, than I did in my previous 3.

 

[greggbert]

I played my 1st game this week-end on earth map, 5 players, normal difficulty/speed.
To my great surprise, I totally destroyed every civilisations/city-states. Even more, I actually went totally random in units/building/research/adopt those thing (forgot the name, like freedom, commerce, etc). I also had my workers on automatic and city specialist on automatic.

There is no "Normal Difficulty". I think that the default difficulty is Chieftan, the very easiest level. Try a game on PRINCE, that's a good place to start if you have beat the game before.

 

[eewallace]

The game defaults to "chieftan" level and I'm not sure if other civs ever actually initiate wars at that level. Maybe if you built no military units at all, they would. The next rank up is actually a pretty good place to start--I think it is "warlord" level.

 

[delra]

I wouldn't bother with Prince, last weekend my 11 years old brother beat two other Civs on Pangea on Prince his first try in the game. (ok, I told him how to get Elephants - and also explained who that skinny dude in flip-flops he chose for his Civ is portraying). I don't know WTH Prince AI is doing all those starting turns but getting all good wonders and an army to crush all the neighbours during your first 100 turns is way too easy.

So as far as difficulties go, King is easy, Emperor is normal and Immortal is Hard. With Deity being "tedious" mode. Everything below Prince is tutorial.