Question's from a new civ4 player

[Nitrius]

Greetings!

Bought Civ4+ the 2 expansion's over steam here the other day, and i went through the tutorial and started playing BTS right after.
I understand the core game i think, but i there is a lot of thing i haven't picked up yet i believe, its just so much to know in this game that my head almost explodes, also its really addicting just pushing the red button so the next turn begin.

Another thing, so far i tend to go all out on building new buildings, and reasearch everything, so i find myself in a lot of situations where my territory is very small, with almost nothing to defend myself with, but almost everything is upgraded, so i tend to get overrun later in the game by a big army or something like that.

So i wonder if the "pro" players out there, got any tips for the new guy?
like what one should do before each turn?
Is it smart researching everything right away? or should i try narrow it down or something?
Also is there some sort of "checklist" mod out there?(referring to the question about what one should do before each turn)
If i've build barracks in one of my citys is there any point in building the same building in another city?

More questions may pop up but this is what i have to say for now, hoping for some help, thanks in advance =)

 

[Gaius Octavius]

Welcome to CivFanatics!

There are quite a few nuances to this game so don't worry if it seems complicated or overwhelming at first. You'll get it. My first tip is, you don't have to build every building in every city. I myself have a very hard time following this advice, because I'm a perfectionist builder, but it's the best way to get ahead. Why build happiness structures if you don't need the extra faces? Why build universities if your city produces very little science? There's not much point. Use that extra time to make more units, or build wealth or research.

Second piece of advice: don't research things randomly, but follow a set path toward a very important technology, like Alphabet (early on). This is usually called beelining. The idea is that you'll get it much sooner than other civilizations, and you can then trade it to them for techs you haven't researched. Trading is key.

Hope that helps!

 

[Byrath]

I'm a builder too, so I can relate to the 'great cities, weak armies' problem. What I do is check the Demographics tab (F11 I think, far right icon in the display in the top right of screen) every few turns ... I must be at or very near the top of the POWER graph at all times.
Also, once you research Literature and build the Heroic Epic (100% bonus to military production) in one of your best hammer cities, try to build nothing but troops in that city from that point forward (except necessary infrastructure for building like forge, factory etc.). Odds are you will never have to build any forces anywhere else again if you stick to it.
That leads to the question of barracks. My first three cities typically get a barracks, after that, very few do. The Heroic Epic city of course, and perhaps a couple other high hammer cities, just in case I am attacked or really need to gear up for war in a hurry.

 

[Nitrius]

Okay, so build the buildings in the city after what the city needs is the key?

About research, is alphabet something i should go for at the start in every game? or is that something you just used as a example? i should make up my own mind of what i think is the best to go after? i should just remember that i should not research everything rigth away and instead find myself a path to follow down the road?


Thanks for the answers so far, and please if you have anything to share, do it =)


Edit: It seems like i may have posted in the wrong category? since this forum is for the standalone civ 4 game? and i'am playing BTS got civ4 and warlords installed too of course

 

[Benvolio]

No, your post is in the right place, since you're asking for general information about CIV.

Civ is a complex and involved game, which is what makes it so engaging and replayable. You won't learn it overnight.

The best advice I can give you is to check out the articles in the War Academy (under "Civilization IV" to the left on the home page). One article that was especially helpful to me was "Sisiutil's Strategy Guide for Beginners."

There are other articles that deal with pretty much every facet of CIV and will help keep your game from just progressing randomly. You'll have reasons for making certain decisions, researching particular technologies, etc

But of course, the main strategy is to have fun!

 

[Nitrius]

Reading through Sisiutil's guide now, good guide so far =)

Anyway got another question here, in the top left corner, under your coins, you got research, culture and spy or something with a + and - sign beside it and a % sign. So far i haven't used these much, so i wonder what i should do with them? i guess its not smart like having research on 100% all the time?


Edit: Also is there any point in building improvements outside the "expanded boundaries"? as shown here: http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cityboundary8dr.jpg
Because i tend to fill every tile i can with the sort of improvement i think is best for that tile.

 

[LoopyLewis]

Edit: Also is there any point in building improvements outside the "expanded boundaries"? as shown here: http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?i...oundary8dr.jpg
Because i tend to fill every tile i can with the sort of improvement i think is best for that tile.

Not at all, unless they're for resources like copper or iron etc. If they are then you'll get the benefits of having the resource throughout your entire empire so long as you've linked them by road to your cities of course

You can chop forests outside the boundaries and gain the hammers from the chop (will give fewer hammers the further away from the city the forests are) and building roads to your borders isn't a bad thing if you plan for war (easier to move troops on roads). I sometimes build improvements outside if I'm going to build a new city nearby to give my new city an early edge, but only if my workers haven't got anything better to do first.

 

[Nitrius]

Not at all, unless they're for resources like copper or iron etc. If they are then you'll get the benefits of having the resource throughout your entire empire so long as you've linked them by road to your cities of course

You can chop forests outside the boundaries and gain the hammers from the chop (will give fewer hammers the further away from the city the forests are) and building roads to your borders isn't a bad thing if you plan for war (easier to move troops on roads). I sometimes build improvements outside if I'm going to build a new city nearby to give my new city an early edge, but only if my workers haven't got anything better to do first.

Good to know
So any improvements which is built outside the "expanded boundaries"(beside special stuff like oil, iron and so on) of a city doesn't help at all? even if i connect it to a city with a road?

And to copy myself from the last post "in the top left corner, under your coins/wealth, you got research, culture and spy or something with a + and - sign beside it and a % sign. So far i haven't used these much, so i wonder what i should do with them? i guess its not smart like having research on 100% all the time?

 

[Meateater]

First----
In your first few games I would say save and save often, and replay those games many times from those save so you can learn. I think everyone is a builder at first, but you must get over it at least if you are just starting out.. When ask if you want to build a warrior or a grainory build the warrior, and keep building units untill it is not an option anymore. Power is power and in the first few games all you should do is try to make it to the end, win or loose.

Second---
Make some friends how ever you can. Give in to demands and well just give in to them. Yeah it sucks but it may be your best option. To have some friends is better than not having any.

 

[Elros]

Good to know
So any improvements which is built outside the "expanded boundaries"(beside special stuff like oil, iron and so on) of a city doesn't help at all? even if i connect it to a city with a road?

And to copy myself from the last post "in the top left corner, under your coins/wealth, you got research, culture and spy or something with a + and - sign beside it and a % sign. So far i haven't used these much, so i wonder what i should do with them? i guess its not smart like having research on 100% all the time?

For the first bit: There is actually some purpose to it. When an invading army comes into your territory they like to pillage improvements. If you build improvements outside your city radius they may slow down and pillage, which can buy you time to organise a defence. You should only do this if you have absolutelry nothing better for your workers to be doing.

For the second bit: That is how much of your commerce gets spent on each of these. Commerce is what the coins on the city screen stand for. Most of the time you'll want to set research to the highest percentage you can while still making a profit on wealth. You can tell if you're making a profit on wealth by the green or red number next to your total coins (above the research slider). You can also use these for increase culture and espionage spending, but they're generally used in much more specific circumstances, so you'd be better off reading a more in depth guide on them. Generally, though, by increasing the culture slider you can reduce unhappiness in your empire (depending on what buildings you have).

 

[Nitrius]

Once again thanks for all the answers, really appreciate it


Edit: While reading through the Sisiutil's guide yesterday, he had a section in there dedicated to "City Specialization", which means having each of your city specialized in something, he mentioned a few things like: Production city, military city, commerce city, science city and so on, the question is, how do i know what kind of city is a production city? or which city is a military city? or is this something i decide myself, by lets say, my first built city will be a production city, then i build the needed buildings for that aswell as the right improvements and so on?

 

[Sisiutil]

Once again thanks for all the answers, really appreciate it


Edit: While reading through the Sisiutil's guide yesterday, he had a section in there dedicated to "City Specialization", which means having each of your city specialized in something, he mentioned a few things like: Production city, military city, commerce city, science city and so on, the question is, how do i know what kind of city is a production city? or which city is a military city? or is this something i decide myself, by lets say, my first built city will be a production city, then i build the needed buildings for that aswell as the right improvements and so on?

City specialization is generally determined by a combination of the terrain and the improvements you build upon it. As the game goes on and more techs and civics open up more tile improvements and make them better, your flexibility in determining city specialization increases.

At the beginning of the game, though, you're more limited, so a city's specialization is very much determined by its terrain. But this also means you can shift a city's eventual specialization by founding it in a slightly different spot on the map.

Notice I said "eventual specialization"; at the beginning of the game, you have very few cities and they'll have to be generalists. Specialization comes later when you have more cities and more citizens within each one. But you plan the specialization from the beginning.

Generally speaking, a city site with many hills will be best suited for production because hills don't produce much commerce or food. (You'll need food so your citizens working the hills will be fed, though, so make sure the production city has good food tiles too.) Rivers are great for commerce, so I usually cottage cities that have a lot of river tiles and make them commerce cities.

The buildings best suited to each city then follow from its specialization. A production city won't usually produce much commerce, so commerce-multiplying buildings (or, for that matter, science-multiplying buildings) are rarely needed in them. The same goes for national wonders; there's no point in building the Ironworks in a city that's devoted to commerce rather than production, for example.

 

[Nitrius]

City specialization is generally determined by a combination of the terrain and the improvements you build upon it. As the game goes on and more techs and civics open up more tile improvements and make them better, your flexibility in determining city specialization increases.

At the beginning of the game, though, you're more limited, so a city's specialization is very much determined by its terrain. But this also means you can shift a city's eventual specialization by founding it in a slightly different spot on the map.

Notice I said "eventual specialization"; at the beginning of the game, you have very few cities and they'll have to be generalists. Specialization comes later when you have more cities and more citizens within each one. But you plan the specialization from the beginning.

Generally speaking, a city site with many hills will be best suited for production because hills don't produce much commerce or food. (You'll need food so your citizens working the hills will be fed, though, so make sure the production city has good food tiles too.) Rivers are great for commerce, so I usually cottage cities that have a lot of river tiles and make them commerce cities.

The buildings best suited to each city then follow from its specialization. A production city won't usually produce much commerce, so commerce-multiplying buildings (or, for that matter, science-multiplying buildings) are rarely needed in them. The same goes for national wonders; there's no point in building the Ironworks in a city that's devoted to commerce rather than production, for example.

Thanks for clearing that up and for the tips!
Also just want to mention that the guide you made for beginners has helped me a lot, did learn quite a few thing by reading through it.

Got no new questions so far, but as i've said before, if you have something to say or some kind of tip to give away don't hesitate to post it

 

[Gooblah]

Wow. Seeing as how you read Sisutil's guide, not much left to say. But...

1) NEVER automate Workers. Its bad for your economy since the AI doesn't know what you want.
2) When in a high -water map, make techs like Sailing, Optics, Astronomy, Chemistry, and Combustion a priority.
3) Remember to promote your units to the task you plan on having them do. Organize your units into stacks (i.e. on the same tile) in order to make combat easier. I'm not sure how much the pros do this, but i make sure "stack attack" is on in Options.

 

[Sisiutil]

I'm not sure how much the pros do this, but i make sure "stack attack" is on in Options.

I actually never use that setting. I believe with it on, the computer will automatically attack with every unit in the stack, starting with those that have the best chance of winning a fight on down.

I often prefer to have my lowest-promoted units attack first so they act as cannon fodder and damage the defenders; this gives my veterans greater chances of success (and, more importantly, survival). It's easy to build a replacement for a City Raider I Swordsman; not so for one with CR III and Combat I.

I also like to use units that are close to their next promotion and ensure they fight a battle that (a) they're likely to win and that (b) will give them the XPs needed for the promotion. Finally, there are some units (like my GG Medic III M*A*S*H unit) that I never want to attack.

 

[weregamer]

What techs to beeline, and which to prioritize but not beeline to, will depend on your strategic situation. Very early on, if your civ starts with Mysticism you may want to try to win the race to found a religion. Prior to BtS AIs that started with Mysticism would go for Buddhism (Meditation); since BtS they seem to pick more randomly between that and Hinduism (Polytheism) so the human player is no longer near-guaranteed to get Hinduism if he/she wants it. But if you start with Mysticism and lose the race for Hinduism you still have a very good shot at founding Judaism (Monotheism, requires Polytheism and Masonry). On the other hand, racing for a religion will delay getting Bronze Working, which is mega-useful for chop-rushing and getting Axemen (if you are lucky enough to have Copper).

Later in the game you will need to choose between going for the other tech races (the later religions, the free tech for being first to Liberalism, and the free Great People for being the first to Music, Economics, and Physics) or more immediate military/strategic needs. The Music race can be particularly nice to win if you are in a cultural war on a newly-settled frontier, a Culture Bomb dropped in a barely-got-its-fat-cross city immediately blows it out to a 4-tile radius.

(The free Great Engineer from being the first to Fusion is pretty irrelevant, by contrast, because by that time there are no Wonders left to rush, no techs left to lightbulb, the two Engineer corporations are already founded, etc.)

Provided you can keep up enough to not fall behind on the military power graph, the race to Liberalism is a big deal in any game where I'm not trying for an early military victory. The free tech is nice, plus you are only two cheap and one more expensive tech away from Economics.

In the other direction, while Musketmen are unexciting, Riflemen and Cavalry can be very decisive if you get them a lot earlier than your neighbors. Beelining to Rifling and Military Tradition can really pay off. They are also great for conquering the barbarian continent on a Terra map, if your neighbors are keeping up but you get to the New World first.