Leathaface
Emperor
Hey, just got Civ4 Complete and a couple of questions.
1. What version do you guys play? It has Civ4, Warlords and Beyond The Sword on my desktop; I went with BTS but which one is more popular online?
2. What difficulty is good to play with? I don't like playing on easy, even when learning things since I don't mind losing (in fact it's fun to get slaughtered and try again behehe); but the higher difficulties effect A.I. behavior and bonuses right? Just curious what most of you guys sit on, maybe the higher difficulties make the A.I. ******ed\obnoxious so figured worth asking.
I played on Settler difficulty first, but that is optional. I then played Chieftain. I got my ass kicked for a good bit but I eventually won a game on that level. Won some more on Chieftain then moved up to Warlord.
I lost a fair few many games on Warlord. At this level I pretty much learned the entire tech tree of by heart, learning what links which tech to which and where the tree would bring my empire. I then moved up to Noble, when I was very experienced.
I wouldn't consider Noble the medium difficulty. Sure, it officially is, but Diety should be "Hard" level, but not many people can win often on Diety level. Plus IMO if you were to categorize Noble, Prince, etc to difficulty levels (as in Easy, Medium, Hard.) I would say to only categorize them when you know the tech tree of by heart and know what implications getting some techs first have. When you know exactly how the game works.
If this is your first time playing i'd recommend starting off on Settler/Chieftain to get to know the game. Then Chieftain to win the game first time. Noble/Prince is only medium difficulty when you know exactly what to do in the game, know the tech tree off by heart, and what implications there are with military/diplomacy, great persons/wonders, etc. You will get your ass handed to you on Noble level, it is definitely not a level to learn the way the game plays.