Random leader or choose?

[shawy89]

Sorry if this is the wrong section, but anyway...

Do you pick your leader, or just go with a random one?

I tend to always pick my leader and have a general plan in place before a game, but alter it as needed based on the my factors.

But I feel like I'll never improve this way (I'm a Noble/Prince player). A good player should be able to use any leader/civilaization, right? I think it's much more challenging to set everything as random as possible and work with what you're given and plan as the game progresses.

 

[civver_764]

I always do random if I'm trying to beat a level. If its the first time I'm moving up on a level I'll choose a leader I'm comfortable with(usually Mansa Musa) to get a 'feel' for it. Then I'll just keep doing random leaders.

Right now I'm still trying to get a win on Monarch using random leaders. Half the time I get screwed over by the barbs. I'm getting better though.

 

[madscientist]

I generally play them in some order, usually alphabetically by civilizations at a given level and speed. Right now I am up to England at emperor/Normal speed.

 

[Shafi]

i try to play a different leader each game and when i;m having it easy i move up a level. so usually i dont use random.

 

[Olfart]

I would think winning consistently with a random leader should indicate it's time to move up a level. Personally, I'm not there yet. I do pretty well with fin or org leaders, but still have problems with one that doesn't have either of those traits. (I know, my economy management sucks.) Nonetheless, playing random leaders has improved my game, and I am doing better. Meanwhile, I seem to be eternally on Noble, but I'm too stubborn to give up without at least getting to Prince. More importantly, I still enjoy the game, and I get a charge out of the often heated (but usually polite) debates in this forum.

 

[Grey Fox]

I use Random, but often restart when I get a leader I don't feel like playing this time. I've been try to not do that lately since there are a few civilizations I've never won with.

 

[Fluxx]

In general I use random, and will do fine with any hero at Immortal.

Then again on the other hand, I tend to loose Immortal games with any leader, independant of the trait.

I always keep telling myself that some maps are very hard, or impossible to win. Then I see people win on the same map.
Luck/skills?

In any case, randoming heroes can boost your average skill, since it will allow you to feel/taste/master every aspect of this game.

Picking heroes (unless it is Incan/persian/indian/egyptian/roman) will allow you to master a specific part of this/your game.

 

[z0wb13]

random, unless it's been forever since i played somebody.

 

[noto2]

random=fun

 

[Bostock]

Choose, but with a strong effort to keep replays of a leader far apart.

 

[Negator_UK]

I used to go random, but too much variation was confusing by the time I got past Noble. Now I select a leader or country and play/explore those fully before moving onto the next leader/group - for example now I am playing Russians - I Played Cathy, Peter and Stalin. This enables me to get to grips with the starting techs, UU (rules its era in stack defence) and UB (great for space win).

If I move up a diff level and have problems (always do) I play as Darius who is easy to conquer and expand with - its like moving up only half a level instead and helps break me into the level more gradually.

 

[Maestro_Innit]

I randomise everything I can. Knowing anything in advance is kinda "cheating" so i try to eliminate where possible. I even select "Chose religions" otherwise you're getting a running commentary on who's teched to where when a religion is founded.

As somebody posted further up the thread, if you can regularly win random games on a given level then it's time to level up - and I'm about to do that from monarch to Emporer but the difference is, I'll continue to be random on emporer cause i think you just learn faster and learn to adapt better that way

 

[shawy89]

Choose, but with a strong effort to keep replays of a leader far apart.

That's what I do. All my scores on my Hall of Fame are from different leaders. I won't play with that leader again until I move up a difficulty level.

I beat Prince with a random leader (Charlemagne), who has 2 of my least favourite traits! Especially Protective, I just hate it. Though, he starts with Mysticism and has an immense UU and UB. I had never played with him before.

That was over a year ago, I went a year without playing Civ and had to drop to Noble, but I've been consisently beating Noble now and am going to move back up to Prince.

 

[Olfart]

I've read many discussions about random or choosing leaders or civs, but what about landmasses? What's the most popular choice here? Random, fractal, big & small, or what? I know Pangaea is usually considered the easiest, but what are good choices for someone trying to advance a level? I don't recall a thread where this has been discussed in detail.

Slightly off topic, I know. (Please move to another thread if appropriate or point me to an existing discussion.) I'm curious about the assembled wisdom of the group on this.

 

[Maestro_Innit]

I use Planet Generator

 

[Pindrus]

I generally play them in some order, usually alphabetically by civilizations at a given level and speed. Right now I am up to England at emperor/Normal speed.

I found this amusing--I would never have thought to play like that!

Personally I go back and forth between random leaders and identifying a desire to play a specific game plan with a chosen leader. Random games are usually to try and play at a higher difficulty and just win however I think is possible on the map. Selected leader games are usually more for fun, to explore a particular aspect of the game or mechanic, or if I'm imposing some sort of SG-style variant on the play. For example, my last two games:

Space win with Mao on Immortal/continents - leader was random and I was just playing to push the difficulty level and try to optimize play.

Domination win with Zara on Prince/pangea - Just upgraded to 3.19 and wanted to use the "spread culture" espionage mission. Major option chosen here was "Always Peace." Saw it done in a few SG's and other posted games and wanted to try it myself. Lots of fun and got the win just a few turns before I would have had a cultural victory.

@ Olfart & Maestro_Innit: I recently discovered the PerfectWorld2 map script, which creates unpredictable landmasses that are always fun to explore: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=310891

Add on "Always War" and you are really in the dark about the shape of the world until much later than usual! Lots of fun!

 

[Sero Sed Serio]

I've begun going random, but I had to pick one recently because I kept (twice in a row) randoming Willem Van Oranje, this after I had played like 3 games with him. So I chose Lincoln, only to random him the game after that. Weeeiird. It's just dumb luck though. I randomed Pacal II after that and Toku the game after that.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Random = excitement!

Meanwhile, I seem to be eternally on Noble, but I'm too stubborn to give up without at least getting to Prince.

Once you move up to Prince, it felt like a quick transition to Monarch. The jump from Noble -> Prince seems to be the hardest (excluding Immortal -> Deity, of course )

 

[Olfart]

@ Olfart & Maestro_Innit: I recently discovered the PerfectWorld2 map script, which creates unpredictable landmasses that are always fun to explore: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=310891

I hate to brag on my ignorance, but I don't know how to install this into my game. Do I splice the script into a file somewhere? My skill level is such that I have to rely on an installer program, and the link just shows the script. I'm running 3.19 and Blue Marble. Looks like this would be interesting to play with.

 

[Pindrus]

No special tricks necessary to add this map script--Civ4 was made to be very portable and easy to add onto.

To use this map, put it in your Civilization 4\PublicMaps folder, not in your My Documents\My Games\Civilization 4\PublicMaps folder.

So just download the file (PerfectWorld2.py) and save it to the directory listed above. It should show up as an option along with all the usual ones (Pangea, Fractal...) when starting a game. Do note that this script takes several minutes to generate a map though, so don't think it's bugged at first!