Returning to 4.

[Mozzington]

Hi all, returning to number 4 after what...7 years? Can anybody give me any quick reminders to refamiliarise with it in advance. I was only ever an average player but always remember going for Stonehenge, Oracle, and GL while also ensuring to find a number of religions if possible. Always remember building GL in a food heavy city other than capital. Good times.

 

[elmurcis]

Food is king, diplo is queen, bulbing is key and Curraisers says "hey"

 

[Fish Man]

Additionally, make sure Civ 5 bad habits don't carry over.

DON'T:
-Found 4 cities, sit on them all game, and expect to turtle win
-Spam archery units because ranged attacks are OP (there are no more ranged attacks in IV lol)
-Build 4-5 archers and think that's sufficient defense
-Put a farm on every tile
-Neglect commerce, because arguably the most useless resource in V can now be put in just about anything and is by far the most important
-Be afraid to use slavery

DO:
-Axe rush if you have copper, high production, and a non-protective neighbor too busy building Stonehenge
-Settle near gems/gold/silver, the early extra commerce is insane
-Get currency, code of laws, and civil service ASAP for markets, courthouses, nonriver farms/bureaucracy
-Beeline liberalism for free tech, though don't rush it too much
-Remember that militaries should be 5-10 times LARGER than in V to be adequate, because lowered production costs and more cities mean if you don't, Shaka will come and take your stuff
-Remember that resources are MUCH more powerful than in V (especially early game wet corn, 6f 1c)
-Remember cultural victory is very different
-Remember science victory takes far longer and needs ~15 parts built with spaceship travel time as well
-Remember to connect your cities and resources

 

[Mozzington]

Thank you for the responses. Wow I did try last night and after 3 reloads gave up for the evening after having my arse handed to me on each occasion! I must admit it did feel like getting back into your own bed after a very long time away but still think I need to adjust my mind set and try again tonight. I actually lost a city to a barb leaving one warrior in it defending

 

[civfanchambers]

Remember the skills needed to win in civ 4 are perishable. Regular practice is needed to keep skills sharp. 7 years away from civ4 is like taking a wooden sword to a katana fight. Practice, practice, practice. And as always....just one more turn!

 

[Mozzington]

lol, I've certainly found that to be true. About to give it another whirl....

 

[rah]

Food is king, diplo is queen, bulbing is key and Curraisers says "hey"

Thx for this.

 

[youngsteve]

I have been playing the 3rd game for awhile as cannot get into the later games. I know 3 & 4 are classed as the more difficult games, but can someone tell me how much 4 differs from 3, & the advantage in playing. Because I must admit 4 onwards looks hideous & confusing to look at compared to 3, which is very clearly set out.

 

[plasmacannon]

Civ4 added a greater number of Unit Promotions, Spies and Great People.

Civ4 Mods such as Realism Invictus, went further and increased the options for all of those.
It made Horsemen and Horse Archers separate unit upgrade paths, enabled Recon units to attack and upgrade throughout the game.
Created Doctrines and Traditions to specialize your empire so that they are different from the last time you played the same leader and empire.
The terrain looks better. The units are named for units from that empire's history.
Take England, for example. Unit names changed, so you can have Saxon Bowmen, Norman Swordsmen, even Challenger 2 tanks instead of "archer", "swordsmen", and "tank". Alfred the Great and Oliver Cromwell were added as leaders as well.

I'll provide the mod's link, for more info on the Civ4 Realism Invictus mod.
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/realism-invictus.411799/

 

[Lexicus]

-Get currency, code of laws, and civil service ASAP for markets, courthouses, nonriver farms/bureaucracy

I would dispute this piece of advice. Really, you're going to want to avoid these buildings, they are almost entirely not worth building (ie, building wealth is better), and farms are mostly not worth building until biology (with the exception, obviously, of Corn, Wheat, or Rice tiles). Currency is essential because it allows you to build wealth, which is what you should more or less always be building if you're not building essential buildings (granary, forge, lighthouse if applicable, and you'll need enough libraries to build universities for Oxford) or units.

A note on farms...civil service does allow you to spread irrigation, which enables you to chain farms from the nearest fresh water to your dry corn, wheat, or rice. But this is not going to be a high priority due to the number of worker turns involved (the payoff is only 1 food per turn for irrigated vs non-irrigated) and you aren't going to want to actually work those farms until Biology. 3F1C (pre-bio grassland farm next to a river) is a poor tile. Farms away from rivers are even worse.

 

[rah]

Yeah, markets only in your cap and maybe another financial city. Courthouses, maybe a few if you're organized or trying an espionage game. Maybe in a city a stretched distance wise early, after using oracle on col, and a ways off from currency, with not a lot of other things to build, but that is rare. And unless I have a city built just for a strat resource that has no food, farms are just for food specials.