Returning to game, struggling

[sunlover72]

Hi

I used to be a civ fanatic untill a few years ago, from the origonal civ 1 to civ 4 (spent forever playing civ 2). I stopped playing when i got married etc but i recently found my old civ 3 disks and decided to play again.

I picked the english on an old european map i found (TW europe), difficulty monarch.

Despite thinking i remembered the game well, im really struggling!. And was looking for a few tips with regards to governments and early expansions.

Basically i can keep up with techs (even gain a lead if i trade carefully) but i struggle to keep up with expansion of the AI, sometimes even failing to grab ireland for myself.

Ive experimented with rushing to monarchy, and rushing to republic ..both have their problems it seems with republic i seem to have real problems keeping population happy without sliding luxuries to 20 which cripples my science...with monarchy, it means waiting for other techs id rather get while i go for it.

Which governments do you guys favour early on?. Do you wait for a certain empire size before switching?.

Also for quick expansion, what build orders do you tend to do?.

Mine varies, but i tend to go mil unit, mil unit, settler, granary, settler?.

But im almost always out expanded.

Thanks

 

[Jokeslayer]

Switching to republic shouldn't cripple your science research (although having to up luxury spending is normal). Are you building enough roads? They're always important, but for republics more than most. (also, are you sure you're losing turns on your research when switching? In my experience, republics can gain techs faster at a low percentage than the equivalent despotism could {or the same number of turns with the science spending at a lower rate})

I tend to go straight for republic and switch ASAP. I think bigger civs get longer periods of anarchy (obv not a problem for religious civs) which makes switching early a good idea.

I don't build granaries in all my cities, I can't see the point. I only build them in those cities I intend to use for a lot of workers or settlers.

My early build orders are usually targeted around building settlers as early as possible (i.e. trying to time the completion of the first settler for the time the city reaches size 3, or as soon after as possible), building warriors in the meantime to explore or act as military police. This changes once I have a few cities up, with one or two becoming dedicated settler/worker pumps and the rest doing whatever (military, or things like libraries/marketplaces, or adding extra workers or settlers as needed). I take the view that having a "set" build order is bad, as each city has different needs based on its terrain.

 

[sunlover72]

Thanks jokeslayer. I probably do need to get more workers out, as sometimes theres a lack of roads. I tended to build granaries, as i thought they helped with pumping out settlers? Perhaps i need to reconsider that.

I find when i make the switch of governments i usually have 6 or 7 cities built at that point ..and when i hit republic i have to go 40 tax, 40 science, 20 luxuries because i lose the policing effect of my units.. hence why id considered monarchy, less trade and more waste...but mil police benefit.

My style of play (if i played on monarch difficulty instead of emp which i remember finding hard) was always relatively peaceful early on untill i gain a tech advantage - but i seem to struggle to pull ahead nowadays. And by the time ive got 6 or 7 cities out the bigger AI civs are up to 9 cities and fighting me for ireland...

Anyway thanks for the tips, its appreciated.

 

[Calis]

When you switch to Republic, you have to pay higher unit upkeep, especially with few and small towns. Disband all unnecessary MP units...

 

[The Professor]

Are you familiar with the concept of a Settler Factory? If not, Search for Bamspeedy's article--something about Babylon Diety Settlers, if I remember correctly--and read it repeatedly. You may also want to check on the Succession Game forum, especially the games listed as Training Day Games (TDG); they will often have detailed explanations as to how to set up and run a Settler Factory.

As far as governments go, you may want to download a helper program, also available on this site, called CivAssist II. It has a tab for Economy, which will calculate your income and science output for any government, at any science/tax/luxury setting. It gives you a feel if your civ is ready for a new government. And, as others have said, build workers, build roads, and plan on disband a bunch of regular warriors, if you're switching to Republic.

 

[Jokeslayer]

I tended to build granaries, as i thought they helped with pumping out settlers? Perhaps i need to reconsider that.

The question isn't "do they help?", because of course they do. The question is "do they help enough?" given that you have to spend 60 shields to build them and pay upkeep every turn.

 

[RFHolloway]

its effectively 60 shields to double the surplus food per turn. if you want a way of thinking of it

Shameless self publicity but http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=100256 might help in spotting settler factories

 

[Optional]

Since a few posts are already mentioning settler factories, I believe we also should mention worker factories.
A standard worker factory would make +5 food per turn, and 10 shields in 2 turns. Then, with a granary, you would have a worker every 2 turns. You would like to have 1.5 to 2 workers per town.
If you have some food around your start position, and you specialize your towns well (this town for settlers, that one for workers, those for military, that one there for wonders, etc) then your game will become a lot easier.
Also don't forget to start your Forbidden Palace early, ideally prebuild it.