Review my game please

[Sagboy]

Hey guys, been trying to get better at civ 4. Was playing a team game with a friend, agiasnt 2 other AI teams. Not a bad start area but it did prevent me from building closer then what I would have liked. Was kinda spread out so maitanence kicked in, but was making some decent cash. Anywho no matter what I did I coudlnt keep up in score, I htink I had the tech lead, was making some decent cash. I know I should have attacked but this game was about wining tech wise. What can I do better? Why wasnt I keeping up score wise? Was my city specialization working at all? What things could I have done with city specalists?

Also my buddy was automating workers, but from what i learned you shouldnt, but for whatever reason he was higher in tech then I was.

ANother thing, when and how should I use city specialists? I know to create one when Im near a pop cap for my city, but which one? And when else I can I create one.

If you need a password it would be bf2c, and I played under the name of sagboy using catherine of russia

Take a look and let me know, I really appreciate it guys!!

Thanks!!!!

 

[Lord Chambers]

ANother thing, when and how should I use city specialists? I know to create one when Im near a pop cap for my city, but which one? And when else I can I create one.

Don't use specialists to slow your growth. Use them in large quantities to create great people or generate beakers, coins, or hammers. Let your population grow until it's stagnant (or reduced to working poor squares) and then whip whatever you're building.

If your city has a library, university, and observatory, use scientists.
If your city has a market, bank, and grocer, use merchants.
If your city has forges, factories, or temples, use engineers or profits.

Maybe I'll look at the save tommorrow.

 

[shivute]

Score is calculated on a number of factors

Wonders built or controlled
Amount of land that you control
Population size
Techs researched

I know that these 4 affect it for sure, however I am not sure if your relevant power affects it as well. I don't think so though as it would already be incorporated through population and land.

 

[Sagboy]

anyone take a look at the game yet?

Appreciate the feedback so far. But when do you have enough population to just have a lot of specialists? I mean I know when a city become stagnant, say at 13, so i pull of a worker to make the city not grow anymore but thats only one, how do I get more?

 

[Lord Chambers]

anyone take a look at the game yet?

Appreciate the feedback so far. But when do you have enough population to just have a lot of specialists? I mean I know when a city become stagnant, say at 13, so i pull of a worker to make the city not grow anymore but thats only one, how do I get more?

Pull off more than one.

There is no arbitrary threshold at which point you switch to specialist mode. You just need to understand that specialists produce no food, therefore you'll need to have someone working a tile with a food surplus.

Using specialists to generate your beakers, coins, and hammers is a weak strategy without having Representation though. It's a mathematical fact that cottages give higher returns. Some players will point out that cottages are less viable in multiplayer since they can be pillaged. Even still, the math suggests they're superior. I don't play multiplayer so I could be wrong.

Suppose you're working two grassland squares. You can farm them and have +2 food surplus for a scientist. You would then produce 3 beakers per turn. on the other hand, if you were to cottage those squares, after the initial 10 or so turns it takes for them to turn into hamlets you would be producing 2 commerce per tile, for a total of 4. Even if you're constantly getting pillaged, I would suspect you'll probably be able to keep the majority in hamlet form. And for the every border tile you have that keeps being reduced below the 2 commerce you'll have ones in the heart of the empire producing 3 or 4.

As such, most specialists are only used to generate great people points. And since specialists are food-intensive, players usually just great a great person farm where they farm every tile to support as many specialists as possible.

 

[Sagboy]

Alrighty thanks for the info? Anyone else load up this game ?

 

[Sagboy]

Another question I have as I wait for someone to take a look at my save, is should i still automate at noble or manual control em? Because I have been working on manually controlling my workers and have been trying specalize in cities, yet my buddy didnt and he was kicking ass.

This game is a lot to learn, and I seem to be getting better but I just cant pull it all together and move up from warlord....

 

[The Tyrant]

Another question I have as I wait for someone to take a look at my save, is should i still automate at noble or manual control em? Because I have been working on manually controlling my workers and have been trying specalize in cities, yet my buddy didnt and he was kicking ass.

I'm at work so I can't d/l the savegame, but I can answer this question. Once you know how to properly manage your workers, you will get *much* more benefit from them than if you left them automated. A knowledgeable human will beat the AI algorithms every time. Right now the reason your buddy is getting more (setting aside possible differences in starting resources and leader traits) is probably because you don't know how to use workers as effectively as the AI does.

That's okay, though. None of us started this game knowing how to maximize every little thing. Once you know how to use workers, you'll outperform the AI's automated choices. The only way to learn, though, is to control them yourself and learn as you go. You'll never learn how to control them if you never control them. At first, as you're learning, you probably won't do as well as the automated workers will but you have to go through that phase to learn. Keep controlling the worker actions yourself, think about what you need in that city and how soon you need it. The more you do, the more you'll learn.

There are plenty of articles to read on using workers, but they almost never go under a thread title like "maximzing workers" or "worker actions" or anything like that. Most of the worker-related articles will have titles to do with improvement types. Do a search (restricted to thread titles only) for words like "cottage" or "farm" or "mill" and you should get a lot of ideas on what improvements are best built when. The key is to realize that if your buddy continues to use automated workers, he might win this game, but he won't be improving his playing skills while you are. It won't be long before you're able to outperform him on one of the most basic and important skills in the game -- worker control.

 

[Sagboy]

Yeah if you could take a look at the game when you get home from work that would be great. I hear what your saying, appreciate your thought out post. I have been learning how to control my workers for awhile now, and though I do see improvment, I dont see an increase in my play skill really. I know when and where to build things and why I should for the most part. I also know when to pull back on food and such.

I have also been working on city specialization but I hardly ever get a city that is just commerce or just production, its usualy a mix because a commerce city ends up being a great prodcution city.

Anywho thanks for your time

 

[merandaBlue]

I looked at your save. It's always difficult for me to assess someone's strategy this late in the game, but I can see that off teh bat, your civics ae not consistent with your improvements.

I would suggest that you change to representation, the caste system and pacifism. You should increase your specialists by at least 50%, maximizing your great people points and your science.

 

[Sagboy]

Yeah but how and why?