Should I master the unmodded game first?

[Kell Red]

I have never won a game above settler (and only the space race victory). I have first played vanilla Civ 4 years ago (shortly after release) just because I wanted to try a new genre of games. I retried to get into the series with Civ 5, was able to get a diplomatic and cultural victory on Chieftain but I'm still so bad at warfare I have never won a single war. I bought Civ 4 Complete on Steam just for this mod because the concept looked amazing, and Civ 5 had changes I really didn't like (can not convert cities through culture, one unit per tile and city states).

After having to scrap a playthrough of C2C because of issues I caused (almost every feature turned on and 20+ Civs) I gave unmodded BtS a go and got a science victory but after playing C2C the base game feels empty. Should I go ahead and play more unmodded more until I know how to get every victory on Prince for example? I wouldn't really be playing this game anymore if it wasn't for C2C.

My biggest flaws include:
City management (don't know when to expand and how to specialize)
Warefare (don't know how to attack or defend. Have only conquered barbarians but not a rival civ)
Keeping the set up reasonable (I have a hard time rejecting features even if they are regarded as flawed or unstable and keeping civ count <15)

 

[Thunderbrd]

Great questions! I'll let the other intrepid players of C2C answer because I want to hear what they have to say. I CAN say that C2C combat is a little deeper and even if you 'master' combat in Vanilla, you'll still have lots to learn here so maybe easier to learn it in full here? I'm curious to see how you end up feeling about these questions regardless of what path you choose.

 

[Pepo]

I highly recommended that you grasp the basic notions of vanilla before moving on to mods. Vanilla BTS game is really enjoyable, and I would move into mods only after finishing some games for the reason that you will enjoy more the changes that had been done. If you start with C2C, you may enjoy it, but I believe you would enjoy it more if you understand the changes that had been done

 

[tmv]

I would also recommend going for Vanilla first. There is no need trying first, but there are some aspects (not very developed compared to C2C) that were rather new at the time, like the promotion system. In you can understand these aspects in a more simple way, and afterwards you can understand the C2C content much better. If you go for C2C immediately, you have to handle the system and the complex content at the same time.

Spoiler Regarding new C2C systems - Beginners beware :

Of course, there are also new systems in C2C, but most of them are optional (e.g. Combat Mod). Some "new" systems in C2C are not even recommended for use (like Revolutions). Anyone starting with C2C might want to switch these options off, and perhaps go for the vanilla combat engine, although I don't consider the latter to be necessary.

 

[Kell Red]

But really like Revolutions! Thanks for the advice guys. Is there a strategy guide or anything? Are the scenarios helpful for learning the game too? I remember Civ 4 (without expansions) having a tutorial but it seems to be missing.

 

[raxo2222]

You can try my map "its small world" it has no AI, but it has space terrain.

 

[Thunderbrd]

But really like Revolutions! Thanks for the advice guys. Is there a strategy guide or anything? Are the scenarios helpful for learning the game too? I remember Civ 4 (without expansions) having a tutorial but it seems to be missing.

The graphic link is broken, sadly, and I haven't repaired it. But here's the v37 guide. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/caveman2cosmos-v37-player-guide.607564/
It really only covers the differences between regular BtS and C2C.

 

[Kell Red]

Just won with a cultural victory in Civ 4 for the first time! I think I know all the mechanics of vanilla BtS I just don't know how to use all of them well enough to win.

 

[Kell Red]

Okay, that didn't make sense. I meant to win on difficulties higher than Noble (the easy ones).

Is v38 still coming or are we just gonna go by the SVN for now on? I'm thinking of leaving the SVN and sticking to major releases only.

 

[Thunderbrd]

There will be a v38 but it may yet be a year off because we get too many complaints when there are known bugs and imbalances
in releases.