Single Player: Just some tips?

[Drifter]

Woo - hey.

First off I lub this game I play C3C and have been trolling here for a while but never felt need to ask anything til now. Right now I'm playing as the celts on the Monarch level and yeah im just getting into a few speed bumps.

So, basically I've read a lot of the single "tips" behemoth of a stick and I just need a few basics to help me out if ya can:

1) When do you all switch governments from the default despotism?

2) How long do you take before you start a big war?

3) In a game *(currently playing) I have the largest civilization by both pop and territories - is this good means for warmongering or teching? I'm playing as the celts.

4) What are your views on improvements - should I be building all of them or are certain better at certain times?

5) How should I fix my lux/science sliders? Should I be trying to keep up with the AI's (they're a little ahead I think by 2-3 techs), or should I be getting a lot of GPT?

Anyways, thanks for the help.

 

[nerovats]

1: usually asap, but sometimes a little later if I got lot's of units.
2: before room for expansion runs out. AI will expand then build more units. Get them before they reach fase 2.
3: should be good for any victory condition. The bigger the stronger. Lot's of terrain and pop will also increase your score.
4: No, only build those you really need, which depends on your goal. examples: Markets in bigger cities for more gold and increase lux benefit. Courts in a ring around the core but not too far as then they won't help anymore. Barracks only in core.
5: Keep it high for science, or low for gold, not inbetween. On monarch the AI has 20% discount so you need to be 20% bigger/more efficient to keep up.

None of these guidelines can be applied to all games, as it depends on mapsize, shape, difficulty and VC. But for monarch it should be ok.

 

[vmxa]

"Drifter"

"1) When do you all switch governments from the default despotism?"

I try to do it ASAP. I may hold off a turn or two if I have a build that is finishing and I need it or I am wanting to get one mor town planted. There are some other considerations, but in the main soonest.

"3) In a game *(currently playing) I have the largest civilization by both pop and territories - is this good means for warmongering or teching? I'm playing as the celts."

Either one and if War it is good to do it while the UU is still viable.

"4) What are your views on improvements - should I be building all of them or are certain better at certain times?"

Build only those that you need and can afford and only when you need them.

"5) How should I fix my lux/science sliders? Should I be trying to keep up with the AI's (they're a little ahead I think by 2-3 techs), or should I be getting a lot of GPT?"

Either works, but if you hard in that position you may want to select a tech that you can get before anyone else and trade it around.

 

[TimBentley]

Woo - hey.

First off I lub this game I play C3C and have been trolling here for a while but never felt need to ask anything til now. Right now I'm playing as the celts on the Monarch level and yeah im just getting into a few speed bumps.

Welcome. The word we usually use is "lurking," by the way; trolling has a bad connotation.

1) When do you all switch governments from the default despotism?

I usually switch governments as soon as I can (or wait a couple turns to finish another settler or whatever). However, if you have many units and/or few roads, your income could be worse.

2) How long do you take before you start a big war?

I usually try to start warring with horsemen or swordsmen, although fighting with knights or cavalry works, especially if that's your unique unit. (I'd certainly start as soon as I had some gallic swordsmen.)

3) In a game *(currently playing) I have the largest civilization by both pop and territories - is this good means for warmongering or teching? I'm playing as the celts.

A large civilization is good for either military or peaceful advancement; just do whatever's most fun.

4) What are your views on improvements - should I be building all of them or are certain better at certain times?

You should ask whether the benefits from the improvement are worth the shields and maintenance cost. I would rather have 3 more gallic swordsmen than 2 temples. In addition, you should consider the victory you're going for. Universities are useful for a scientific victory, but not as useful as units for a military victory.

5) How should I fix my lux/science sliders? Should I be trying to keep up with the AI's (they're a little ahead I think by 2-3 techs), or should I be getting a lot of GPT?

A thing to keep in mind is than gold is only useful if it's being used or is being planned to be used; having 1000g in the treasury isn't useful (unless you have Wall Street, although I don't remember the max benefit from it). I usually try to keep as little money in the treasury as possible unless I have a reason (e.g. upgrades, rushing, trading, stealing). You do have the option to turn off research and just trade. Particularly in the early game, food and shields are generally more useful than gold, so the lux slider should be used rather than specialists (of course 50% lux for a city isn't good either).

 

[RFHolloway]

Woo - hey.

1) When do you all switch governments from the default despotism?

2) How long do you take before you start a big war?

3) In a game *(currently playing) I have the largest civilization by both pop and territories - is this good means for warmongering or teching? I'm playing as the celts.

4) What are your views on improvements - should I be building all of them or are certain better at certain times?

5) How should I fix my lux/science sliders? Should I be trying to keep up with the AI's (they're a little ahead I think by 2-3 techs), or should I be getting a lot of GPT?

Anyways, thanks for the help.

1) on that level I aim for republic between 1200BC and 800BC

2) too long (thats one of my weaknesses) - but as the celts I would want to have run out of easy expansion room, and have a stack of 8 veteran gallic swords (more if I could manage it) and most importantly a new GS coming every 2 to 3 turns to replace losses. The difficult bit is planning so all these things come together!

3) Yes. (its good for both ) You now need to decide how you want to win. If you like building stuff then go scientific (or 100k culture - my personal favourite) if you like bashing heads then domination or conquest.

4) depends on your answer to 3 above. If you are bashing heads then baracks where you are building military, markets where you need to for happiness, libraries where you have some significant income, and little else.

5) what you need to on Lux and cash and the rest on sci. Once you have upgraded all your veteran warriors to GS's (you did build lots of veteran warriors didn't you?). The key to staying ahead of the AI is trading. This means getting a different tech from 2 AI's for teaching them the same tech. If you are really smart, you can then trade these techs around for other techs or gold.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

Usually, my biggest priority is to get out of despotism the fastest way possible, and usually to Republic. I can't think of the last time where my research didn't go: Alphabet/Writing and some form of CoL, Philo and Republic or Literature, unless I'm doing a 20K and have researched CB or pottery trying for an SGL.

 

[nerovats]

When going for a quick conquest/domination I wouldn't research any govt, just to get military, and maybe ToA in a domination game.

 

[Game_Addy]

1) When do you all switch governments from the default despotism?

I usually do it ASAP, unless I have the Great Library almost done, and when I do, it's almost always to Republic(ok, one game where i went to monarchy)

2) How long do you take before you start a big war?

I'll start a war if someone has something I want and I think i can take them(in one of my games i started over on, I would have been boxed in with maybe 4-5 cities in ICS sprawl, but with a quick war against Tokugawa, I was able to take hold of half the continent, as well as get many a tech from him. And I was able to banish him to the tundras of the North). In a nutshell, if they have a monopoly of anything, and if I can take them on without losing too much(like a city...), I will take it
On the larger scale, the World Wars are usually in the industrial age, when I know who should fight against who(and after Fascism is discovered), I'll save up lots of money and bribe as many civs as I can to start wailing on other civs(usually weaker ones but ones that can still fight).

3) In a game *(currently playing) I have the largest civilization by both pop and territories - is this good means for warmongering or teching? I'm playing as the celts.

I've found that how big you are doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be able to out-research the AI. I had about 30% of the world in my game, and found that I was 3 techs(!!) behind two of the AIs. Granted they were Modern Era techs, but still. They only had about 20% apiece of world area/pop. The point I'm trying to make is that you can't research everything by yourself(as I'm trying to get out of the habit of), so for individually getting techs, being big helps a lot, but you'll still have to break down and start trading.
As for warmongering, being big is great(especially with Communism). For governments besides Communism, the logistics can get a bit messy(having to wait between 5 and 10-20 turns to move a tank from one city to another across the world to for war(non-pangea). But that all changes with Airfields. I have my core producing almost EVERYTHING and have between 5 and 10 airfields on each island/continent. This saved a LOT of turns in my last war, especially when TOW Infantry was discovered by the AI after I had already declared war. Now I could send in fresh troops to start fighting continuously, with only having to wait 1 turn.
Logistics aside, being big is great

4) What are your views on improvements - should I be building all of them or are certain better at certain times?

In one of my favorite games, I made the mistake of not building enough culture on my border cities, and thus lost out of two very important resources-rubber and uranium. I'm going to say build them around your border, and when your border moves(unless the city isn't corrupt and can get use out of the libraries or temples), sell them as the new(-ly conquered) builds up its cultural border. Had I done this, I wouldn't have had to go against the Mongols and Aztecs for the resources Hiawatha "took" from me

5) How should I fix my lux/science sliders? Should I be trying to keep up with the AI's (they're a little ahead I think by 2-3 techs), or should I be getting a lot of GPT?

I don't think you should be getting very much gpt(except for techs ending in less than 4 turns). I usually have the research as high as it can go without upsetting my happiness slider, and start lowering the science until i am starting to get the lowest amount of turns(ie if I have 4 turns at 90% research, I'll lower the percentage as much as I can to still get 4 turns. Be sure to check on it, and when it gets down to 2, 3 or 4 turns for a tech, you can probably slack it a little, but not so you're going to be getting it in 3, 4, or 5 turns). I am also usually losing money(between 8-20 gpt), but usually make it up by doing what I said before, so it evens out, as well as setting research to 0 with the GL built(LOTS of money) usually. And remember not to give the AI any gpt, but you should be getting gpt from THEM muck up their research as much as you can!

Anyways, thanks for the help.[/QUOTE]

Note: Most of the advice is on Monarch level. I personally have the problem of not having enough troops(or so my advisor tells me), but i find it's helpful to have LOTS of cities in ICS on tundra and desert, keeping the grasslands somewhat open, and if you have a city that has all hills/mountains/grasslands, put the forbidden Palace THERE(That's going to be a LOT of production, and it might have Ironworks...). And finally, always be building troops and get Great Library, Leo's Workshop, Smith's Trading, and Theory of Evolution for sure! Those are about all of the wonders I built in the game, and I'm doing all right for myself. It really bites if the AI gets one of them...

Michael

 

[CommandoBob]

Welcome to the Forum!



These guys have given you good advice; listen to them.

To see how this advice is actually used, examine some of the Succession Games (SG). In those games, where a group of players take turns playing one game (and pass the game from person to person), you will find a lot of discussion on most of the questions you asked, except the one about the size of your civ. (Size is a byproduct of how you play, not an indication of how good you play.)

In each SG the team must decide when to change governments and when to make war and what to build and so on. A Training Day SG usually goes into these matters in more depth than a normal SG. Also, lurkers are encouraged to ask questions in a Training Day SG, since the purpose is to train and teach.

And don't forget the War Academy, where you can find information about the bits and pieces of C3C and how it all fits together.

Hope this helps!

 

[MAS]

Woo - hey.

First off I lub this game I play C3C and have been trolling here for a while but never felt need to ask anything til now.

Drifter, I'm sorry for going a bit off-topic here, but I can't resist pointing this out to you:

The word where are looking for is "Lurking!"

Trolling is an activity that is not appreciated here on this forum.

 

[gmaharriet]

Drifter, I'm sorry for going a bit off-topic here, but I can't resist pointing this out to you:

The word where are looking for is "Lurking!"

Trolling is an activity that is not appreciated here on this forum.

Just adding my $.02, since this was mentioned by both TimBentley and MAS, but nobody told Drifter just what "trolling" DOES mean here. Trolling is usually making nasty remarks to other players and trying to start arguments, or just generally disrupting ongoing conversations. It's similar to "flaming".

So, Drifter, you were just lurking, a good thing, which we encourage for folks not quite ready to join in the posting. Glad to have you here!

 

[Theryman]

To point out technicalities, a troll is not actually a flame. A troll is designed to incite a flame, and get the person who flamed in trouble, not the troll.

Anyways, yea, good advice was given in this thread. I still read these, just because it reinforces good habits and helps kill bad ones.

I dunno if anyone said this yet, but try not to build any wonders in one or two games. Once yuo have broken the 'addiction,' you can safely build the helpful wonders without getting carried away.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

usually if you are large, but being outresearched by the AI, it means one of two things: You are in monarchy, or you are playing on Deity or Sid

Or you never built libraries and unis.

If you are larger than another civ, it probably means that you can take them in war - the AI will garrison all it's cities and makes a lot of defensive units, thus as long as you don't leave your offensive units vulnerable to counterattacks as they heal, even if you are *weak* compared to the AI, a good tactician can take down a larger AI.