some noob questions

[Zephyrpower]

Hey Guys!

I'm new here and completely new to this game. Typically, I don't go for games like this. I usually play RTS' like Starcraft and Warcraft 3, or fantasy-oriented TBS, like Age of Wonders of Heroes of Might and Magic 3. I think the latter are the most similiar to this, but I've also played Age of Empires a bit.

Anyways, I borrowed this from a friend just to try it out and really hated it at first, because I didn't know what to do. However, I gave it another shot and after reading some strategy guides here and there, it's becoming a little more interesting to me. So, who knows, it may grow on me...though I still prefer games with a little more action and combat control.

Well, enough about me. Since I'm a total noob, I'm going to ask a few questions here.

1. What is the actual goal of the game? I think there might be several options for win conditions, but I've never been able to see/choose any options for victory. I'm assuming it's having the best/most advanced civilization by the end of the game (not sure when that is) OR being the first to reach a futuristic tech.

2. What earth type/empire/conditions are best for noobs?

3. What's the best first thing to build? My friend told me to build worker first, then move onto to the simpler technologies like Animal Husbandry. Now I'm seeing a lot of people saying to start with religion of some kind.

4. It seems really good to found a religion. In my most recent game, I missed Hindu and Buddhism, But I got Confusicism and Christianity. Is it good to be a founder of more than one religion and what are the benefits of being a founder of a religion? Is it still worth getting if you didn't discover it?

5. How much do Sadness and Unhealthiness slow you down? I strive to keep my people happy, but these are still two factors that always come back to haunt me. Is there an easy way to prevent these?

6. My friend told me to automate my workers and warriors/scouts etc. Is this generally a good idea or bad idea? I think that I should at least give them some general guidance at first (like what direction to go in or what to build first). How smart is the AI for automation and when should I use it?

7. In almost every game I've played, I've been ahead on the scores in the lower right hand corner (my most recent game I've been an average of 111 pts ahead of the second place person). But when it comes to my ranking at the end of an era (or whenever that screen pops up), I'm usually somewhere in the middle, with a title of "mediochre" or "Puny". What does this mean and how do I get a higher ranking?

Sorry for all these questions. I think my friend forgot to give me the instruction manual, although I did get the tech sheets.

I have more questions as well, but for now I'll see what people say about these, so it doesn't become too overwhelming. I'll try to get the manual from my friend as well, since this game seems rather complex

 

[Polycrates]

Hey Guys!

Welcome!

1. What is the actual goal of the game? I think there might be several options for win conditions, but I've never been able to see/choose any options for victory. I'm assuming it's having the best/most advanced civilization by the end of the game (not sure when that is) OR being the first to reach a futuristic tech.

There's a bunch. Conquer the hell out of your opponents, be the first to send up a spaceship, have three cities with a huge level of culture, or win diplomatically through the UN (or Apostolic Palace). Or if you just have the highest score at 2050. I'd start off going for the spaceship victory since it's fun and pretty straightforward, or just time.

2. What earth type/empire/conditions are best for noobs?

I'd suggest standard size (and standard everything else) on continents (or hemispheres, they're similar) with 2 continents. Kinda like Earth, and you get to make use of all the ship techs, and have the whole cool Christopher Columbus "meet the other continent" thing.

3. What's the best first thing to build? My friend told me to build worker first, then move onto to the simpler technologies like Animal Husbandry. Now I'm seeing a lot of people saying to start with religion of some kind.

A worker to start is generally a good way to go. But you need to have the technology to give them something to do. So if you've got corn or wheat or something around your starting city, or just grassland with freshwater, get agriculture first so you can farm; if you've got pigs or cows etc, get animal husbandry. Once you've got some bonus food, a good tech to work towards is Bronze Working, which will let you get good military units, chop down forests for extra production, and Slavery for whipping your people for more production.
Another good early tech is Pottery, so you can build cottages early and realy build up your technology.
You could go for an early religion, but you can easily ignore it (at least until later) and just go for good economic technologies.

4. It seems really good to found a religion. In my most recent game, I missed Hindu and Buddhism, But I got Confusicism and Christianity. Is it good to be a founder of more than one religion and what are the benefits of being a founder of a religion? Is it still worth getting if you didn't discover it?

The main benefit of founding is from building the shrine, which gives you money for every city the religion has spread to (amongst other things). Religion has a number of aspects, but one of the most important is in diplomacy, so if you found your own religion and everyone else on your continent is another religion, they're not going to like you much. In that case, it can be better to convert to their religion and reap the rewards of better relations.

5. How much do Sadness and Unhealthiness slow you down? I strive to keep my people happy, but these are still two factors that always come back to haunt me. Is there an easy way to prevent these?

Unhappiness generally hurts much more than health. Early on, the best ways to counter it are to connect early happiness resources (gold, silver, gems, ivory, furs, probably more that I've forgotten), and to research Monarchy so you can run the Hereditary Rule civic. Another way is to research Calendar so you can connect plantation resources like Silk and Dyes.
Health is best managed by building next to freshwater when possible, building granaries, and connecting up food resources.
Later on, you can also build happiness/health enhancing buildings like theatres and aqueducts etc.
EDIT: Also, a lot of other buildings give not-so-obvious happiness/health benefits from certain resources; markets and forges can be good sources of happiness, while grocers and harbours can be good sources of health - in addition to all their other benefits. Can be a good way to kill two birds with one stone (as long as you have the right resources!)
Also trade! If you have trade routes with other civs, you can often trade excess amounts of a certain resource for a resource that another civ has excess of - giving you a health/happiness benefit and costing you almost nothing.

6. My friend told me to automate my workers and warriors/scouts etc. Is this generally a good idea or bad idea? I think that I should at least give them some general guidance at first (like what direction to go in or what to build first). How smart is the AI for automation and when should I use it?

The automation isn't very good. It can be good when you're starting to give a general idea of what to build, but you'll get a lot better when you start doing it yourself (it really makes a big difference).

7. In almost every game I've played, I've been ahead on the scores in the lower right hand corner (my most recent game I've been an average of 111 pts ahead of the second place person). But when it comes to my ranking at the end of an era (or whenever that screen pops up), I'm usually somewhere in the middle, with a title of "mediochre" or "Puny". What does this mean and how do I get a higher ranking?

In a lot of cases it really means nothing, it just means someone else is ahead in a specific aspect (like number of people, or tech, or money in the bank, or number of troops). I wouldn't worry too much (except for the "most powerful" one - if you're too far behind there, you're asking to get stomped)

 

[Deriem]

Man, I had a great response typed out... then I refreshed and Polycrates had beaten me to the punch! Heheh, but yeah, everything he said is golden advice.

Sulla's Walkthrough is a lifesaver. Read it and love it!

 

[KMadCandy]

howdy and welcome to CFC

the war academy is a good place to start looking for all kinds of strategies / tips / advice / answers. since you didn't even get the manual, some of those articles may be too complex at first, but i'm sure you'll get it as you jump in and play. have fun and good luck!

F12 was my best friend when i started playing, and it still is. that opens the civilopedia so i can look up whichever thing it is i forgot this time