Stumped and upset

[Terminal Strike]

I am starting to get really frustrated with this game. Don't get me wrong, I think it is quite fun to play but some of the features really are starting to annoy me. I played one finished game on warlord difficulty and had fun though at the end I kind of ran away with it. So I switched up to regent level and now things are going horribly. It seems that the AI is totally set on expansion, everything all at once. NO matter what I do I can't keep up with it. I try to improve military, always behind. I try to expand culture, get WAY behind on military. I try to expand, nothing but corruption and cant build anything or get techs. All while the AI is doing all at once, twice as fast as I can. I try to get diplomatic relations, they are all pissed at me. WTH is the deal? It seems that there is no way to expand your culture without going to war, you can't expand your civilization if you try to build wonders, it's starting to appear to be a waste of time to even try for wonders and have anything else of decent value. Why is the AI allowed to run away so easily on this setting, I can't even imagine what the more difficult settings would be like. On another note, while war is a part of all civilizations, this game seems to have to much emphasis on it and the engine is not nearly as effective in war as say Age of Empires II. I want to try and expand and gain culture, but it seems that there is hardly any chance on higher difficulty levels. Why is the AI so intent on colonizing my borders so early, do they not get the same corruption levels that we get for building so far from capital, and how the F@*k do they get 50 units bearing down on me before AD times, all while getting wonders and 20 cities going?

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Terminal Strike
I am starting to get really frustrated with this game. . . . , and how the F@*k do they get 50 units bearing down on me before AD times, all while getting wonders and 20 cities going?

Pop-rush. Use the whip.

 

[BillChin]

There are two methods for building faster, the first (already mentioned) is slave camps, where you use the whip to hurry production. The second method is to build your first cities very close to the capital. The dense build is as powerful as using the whip and has the huge advantage that it is not dependant on terrain. Slave camps work best on grass with wheat or cow icons. A dense build works anywhere, though grass with a few hills and forests is preferred.

I have played a couple of Emperor difficulty games with bad starting positions and a dense pack build gives enough resources and time to win from terrible starting positions. Basically, build cities one to three squares apart, depending on resource icons. Build double or triple the number of cities you see the computer AI building in the same space. Use this early leverage for a very fast expansion if there is open land, or an early military to wipe out any enemies that build near you.

 

[Chapz]

I've gone through a few threads in the forums and think that this might help jump start your expansion.
Plop down your city:
1. build temple/library/something
2. settler
3. improvement/warrior
4. settler
Repeat 3&4 till your till city reaches step 3, you might want to continue with city improvements or an extra worker or two. Repeat as many times as you want.

As an option you can pop rush improvements for culture points but you might need the pop for settlers. Don't worry about small city pop count in the beginning, once you have multiple cities churning out shields and gold, you'd be ahead anyway. And it helps if you're an expansionist civ

 

[BinkleyYaz]

Yeah, you gotta either pop rush or seriously micromanage cities to out-produce them. Also, expand like a mofo. Standard-fare building like you do in low-diff settings doesn't work as well.

In my current Regent game as Babs, I was generally 1-2 steps behind during ancient times. My military was weaker and all the neighbor civs felt free to roam thru my borders at will, and I could not stop them. I got no wonders during those times. All I did was expand as much as possible, damn the stupid AI enclaves. However, once I reached the middle ages all that expansion paid off. Borders were well set and my extra cities gave me a production and commerce edge. Good diplomacy and well-chosen wars have netted me (by late industrial age so far) many more cities, removed most of the enclaves from AI control, given me a key tech edge, and put me in great shape for an eventual space victory.

BinkleyYaz

 

[Hobbes]

Originally posted by Terminal Strike
...So I switched up to regent level and now things are going horribly. It seems that the AI is totally set on expansion, everything all at once. NO matter what I do I can't keep up with it. I try to improve military, always behind. I try to expand culture, get WAY behind on military. I try to expand, nothing but corruption and cant build anything or get techs. All while the AI is doing all at once, twice as fast as I can. I try to get diplomatic relations, they are all pissed at me. WTH is the deal? ...

At higher levels the AI will have an initial advantage over you, don't fret it. You will make up for it by the next age, just rember as the difficulty level goes up, it will take longer and longer for you to catch up, but you will. The key is to modify your strategy to survie to the point where you can pull ahead. Good luck.

 

[Moulton]

Build solid and strong. If you try to gain too much territory at first, they all seem to come down on you at once. It was a terrible thing when the whold world declared war on my 5 cities... but eventually, I caught up.

 

[Guan Yu]

im sort of a newbie to this, but what is this pop rush and slave labor thing? graphically describing it would help alot. i can never seem to get as much cities as the computer in start up

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by Guan Yu
im sort of a newbie to this, but what is this pop rush and slave labor thing? graphically describing it would help alot. i can never seem to get as much cities as the computer in start up

Right-click on a city, and you will have to option to rush-build the current improvement. If you are in a "primitive" government (despotism, monarchy or communism), then a population point is used up as people emigrate to avoid the whip. If an "advanced" government (republic or democracy), then it uses gold.

Keep in mind that if you pop-rush a settler, it will actually take three pop points, one for the rush and two for the settler. So you must have 4 population to pop-rush a settler.

 

[Ironikinit]

Also keep in mind that rushing units/improvements will cause discontent, so you'll have to build extra units to prevent disorder. Personally, I try not to rush items until I'm in republic and I can use $.

A few things that help in the early game: (Keep in mind that I mostly play on regent or monarch, and your mileage may vary.)

Expand TOWARD your rivals, try to hog up territory and the best city sites. Leave empty areas close to your capital that you can fill in later. If your rivals get a foothold there, start to fill it in and their cities will be cut off and will eventually join your civ if you make sure to build cultural improvements in the nearby cities.

Don't worry if you're behind a bit in techs or wonders. Most of the ancient wonders expire anyway. I tend to go for the Pyramids or the Colossus myself. The Great Library is nice, but not IMO critical. Even if I don't get any ancient wonders at all, by the middle ages I should be caught up and ready to crank out the critical religious wonders (Sistine Chapel and JS Bach's). Also on the topic of wonders: be very careful about building wonders in your capital. If you get beat to one and can't switch to another, you're liable to lose a ton of production. In cities other than the capital you may switch to producing a palace and rush/trade for another tech that allows a wonder.

Trade with your rivals. This makes them friendlier and by trading techs you and your neighbors will keep up with or surpass other groups of civs on other continents. Even if it seems like a rip off, trade, but get the best deal that you can, don't just take what they offer. Shop around. Try to research what your rivals aren't, because when they get what you're working on, you lose the time you invested in studying that tech when you trade. (Does that make sense? I hope so.) To "hit them where they ain't", don't research what your science advisor suggests, because that's likely to be what your rivals will study.

Important ancient technologies include iron working, the republic, and any that allow the wonders you really want. I typically try to get iron working right away because it's such an important resource.

Blah blah, I didn't mean to go on so long, I hope this helps.