Terra maps / Monarch

[Danil]

I'm playing large Terra maps on monarch level. Not that I'm really good at it, but Prince level just seems too easy and I like challenge.
So the main problem that happens to me is I immediately get boxed in. If I develop normally, I would be lucky to get 4-5 cities in. And If I focus on grabbing land, my research gets real messed up and I eventually find myself still in wilderness while my opponents are many years in medieval era
What can you advise me and what would be the general tips for terra maps?

 

[Kallikrates]

Terra maps are naturally crammed, because all civs start together on about 2/3 (or so) of the total landmass. Why don't you play a few games with continents or other maps until you master the general difficulty of the level and then go back to terra? Or pick a civ with a strong early UU for a quick early rush.

 

[Smilingrogue]

Sounds like you are having trouble balancing expansion and research. It's perfectly possible to out tech the AIs on Monarch with just four cities to their eight. There's generally no reason on Monarch to be stuck at four cities, either. It's all about good city management. City management comes down to settling good cities, building good improvements, working the right tiles and specialisation.

Why not post a map and people here can play it so you can compare your play styles with theirs and see what you need to succeed on Terra?

 

[lymond]

Terra maps are naturally crammed, because all civs start together on about 2/3 (or so) of the total landmass. Why don't you play a few games with continents or other maps until you master the general difficulty of the level and then go back to terra? Or pick a civ with a strong early UU for a quick early rush.

I disagree here. Terra's not much different than a Pangaea map for a good portion of the game. OP needs to improve his game. The map is not the issue.

Smiling is pretty much spot on. We need to see your game to get an idea of your flaws, but I imagine there are several things you can improve on, Danil. Monarch is really not very hard.

The old "can't balance expansion and research" is a very common theme here. Part of the problem is even understanding what the balance actually is in this game. That takes time and practice, but we can help you some by looking at your early game or maybe having you play a game with us here.

A few basic assumptions I could make about your game:

1) You settle cities too far apart...shun city overlap
2) Poor worker management...working unimproved tiles
3) Little to no use of great people and often fails to get that first GS (this is a big one by the way that many newer/less experience players lack focus on)
4) Misconception about sliders relative to economy. Thinks world is ending once research slider goes below 100% or even 50% or even 20%.......or even to 0%. Does not utilize binary research or simply 100% tax at times to fund expansion early
5) Possible poor tech decisions in the early game (or all game) and does not setup good tech trades
6) Neglects domestic and foreign trade routes, even early.

Not saying you do all that, but I bet some of these items you need to improve

Lastly,

If I develop normally

This type of statement means little to us and is entirely relative. Your definition of normal may be entirely different from many others here. We'd have to see a game to understand what you mean by normal. I will say that there is absolutely no reason that you can't get at least 6 to 8 cities on a Terra map by 1AD on Monarch (as well as more that support it economically while blowing away the AIs on tech). If in the rare case you are really boxed in because the AIs start so close, then you should be going to war anyway.

 

[pigswill]

As has been said already if you're having problems balancing expansion and research its probably down to game mechanics, as you move up in difficulty it becomes more important to play efficiently.

With regard to Terra mapscript if you ain't planning on occupying a decent chunk of the new world then you may as well just play Pangea.