The game rocks, but playing it versus the ai had become somewhat boring. So i wanted to give multiplayer a shot, watched some yoruus and then thought i should be able to beat most of these lineups, maybe even destroy them.
Boy, was i wrong.
Multiplayer is a totally different beast, and some of the guys you encounter online are extremely skilled players. This is intended to be a writeup of some basic strategies and main differences between SP/MP because i havent found anything like that in this forum and learn the hard way. Feel free to know better or add stuff.
Scouting:
After having explored the land around the capital in SP i usually let one scout go to explore the map while the other swings back, maybe catches a worker on the way home and then supports expanding. In multiplayer letting one of the two scouts go does not work. Both of them are badly needed to protect workers/settlers. You will encounter many more barbs than in SP because there is no AI around to kill them. Also you will encounter opponents who capture any unprotected settler to slow you down. Your neighbours will also take unprotected workers. And rightly so. You are supposed to protect your stuff.
As a result it will take a while longer until you get an idea of the map. I have often found myself thinking about buying/building a third scout, but early hammers and gold are extremely valuable. Beginning at turn 0 the race is on for the best expansion spots, and everything should be invested into expanding as fast as possible to the best spots there are.
City placement:
A good city spot in single player is a good city spot in multiplayer. But defendability is a much bigger factor than in SP when chosing where to settle. Defending vs the AI is easy, but defending against a skilled human is hell. Therefore a somewhat crappy city that is extremely hard to take and closes up your land may be a good idea. Thinking about special units of your opponents or even about bomber ranges is no mistake when expanding. Dont make yourself a target or at least be aware if you do.
Going coastal:
Yay, a coastal spot, thats about it in SP. Being coastal means more gold, more food, better scouting and additional military options, so you should always go for it. Without a coastal capital in MP going to the sea is a risky endeavour. A single secondary city at the coast will be hopelessly outproduced by anyone with his capital and more cities on the coast and therefore be doomed in many games.
On the other hand, should your capital be coastal watching for a second city spot at the same coast is mandatory, so you can feed your cities with cargo ships. Sea food trade routes will boost the beakers, and beakers win games.
Gold:
In SP with the deity ai gold is no problem. You sell, they give gold, easy game. Compared to that MP games feel like you are broke all the time. Especially if you choose to go for food trade routes – which you should in most cases in order to keep up with the other guys growth. I have come to value markets/banks etc much higher in MP games than in SP.
Buldings that let you profit from incoming trade routes are less valuable in MP. Most people feed their cities internally, so there is rarely a trade route coming in. An exeption may be one between two capitals.
Diplomacy:
In MP there is real diplomacy with real people, and it is a huge part of the game. If in the beginning there is land between you and your neighbour with nice city spots – just talk to him. Many potential early controversies can be figured out by diplomacy. In the end no one wants to invest early hammers/gold and sacrifice beakers for building military as long as there is enough land available. If there is not, well...
To me it seems the better the player the more reasonably he will act (caution, this is a guideline, not a rule). Many less experiences players tend to be overly suspicious, overly aggressive and they tend to take things personally. If there is a faith mountain between two civs for example, this is not a matter of diplomacy. In that case there obviously will be a race to settle there first. If a player has no space to expand and your beautiful undefended capital is right next to him he will come at you. Not because he doesnt like you or because he is a dick but because it is the way to go for him.
Later in the game diplomacy is mostly about alliances, in many cases against the assumed leader. If someone threatens to outtech everyone else the others will try to kill him to keep their winning chances intact.
Winning the game:
MP is about science mostly. Many games dont end with the spaceship starting because long before that the others concede to the tech leader. Other victory conditions rarely occur.
In SP culture victory is my favourite because it involves many more concepts and mechanics than the science victory. I heard more than one very good player say that in MP a culture victory is almost impossible to achieve. About this i am still sceptical. The culture walls to break with your tourism are usually tiny compared to those of the deity ai.
Learning the game:
Many of the best players stream their multiplayer games, and there is a ton to learn from these videos. Fortunately all of them approach the game differently.
The best known guy is probably yoruus. From my point of view he is the uncrowned king of diplomacy. How he deals with people and lets the game go into the direction he desires is amazing to watch. Technically he may not be top notch, but as long as he gets people to do as he wishes that does not matter much. Kind of the opposite as a player is NQ furo, also no new name here. This guy plays extremely accurately, but his diplomacy is somewhere between meh and not existent. Primevalciv would be another name, an extremely strong MP and SP player who also comes across as a very nice guy.
Hottest guy on the planet for me as a MP newbie is Filthyrobot who recently began to stream a new MP game every few days. Misses no details, knows the game in and out, thinks very fast and while doing so still explains his actions on a level that is suited for experts as well as advanced beginners.
Boy, was i wrong.
Multiplayer is a totally different beast, and some of the guys you encounter online are extremely skilled players. This is intended to be a writeup of some basic strategies and main differences between SP/MP because i havent found anything like that in this forum and learn the hard way. Feel free to know better or add stuff.
Scouting:
After having explored the land around the capital in SP i usually let one scout go to explore the map while the other swings back, maybe catches a worker on the way home and then supports expanding. In multiplayer letting one of the two scouts go does not work. Both of them are badly needed to protect workers/settlers. You will encounter many more barbs than in SP because there is no AI around to kill them. Also you will encounter opponents who capture any unprotected settler to slow you down. Your neighbours will also take unprotected workers. And rightly so. You are supposed to protect your stuff.
As a result it will take a while longer until you get an idea of the map. I have often found myself thinking about buying/building a third scout, but early hammers and gold are extremely valuable. Beginning at turn 0 the race is on for the best expansion spots, and everything should be invested into expanding as fast as possible to the best spots there are.
City placement:
A good city spot in single player is a good city spot in multiplayer. But defendability is a much bigger factor than in SP when chosing where to settle. Defending vs the AI is easy, but defending against a skilled human is hell. Therefore a somewhat crappy city that is extremely hard to take and closes up your land may be a good idea. Thinking about special units of your opponents or even about bomber ranges is no mistake when expanding. Dont make yourself a target or at least be aware if you do.
Going coastal:
Yay, a coastal spot, thats about it in SP. Being coastal means more gold, more food, better scouting and additional military options, so you should always go for it. Without a coastal capital in MP going to the sea is a risky endeavour. A single secondary city at the coast will be hopelessly outproduced by anyone with his capital and more cities on the coast and therefore be doomed in many games.
On the other hand, should your capital be coastal watching for a second city spot at the same coast is mandatory, so you can feed your cities with cargo ships. Sea food trade routes will boost the beakers, and beakers win games.
Gold:
In SP with the deity ai gold is no problem. You sell, they give gold, easy game. Compared to that MP games feel like you are broke all the time. Especially if you choose to go for food trade routes – which you should in most cases in order to keep up with the other guys growth. I have come to value markets/banks etc much higher in MP games than in SP.
Buldings that let you profit from incoming trade routes are less valuable in MP. Most people feed their cities internally, so there is rarely a trade route coming in. An exeption may be one between two capitals.
Diplomacy:
In MP there is real diplomacy with real people, and it is a huge part of the game. If in the beginning there is land between you and your neighbour with nice city spots – just talk to him. Many potential early controversies can be figured out by diplomacy. In the end no one wants to invest early hammers/gold and sacrifice beakers for building military as long as there is enough land available. If there is not, well...
To me it seems the better the player the more reasonably he will act (caution, this is a guideline, not a rule). Many less experiences players tend to be overly suspicious, overly aggressive and they tend to take things personally. If there is a faith mountain between two civs for example, this is not a matter of diplomacy. In that case there obviously will be a race to settle there first. If a player has no space to expand and your beautiful undefended capital is right next to him he will come at you. Not because he doesnt like you or because he is a dick but because it is the way to go for him.
Later in the game diplomacy is mostly about alliances, in many cases against the assumed leader. If someone threatens to outtech everyone else the others will try to kill him to keep their winning chances intact.
Winning the game:
MP is about science mostly. Many games dont end with the spaceship starting because long before that the others concede to the tech leader. Other victory conditions rarely occur.
In SP culture victory is my favourite because it involves many more concepts and mechanics than the science victory. I heard more than one very good player say that in MP a culture victory is almost impossible to achieve. About this i am still sceptical. The culture walls to break with your tourism are usually tiny compared to those of the deity ai.
Learning the game:
Many of the best players stream their multiplayer games, and there is a ton to learn from these videos. Fortunately all of them approach the game differently.
The best known guy is probably yoruus. From my point of view he is the uncrowned king of diplomacy. How he deals with people and lets the game go into the direction he desires is amazing to watch. Technically he may not be top notch, but as long as he gets people to do as he wishes that does not matter much. Kind of the opposite as a player is NQ furo, also no new name here. This guy plays extremely accurately, but his diplomacy is somewhere between meh and not existent. Primevalciv would be another name, an extremely strong MP and SP player who also comes across as a very nice guy.
Hottest guy on the planet for me as a MP newbie is Filthyrobot who recently began to stream a new MP game every few days. Misses no details, knows the game in and out, thinks very fast and while doing so still explains his actions on a level that is suited for experts as well as advanced beginners.
