Very new to Civ - have a few questions

[The Omen]

I've just completed my first game (last time I played Civ was Civ 1 I think!). I was the Japanese and had the Persians, Barbarians and Babylonians against me.

Was close up until the Barbarians kept threatening war so I gave them what they wanted. They supposedly had a stronger army, but my advancement in naval warfare and being the first race with planes meant I won over and weakened them sufficiently, but at the same time, scared the other two races into being very wary of me.

In the end I went to war with my ex-friends the Babylonians to slow down their progression and I eventually won by completing the space race with Augustus Caesar rating.

A couple of questions for the more experienced players though:

1. I found myself feeling the need to build lots of cities to get a feeling of progression... but is it really needed in Civ 5 to win? I couldn't work out if it was a good thing or just a hindrance on my races happiness.

2. One of the options once you conquer a city is to burn it down. Why would you want to do that?

3. If you do lose the game, do you still get the choice to continue? (Assuming you haven't been wiped out)

4. With more advanced games, I assume you have to have a real goal to win? I found myself with the strongest army raging wars whilst having the UN diplomacy centre built and building the space project...

5. Do you feel the game advances a little too quickly through time? I wish it was slower. I found that I didn't get to use so many units as my research was so quick meaning I kept getting new advanced hardware.

6. Any other tips?!

 

[Icaria909]

To answer some of your questions:

1. You can get away with settling only a few cities. It depends on the civilization and and the victory condition you're going for. For example, if you're trying to win a cultural victory, it's in your best interests to settle as few cities as possible because otherwise the cost for future policies increases with every city you own.

2. Burning cities is usually done when a. your happiness is very low and you don't want to suffer more unhappiness penalties for keeping it or b. the city was placed in a bad location and you want to raze it so you settle a new city somewhere nearby for optimal use of land. Some will burn cities for military purposes, but I find I don't do that very often.

3. not sure. I usually quit before I ever officially lose.

4. By the time you hit emperor or immortal you should definitely have decided which victory you're pursuing very early in the game.

5. A lot players feel the same way. Go to the advanced settings set up and under pace pick epic or marathon. That will increase the turns in one game, allowing for much more military action in a single age.

6. have fun

 

[The Omen]

Thanks for answering my questions.

On question 2 - doesn't burning still give as much unhappiness as making it a puppet city?

Q5 - Thanks I was hoping someone would tell me I could change it if I wanted. Thanks

 

[dslartoo]

On question 2 - doesn't burning still give as much unhappiness as making it a puppet city?

Razing a city requires you to annex the city first, which increases unhappiness by 2 and local citizen unhappiness by 34%. BUT, as the city burns, population drops by 1 each turn, which will give you back at least 1 and possibly more happiness each turn. When the city population hits 0, the city is destroyed and your happiness is back to where it was before you took the city.

cheers,
Phil

 

[The Omen]

I have attached the save file of my first game completion. I have just seen that some very kind people on here look at save games and give advice - would be excellent if someone could do that and see where I did well or went wrong (if it is possible to see such detail at such a late stage?)