When and how do you decide which victory type?

[MobileOak]

When do you decide what victory condition to go for?

• Do you do it before choosing a leader?
• Do you do it after seeing the start?
• If you get thwarted, do you generally give up or try for something else?

What other factors go into your decision? I'm especially curious about those who choose random for their leader option.

Sometimes you pick a leader because you want to try for a specific type (Shaka for military conquest, Stalin for spaceship, etc). But some leaders (Huyan Capac, etc) give you seemingly many options.

 

[Lansky]

Cannot make a good decision until you have met the neighbors and seen the land available.

 

[MobileOak]

Cannot make a good decision until you have met the neighbors and seen the land available.

And once you do, what factors make you choose one victory condition over another?

I have this ... problem that most of my victories are military (conquest, domination) - probably because I like war and because I am playing below my skill level. As I ramp up in difficulty, winning world wars becomes less easy and I need to know when to shift to another victory type.

So far my only cultural victories have been when I specifically gun for them - choosing what I consider 'culture victory friendly' leaders and map settings. I have never gone for a cultural victory before after seeing my initial starting point, and don't know how to tell when I should.

 

[glaivemaster]

I tend to go for very late victories (most often spaceship), so I won't decide for a while. Basically, I'll tend to see how the game is going, what I'm good at, and then head for that. The exception being cultural which I choose generally from the start, either if I have a good leader for it, or if I get hemmed in without many cities.

The only time I've won in a way I hadn't planned (Domination instead of Spaceship) was because someone declared war on me and I discovered that I could respond by very easily and quickly taking over the entire world, entirely without forethought or planning

 

[GenerallyGreat]

Start game, scout map, kill AI until I have a domination or conquest or die trying.

 

[Lansky]

Culture - If you find yourself at a point where you have assimilated all the weaker civs and do not want to or simply cannot take on the big guys then culture is almost always faster than space. Build some cathedrals, hit enter a bunch and finish in 100 turns or less. Maybe found a few corporations as well.

Diplomatic - 90% of the time I use this to speed up domination/conquest. Between my vassals and myself I control the UN and have 80% of the world's population under control. UN is a quick win. AP also falls into this category if you assimilate all the non believers and only have a bunch of happy guys left.

Space - Honestly, this is the slowest victory condition and most of the time only pursued for the sake of launching a ship to avoid other micro tedium like perhaps naval warfare. The only times I have found myself electing it as the best strategy is when I am in a relatively happy world with AI's wielding giant armies while my cities have 1-2 religions available for spreading. Especially at higher levels beelining the internet and sucking up backfill techs can be quite productive and allow relatively fast space wins.

The thing is war ALWAYS* works if you want it to badly enough. It just might not be the most efficient means. So do you want to win efficiently or play the game in a way that is fun for you? If you are playing below your level I think you have made your choice.

*exaggeration but not too far from the truth

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I almost always play military. I fall back on diplo if a) it's simpler or b) it's my only way out.

With that in mind, at least there is a very single-minded plan for the majority of the game, which is useful when you're playing <3 hour games.

 

[Bandobras Took]

I had a friend who accidentally won a culture victory. I think he had bumped the slider to help manage his war weariness.

 

[bestsss]

Bandobras Took, your friend should have researched fascism, helps greatly. I dont know how one can win culture w/o at least the late culture wonders and sushi+Sistine, since I dont believe anyone would build multiple cathedral just for fun.
On the topic: generally you can decide military w/ a fallback plan (depends on the game situation) unless you already prior to the start know what exactly you'd like to gun for.

 

[uncarved block]

I start every game with Space Ship in mind, then let the map and AI take it from there. (This is on Noble, so scoff all you like.) If I'm Industrious, and have wonders spread in three cities, I'll shoot for Culture, mainly because I haven't done that very often. If the neighbors are weak early (no Protective, or take out a warmonger like Monty quickly), I might try to snowball for a military win. Otherwise, I try to race through the tech tree and see if I can launch during the 19th century. Just because that amuses me . . .

 

[Le Singe]

i had a friend who accidentally won a culture victory. I think he had bumped the slider to help manage his war weariness.

bwahahahahahahahahah

 

[SauronCuneta]

I usually gun for domination win from the start, but when the AI is out-teching me big time, I shift to a) Cultural or b) Diplomatic. If I'm on par with tech, I go Space Race. Sometimes, I get some accidental AP wins.

 

[Thor7]

I plan to go for conquest but sometimes try to do domination instead if I'm on a terra map and have the big land mass. Usually the entire big continent is enough for domination. A few times I'm on a small continent so I go for space. Overseas wars are just much more difficult.

 

[Shanksie]

I'll echo some of the comments above, i always play random map, random leaders so i almost have to wait to see what hand i've been dealt first, granted it's only on Noble.

Then it will depend on the start, what resources appear in my BFC's (or nearby) and which leaders are closest to me.

I've not been playing civ4 for long and i'm yet to have a cultural victory tho i think that's to do with the lower skill level making war almost certainly a winning tactic regardless. In my last game i was about 20 turns from a Domination win when i built the UN and got the Diplo instead.

Most of the time i adopt a flexible approach using diplomacy to isolate one of the weaker civs and/or keep the better civs off my back whilst i massacre a lower one. Maybe at the higher difficulties i'll have to go for space / cultural wins but where i am now war, war what is it good for? Winning .

 

[duckstab]

If I'm playing an Aggressive, Charismatic, or Imperialistic leader, I'm aiming for domination right from the start. Usually though I don't decide until the Renaissance.

 

[VoirDire]

I usually decide when I'm in the lead and I've cleansed my continent. I play with the mindset of domination victories all games, but sometimes diplo or spacerace is faster in terms of gamespeed.

I don't like cultural victories.

 

[GenerallyGreat]

If I'm playing an Aggressive, Charismatic, or Imperialistic leader, I'm aiming for domination right from the start. Usually though I don't decide until the Renaissance.

Spi/phi is better.

 

[mariogreymist]

If I choose to play certain leaders, you can be certain my goal is a military win. When I play others, it is more likely I'll keep options open for culture or space. Mostly though, it depends on the lay of the land. Crowded starts usually provoke the militant in me. This is true because I never trust a neighbor enough to not kill or subjugate them if the opportunity presents itself with reasonable strategic, diplomatic, scientific, and economic risk.

Some might consider this unreasonably militant, and perhaps they're right. But military is generally the simplest and most predictable route to victory as it provides the AIs with more opportunities to make major errors. So as long as that path remains open without endangering a potential space race (or cultural if research went tech/culture rather than my usual tech/mfg) win, I will take it. If you play diplomacy remotely well, you can even use a good conquest to tip the balance for a UN win.

But mostly I just like watching s#!t blow up.

 

[king lundmark]

i argee with you. i always attack nearby civs when the opporttunity presents it self and they never expect it because i make nice to them and make them my friends while planing their downfall and when they show weakness i strike.

 

[Bruin.Bound]

I'd love to win any of my games with as little warring as possible. Wars are long and boring to me, so originally I'd like to go for space or diplomatic. However at immortal you usually have to fight at some point to get a big enough empire for a space race win... or at least I have to. A lot of time it turns into domination though if someone is too big or closing in on cultural wins. I still dont have a ton of experience so I like trying out all leaders to play with UU/UBs and different traits. The only time I may want to pick a certain leader with victory condition might be for cultural.