when does the fun begin?

[untouchedninja]

Well two days ago I started playing civ 4 gold edition and i have a question. When does the fun begin? I hear everyone saying how great this game is but i dont see it. Right now all it seems im doing is mashing the end turn button until a promt comes up telling me to eather build some this or research something while fighting wave after wave of guys that enter my territory. I never really make it past 100 A.D. do to everyone getting sowrdsmen and axe men and me unable to get past warrior and archers cus production seems impossible to get to 70+.

Well I'm straying off topic. Im not flaming the game. Im just trying to see the inner glory that everyone else see's. Can anyone help this lost settler.

 

[Way_Traveler]

It sounds like you're being crushed by barbs. That's a common enough problem for new players.

There's plenty of help for newbies around, just start reading this forum. Based on what you're saying, it sounds like you need to think more about what you're building and researching (clicking at random is a luxury you only have when the game is yours beyond question; in the early years, every hammer and beaker counts). Find out which city has the greatest production in the city screen, build lots of mines, make sure it grows, build a barracks there, and pump out the strongest units you can.

Don't forget to hook up copper or iron. A great way to get a head-start on getting your military is to play a civ that starts with mining. Be sure to play with a leader who has financial, because that's the easiest trait to use productively. And... such.

 

[untouchedninja]

I had a feeling that they were barbarians cus they tend to come from boats. But ya productions seems so hard to get up. im lucky to hit 30 production by 100a.d. let alone 70. Ill try that.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

The best thing I can say is "never lose hope." I've been playing for years, and I still get hit by barbarian waves (and the worst ones always happen when I have neither copper nor iron even remotely near my empire...typical), but the one thing I've noticed is that you can ALWAYS ride them out. Just manage your units well; at the end, you'll have a solid, fairly-well-upgraded defensive force.

 

[BurN]

Well two days ago I started playing civ 4 gold edition and i have a question. When does the fun begin? I hear everyone saying how great this game is but i dont see it. Right now all it seems im doing is mashing the end turn button until a promt comes up telling me to eather build some this or research something while fighting wave after wave of guys that enter my territory. I never really make it past 100 A.D. do to everyone getting sowrdsmen and axe men and me unable to get past warrior and archers cus production seems impossible to get to 70+.

Well I'm straying off topic. Im not flaming the game. Im just trying to see the inner glory that everyone else see's. Can anyone help this lost settler.

Well this was my 1st turn based strategy game as well. I didn't think much of it either when I started, it's was as you said "just click end turn" forever. And every game seemed the same.

But the game really got to me once I started to understand the underlying things. Specialization, city micro management, different styles of playing, diplomacy, beelining techs, etc..
"Just click end turn" is now: Did I check all my cities? Is there any good trades I can do, can I cancel my trades in exchange for a better deal? What tech would benefit my civ most? What tech path to that tech is best? How is my military? How does the diplomacy screen look?
It might not be your cup of tea afteral but I do enjoy it. Maybe you will too in the future.

My advice would be to read some strategy articles when you find the time. Keep on playing and try to bring that newly gained information into the game. Compare your experience with other people's games and draw your conclusions.

My 2 cents~

 

[obliterate]

Why do you want 70+ production? You wouldn't expect that until the Renaissance period.

 

[untouchedninja]

Well this was my 1st turn based strategy game as well. I didn't think much of it either when I started, it's was as you said "just click end turn" forever. And every game seemed the same.

But the game really got to me once I started to understand the underlying things. Specialization, city micro management, different styles of playing, diplomacy, beelining techs, etc..
"Just click end turn" is now: Did I check all my cities? Is there any good trades I can do, can I cancel my trades in exchange for a better deal? What tech would benefit my civ most? What tech path to that tech is best? How is my military? How does the diplomacy screen look?
It might not be your cup of tea afteral but I do enjoy it. Maybe you will too in the future.

My advice would be to read some strategy articles when you find the time. Keep on playing and try to bring that newly gained information into the game. Compare your experience with other people's games and draw your conclusions.

My 2 cents~

Well I play EVE online witch require alot of managment and thinking so i love games that require you to keep track of things and make hard dicissions. I guess that if i ever make it deeper into the game and get alot of city the rule over and have alot of allie's/enemy's to watch things will get more interesting. Only time will tell.

 

[Dark Sheer]

Well I play EVE online witch require alot of managment and thinking so i love games that require you to keep track of things and make hard dicissions. I guess that if i ever make it deeper into the game and get alot of city the rule over and have alot of allie's/enemy's to watch things will get more interesting. Only time will tell.

Hey, no worries. I still remember my very first Civ game (Yes, I do mean FIRST which was many many years back on Civilization I ) where I somehow manage to survive to the very end though I ended up with 3rd place in score only. But, hey, I do have the warmongering Aztec as my neighbour.

Honestly, I bought the game back then because of one reason only, its a Sid Meier game! And I just skim through the manual and jump right into the game. And I only managed to get rifleman in 1980s! But I love the game all the way and bought and played every single expansion and installment right until BtS today. I hope you will be like me and find out the joy of playing Civilization!

 

[rantzzz]

For me, the fun begins as soon as I settle my first city. I love to manage my cities, source for a good ground to build new ones. I love to work tiles, and watch the city grow. It's especially amazing with cottages, seeing them grow to a town.

I love the techs that are in the game, and the way it progresses. Initially I found teching to be ultra slow, but that's because of the way I wasn't grasping the economics of the game. Once I understood the basics, the game pretty much progressed faster. The turns didn't feel as long.

I also like creating stacks and taking down city walls. There is just so much I love about CIV. Sure, at times it does frustrate me especially when the AI whacks me or I can't seem to take out an AI city stack, but I guess that just means I gotta improve on my game

 

[untouchedninja]

Why do you want 70+ production? You wouldn't expect that until the Renaissance period.

OK well I figured that out. I thought that when it said 70 production next to a unit's name that thats how much i needed to start building it but soon realized I was wrong. Now my problem is trying to fine iron or copper. Ive explored half the map so far and cant find any of it.

 

[gdgrimm]

OK well I figured that out. I thought that when it said 70 production next to a unit's name that thats how much i needed to start building it but soon realized I was wrong. Now my problem is trying to fine iron or copper. Ive explored half the map so far and cant find any of it.

Yeah!!!! You've made a step up the learning curve. Hammers accumulate per turn, and get applied to whatever you're building, until you've accumulated enough hammers to finish it.

Many strategic resources (like Horses, Iron, Copper, etc., etc., etc), will only be visible once you research a specific technology. For example, you have to research Bronze Working before you'll be able to see Copper -- and you'll have to research Animal Husbandry before you'll see Horses.

It's also possible that the resource isn't in the area you've explored, but if you've explored half the map, I'm guessing the issue is that you haven't learned the correct technology yet.

BTW, this leads to one of the "general guidelines" for good play. As soon as you start the game, start learning technologies that get you to Bronze Working as quickly as possible. That will reveal where the Copper is, will allow chopping forests, and allow you to switch to Slavery where you can whip population for production. Anyway, after learning Bronze Working, you'll know where you want your first Settler to found another city (to make the Copper in your cultural border), and have the means to quickly build the settler (via forest chopping or population whipping).

 

[LlamaCat]

Civ be like anything else (let's say: watching football on TV).... if you don't understand all the little rules, ins and outs, strategies, it's going to be boring. The fun begins the second you generate a start, because there are endless strategic possibilities, from where to settle to deciding what to research. When you hit "next turn" for the first time, you open up another round of new endless strategic possibilities, and it just compounds from there on out.

 

[ggganz]

Everyone starts out slow, and mashing the end turn button. Just wait a while, and once you get up to about 4 cities you'll have a new build order pretty frequently. By that time you should have met several AI's and have them to deal with. Be patient.

 

[ADP101]

make sure to build wise improvements, if u want a city to grow build more farms, if u want a city to have more income, cottages is the way to go, and if u want more production build mines and workshops. thats the simple part. collect rescources like pig, cow etc to have more healthier cities and raise food production, for incomre find plantations, and for production, find quaries and mines (not regular mines like rock, and stuff like that). happy civ IVing

 

[Raion]

When does the game become fun?

When you go beszerk looking and playing the game to actually start playing the game that way.

You know, you are the Leader, if you are just sitting there and not having fun, then please play the game Crazily! Some Leaders were extremely crazy in their day. What is wrong with you? It is only a computer game, why are you trying to give it any respect in the first place?

Oh, I have a game and I will treat it right, and I will have fun!
Duh!
Sorry, but your crazy. The game deserves you really cussing and cursing it and really going Mad in the game. That is also fun, as long as you come back from the edge of the cliff so to speak, and keep saying to yourself:
"It's only a computer game!"

And there is no Win or Lose, only what you think you should be doing while playing a game in the first place. That is the love of Civilization games.

Crazy? No not really, but really the game is just a set of rules and dumb computer chips so programmed so it eventually will annoy you until you start having fun with it.

 

[Raion]

And the game has been played for about the last 20 years, and really -- Become a Leader! Today this kind of Leader, tomorrow that kind of Leader!
So the Civilization wants to complain and you, you as Leader intend to make it proper.

Really? Slave them, ignore them, but realize that if you do, you will have a completly different game to play, and you will have to adjust when the game goes haywire due to your Leadership. But afterall, you can just turn off the game of start over.

There have been many people who just did not just sit down at the game to play a game -- they played the game enough - to know - that you provide the Experience playing the game -- even if it is goofy at times -- because the way you were playing was just letting the game guide you -- and You Were the Leader -- how dare a computer game just do that!

Your goal however you decide to play, even making noises yourself as airplanes move or horses move in the game - is to provide the game with letting you have your own Experience while Playing the Game. Who was going to know how you were playing it, unless you actually think that anyone else cares how you play the game.

Smoke from the City if good fun while you are at it!
It may disappear, or get worse, or you (God Forbid) may even end up with a Golden Age and your Civilization Loving You at some point. But again, the game can be played any which way you choose, and once in a while, a game is not a game then, it is a Classic and an Experience.

 

[ggganz]

1) Philosophy
2) Really hard to read sentences.

PICK ONLY ONE!!

 

[el toro loco]

fun is a state of mind

some people can have fun getting killed like my friend and others will never be happy even when dominating.

 

[KMadCandy]

i love civ4 now. even tho i was already a civ-series fan when i got it, the fun didn't really begin for me right away. this game has a pretty steep learning curve. everybody has a different definition of fun and level of frustration tolerance of course . i had to play around to make sense of all that i read. once the lightbulbs starting going off in my head, i began having more and more fun. i'm really glad that i had the patience to stick with it for those games that were more "how the heck does this all work???" than fun.

Now my problem is trying to fine iron or copper. Ive explored half the map so far and cant find any of it.

that could be because you haven't research the right technology yet, like gdgrimm's post explains. it could be bad luck. but it might just be that you can't see the markings, and that's easy to fix. there's a "show resource flags" option, on the pc i toggle it with ctrl+r. i don't know what it is for a mac.

good luck!

 

[CivMcNut]

The game starts getting interesting when you declare war on a rival and knock out one of their cities, all the troops to command will definately keep it from being a click end of turn button fest.