Redemptionblue
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 3
Hi I am sort of a beginning player and I would like to know which victory is easier. Cultural, Military, or Spacerace? Can you pros tell me?
Which victory to go with?
- Thread starter Redemptionblue
- Start date
Cultural would be tough to understand as a beginner. Try expanding early, and this can lead to domination or space race. You can decide which later.
Domination wins can be fairly quick - I think you just need to own 2/3 of the population.
Space race takes longer, but it might be easier if you haven't been beating up much on your neighbors, and have built a lot of very productive cities.
Domination wins can be fairly quick - I think you just need to own 2/3 of the population.
Space race takes longer, but it might be easier if you haven't been beating up much on your neighbors, and have built a lot of very productive cities.
KMadCandy
giggling permanoob
i wouldn't aim for culture right away. i really like it but it has some nuances that might be confusing for a beginner, and more importantly would give you bad habits as far as trying those things in a 'normal' game since it's completely different.
as far as military and space race (and diplomatic/UN), you don't necessarily have to decide before the game. if you leave multiple victory conditions on (meaning the boxes are checked), you can see how the game progresses and which looks more doable as it goes on. since you're looking for the easiest type (a good idea as a beginner!) i'd leave those all as options.
there are 2 types of military victories, most folks end up preferring one or the other. domination requires you to control a certain percentage of the population and land mass, which means you can win by elimnating most of the bad guys but some still live. conquest means they ALL have to die. conquest clearly takes more time, but gives some bloodthirsty folks more satisfaction. that one you do have to decide between before you start the game pretty much. unless the civs are spaced in the right way, and you are careful to raze most cities rather than capture them, and not make too many of your own, it's possible to hit the domination condition by accident before the conquest condition. as a beginner i'd suggest not limiting yourself to only conquest until you find out just how much punishment you like to inflict on the bad guys
one thing i'd do as a beginner is to NOT check the 'require complete kills' box. with that off (not checked), once you kill a civ's last city they're gone forever. if you have that on, you often have to hunt down one or two units they have out there skulking around which can be oh so frustrating.
that's advice for before you ever start the game. even if you do ultimately win by space race, you probably aren't going to let everybody live happily ever after so you'll be in some wars either way. if you were looking for tips about how to win a certain way, well, i'm not the best source for those. in fact, since you asked for pros to tell you, i ought to warn you i ain't one, so take everything i say with a grain of salt.
have you read the articles in the War Academy yet? there's some great advice there.
as far as military and space race (and diplomatic/UN), you don't necessarily have to decide before the game. if you leave multiple victory conditions on (meaning the boxes are checked), you can see how the game progresses and which looks more doable as it goes on. since you're looking for the easiest type (a good idea as a beginner!) i'd leave those all as options.
there are 2 types of military victories, most folks end up preferring one or the other. domination requires you to control a certain percentage of the population and land mass, which means you can win by elimnating most of the bad guys but some still live. conquest means they ALL have to die. conquest clearly takes more time, but gives some bloodthirsty folks more satisfaction. that one you do have to decide between before you start the game pretty much. unless the civs are spaced in the right way, and you are careful to raze most cities rather than capture them, and not make too many of your own, it's possible to hit the domination condition by accident before the conquest condition. as a beginner i'd suggest not limiting yourself to only conquest until you find out just how much punishment you like to inflict on the bad guys
one thing i'd do as a beginner is to NOT check the 'require complete kills' box. with that off (not checked), once you kill a civ's last city they're gone forever. if you have that on, you often have to hunt down one or two units they have out there skulking around which can be oh so frustrating.
that's advice for before you ever start the game. even if you do ultimately win by space race, you probably aren't going to let everybody live happily ever after so you'll be in some wars either way. if you were looking for tips about how to win a certain way, well, i'm not the best source for those. in fact, since you asked for pros to tell you, i ought to warn you i ain't one, so take everything i say with a grain of salt.
have you read the articles in the War Academy yet? there's some great advice there.
cultural is fun and in my opinion easier to obtain in larger map. the more rivals you have, the more tech you can trade, cultural victory is technological backward anyway, so it doesnt matter (you only need drama, music and liberalism before you stop research)
spacerace is fun also, but harder to obtain if map is too small or too big (it has to be standard size)
big map = too many rivals
small map = bad tech trading and no resource
domination/conquest at above emperor...err this one you have to be cyrus or hatshepsut
otherwise it's hard because enemy start with archers
spacerace is fun also, but harder to obtain if map is too small or too big (it has to be standard size)
big map = too many rivals
small map = bad tech trading and no resource
domination/conquest at above emperor...err this one you have to be cyrus or hatshepsut
otherwise it's hard because enemy start with archers
time victory is impossible to obtain without conquest/domination victory
AI will launch ship way 200 years before
Lithorien
Chieftain
Not quite. I've played some games through to a Time Victory (or Time Loss, as the cases were) without the AI launching ships. They were building ships, sure, but not yet launching.
This was on Noble though, so YMMV.
I guess the 'straight' answer would be that circumstances will often dictate which type of victory is easiest for any given game.
For levels up to Noble; I found that Diplomatic and Space Race to be generally the least difficult, as success can be secured while playing relatively passively and co-operatively with the other tribes. This however can lead your game-play towards the 'builder' mind-set, which tends to be less successful as you progress in higher levels.
Many players have to 'un-learn' this builder-focussed approach and instead learn to be more aggressive and ambitious with their military in order to win regularly at the mid-levels of difficulties and onwards.
For levels up to Noble; I found that Diplomatic and Space Race to be generally the least difficult, as success can be secured while playing relatively passively and co-operatively with the other tribes. This however can lead your game-play towards the 'builder' mind-set, which tends to be less successful as you progress in higher levels.
Many players have to 'un-learn' this builder-focussed approach and instead learn to be more aggressive and ambitious with their military in order to win regularly at the mid-levels of difficulties and onwards.
futurehermit
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 5,724
Start with space race. It will get you to go through the whole tech tree so you can learn what the techs do at each age.
I did the opposite, I've always been a warmonger, trying to win asap. Now after a few years playing this game I still don't really understand the modern age all that well
I did the opposite, I've always been a warmonger, trying to win asap. Now after a few years playing this game I still don't really understand the modern age all that well
Since you're a beginner, you're probably no the lowest difficulty setting.
I would simply try to play the game and learn the tech tree and get a feel for the game.
Watching my son play his first time was interesting. He expanded, fought a war and then went for military domination because he liked it. Others will find a space race more appealing.
I would simply try to play the game and learn the tech tree and get a feel for the game.
Watching my son play his first time was interesting. He expanded, fought a war and then went for military domination because he liked it. Others will find a space race more appealing.
drkodos
Emperor
Time victory is underrated and underappreciated by most, but is highly thematic since the game challenges us to build a civilization that "stands the test of time."
futurehermit
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 5,724
^^^ The problem, of course, is that this "test of time" requires the other civs not being able to win one of the other victory conditions, which is impossible in the mid-to-high levels. This is why it is not seen as a real victory by most imo.
Redemptionblue
Chieftain
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 3
Ya I will go with space race victory on a normal sized map, thanks guys.
KMadCandy
giggling permanoob
good luck, and i hope you like it!
no offense meant to anyone in this thread, but seriously Redemptionblue ... if you're brand new, play it as easy as you want to, and don't worry about what people call a "real victory". the first time you win (which might not be the first time you play, and that's ok), it's a great feeling. no matter how you got there!
no offense meant to anyone in this thread, but seriously Redemptionblue ... if you're brand new, play it as easy as you want to, and don't worry about what people call a "real victory". the first time you win (which might not be the first time you play, and that's ok), it's a great feeling. no matter how you got there!
space is easy if you are up on tech and low diffuculty (noble and below)
domination is easy on pangea, not so on terra or continents.
diplo is for only certain circumstances or when your neighbours love you.
cultural in my opinion is the hardest of them all
domination is easy on pangea, not so on terra or continents.
diplo is for only certain circumstances or when your neighbours love you.
cultural in my opinion is the hardest of them all
JimT
Warlord
It depends on individual experience but I find domination on continents reasonably easy. If you start on and conquer the largest continent then pump up your culture slider you can win three turns later.
Then again unlike most I find conquest victories the hardest, I find ity very hard to take out the last civ (and usually end up with domination first if I try).
