Your CIV quirks

[Inspector Javert]

I was wondering if anyone else had an odd quirk or two whilst playing Civ. Here's a few of mine.

1. I like to have continuous borders , it took quite some time before I was able to start placing my cities far enough away to avoid overlap, and now that desire for continous borders has been replaced by the desire to avoid overlap

2. I don't like to skip the classical period by discovering a Medieval tech with the oracle.

Anyone else have these quirks or habbits? Tech you have to discover, wonders you have to build?

 

[Crowqueen]

Early Wonders - Stonehenge, Great Wall, Oracle, Apostolic Palace.
Early religion - Hinduism. I really must find another gambit for going up a level but an early religion keeps me in the diplo race and allows me to build the AP to make sure I can control it properly. If the AI begins with Mysticism it rushes Buddhism, so I have better luck when I go for Polytheism first and anyway Poly opens up Mono sooner so if I miss Hinduism I can go for Judaism because Masonry is about the third or fourth tech I research, given my liking of the Wall.
Civs - usually ones with a strong financial trait e.g. Organised or Financial, or Creative. At the moment I enjoy playing classical civs like Persia, Babylon, Sumeria, Rome, Greece etc. In Rise of Mankind I am fond of the Assyrians.
Rushing Music - used to enjoy culture bombing for free cities but at Warlord this is more difficult than it used to be; the GA is still useful because by this time my borders are encroaching on the other civs' and it is every man for himself, but it is too difficult to absorb cities just by bombing anymore so I am gradually getting into the habit of settling him rather than creating a Great Work.

2. I don't like to skip the classical period by discovering a Medieval tech with the oracle.

I go for Code of Laws with mine and rush Writing as a result if I find I am building the Oracle way ahead of schedule. On the other hand I like to get Theology by bulbing my second Great Prophet from the combined power of Stonehenge and Oracle, using the first one to build the Hindu shrine. Occasionally I don't get one and get a Great Spy instead (unless I've apportioned the Wall and SH/Oracle between two cities correctly), but I still beeline Theology to make sure I get the AP promptly.

I think my games are becoming a little samey as a result of this general gambit though so I am trying very hard to play a peaceful game (managed a diplo win with Justinian after vassalising a couple of other civs to convert them, and the game with Cyrus I played out where he won with a Judaism spread early in the ADs felt like a "proper" game rather than just me slaughtering the AI...) but it's so tempting when you see the AI pop up new cities all over the place just to go for perpetual warfare between 500 AD and 1500 AD for a Domination victory. Currently Hammurabi is raping Pericles who is scuttling most of his mainland cities for an offshore empire, but unusually for me I've been paying more attention to diplomacy and have ended up vassalising Tokugawa and actually getting more of the others on board rather than have them so annoyed at me I lose my residency of the AP. ATM I'm trying to win with every leader on Warlord so that I can go up to Noble, but that is taking a longer time than planned because some leaders coughcoughTokugawacoughPacalIIcoughcoughLiz!!coughcough are just not worth persisting in. And I keep getting distracted by "just one more game as Hammurabi and then I'll try Montezuma, honest"...

Oh and since discovering Last.fm, I turn off the game music and put on the World station for some more interesting background stuff.

 

[mystikmind2005]

My querk is that i do not trust combat odds.

I'm not happy until my combat odds are 99% or above in my favour, it is the only figure that dousn't regularly betray me like say 94% in my favour does.

 

[turnip]

Yeah - I HATE Hyaena Tupac. I cannot stand him. Even in games where we get along fine, I secretly desire shiving him in the kidneys. He just looks so....pompous. Grrr.....I hate him.

Other than that....I much prefer the early game to the late. Often I lose interest in the game once all the territory has been explored or infantry has made an appearance.

 

[holiday_hawk]

My querk is that i do not trust combat odds.

I'm not happy until my combat odds are 99% or above in my favour, it is the only figure that dousn't regularly betray me like say 94% in my favour does.

Trusting combat odds is like trusting the French to defend a border. I attack if i have odds of 90+, but only except to win on 99.9.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I ALWAYS fight, EVERY game, even when it isn't optimal.

I also like cheap early rushes - warriors if below monarch which only happens in MP and random shadow games these days.

I loooooooooove slugging it out at tech parity with massive numbers - to me this is often more fun than a tech lead, although usually less successful unless I'm huge.

 

[mystikmind2005]

Trusting combat odds is like trusting the French to defend a border. I attack if i have odds of 90+, but only except to win on 99.9.

hehehe, actually the french are fantastic at defending a border, they just forget that the Germans can go around it, twice!! (WW1 and WW2).

Speaking of combat odds, i had a funny one last night.... I invaded the Chineese continent and while my fleet was returning i encountered a large chineese fleet heading for my continent. What ensued after that was the biggest naval battle i have ever had.

First i hit them with my camakazi collateral damage battleships and then I hit them with all these surplus destroyers that i did not want anymore. Due to the collateral dammage my destroyers were posting odds of around 80% in their favour. First 1 lost, second 1 lost, third 1 lost, fourth 1 lost,,,, (by now i am really starting to laugh at how rediculous the combat system is) fifth 1 lost, 6th 1 lost!!! finally by the seventh destroyer i actually wone, but by then the odds in my favour had gone up above 90%.

Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg of stories i have about how the odds do not run true in civ4. And yes, i have noticed that the so called 'bad luck' seems to happen in groups and then nothing for a long time and then several rediculous losses close together again!

 

[sanjay_111]

I play Gandhi aiming for cultural victory and give up the game if one of the following "goodies" does not become available to me:

1. Oracle (which includes founding confucianism)
2. Founding Judaism
3. Founding Christianity
4. Shwedagon Paya
5. Parthenon
6. At least 6 cities before I am boxed in (large map). I squeeze in 2 - 3 more within the territory aquired by then

But most often I get these without any problem. What does make me resign the game most often, however, is being attacked by an aggressive civ with overwhelming force. I keep some defenses and manage diplomacy and have managed to win in quite a few games but in majority of games I end up resigning because of invasion.

 

[Piemaster]

I have many quirks:

- When I start a game everything has to be random. Map type, seas level, terrain, mountain type, Civ etc. Only thing I don't randomise is the number of opponents (always 6), game speed and map size.

- Having chosen my Civ randomly, I try to find a way to win that uses their UU, UB or trait combination. I often have to change my plans, but I always start off trying to pander to my leaders style.

- I never open a trade negotiation except to negotiate peace. However, if the AI opens one I am happy to trade.

- Once I have founded a religion, I will stick with that religion until the end of the game and try to spread it where possible, even if I would gain significant diplomatic advantage by switching to another. I do however use Free Religion sometimes.

- If I get a quest I always try to complete it if it is reasonably possible.

- I never give in to any demand, be it for gold, techs, declare war, stop trading, change religion, etc.

- I will always trade world maps, even if I know the other Civ doesn't know anything I don't.

- I am obsessed with culture (except on Archapenlago type maps) and as a result I build Stonehenge, Libraries and Theatres far more often than is healthy.


I used to have far more quirks like this, but I've had to slowly weed them out as I've gone up the difficulty levels. On Prince now and I think I'll have to quit my religion and diplomacy quirks to win at monarch.

 

[NewWaver]

I always play Earth maps, and I always place my cities in their historic locations. If the next city I'm to build hasn't got the same name as the one in its real-life location, I rename it appropriately.

And I always strive to build a Wonder in their historic cities, or city nearest to the actual spot (e.g. Stonehenge in London, since it's close to where it actually is). Which means that whenever the AI builds one in the wrong location (since I can't really control that feature), it really annoys me.

Edit: When playing this way, I always have an atlas handy.

 

[JustinianVII]

-I must always have a holy city. Even if the religion's not that prominent.

-Pre-gunpowder--I have a tendency to build relatively equal amounts of all types of melee infantry. Equal spears, swords, axes, maces, etc.

-Unless the other civ is much more powerful than me, I never give into demands, or take a peace treaty where I have to concede something to end a war.

-Very low tolerance for espionage. Isolated incidents usually pass since I'm usually caught there not paying attention to the ratios. But multiple incidents in a short period of time, and if I have an idea who's doing it--they get a visit from my military. Which, ironically, only serves to increase their activity, but at least I feel better from burning their cities.
Also, because of that, I hardly ever use espionage my own self for dirty tricks.
(The "No Espionage" option would work even better, if they'd just implemented it in Gods of Old, which I play a lot )

 

[Wenla]

I never take 'slavery'.

Wenla

 

[mike p]

I need a Goldilocks kind of start. If I'm too far behind I give up way too easily. On the other hand, when I have a really great opening, sometimes I quit early because the game is already into mop up mode.

 

[budweiser]

I'll generally only build the wonders that my civ built in real history. I'll also try to put the national wonders in their proper cities. I'll also try to make a city a port city if I knew it was one IRL.

 

[Nestorius]

I have immense trouble playing a warmonger game and conquering more than what is minimally necessary even though late game I'm dying of boredom, hitting enter and waiting to build spaceship parts.

 

[Buccadhu]

Irrationally rearranging my invasion plans if Catherine slaps me or Gilgamesh looms at me - I know it's just a computer program but they get -10 diplo hit from me for "your AI characteristics wind me up".

 

[Joesocwork]

I love getting and keeping a tech lead. I'll have scouts circle villages until they give up free technologies. I also initially went from being a landgrabber in the earlier Civ versions to keeping a much tinier nation in IV so I can stay rich and ahead in my techs.

 

[CheScott]

Hm, quirks. I'm a pretty quirky individual, but I'm not liable to notice them.

I usually go with 'Choose Religion' so I can choose Buddhism, the religion that I feel most closely approximates my own beliefs, or Islam sheerly for the 'in your face' factor.

I tend to build cities as close to my cultural borders as possible and crank up their culture. I almost always give up if I don't get Stonehenge. I only take starts that have marble or stone resources.

I just about completely ignore my defenses until about Vassalage or Machinery, unless I'm faced with a very aggressive or particularly hostile neighbor, preferring to pull a Hunny Cap and build tons of wonders.

I love Pacifism and often wage wars as a Pacifist. Between my wonder hogging and Pacifist tendencies, I usually end up with a heck of a lotta Great Peeps. Very often I tuck them away to use for corporations later in the game. Especially Aluminum Inc. and Standard Ethanol. Even if you do have both oil and Aluminum, you can spread them to other civs that already have one or the other too. That way, they don't particularly benefit from the access to the Resource but you get tons of money. By the end of the game, my upkeep costs are usually being taken care of entirely by other civilizations.

I am always darting for the Oracle and Liberalism, but put them off as long as possible to see how expensive a free tech I can get. I also go for the Shwadagon Whatever-thinggy so I can be a Pacifist or have Free Religion. This often means I have Pacifism and Slavery at the same time. XD

I trade ravenously. This has become rather irritating, because as I've increased difficulty, the AI seems less apt to trade proportionally, unless they suggest it, then they'll cancel it later then after a few turns want it back. It really irritates me and eventually I just start blowing them off. I also keep track of over-seas conflicts that don't concern me and will often fund or help along the weaker civ. I find that giving him a couple military techs to even out his struggle against the more powerful rival frustrates both their efforts and gives me the advantage in the long run.

I am an extremely manipulative player. =D

 

[NewWaver]

-Pre-gunpowder--I have a tendency to build relatively equal amounts of all types of melee infantry. Equal spears, swords, axes, maces, etc.

Reminds me, I also like to have 2 of each unit type in all my cities, and I always upgrade them as I reach different eras in time.

 

[Supervisor84]

- I like to use Christianity if it has ever been applicable to the real-history civ I'm playing. Such as America, England, France, Rome, Vikings (well they had norse polytheistic religion until the 8-900's..) The fact that I'm Christian myself adds to the quirk.
- or the proper religion for other civs. The problem is that if you're playing Arabia, it's gonna take some time until you get your state religion Islam. East Asian civs though, (Chn,Jpn,Kor) are easier to land Buddhism or Confucianism with.
- I've also found it annoying when any religion that I'm not planning to use spreads onto one or two of my cities. I don't want it! In this case I've learned that having several religions in the same city can give you more building opportunities. Temples, monasteries and 'cathedrals' of several flavours might even give a tremendous cultural/scientific boost? Am I wrong? Also.. the Free Religion civic later on is going to make you happy to have lots of religions.

- When I make transcontinental invasions by Galleon or Transport, I like to have each ship fully loaded with the one and same unit type. This can make for a couple of Transports filled with 4 Artillery each.

- Seeing that some Civ is suggesting Open Borders with me just gives me the creeps and I immediately close the dialogue window. Why? I'm too unwilling to have opponents (in my mind: enemies) scouting about in my territory. Also: OH NOES if they would SETTLE anywhere near my cities or behind my cultural zone! I've read that the open borders policy can be beneficial and that the other civ will not settle behind your lines if he still has space... It's hard to teach an old dog to sit.