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Old 05-11-2006, 21:25   #1
ProPain
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Default Had another go at Civ IV

Went on holiday for a week, packed a more than decent laptop and Civ4 just to give it another go.

First game : Prince level, continents, standard size
After doing ok initially I got hopelesly behind. Apart from sucky civ4 skills I blame the map. Was on little continent alone, discover Romans on a big island next to it. By the time I made contact with the other civs I was still banging rocks together for fire and they were building riflemen. I had immense trouble getting my finances going only went up in the endgame. 75 turns before the end Cyrus launched his spaceship and I was building cavs or something. Played the remaining 75 turns and managed to get even in tech (that is get all techs there were) even beating the Romans to the last tech by one tech. Ended up first in score after those 75 turns were done, benefits of having a continent for yourself

second game : Prince level, continents, standard size
Doing quite ok techwise untill my best friend showed up at my border with some immense SoD's and attacked out of the blue.
Lesson learned: Having civs on friendly terms doesnt compensate for being weak


third game : Prince level, continents, standard size
started, got GPT troubles again, bought Warlords as the lack of internet prevented me to download the 1.61 patch which I needed to get the game to perform a bit better speedwise.

Warlords
Took me quite a while to notice the difference between the vanilla and warlords version. Looks like something that a decent modder would have come up with after a weekend. But then I discover the real benefit of warlords: revised civilopedia! Apparently they found out the icon driven civpedia in vanilla was a disaster.

Conclusion: € 25,- for better civpedia and 1.61 patch, what a waste of money

third game, 2nd try : Prince level, continents, standard size
Did some more aggresive expansion, build more hamlets, pruned Roosevelt in an early war. Still got a little behind in techs in the late ancient era, again lack of GPT. Caught up and build up my civ. Launched my spaceship in 1982 and claimed vitory.

overall conclusion
I had more fun playing than a year ago when I bought it, will give it a go some more for sure. Still wondering why I have troubly keeping up commerce wise after the initial fase. Can use tips on that Also I feel the game favors more peacefull routes as going to war is a cumbersome ordeal with the reduced movement.

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Old 05-11-2006, 22:04   #2
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Actually, the game is quite difficult to beat and even at Prince level there is no easy win if not going for military or cultural route. Military games tend to be easier on low difficulty levels. Research first to macemen and may be cats, build a few (the more the merrier), expand capturing enemy cities then research to cavalry and go and kill everyone. Slavery civic is a great help since you can pop-rush a lot of stuff without doing much damage to growth

Game opening is quite critical and sometimes is very difficult especially on higher levels on normal speed. And it seems there is a sort of universal solution for money problems: first, go kill some neighbor and get some cash for razing his cities or also spam cottages. There is no really universal strategy however and it all depends on map type. Especially the opening moves. Getting Civil Service from Oracle might be critical to get early advantage and farming great people (caste system civic) is also important very early in the game.

But this is not a game for casual play, sometimes it requires a lot of effort to make the ends meet. Civ3 was an easier game overall and more enjoyable imho.
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Old 05-11-2006, 22:20   #3
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I guess you're expanding too fast, ProPain. I already try and keep my science ratio on or around 50%. My rule of thumb is not to build cities when the science rate is below 50%, unless it's important and you're afraid someone else will claim that piece of land. I sometimes even have a settler ready and only settle on the moment I see the AI approaching with his settler.

Oh, and of course learn the use of Courthouses! (And therefore Code of Laws.) Having Currency also makes quite a difference, because of that extra trade route in every city.

Personally I also do have the tendency to emphase to much on production and too little on commerce. I.e.: I should build more cottages. Perhaps you should too?

I do agree Warlords isn't worth much. It's highest value is that you can play with other people who also got Warlords. I even select "no vassal states" nowadays, because I really don't see that value in that. It's actually kind of annoying that so many useless small civs stay alive until the end of the game. They only make the game runs slower. (Makes a difference on huge maps!)
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Old 05-11-2006, 22:21   #4
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I tried a few games where I used the "world builder" to add a worker to my first setler in the beginning. If you play Monarch then or emperor on a very good start it's a lot more fun and at least gives options in the early game. Do remember to put of your glasses or squeeze your eyes as the World builder also revelas the entire map whilst in the builder itself.
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Old 05-11-2006, 22:50   #5
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by ProPain

started, got GPT troubles again, bought Warlords as the lack of internet prevented me to download the 1.61 patch which I needed to get the game to perform a bit better speedwise.


I bet you need to whip and chop more. Chop chop
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Old 05-11-2006, 23:16   #6
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You're indeed probably overexpanding to explain your problems tech wise later on. Economic management in civ4 is a lot more difficult than it was in civ3, which is why - as akots explained - military vics are way easier to achieve in general.

Also, prince in civ4 is probably about equal to monarch-civ3, monarch in civ4 is more difficult than emperor-civ3 etc. Cottages and keeping a very close eye on your own and enemies diplomatic relations are key to doing well as a builder... these games can we be won all the way up to immortal even on large maps, (deity large is impossible imho on non-rigged maps/settings), but again as akots said, these games are no longer fun.

Don't aim to beat the highest difficulty, instead play the game on the settings you feel offer a decent challenge but still allow you to relax as well, unless you're a hardcore civ-junkie.
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Old 06-11-2006, 01:08   #7
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I thought I might as well join this nice party of Civ veterans you got there... Ack, must find something decent to say, now that everyone in the room is watching me...

Err, yes, I have one question : how did the Civpedia in Warlords change exactly, compared to Vanilla 1.61 ?

Also, does the new Warlords patch make this add-on something worth buying ?

Finally, PP, join the PBEM fun !
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Old 06-11-2006, 01:53   #8
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Hm, a PBEM or Pitboss with CDZ veterans...
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Old 06-11-2006, 02:01   #9
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Matrix

Hm, a PBEM or Pitboss with CDZ veterans...
Eh, you like the good, old days, don't you ?
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Old 06-11-2006, 08:25   #10
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@krys

The civpedia in vanilla C4 is a bunch of icons that are ordered alphabetically and give an icon name when you mouse over it. I think it's very annoying because only experienced players recognise icon before they see the accompanying name. Obviously an experienced player isnt very likely to use the civpedia. The few times I used it I found it very difficult to find what I need quickly. Warlords has the good old simple alphabetical list again.

Patch: the patch I referred to is good old 1.61 patch that you can download for free. I didnt had interneraccess last week so for me buying warlords was the only way to get that patch. So no reason to buy the addon.

PBEM's: I wont be playing one soon as I really dont have the time. Too much work, not enough play. Maybe x-mas when I feel like it and I have a bit more free time.
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