Civilization 4 Multiplayer: The World As You Know It Is Changed

Created by: Fried-Psitalon
Published: May 25, 2005, 21:16
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Civilization 4 Multiplayer: The World As You Know It Is Changed
Play Modes, Game Length & Research

Play Modes

Cton-style fans rejoice. We call it "Always War" now, but that option is a selectable game toggle - enforced from the rules themselves. All players are considered by the game to be "at war" at all times. Alternatively, if you just want a Free-For-All where three people can't trade techs against you, choose "No Technology Trading." You can still swap resources or make border agreements, but you do your own research, thanks!

There's also the strange favorite One-City-Challenge enforced by the rules (be warned, the AI can ignore this rule if you add them to the game.) Though I personally find it about as much fun as watching drying paint, there's even an "Always Peace" mode - no war declarations of any kind, ever!

Starting in different eras no longer requires a goofy mod file - it's right there on the game select screen: Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Industrial, Modern, Future. Special bonus: You start with different amounts of units in each one, and your cities even found with a few buildings and population points in them at the higher eras! Never has starting with an advanced era been so fun.

Elimination has also changed into two possible flavors:

a) You take a city and it instantly burns to the ground, and your opponent gets a "tick mark" towards the elimination total. (1 city, 2 city, etc)

b) You take a city and it is automatically kept. The person who lost it can ERASE the "tick mark" for a lost city if they retake it from you. You, on the other hand, can lose that city to anyone without a "tick mark" - you only get eliminated by losing cities you founded.

Either option can be chosen from the rules menu at the start of the game. One allows "Elimination Assassination" while the other requires Elimination to be a convincing show of military domination, not snapping up a tiny city on the frontier that would be retaken the next turn.

Victory when the game ends is still a matter of score, but score is no longer a guessing game. On any given turn, you can hover over your name and score to find out exactly how you've earned your points. No mysteries!

Game Length

CIV plays faster than C3C, as a rule, at least once you're used to it. Here's why:

Hotkey binding for building queus and unit stacks. You can set a number key to say "build these buildings in this order" and then found a city, smack a key and you're done, it's got five buildings queued up. Unit stacks all over the map can be immediately selected and centered by binding them in the same manner.

No more super micromanagement needed! Since everything overflows now (extra hammers go to the next building, extra research to the next tech, extra food to the next population jump) there's no more need to go tweaking city tiles every turn.

Much better governors. Every city has six governer buttons that will set the city's tiles in an optimal position for what you want: Emphasize food, production, commerce, science, great people, and "Stop growth." You can even mix and match!

As a result, games tend to progress further. This is okay, because the tech tree and starting position in CIV is a little earlier than C3C. You don't start with a worker, or the ability to build roads, mines, farms, etc. Those wishing a C3C era tech start should choose Classical starts.

Typically, a decent-length CIV game is about 2.5 hours, and 150 turns. (That may vary widely, depending on your timer setting.) 100 turns usually (except on Duel, a very small map size) isn't enough for a decent game anymore. 150 turns doesn't take nearly as long as C3C, though, especially on Blazing, the fastest of five turn timer speeds.

The Place of Research in CIV

Even in your fast ancient-start games, the days of "kill tech and max lux" are over. Techs earn points now - quite a few of them - and there are precious few useless technologies. A player who builds too big an army and neglects research will likely find themselves crushed very quickly after their venerable units are repulsed. There's also no clear best path, even in the ancient era for warmongers. What's your fancy? Super-defensive longbows? Siege and tusk? Swords and crossbows? Each carries major advantages and disadvantages. Ever play "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" You've got the idea.

Road != Cash

The nature of commerce has changed in CIV. Inexperienced players may frequently find themselves staggering with debt until they become accustomed. Roads no longer improve commerce - tile improvements called cottages do. A cottage-heavy empire will haul in lots of money but have poor production. A cottage-poor empire will haul in too little cash and produce junk. Like so much else in CIV, the answer is that there IS no easy answer. Adapt to the situation, or die.
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Civilization 4 Warlords: Genghis Khan Scenario Walkthrough

by snoopy369

Part One: 1206-1213AD

By Joe "snoopy369" Matise
July 29, 2006

Welcome to Part One of my "Genghis Khan Walkthrough". In this feature I'm going to be showing you the Genghis Khan scenario, one of the most interesting scenarios available with Civilization IV: Warlords.

The basics to the scenario are fairly simple. You control the Mongolian Hordes in thirteenth century Asia. Your mission is to put the fear of the Mongols into the hearts of the people of Asia. You may do this peacefully, by building up a civilization to rival any other, or (perhaps more fun...) by razing cities, gaining capitulating vassals, and pillaging square after square of Asia and Europe. The victory condition is fairly simple: 3000 points. You earn points for pillaging squares (1pt per pillage), conquering cities, razing cities, and for controlling territory. 3000 doesn't sound too hard... except for the fact that you lose a certain amount of points each turn, and lose if you hit zero. You have to move quickly in this scenario, or you'll find yourself at the cellar of the point standing, with no way out... I'll be playing at Emperor level, which is two levels above where I typically would play a game of 'vanilla' Civ. Difficulty levels in this scenario affect the number of points you lose per turn, and the size of the armies you're going to face (although not as much as it would in the regular game). I suggest trying this scenario out on a somewhat harder difficulty level than you typically play at; for a first game, most people will probably want to play on prince or monarch level.
...
- Channel: Guides
August 15, 2012, 16:17

Lead with Confidence - An Evaluation of Civ4's Leaders

by Fried-Psitalon

Author Profile

Jesse Fletcher
a.k.a. Friedrich Psitalon

Fried's civ multiplayer past is a bit short. He's only been an admin of the Civ3Players and Civ4Players MP ladder communities, a consultant to Firaxis on Civ3:Conquests and Civ4 and he has something to do with the Official Civ4 Strategy Guide. But just that.

Affiliates

Below is comparison of all the leaders available and their viability for ladder play (www.myleague.com/civ4players) This may still prove useful for SP and non-ladder MP, but obviously some of this information will need to be viewed carefully so as to avoid misconception. Enjoy.

A comparison of the leader from the Multiplayer view of Fried Psitalon

America, Arabia, Aztec, China

America

America - Navy SEAL (Marine)

Roosevelt - Industrial/Organized
Roosevelt's trait combination is fairly flexibile; Industrial is strongest in the early game where forges are cheap and wonders (generally) are more potent, and Organized is obviously stronger later in the game, where more high-cost civics are available. SEALs are very potent units for their ability to "just keep coming" - a large stack of SEALs can effectively guard each other as they heal, strong covering for weak. Since they're also anti-siege, they fear artillery less.

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: Above Average

Washington - Financial/Organized
Washington is rather likely to become known as "Mister Money." The combination of Financial - more cash input - and Organized - less money wasted on maintenance - is extremely potent as the game progresses. Washington is certainly one of the top three researching civs, and his effectiveness becomes more pronounced as the game continues and his traits have more time to assert themselves. In the early game, though, you are relying heavily on your own skills as a player to survive - nothing else will aid you. (A small footnote: Although Washington is strong in Renaissance, Industrial, and Modern Starts, this is only if you leverage his traits. He is actually a bit weaker in Future Starts, where research is not an issue. Think "commerce giant.")

Early Game: WEAK!
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: STRONG!

Arabia

Arabia - Camel Archer (Knight)

Saladin - Philosophical/Spiritual
One of the civilizaitons most likely to sweep five or six of the seven religions if the player wished it, Saladin is a fairly passive civilization. Great Leader generation is not a direct threat to anyone else, and the same can be said of no anarchy and cheap temples.. but if you're looking to set up a run on Great Prophets and maybe a quick grab at Theology, here's your man. Special added bonus: time your tech moves right and you could get Theology in time to use it with your 100% certain-to-arrive UU, the Camel Archer. In SP, this is a great civ to play diplomat-builder with... but we all know how successful that is at times in MP.

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Below Average

Aztec

Aztec - Jaguar Warrior (Swordsman)

Montezuma - Aggressive/Spiritual
The Aztecs were the most feared Dagger civ in the C3C era; they are still worrisome in this regard in the CIV era. With a fast run on Iron Working (possibly fueled by an early religion grab) the Jaguar Warriors can be on your doorstep quite early - no anarchy to switch to Slavery means that an exceptionally bold player can even lash his own people to churn a few more Jaguar Warriors out. The Jaguar, apparently a weak resourceless swordsmen, is actually quite potent - capable, with a barracks, of coming into play with an anti-unit promotion, and still a jungle denizen. Though the playstyle is different, the Aztecs are still a Dagger civ to be respected. As the game progresses, the Aztecs still enjoy their Aggressive bonus and no-anarchy, but by the modern era and "warfare via machine," they fade badly, unless you're a civic-switcher.

Early Game: STRONG
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: Below Average-to-Average

China

China - Cho-Ko Nu (Crossbowman)

Mao Zedong - Organized/Philosophical
Mao's trait combination is not particularly impressive; neither trait does a lot on its own without the player working to leverage it, and neither trait is particularly dominant in the early game. Mao becomes more pronounced as the game progresses and you can use more civics. Since you can also join your Great Leaders rather than rush things with them, Mao is perhaps the most likely to see 100% research with extra gold still coming in. His UU is sort of the "kickoff" of his best years - when the Cho-Ko-Nu becomes obsolete, his traits start shining through and library research bonuses become more noticeable. The Cho-Ko-Nu, on the other hand, is a potentially devastating unit, capable of multiple first strikes, collateral damage, and mauling melee units which abound in this time. For this alone, Mao squeaks an "average" in the early game, where he would otherwise get "below." How you've planned for the late game has a great deal of effect on its effectiveness.

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average-to-Above Average

Qin She Huang - Industrial/Financial
While Mao is a leader of uncertain potency in MP, Qin She Huang is much more significant. Industrial is a valuable trait in MP for both its qualities - cheaper wonders and quicker forges, and this trait wanes as Financial becomes more and more noticeable. The Cho-Ko-Nu arrives right in the transition period of the two traits' power periods, making for a very significant threat from China until the late game.

Early Game-Above Average to STRONG
Mid Game- Above Average
Late Game- Average to Above Average

Egypt, England, France, Germany

Egypt

Egypt - War Chariot (Chariot)

Hatshepsut - Creative/Spiritual
Hatshepsut's biggest advantage is her immense cultural output potential. As a Creative civ, she enjoys a natural border-pop that will be very popular with anyone who dislikes putting up sentinel nets. After the second culture pop (usually around turn 25 after founding in Quick, give or take) her cities have a natural 40% defensive bonus - almost a free wall! Her spiritual trait can easily be bent towards snagging an early religion, and switching civics as needed. Throw in the War Chariot - still a potent force - and you've got quite a solid civ. Unfortunately, Hatshepsut fades as the game continues - Creative doesn't look so impressive when you have five culture-generating structures, and Spiritual only helps when you do a lot of civic-switching.

Early Game - STRONG!
Mid Game - Average
Late Game - Below Average

England

England - Redcoat (Rifleman)

Elizabeth - Financial/Philosophical
Unlike her Man-o-War days, Elizabeth has moved up in the world. Her trait combination - Financial/Philosophical - is arguably the best science combination available (her rival being Washington.) Since tech counts in score nowadays, that's a pretty big claim. While neither Financial nor Philosophical has a major impact if you don't leverage them properly, a veteran can really make Elizabeth a potent force. A new player, though, might find Elizabeth quite frustrating to use. The Redcoat is a very potent unit in the Industrial era, capable of dominating rifle-based units, and even standing in for Infantry to a lesser extent.

Early Game: Below Average (Average for a skilled player)
Mid Game: Above Average (STRONG to a skilled player)
Late Game: Average (By now, if you haven't leveraged her traits, you won't.)

Victoria - Financial/Expansive
Victoria is not someone you want to leave alone; Expansive means her granary-fed cities will grow quickly with health bonuses, and Financial means she'll turn those cities into money-rakers (assuming she's building cottages or lighthouses.) Every city Victoria founds is going to be lucrative and grow quickly - so it is in your best interests not to let her found them! Although not the commerce-junkie that Washington is, or the science-prone civ that Elizabeth is, Victoria can nontheless post some pretty impressive tech numbers. Her fast growth can be leveraged in others ways, too, though. One could conceivably use Victoria's growth in conjunction with slavery, and rely on your extra cash coming in via financial to offset the anger with cultural spending. If Victoria is unfettered into the mid and late game, her Redcoats can pose quite a problem for her neighbors, especially since they're likely to come early (her research) and often (from big cities.)

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

France

France - Musketeer (Musketman)

Louis XIV - Industrial/Creative
The future of Castle play starts with LouisXIV. The creative culture bonus means that Louis will frequently have his "almost walls" from the double culture pop, and it will be difficult to ambush him for the same reason. Toss in the Industrial bonus - cheaper wonders and faster forges - and you've got everything a Castle player needs: big early industry, the ability to churn out lots of defenders, and the advantage in racking up points with wonders via score. When Musketeers arrive, it becomes nearly impossible to bring down Louis until they're out of date - remember how hard it was to ambush an Impi user? Musketeers - the new Impi.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Below Average

Napoleon - Aggressive/Industrial
While Louis will be a favorite for Castles, Napolean will be a favorite for Sledging and major Chokes. Napolean's combination of Aggressive and Industrial means that his troops will be quite potent - and coming out quickly from his industry. Musketeers will also perform the other role of an Impi very nicely - pillager. One of the big signs you're in trouble: Musketeers mass-pillaging your land - it's a safe bet that Grenadiers and Cannons are coming soon after, and you're not going to be in a shape to deal with them. The best way to beat Napolean? Keep enough of a tech lead that you don't need to fear his units. On even footing, Aggressive and Industrial will turn the tide in his direction nearly every time.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Above Average to STRONG
Late Game: Average

Germany

Germany - Panzer (Tank)

Bismarck - Industrial/Expansive
Another civ likely to be a favorite with the Sledgehammer crowd, Bismarck cachests the combination of cheap forges for bigger armies, and a nice health bonus to counteract the negative effects of those forges. Throw in faster growth with granaries, and you've got the potential for one mean civ. Luckily for the rest of us, the German Unique is the Panzer - which arrives all the way at Combustion - but that DOES mean that when he gets it, his highly industrialized, big cities will have a field day cranking them out at you. Since the Panzer shows up earlier than any other tank, it's pretty vital that you are out-teching Bismarck if you want to survive the blitzkreig. From Combustion until Composites, Germany is pretty scary, but after Modern Armor comes out, they go back to being an average civ.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: Above Average

Frederick - Philosophical/Creative
While Bismark's fate in ladder MP is fairly certain, Frederick stands on more shifting ground. Philosophical/Creative is quite a powerful combination for a very strong early cultural presence, but players who spend too much time on culture in MP will still find themselves in danger of being cut down by the cultureless blade. That being said, Frederick may be viable in the somewhat-untested-in-MP "Culture Bomb" strategy of land acquisition and city flipping (after all, he can build his theatres cheaply, and his fast-popping Great Artists will already be assisted by his auto-expanding borders.) If anyone can make "Cultural Assault" a possibility, it's Frederick - in a team game, this may or may not be quite a powerful play. The idea of taking a city defended by a heavily industrialized teammate, with German-Fredrick's culture...scary. In SP? A great culture-based strategy. In MP? Time will tell.

Early Game: Probably Below Average
Mid Game: Probably Below Average
Late Game: Probably Below Average

Greece, Inca, India, Japan, Mali

Greece

Greece - Phalanx (Spearman)

Alexander - Aggressive/Philosophical
Mister Flexible! Alexander has more potential for changing as needed than perhaps any other civilization. Consider: His Phalanxes are 5-str spears (with Aggressive's trait bonus, 5.5) making them as viable as Axes when attacking cities, and making mounted attack against them suicidal for horses, and dangerous for knights. If it turns out military action isn't on the agenda, Alexander can lean on his Philosophical trait and still manage a fairly decent showing with libraries and Leaders. While his traits don't work together well at all, it gives Alexander a "foot in the door" in both realms... something very few other leaders can claim.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: Average

Inca

Inca - Que'Cha (Warrior)

Huayna Capac - Aggressive/Financial
Warrior rushing in CIV is pretty much impossible; CIV was designed with that in mind. There is one civ, though, that can ignore that rule - and does so very well: the Inca. Their UU, the Que'Cha, is a tremendous threat in the earliest stages of the game. With its doubled strength against archers, the Que'Cha can expect nearly even odds against archers defending cities, and better than even odds in the field. Since the unit is considerably cheaper than the archer (not to mention available immediately,) they will typically arrive in large numbers. What's worse, once you build a barracks, the Que'Cha can come out promoted with Combat I and Shock, making them dangerous to warrior-guarded cities as well. Take heed - if you are facing the Inca on a smaller map, find a non-archer, non-warrior defensive solution quickly, or risk being mobbed. The Inca are also quite potent after the era of Que'Cha rushing is complete, because of their trait combination: their financial strength makes it easier for them to come back from the slow tech start they may have had due to their rushing, and the aggressive trait is potent for quite some time into the game. It's only in the last days of warfare that the Inca start to falter; when economies are already booming for everyone, and war-by-machine renders the Aggressive trait moot. This one will be quite a popular civ in ancient start MP.

Early Game: STRONG!
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

India

India - Fast Worker (Worker)

Asoka - Spiritual/Organized
India is the ultimate builder-style civilization in CIV, but that doesn't mean it has no place in MP. Asoka is probably the leading "low cost" civilization, potentially, of all the leaders. As an Organized civ, the cost of expansion is low - civics don't hurt as much - so Asoka can expand pretty aggressively. If you are careful to spread a religion as you do so, the happiness of your people isn't likely to be an issue either. Throw in cheaper temples (more happiness) and cheaper courthouses (even lower city maintenance) and you've got a leader with a great deal of potential for keeping commerce going where you want it to go. Bringing in that commerce is easy in the hands of Fast Workers but make no mistake - you must be a skilled builder who actively seeks out the advantages of civics and religion to bring Asoka's power to bear.

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Above Average (Organized really takes hold here)

Gandhi - Spiritual/Industrial
People used to laugh at poor Gandhi. Then, in C3C, his elephants got some power to them, and people took him more seriously. Now, in the hands of a skilled builder, Gandhi can ram his vegetarian curry right down your throat. Although it will take him a bit to get going, Gandhi can be downright scary if he gets his hands on the Angkor Wat, especially. Gandhi, of all the leaders, has the most "production potential" since his temples and forges are both inexpensive. Give Gandhi a high-food start and stone, and you have a recipe for a beating: he'll score the Angkor Wat and the Hanging Gardens at a tremendous discount (1/3 the normal cost!) and run you into the ground with production and commerce. If he gets the Parthenon, too, he'll sew up every religion he wants, as well. While Asoka runs low-cost, Gandhi makes up for it with production power. He needs breathing room to get started with his Fast Workers, but if he does - Gandhi is a power Castle civ, not to be ignored.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

Japan

Japan - Samurai (Macemen)

Tokugawa - Aggressive/Organized
Tokugawa's traits are those of continuing conquest - Aggressive to begin them, and Organized to maintain them, keeping your costs for all your newly conquered cities down. Unfortunately, his weakness is that he has no real benefits to get his conquests going - this is completely reliant on the player. His Unique Unit, an improved Macemen, is certainly not bad by any means, but Macemen are really just city attackers, and so the Samurai's use is, again, strictly related to conquest. If you have enough confidence in your builder skills to get an engine of war going, Tokugawa will help you to keep the war going in your favor, but generating the momentum is strictly up to you.

Early Game: Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

Mali

Mali - Skirmisher (Archer)

Mansa Musa - Spiritual/Financial
Mansa Musa will probably be a popular leader with novice players and highly advanced players, with little in-between. Novice players will look at the Skirmisher, recognize its defensive potency, and defend with them. Advanced players will note the Skirmisher's ability as a pillager/rushing unit and consider aggressive action. Mansa Musa is also a curiousity - he's the only Spiritual leader who does NOT start with Mysticism, making it rather unlikely that he will get one of the early religions. Monotheism, Confucianism, or Philosophy are more likely religions - getting Christianity or Islam, while acceptable, tends to be rather poor use of the Spiritual trait. (Though this may work well if you plan on switching from Choke to Castle as the game progresses.) Mansa's financial trait combines nicely with the spiritual one, bringing in potential commerce from two sources - temples and tiles. All in all, Mansa is a well-rounded leader; capable of aggressive early action, or turtling quite well for his own building instead.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

Mongolia, Persia, Rome, Russia, Spain

Mongolia

Mongolia - Keshik (Horse Archer)

Genghis Khan - Aggressive/Expansive
One of the few leaders to carry effectively the same traits as he did in C3C, the leader of the Mongolian Horde is considerably more dangerous now. Probably the strongest threat for an early Sledgehammer, Genghis's traits are well-designed for early, aggressive action: cheap barracks, a promoted, fast-moving UU, and cities that are likely to grow quickly and unhindered. When facing Genghis, take care that you watch his military strength in comparison to yours, and have a very good sentinel net. Horse Archers that ignore terrain types can wreak havoc on unprepared players. The good news for Genghis's opponents, though: it's very easy for a Genghis player to exhaust himself through his attacks, and find himself behind technologically and development wise... provided you survive long enough to see it. The Aggressive/Expansive trait combination is probably the worst late game combination of all, however. When all barracks and granaries are built, no Gunpowder or Melee units remain, and 2 health is a very small part of the picture...make your mark early, as you won't have any help making it later!

Early Game: STRONG!
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: WEAK!

Kublai Khan - Aggressive/Creative
Much like Genghis, but instead of making big cities, Kublai makes happy ones. Instead of more population, Creative allows the population you have to work, rather than being cranky about that gosh-darn-old "getting conquered" thing. Kublai also (Creative "Walls") has an easier time defending his holdings... though it will take him longer to get them "maxed out" than Genghis will.

Early Game: STRONG!
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: WEAK!

Persia

Persia - Immortal (Chariot)

Cyrus - Creative/Expansive
Potentially, Cyrus can be quite the pointmonger - with his traits, his borders will expand rapidly and his cities grow quickly. Technology and wonders, however, are also significant factors. More interestingly, Persia has a UU that is potentially as dangerous as a Que'Cha or War Chariot: the Immortal. Despite the fact that it is available with the Wheel, it is a mounted unit, and one that specializes in anti-archer activities. You can be quite sure your Immortal will beat an archer, but there is a downside - since their bonus is specifically anti-archer, warriors can nearly handle them (on some terrains, especially, two warriors can be counted on to beat a single Immortal) and bronze-users don't even really need spears: axes can bring down Immortals just fine; a strange turn for C3C's strongest ancient melee unit! Unfortunately for Cyrus, he also suffers from the need to be very successful early on, as his traits wane in effectiveness rather badly as the game progresses.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: WEAK!

Rome

Rome - Praetorian (Swordsman)

Julius Caesar - Expansive/Organized
For whatever reason, Rome has always been a very popular civilization - perhaps not to play, but certainly admired. While C3C did Rome no favors in playability, CIV gives you quite a reasonable chance to rule as Caesar. Unsurprisingly, everything about the Roman strategy is bent around a single facet: the Praetorian. Caesar's traits - Expansive and Organized - both work very well in the hands of a conqueror. Grow your cities fast (Exp) and go conquer. When you take an opposing city, pay low maintenance on it (Org) and go attack another city while your newly conquered holding also grows quickly under your health and granary bonuses. While you still need to work hard to develop your industry, and iron is still a requisite, if Rome gets on a rampage, they can be very tough to stop. This trait combination also serves them well in the mid-game, where Organized truly begins to shine and Expansive allows cities to "max out" quicker, as well. Rome can actually use its Praetorians as pretty effective defenders for quite awhile, if you're having a strangely passive day.

Early Game: STRONG! (with iron)
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Average

Russia

Russia - Cossack (Cavalry)

Peter - Expansive/Philosophical
Peter is a strong candidate for "Great Scientist machine." His strategies require a great deal of skill to implement effectively, but done well, Peter can be quite impressive. Consider: an expansive civ is going to enjoy a natural advantage in growth, and philosophical requires specialists to truly leverage. You can effectively "grow normally" or thereabouts and leverage lots of specialists - often one or two per city. Particularly with an early research path of Agriculture-Pottery-Writing, you can farm as needed, slap down a few cottages, and build a cheap library... all you need to start generating Great Scientists to further your cause! Militarily, Peter is a lot less impressive with his traits, but oftentimes, you can gain enough of a technological advantage to overcome this.

Early Game: Average-to-Above Average
Mid Game: Average
Late Game: Average

Catherine - Financial/Creative
Besides being the most visually appealing leader, Catherine has a trait combination that will be quite popular with Castle players. If you're looking to get the most of your land and improve your commerce in peace, no trait is better suited than Financial. Creative, though, functions excellently in its double role as "quasi-walls" and a theatre-cheapener. More theatres means less money spent on the luxury meter, and more on either Commerce or Research, where it should be. The Cossack, while not the shining star of Catherine's strategy, makes for a nice unit in the midgame. Castle players should definitely give Catherine a second look.. for the right reasons, of course.

Early Game: Average-to-Above-Average
Mid Game: Above Average
Late Game: Above Average

Spain

Spain - Conquistador (Knight)

Isabella - Spiritual/Expansive
Pretty much everything that was said about Cyrus applies here, except that Isabella uses religion to pacify her rapidly growing empire, rather than art. Her Unique Unit arrives later - and is considerably more potent. Combined with such civics as Organized Religion, her large cities can quickly produce quite a few structures - or spread her religion even further. (Alternatively, you could pull a quasi-Peter strategy with Pacifism.) Isabella's one weakness is that she needs to get off to a strong start; but if she gets a good solid start going and is able to really leverage religion, Theocratic, Vassal-based Conqusitadores pouring out of her Angkor-Wat-fueled temple cities can be the last thing you'll ever see.

Early Game: Above Average
Mid Game: Above Average to STRONG!
Late Game: Average

Thankfully, there are no "super traits" in CIV, so you'll find all the leaders are somewhat playable. As always, if you find your own thoughts differ, please feel free to post here - a good discussion about a leader will benefit us all!

Channel: Guides

August 12, 2012, 17:27

Civilization 4: Maps Guide

by Sirian

Map Index

Author Profile

Bob Thomas
a.k.a. Sirian

Sirian has worked with Firaxis on Civ4, helping in the organization of the community beta testers group, writing the map scripts and consulting on the AI & Gameplay. Visit his home on the web at sirian.org.

Affiliates

Civilization IV brings you an unprecedented selection of map options. However, everything good also comes at a cost. In this case, the cost is that there are so many options, you almost need a guide to help you find the map situations that appeal to you, especially for multiplayer.

This document is intended to help guide you.

First, a few rules of thumb.

We recommend you try a map on its default settings first. These are intended to give the best overall experience. This will also help you to better understand what the options actually do (by being able to compare alternative settings against the default.)
The featured maps will show you graphics of what to expect if you choose Play Now.
In single player, it should be OK to try any map on any settings and play it blind. For multiplayer, however, if you want specific results, we recommend taking the time to familiarize yourself with the maps and settings so that you understand what to expect when you play.
The map sizes are not uniform from one map script to the next. We have aimed at keeping the number of viable cities even from map to map, but on oceanic maps, a large portion of the map is water and more or less lost to use. All-land maps can squeeze cities in to every nook and corner, so their map dimensions are smaller. A couple of maps (noted below) are larger or smaller than normal and break even this trend.
We are not responsible for user-made maps. We welcome them, but refer you to any documentation accompanying them (written by the map's author(s)) for information about them.

What follows ia a list of all settings for each map and what they do. After that, a more general set of descriptions and recommendations. A guide by Sirrian to help you find the map situations that appeal to you.

Archipelago, Balanced, Continents Archipelago Global Map: World Wrap left to right Oceanic Map: 84 plots wide, 52 plots tall, at "Standard" map size Reduced Peaks: Peaks will only appear inland, never along the coast Coastal Start: All players guaranteed to start along the coast LANDMASS TYPE - Choose the size and style of the landmasses Random - Randomly picks one of the options. Snaky Continents - Similar to Civ3's "Archipelago" setting, with small, snaky continents. Archipelago - DEFAULT - Produces more and smaller landmasses, all islands. Tiny Islands - Produces very tiny islands, scattered evenly all over the map. Rarely will these islands be able to support more than a single city, if that. Balanced Global Map: World Wrap left to right Oceanic Map: 84 plots wide, 52 plots tall, at "Standard" map size Balanced Strategics: This map script will ensure that all players have the key strategic resources within four plots of their starting location. Continents Global Map: World Wrap left to right Oceanic Map: 84 plots wide, 52 plots tall, at "Standard" map size Custom Continents Global Map: World Wrap left to right Oceanic Map: 84 plots wide, 52 plots tall, at "Standard" map size NUMBER OF CONTINENTS: - Choose the number of continents. Random - DEFAULT - Chooses from 2 to 6, weighted to number of civs in the game. The more civs playing, the more likely to be given a higher number. One Per Team - Creates one "fair" continent per team and puts all team memb

Channel: Guides

August 11, 2012, 22:18

Civilization 4 Multiplayer: The World As You Know It Is Changed

by Fried-Psitalon

Author Profile Jesse Fletchera.k.a. Friedrich Psitalon Fried's civ multiplayer past is a bit short. He's only been an admin of the Civ3Players and Civ4Players MP ladder communities, a consultant to Firaxis on Civ3:Conquests and Civ4 and he has something to do with the Official Civ4 Strategy Guide. But just that. Affiliates An honest review by Friedrich Psitalon With the arrival of CIV, much of what has been true in the world of C3C is gone forever. Many things have been changed, and it's true that some of these things will not please everyone. Overall, though, the game is vastly improved, and its playability for Multiplayer is much better than it was. An honest review of Civ4 Multiplayer by Friedrich Psitalon Connectivity & Balance Let's start with the bane of C3C: Connectivity and everything surrounding it. Connectivity in CIV I fully realize that even as I say this, people are going to raise a very high eyebrow, but I'll say it anyhow - you're going to be amazed. Gamespy NAT negotiation allows people behind routers, firewalls, etc, to play with no trouble at all - no opening or closing of ports, zones, etc. If needed, Direct IP still exists, and WOULD require playing with ports, but the only port you need to open is 2056, or whichever port you specify in your INI file. The days of "X can't connect with Y ever for some weird reason" are over. Out of Synch How does "gone" strike you? If someone has a different version than you (meaning modded files of any type) you'll see the OOS return - otherwise, never again. The game has even shown the ability to "resynch" itself if a genuine problem arises temporarily (hotjoining players sometimes cause a 1 or 2 second OOS.) The Need to Reload vs. Hotjoins Reloads? Oh yeah.. I remember those. The only time you'll be reloading a multiplayer game now is if everyone decides to take a break. Hotjoining allows a player to jump right back into the action if they drop. In the meantime, every other player in the game votes to decide between continuing with an AI taking over for that player, waiting in the vote menu, or saving and quitting. Aditionally, players can set up games that start with an AI player, and a human can join in and take over for the AI at any time. Substitutes? Sure - just tell your sub the password you used to secure your Civ at the start of the game and you're golden. No imposters here! Imposters No longer an issue. Everyone has a specific nick when they log into CIV. If you're letting people into your game via direct IP, that might be an issue - anyone can choose any name that way - but just be sure who you're giving that info to, and you're set. So believe it or not, the biggest hurdles of C3C are GONE - completely, totally gone. We can spend our time concentrating on the game now, rather than concentrating on getting the game to work. Let's talk briefly about the leaders themselves. Trait Balance They're all quite strong in CIV. Since all of them can be leveraged into points in some manner, it's tough to say which is the weakest or strongest. They can all rule or stink, depending on how you use them. Personally, I consider Organized to be a little bit of a long-game trait, and Spiritual I find restricts my play choices a bit much, but others will definitely feel differently. Some people will find my favorites - Industrial and Financial - to be quite flimsy, and indeed, on certain maps they are. Civ Balance Are they all equal? No. Are they all playable in MP? Yes! Every trait combination has an angle which can work in some way in MP (except maybe Frederick...) and even America, the land of no-Unique-Units-until-the-modern is quite competitive, if its traits are leveraged properly. One thing's for certain - the days of "the same eight civs" are definitely gone. A few favorite may emerge, sure, but there are at least a dozen potential players. Rome? Definitely. Inca? Sure. Aztec? Yep. India? ABSOLUTELY. China? Qin's in. Egypt? Chariots still abound. America? Washington is the new Lincoln trait-monger. Greece? Flexible and Phalanxes! Mali? Choker's delight! France? Fear the little General - or the Castling Louis! Mongolia? I prefer Genghis, but either is quite potent for MP. I'm not much a fan of Elizbaeth, Tokugawa, or Victoria, but I've seen fans of all three. Want a novelty that you might make work? Try my favorite: Catherine! Choices abound! ...
- Channel: Guides
August 11, 2012, 21:16

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Civilization 4 Multiplayer: The World As You Know It Is Changed