Civ4 - Difficulty Levels/Playability

[Cormorant]

This is a plea from an occasional player (certainly far more of those out there than expert players!). In Civ2 I had many happy games playing level 2 or 3, Warlord or Prince. Like most people I like to win, not being a masochist. But in Civ3 level 1 is easy with no challenge, but at level 2 I ALWAYS lose, making the game for me frustrating. So in Civ4 could Firaxis please provide a Level 2 that will be more like Civ2 and follow its desc in the Manual:-
"Warlord level best suits the occasional player who doesn't want too difficult a test."
Do hope the planners at Firaxis read this to give them a wider sales market!

[Az]

Level 1 - a blabbering ape can win the game by randomly pressing buttons.
Level 99 - It would take a team of hardcore players working for months on every move.

[Aramis]

CivIV--who knows what they'll do?
CivIII--Try Regent (level 3). After a few losses it'll get easier and more of a challenge than Chieftain. Regent is more or less a level playing field--neither you nor the AI have any specific advantages over the other.
I've been an occassional player since the game came out, so it's taken me a few years to get comfortable with higher levels (Monarch, now).
I hate to lose, too, but I'm glad I've put up with more than a few losses.

[Robert]

Keep on playing.
The cIIIv levels are harder then the cIIv ones indeed. But you can overcome them. I'm playing on deity level right now, and it's hard. But it's possible.

Going one level heigher is always difficult with civ. I don't know what it is. BUt if you try some games, it'll grow on you for sure!

civ level 2 is really not too hard!
Try deity try Sid

[Cormorant]

Thanks for encouragement, guys, and I will press on using your tips. (Actually, at Warlord level I've got some way as the Persians and am at the moment WINNING, using much good advice from these forums!). So tho I still think my feedback to Firaxis is valid, thanks again, because of course Civ is for me the greatest.

[Robert]

Way to go pal!
One day you'll beat Sid 8)

[Solver]

It's civ, so it needs a good challenge. I really hope that even the middle difficulty in Civ4 will be challenging somewhat!

[Nikolai]

In Civ1 and 2 I usually played Prince, as that was just perfect for my skills. In Civ3 I had to dump down on level 2 and level 3(equalient of Prince) is not as manageable as before. Of course I could play it there and sometime have it easy, sometime hard, but I want to have FUN not stress... Civ3 is much better than Civ1/2 on many fields, but here it just sucks big time...