The 'help the dyslexic Newbie' thread

[frogbeastegg]

Here's the game (I hope)

Settings: noble, all random civs, tiny pangea with low sea levels, normal speed. I am snugly into the 'wandering about in a confused manner' phase of the game, having left the early part long ago.

A few notes:

First my excuses I'm a real part time civer. This is the first real game I've played in over a week, and since the patch I have played maybe 4 hours tops. Even the earlier versions I didn't get to play all that much. That doesn't help.

This got off to a slow start. Since the patch I always end up with a slow start now because of the changes to forests and city/civic costs. That's not good 'building my capital thoroughly' slow. It's bad 'bumbling about wasting time somehow' slow.

Originally Louis and I were friends; I adopted the religion he founded (was planning for a later one, which I'd spread about a bit before adopting as my state religion. Thought it would be nice to have a friend and the happy bonuses until then) and all was going quite nicely with open borders and trade deals. Then he converted to a different religion he'd founded. Within 5 turns that was that - all deals cancelled and he hated me.

Rheims is exactly where I wanted Yaroslav. It would founded when my settler was 1 square away from the site. again.

The wonders, most of them I ignored. I try to get a few key ones for my position, like the Great Library. Louis snapped up the rest with alarming enthusiasm.

Never met Louis before in a game, but by now I am really wanting to kill him just a wee bit. Even Toka doesn't get this annoying ...

Research and my position there ... I only have one thing to say: if the science rate hadn't automatically adjusted itself to stay in the green (and if I'd actually been awake instead of half asleep still ) I would have noticed my cities were costing me way too much and stopped expanding before I was left behind in the tech race. This is the first and only time I have overexpanded like this, and I know some can work a situation like this off so it becomes a real advantage after a bit. :cough: I don't seem to be able to presently.

There are two cities being eaten away at by my culture, one on each border. I'm trying to encourage that without overextending by putting too much into culture. I've not much idea of how likely they are to flip; this isn't a concept I've had much occasion to play with before. So consider it an experiment.

My own opinion on this game is that it’s a mess, possibly the worst I have played since reaching noble level.





Hauptman: I do try, and I do manage a reasonable degree of specialisation usually. I need more practice at it to turn it into a real success. The game I've posted here has my first ever GP crèche (everybody say "Ooooohhh! now). It's a bit of a crap GP crèche because it doesn't have enough food, but it's a start and the best I could manage with the land available. I've had many more GP in this game than in any other, so that's some good. Before I've done commerce and hammers, at a basic and low-level kind of specialisation. No gold city yet; conditions haven't been right for reasons including random civ draws and, in my latest game, things going pear shaped.

The tech tree is another matter. I can play the early stages, but once I hit medieval I'm lost. No clear idea of where to go still.

I do tech trade, unless all the AIs hate me too much. But I play on tiny or duel maps so far, with 2 or 3 other civs, so there's not much chance for that sort of thing. Smaller games are finished quicker, which is good considering how little I actually play the game. I want to find my feet before I play a big map with a lot of civs; it's a time investment which will take me weeks to finish.

[Crossfire]

Frogbeastegg, welcome to Civ4. I always enjoyed your writing at the Org. I was known as Satyr in that world.

I think you might be mistaken about how much longer a standard size map takes. You still need to research the whole tech tree but you have many more people to tech trade with and that speeds things up a lot. I beeline a lot and probably trade for about 2/3 of the techs that I get. Try playing Quick games but on standard size maps if you are limited in playing time.

As for the rest, read everything. Try all the strategies laid out here. It does take time to learn. This is my first civ game and it is so much more complicated than the Total War series that it takes a long time to grasp. That is it's strong point though. And learn to beeline. It is one of the keys to doing well. Good luck.

[Hauptman]

my "usual" tech path...

One or two worker related techs, depend solely on what resources i have and what techs i start with as i usualy opt for the worker first UNLESS my city is coastal with a fish square, then its workboat first.

bronze working if im tree heavy, then masonry if i havent already to start the pyramids.

then writing, sometimes this requires 1 or 2 little techs to get.

After writing and my second city chops out a library (for the academy build as my cap is usually busy on Glighthouse or pyramids, I click the "lets see the big picture" button and just click on code of laws.

If pyramids completes in time (usually does) i look into starting the oracle and see if it can be timed with the completion of CoL for the 0 turn classical era!

Then after a succseful CS slingshot I can start to fill in iron working, metal casting (if coastal), etc.

Then its on to alphabet and literacy (?) for the great library. The earliest if goten this is around 100ad. then i try n snag music for the artist.

Now i do all my trading, basicly get as much as I'm lacking with code of laws. I'm usually leary about trading with my neighbors, because my first big (easy) chance for expansion comes next... machinery. My macemen and crossbows have quite a head start on the competition at this point so i kill all those swordsmen, axemen, and archers to grab a few decent cities.

After la machine its optics. to get the caravels in the water and the circumnavigate bonus. folowed by paper for map trading (to ease the risk of loosing on circumnavigate bonus).

This I imagine is possibly where you loose focus?

But its the easiest decision of all. liberalism. and the tech path to it is just filled with gems... Universities, oxford univ. this then gives you the freebie tech, usually astronomy for me for more gem buildings (not to mention its the most expensive tech in the era.

Then its onto banking and economics for the free trade civic and great merchant. after that is just about filling what i can to get gun powder and railroads without getting scientific method. I usually put off nationalism unless im playing russia or really need another expansion era. But the cavalry charge is rather short lived if you dont beeline for it earlier... so I rarely go for it. Once i have railroads Im left with nationalism or scientific method, then Ill go for SM and then combustion. to get my navy tip top. usually I'm still ahead at this stage against the AI's. But that is getting close to if not already changed.

Now i usually start seeing those AI infantry when i have rifles, and they get the arty's when i have cannons... but I'm not worried.... My navy secures me (as my land neighbors are usually friendly, or squashed, at this point)

Once i catchup with the early industrial unit techs I go for the luxury wonder techs... Electricity, radio, TV. Hatsepshut usually beats me to electricity (i think she's coded to beeline that one) so I often miss out on broadway but not the other two. then i get flight, as i already have radio this gives me both fighters and bombers. then industrialism to round out the techs i need for the upcoming storm...

Once I have tanks, bombers, and infantry. Absolutely NOONE is safe, and the rest of my tech tree climb gets very situational. as i clobber every AI that even thinks about asking for something or opening a trade negotiation without first sending their first born child... Hatty is the only one to have done this... usually everyone dies.