Marathon mode is excellent

[AttilaD]

I registered on this site just to thank you for getting me excited to play Marathon, and the dark ages history lessons.

[weezer]

Marathon is the best.

[Overcast32]

Yes, I agree 100% - I wouldn't even be opposed to a slower game - or at least a mod where the years don't move in 10's - maybe 5's the whole way through?

Really have to slow research to make that work out, but that's alright too.

[Jerh9e1k5]

Just tried marathon mode for first time, and all I can say is WOW!

It makes the game much more enjoyable!

[hohhoh]

i dont think ur talkin' about maraton speed because i anded up in the renneisanse era in year 985 and the modern era in 1056.
my soldiers even get out of date before theyre trained...

[Smellycowsquid]

Ahh, revived thread, never even saw it, but I sure love Marathon mode!

[Generaldoktor]

Originally posted by hohhoh
i dont think ur talkin' about maraton speed because i anded up in the renneisanse era in year 985 and the modern era in 1056.
my soldiers even get out of date before theyre trained...

If you read this whole thread and/or play the game through several times at different speeds, it should be clear that Marathon mode DOES slow the speed at which history passes and at which you get your advances. However, for Civ4, the designers dispensed with making you follow a set route to and from every "era" so if you beeline for certain technologies, the game will tell you you have "entered" a certain "era." You may well not have all or even most of the technologies for that era, so you are not really in it.

For example, many players beeline to "Metal Casting," which puts you out of the "Ancient" into the "Classical" era. You probably don't have "Monarchy" or "Alphabet" or "Drama" yet, so you aren't truly on a par with historic "classical" civilizations, but you have in a small way begun to enter that era. Ditto for common rushes to "Civil Service" or "Machinery," which give you a foothold into the next era. This is part of the flexibility of this version of the game, unlike Civ3, which grandiously led you down a specific track, into and out of every era.

I wouldn't let it go to your head, that you might in some small way be ahead.

You can still be beaten even if you are that far ahead.

[Dis]

I actually went back to epic games.

Marathon mode just doesn't seem balanced to me. My epic games are just more enjoyable.

[Jaybe]

I'm playing around with Dale's Combat Mod, and for that reason (only) my next game will be at Epic/Large/Noble. Otherwise Marathon/Huge/Noble (fractal or shuffle) is the only way for me!

Dis, I presume you tried more than just one Marathon. The pacing of different game speeds does take some getting used to.

[Blake]

Originally posted by Dis
I actually went back to epic games.

Marathon mode just doesn't seem balanced to me. My epic games are just more enjoyable.

I agree with this sentinment.
The 33% cheaper units throw off balance, and warfare is just too easy.

Not to mention it's enter-spam mode, in a given period of time less happens.

I've actually gone to playing mostly on Normal, because epic is a bit too easy when it comes to warfare, there is less imperative to quickly capitalize on a technological advantage.

I also micro pretty compulsively and playing more turns means more micro.

[Arrian]

I've toyed with Epic, and do kinda like it, but mostly play on Normal.

-Arrian

[eris]

I have come to like Epic mode a lot. I am trying my first Marathon. It is early and I am facing a stream of barbarians. Fortunately, I did not do my usual builder thing and I actually have some military units to contend with those barbarians. I can see where the tendency would lean toward a slugfest.

There is a lot of press-enter-again though, at least so far in the beginning. And those build times! I can't find anything that isn't going to take forever in the build list, at least compared to what I am used to. That has been the strangest part to adjust to so far.

It makes me really cautious about my battles, too, because it will take so long to replace that axeman or archer. I have actually avoided some battles for a while, maneuvering to take advantage of terrain, etc. "You coward, go get that barb!" "Not until he gets off of that jungle covered hill, no! What if I lure him out into the open with this worker?" "All right, that will have to do. And quit showing off your multiple personality disorder!" "What disorder? I thought this was an advantage!" "You would."

[LordShiva]

Marathon

Normal and Epic are for hippies

(Especially Normal )

[Generaldoktor]

Originally posted by eris
I have come to like Epic mode a lot. I am trying my first Marathon. It is early and I am facing a stream of barbarians. Fortunately, I did not do my usual builder thing and I actually have some military units to contend with those barbarians. I can see where the tendency would lean toward a slugfest.

There is a lot of press-enter-again though, at least so far in the beginning. And those build times! I can't find anything that isn't going to take forever in the build list, at least compared to what I am used to. That has been the strangest part to adjust to so far.

It makes me really cautious about my battles, too, because it will take so long to replace that axeman or archer. I have actually avoided some battles for a while, maneuvering to take advantage of terrain, etc. "You coward, go get that barb!" "Not until he gets off of that jungle covered hill, no! What if I lure him out into the open with this worker?" "All right, that will have to do. And quit showing off your multiple personality disorder!" "What disorder? I thought this was an advantage!" "You would."

I think you've hit on here why the people who like Marathon, including me, like it. You have to plan ahead and conserve resources. But in general, regarding the barbs, I heard complaints last fall from former bigshots at playing Civ3 that they couldn't win at all at the new game, being often wiped in the early stages, sometimes even just by bears. Conservation of force I think is a fundamental characteristic of Civ4 regardless of difficulty or customization.

I play on "Raging Barbs" a lot as I think its a good way to hamstring the opposition (AI or whatever) and "train" a military before you have to fight extended war. I found out early the best way to not get wiped or heavily hamstrung by barbs is to lure them away from the resource tiles, but let them attack you, always. Sometimes you still lose, but far less often. Hunting barbs like wolves, especially early on when resources are slim, seems to me like an invitation to disaster.

[Son of David]

There still isn't a game-speed or game-style that lets you recreate the majestic, epic battles that characterized ancient times. The years BCE just fly by, they are practically gone before you know it.

On the other hand, the Middle/Medieval period lasts forever, the Renaissance period is usually about right, but then you are pretty much in and out of the industrial period before you know what's happening. (Has anyone ever had a good war involving machine-guns and ironclads?)

And as far as I know, the game speed does not affect this.