Accelerated Production in CIV4???

[MightyTiny]

Originally posted by Platapus
I get it. About accelerated production, starting at that age wouldn't help me. In CIV 3, I would have units and technologies MUCH earlier than my opponents. Is there any way to do something like that in CIV 4?

Play a leader with the financial trait, and be sure to build a lot of cottages.

Also, larger empires generate more commerce, which means faster research. A good tactic to get ahead is to play on marathon mode, and aim for an early war, conquering your nearest, most conveniently placed neighbour. After that, get your finances straight (after such a conquest you're likely very close to bankruptcy for a while), start building infrastructure, including those abundant cottages.

I'm recommending Marathon because that mode makes early wars possible without having to worry about units getting obsolete in the middle of a war, and from experience I can say that the marathon mode really improves the gaming experience in general. It seems this is pretty much a universal opinion, from the posts I've read on the subject; plenty of posts praising the marathon mode, and don't see much complaints.

In marathon mode, with this basic idea (expansion -> early conquest -> "settling down") I find that at least up to Noble level, it's quite possible to gain a significant technological advantage.

Also, look into the chop-rushing thread titled "Can someone explain the "chop-start" tactic?" - if you aim to get a quick advantage, then chop-rushing settlers and switching production is a powerful tactic that verges on being an exploit.

On settler, you should really reach the sort of advantage you are looking for without much trouble. You probably just need a little bit of practice with Civ4 to get the hang of it - it's a different beast from Civ3.

[Solver]

Originally posted by Platapus
"Yes, you're probably too used to the Civ3 way of thinking.", I agree with one person-him. I played CIV 3 for many years and did, indeed, get used to that way of thinking, I just need toget a new strategy.

The right way to start playing Civ4 is to forget all your tactics and tricks from Civ3. They don't work, and trying the Civ3 strategies (in particular, rapid expansion) is the best way to kill yourself in Civ4.

Forget all that, try new things, new approaches, and that's how you should do Civ4 . Remember: bigger isn't always better.

[eris]

To the original question: I played a lot of Accelerated Production in Civ3. There seemed to be few who would admit they did. For me, the normal speed of Civ4 feels like Accelerated Production and then some. There is always some new tech or situation. To get to the more liesurely speed of standard Civ3, try Epic on Civ4. Marathon is for the really crazy. I am working my way there. Marathon huge is for those with really crazy machines. That, I can only dream about.

I have no idea if all this is true for higher levels. I only see the higher levels in the nightmares caused by reading too many stories on these boards. And I only believe half the stories!

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Nikolai
3000 point lead? That must only be on Settler right? I've never played that level.

Yeah.

A Settler game is fun in the beginning, in that you get to see how reckless you can expand, even against raging barbarians. The bigger the landmass, the merrier.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by eris
To the original question: I played a lot of Accelerated Production in Civ3. There seemed to be few who would admit they did. For me, the normal speed of Civ4 feels like Accelerated Production and then some. There is always some new tech or situation. To get to the more liesurely speed of standard Civ3, try Epic on Civ4. Marathon is for the really crazy. I am working my way there. Marathon huge is for those with really crazy machines. That, I can only dream about.

Junuxx created a gamespeed tuner for the game.