help

[malcombex]

Hi can some please help me.
im new to this type of game - i understand how to play
the basic game as per the tutorial, but for the life of me i cant figure out where all this superb gameplay is or exactly how or where to implement a strategy? it just seems to me all im doing is clicking on the next tech to research or next building to build - no thought into it at all.
please dont misunderstand me im not slagging it of - im asking for someone to explain how i can form a strategy for eg playing chess one move counters another and you can imeadiately see the game progress.
please dont get to pissed of with me.

[Senethro]

The problem here is that you don't understand the value or merits of the different technologies. Unfortunately, this isn't something you can be taught in a post.

Just accept that you'll play your first 10 games in the dark and largely blind. Once you start noticing that some techs/buildings are better than others for some situations then the real decision making starts.

For me, my favorite aspect of these games is watching my resource gathering change. In Alpha Centauri I initially increase by building new cities, a linear increase. With Supply Crawlers my resource gathering feeds back into itself and increases like an avalanche travelling down a hill. Lifting restrictions increases the speed further. Population Booms triple my resource gathering over ten turns. Satellites have multiple effects that are tricky to describe (Food satellites alone double resource gathering) but very beneficial.

[Silver14]

You may want to read the first few posts by Velociryx in his strategy thread. It may give you some ideas and at the very least broaden your understanding of the game.

Velociryx's Strategy Thread

The thread is very long so you probably wouldn't want to read through the whole thing but I recommend reading all of Velociryx initial posts.

I believe most people like I have, have discovered that even when you think you understand the game there is still much you later realize you didn't really know.

[MasterDave]

When I first started playing Civ4, I approached it a lot as if it were Civ 3 with some new graphics. I was able to win my first couple of games on Noble without really learning all of the nuances right away. However, as I played each game I would learn how to utilize a few new aspects of the game that were new and what an impact they could have on the overall development.

Examples of critical differences from Civ 3 that do not immediately become apparent are:

Religion: In my first couple of games I found a religion and watched it spread randomly around my empire. I was actually afraid to make open borders with people for fear of their missionaries spreading foreign religions to me. Later on, I came to realize just how important religion can be in making people happy, bending the AI to your will, the ability to build more cultural buildings.

Specialists: My first couple of games, I did not really muck around too much on the city screens, except to assign workers to tiles like in Civ3. When GP's appeared from my Wonders, I treated it as a random bonus thing that happened. Later on, I began to explore just what each kind of Great Person can do, and also the economic benefits I could get from each kind of specialist. Also, I explored the multiple methods to get GP's to appear more frequently (assigning more specialists in food heavy cities, using civics, philosophical, wonders,etc.)

Civics: I used to follow a single path here every game as I teched up, but I have come to realize that you can really mix and match these to fit situations very well.

Leader attributes: Another thing that seems somewhat minor at first glance turns out to have huge impact when the leader abilities and their cheap buildings are exploited by an experienced player.

There are other items that one gradually learns to do over time. From a multiplayer perspective where you are expected to play with a time clock, learning to use the stacked movement, automated workers, and production queues can really help one spped up play.

Civ 4 is a lot like an onion, and while it may not seem all that deep at first glance, as you peel back the layers, you should find one of the deepest strategic computer games out there on the market today.

[Alex]

Besides all the good advice already posted, you have to know that the subtle process of decision making in a game like Civ4 is strictly tied to some of the more important concepts in this kind of game: building cities, improving your economy, using your military in intelligent and decisive ways.

Look at the terrain where you founded your first city; is it good for producing food or hammers? Perhaps it is suited for commerce more than anything. This kind of knowledge dictates your tech research. See those pigs on square next to your city? You could use them for your benefit, but you'll have to research Animal Husbandry. And so on.

Study the Civilopedia for a while, it can help you understand many of the basic concepts you'll make use of in the game.

But don't give up. Civ4 is a deep and rewarding game, just give yourself some time to get used to its mechanics.

Good luck.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MasterDave
Specialists: My first couple of games, I did not really muck around too much on the city screens, except to assign workers to tiles like in Civ3. When GP's appeared from my Wonders, I treated it as a random bonus thing that happened. Later on, I began to explore just what each kind of Great Person can do, and also the economic benefits I could get from each kind of specialist. Also, I explored the multiple methods to get GP's to appear more frequently (assigning more specialists in food heavy cities, using civics, philosophical, wonders,etc.)

[nitpick]

Great Persons aren't the same as specialists.

[/nitpick]

[Nacht]

That's not nitpicking but just plain wrong. He's talking about assigning specialists to create the most and most fitting great persons. Nothing wrong to head such a section with 'Specialists'

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Nacht
That's not nitpicking but just plain wrong. He's talking about assigning specialists to create the most and most fitting great persons. Nothing wrong to head such a section with 'Specialists'

You are probably the only person who thinks there's nothing wrong with such a heading.

[MasterDave]

Specialists are directy tied to the generation of Great People so thats why I lumped them into one category. As a new player, you may not realize that you will not see very many great people without assigning specialists first. The intent of my post was not to be the end-all be-all definition of all things Civ4, but to share my experiences as a new player and how I gradually discovered the true depth of the game.