I'm a chronic restarter

[Azuarc]

People of Apolyton, I come to you with a problem.

I play exclusively single player, and every time I sit down, I start a new game, even though I usually save my last one. After I get started, if it doesn't seem to be going the way I want after 50 turns, I Exit to Main Menu. If I've been playing for an hour or so and it starts to get the least bit boring, which it can quickly, I retire to watch the state of the world and then move on.

Simply put, I almost never finish a game.


To add to this, I have what I refer to as the "basketball syndrome" -- I'm lousy at basketball, so I don't really like to play it. I never play it, so I never improve at it. I extend this to the mid-to-late game of Civ.

Mind you, this is not a Civ 4 exclusive problem. I've done this with every Civ along the way and a few other TBS games as well.

What does anyone else do to combat the impulse of chronic restarting, and/or the game getting boring after early exploration is done?

[Dauphin]

I read the first line of your post and gave up...

Try a hotseat or other MP game with a friend. Always more fun that SP.

[Thedrin]

Alternatively, start a game using custom set up (or whatever the option in single player is called) and set an industrial or modern era start.

[yin26]

Well, there are two things to determine first (and then a mixture of the two):

1: Do you just find the mid to late game boring?
2: Do you start losing at the mid to late game?
3: And do you find the mid to late game boring because you start losing?

For me, here was the key sentence:

After I get started, if it doesn't seem to be going the way I want after 50 turns, I Exit to Main Menu.

How do you want it to go? I guess you mean you want to be winning, which leads to my next question: Are you a chronic score watcher? I would say nothing is potentially more off-putting or deceptive if you're not careful than watching the score in the bottom right. I suggest turning it off and just play your corner of the world. Focus on your neighbor, an immediate goal. Let the game develop naturally...and before you know it, win or lose, you might find the mid to late game quite exciting.

[Will9]

Rectly I started a game as Alexzander. At first I was doing terrible. By the Renisance I was in the 400 points behide. Now I'm 700 points ahead, I just won a war, and I'm about to win a space race victory (a option I will never turn on again). My point is just keep playing. You could also try the way I got out of cronic restarting go in the worldbuilder and each game decrease the additions to your starting location each game. (Warning using the WB can be just as addictave as civ.)

[Bushface]

I see several possibilities.
1. You get bored because you are not winning. Try an easier level.
2. You get bored because of lack of challenge. Try a harder level, or a different map style.
3. You get bored because Civ is a TBS game. I hate to say this, but in that case, try a different genre, one which allows you to finish quickly. You don't play basketball: do you play any other sport ?

[Nugog]

Some of my most enjoyable games have had horrific starts, (and finishes ).

I do not, iny any way claim to be a great player, but I really enjoy trying to fight my way out of difficult starts.

Mind you I do usually play as Rome, so praetorians are kinda handy

[Urban Ranger]

Ask yourself, what exactly interests you? Building empires or blowing up things? Do you like challenges or would you rather cruise along as the top dog? Do you like it abstract or do you like to feel the details between your toes?

[snoopy369]

Is the problem that it's too long? Then play an industrial or modern start (or even just Rennaissance).

Is the problem you don't like playing the end-game? Then don't worry about it, I often quit a game once i've clearly won.

Is the problem you don't like losing? Either get over it, or play on an easier level, or ... just restart

Nothing wrong with restarting, unless it's a problem to yourself.

[Bkeela]

Sometimes I get a rotten start. I might not get Iron or Bronze, or I could be Germany on an isolated continent while Washington, Mansa Musa and the Incans are on another, cranking out technologies and fuming hatred at me. Even though I know I'll lose, I consider it a challenge to see how far I'll get.

[johnmcd]

Score is the biggest problem I find, it says you're doing badly when really you normally are not doing at all badly. It's very hard to ignore though!

[Solver]

If the problem is that the game takes too long, you can try playing on the Quick mode. Those games are really, really fast.

[Dominae]

Give yourself a challenge that involves playing the game more than fifty turns. Things like:

1. Clear out my continent (if playing Continents).
2. Win a Cultural victory as quickly as possible.
3. Spread my State Religion to all cities (might involve some conquest).
4. Build and put my UU to good use (the later era ones - Redcoats, Cossacks, etc.)
5. See if I can beat Monarch/Emperor/Immortal.

Hopefully such challenges will supercede your desire to have games "go the way you want them to go".

Another option is to play some comparative or succession games. With these it's bad form to just quit when you're bored, and there's the extra incentive to stick with it and play your best because others are "watching".

[Azuarc]

Was going to a quote-and-reply to everything, but it's an eyesore, so let me see if I can just respond to everyone's thoughts:

I do enjoy playing the game, but arguably in the sense that a TV junkie enjoys playing with the remote, never settling in on one show to watch.

Is the game too long? Maybe, but only in the sense that I can't complete it in one sitting. I never seem to be eager to resume a game. Playing on quick does help, assuming it doesn't just get me to that stalemate era where I grow disinterested more quickly. I can't say I've tried starting in a later epoch.

Regarding my mentality, I typically play on Noble. The game is not too difficult at that point, but I also don't have the point of a dagger at my throat if I don't immediately stock up on forces. I often buckle in the face of adversity, however I am not restarting because I find myself to be losing. Not winning, per the score meter? Maybe, but not losing.

Yin asks me, "How do you want it to go?" And that's one of my issues -- I don't think I *know* how I want it to go. I just have this sense of "this isn't right" and restart. Even when a game is going beautifully, I may restart.

My games tend to play one of two ways:
1. Random everything. I'll figure it out as I go along. These games tend to be completely aimless well into the modern era or whenever I quit. The lack of direction here kills me.
2. Specific purpose games. These games are locked into accomplishing one thing, and sometimes to the extreme that one little road bump completely screws things up. I tend to restart to give it another attempt with a different take when I hit that road bump...which sometimes leads to me doing a random game instead.

When I go for the random game, though, I tend to be very build-oriented. Civ is a game about history, not specifically about war. I don't treat it as PC risk. To that effect, it bothers me when I am constantly being told on all sides to stop trading with other people, and then everyone hates me for not picking sides. I can certainly play and win the military thing, but I'm not sure what it accomplishes, unless I'm going to nearly root everyone out to the last man.

I think victory conditions are part of it. Diplomatic and Cultural victories are very passive, but they *could* work into my playstyle if the final score on them weren't so pitiful. Domination and Conquest victories are very active, but also a lot of managing 18 things at once and can often prove a headache as your empire expands, or as you struggle against the fog of war to find that one city that got built in some remote location in the last few turns just to keep the game alive. Space Race is the absence of any other victory type, as it always seems to be the endgame fallback if nothing else is working.

And at the same time, part of what bothers me is that I never finish a game. No, I don't *need* to complete a game if I simply enjoy the game for the moment I'm playing it, but when I finally retire and it flashes up my high scores, it would be nice to be able to say I've completed the game a few times so there's something to show there.

[nathanb]

I am the same when i play civ iv i could play a game for 10 hours no problem but if i retire then 90% i want to start again. I love playing early stages of game founding cities and civs and new lands. I have finished games but i just am happy to start again.

Its not that i want a good start or can not take the harder leverl punishment i am happy to start a new game i must have 100's of different save games.

I do like new world maps because you can have a resettling game. I have played modern games and do like all the units and builds but i am happy to start aggain.

nathanb