Too easy, too hard...

[BloodAngel518]

When I play on Warlord (or whatever is below Noble) difficulty, I rape all the NPCs... when I play on Noble difficulty, the barbarians rape me most of the time... Why is there such a vast difference in difficulty between these two levels? Is it just me?

[Will9]

Try entering a higher level with your best leader. I am making a fine cross to Prince with Augustus. Also, when I started playing on Noble I found that you must trade techs more.

[CerberusIV]

You do need to adapt your play style as you move up each level. As Will9 says Noble requires that you trade techs to keep up in research. It also becomes essential that you manage your workers yourself most of the time.

To move up to Prince I found I had to start watching the city governors more closely and arranging which tiles the citizens work myself some of the time.

[Will9]

Yes, I also started taking a more persoal role as I moved up in levels since I noticed workers had a strong food focus. I have also had to start controlling my large cities workers latly.

[Cort Haus]

Why do people like using the word 'rape' so much?

[JackRudd]

BloodAngel - if I were you, I'd consider playing an Industrious leader and beelining for the Great Wall.

[xts3]

barbs will not bug you as much as long as you dont leave the map around your important cities unexplored, keep unit sentries around the map to prevent barb cities from spawning as long as you can see the area the won't spawn.

I forget which unit it is but I believe that certain mounted units get +1 sentry visiblity improvement. Found a city expressly for the purpose of forest chopping a great wall, make sure you do it when forests are giving +90 wood or greater (I forget after which tech it is).

[Thedrin]

Is it even possible to build the Great Wall after researching Mathematics?

[mkorin]

You will find the same problem once you finally master Prince and move to Monarch. The key is to change your playing style to fit the harder settings. I have found that when I am ready for a new level, I get my butt kicked a few times, drop back down for a few games to try my new strategies and regain my confidence, then move up again. The second time I attempt to move up in levels is usually successful (75-80% win rate I consider successful).

Mike

[Willem]

Originally posted by JackRudd
BloodAngel - if I were you, I'd consider playing an Industrious leader and beelining for the Great Wall.

You don't need an Industrious leader to get the Great Wall on Noble. I get it all the time, no matter who I play as. Just make sure you start building it ASAP. I head straight for Masonry, build a Warrior/Settler combo, then another Warrior for defence. After that I start the Wall.

[Dis]

I used to be the same way, but I just got better.

My only beef is it's such a tight race towards the spaceship, I have to skip most of the modern wonders and beeline towards space elevator and fusion.

[mkorin]

The space race, we're playing different games. Either I'm conquered, time has run out or I've won long before the space race is an issue (Prince and Warlord). In fact that is one of my beefs with the harder issues. You don't get tech fast enough for the space race to be a concern.

Mike

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by mkorin
In fact that is one of my beefs with the harder issues. You don't get tech fast enough for the space race to be a concern.

You can if you set up your economy properly and trade with the AI's.

[mkorin]

Originally posted by Cort Haus


You can if you set up your economy properly and trade with the AI's.

At the higher levels, they don't like trading as much. Yes, you can do some, but it is much harder to maintain even a cautious atmoshpere. If you're successful at this on Prince or higher, I'd love some tips.

[Cort Haus]

Try avoiding a state religion to keep the AI's happy and sign Open Border agreements. Keep an eye out for who hates who, and drop any deals with very unpopular civs. There may be two distict camps that emerge - pick one, be nice to them and avoiding trading with the other. Sometimes there are no grand alliances or friendships, and everybody is someone's worst enemy, in which case keep an eye on the powergraph to see who to prioritise relations with.

For research, run a scientist or two early and use the Gt Scientist for an Academy in the capital, and work lots of cottages there. Get the Gt Lib in this city if possible, run Bureaucracy, and later on build Oxford here. Any other Gt Scientists get settled here, and build a harbor if coastal. If food permits, run some scientists too. This city will drive your research, and if supplemented by some other reasonable commerce cities, should be anough for a healthy tech lead on Prince.

Protect your empire with units from hammer-heavy barracks cities, which churn out units nearly full time, taking breaks for growth builds.