UGH This has bothered me

[BigFree]

Use smaller maps and/or larger numbers of opponents. That will limit the number of cities you can have and thus reduce the amount of micromanging you have to do.

[Flhaus]

This is a great thread. I'm thinking about purchasing CIV-4, and this topic has peaked my curiosity more. I'm a CTP 2 player, it sounds like the city management interface on CIV 4 is extremely powerful comparred to CTP 2. Are any of you guys CTP players? What is your opinion compared to CIV 4?

[yin26]

I played a fair amount of CtP 2 and actually enjoyed some of the less micro-management features like Public Works. But if you enjoy a more hands on approach to tweaking your infrastructure, I'd say Civ 4 offers plenty of that without getting too crazy.

[Flhaus]

One thing that I have always been disapointed in is the auto features regarding public works and how it interacts with other things. I like to know what exactly is going on and the best way to use it, but it isn't obvious to me. Perhaps the micro-management features in CIV4 would teach me some things and increase my gaming skill. thanks.

[yin26]

Civ4 could certainly do better with the UI and making myriad things easier to understand, but with a little time and patience, you *can* understand them quite easily. And, as has been said, you can control these things with much greater detail than you can in CtP2.

[Flhaus]

I have a feeling I'm in for a sleepless weekend playing CIV.

[potoroo]

Originally posted by eluciv
The key is that you know what you're doing and why you're doing it

Indeed, but I suspect a great many players lack a deep understanding of how various things interact and therefore how to choose optimal strategies (I include myself among them).

For example, advice like "don't build buildings you don't need" is all very well but how do you know what you you need? By this, I mean neither the manual nor the various guides I've seen really explain whether things like libraries or banks are cumulative (the way the game tries to encourage you to build these things implies they are). Does having two cities with two libraries/universities etc increase your research rate? Do two banks increase your commerce? Or are you better off with one research city, one commerce city, and so forth?

I have similar difficulties making best use of specialists (which probably explains why I never choose Caste System).

I know how to assign workers to tiles but only intervene if I've noticed a city has stalled or whatever. Otherwise I tend to rely on the emphasise buttons.

[Jaybe]

potoroo; banks, libraries, etc. affect the individual city's gold & research. All of your cities are added together towards your total gold & research. You can see a city's research & gold in the upper left of the city screen. With a little study you can see how each commerce point is multiplied by any appropriate buildings you have in the city. Use the mouse to hover over various items to see the affects -- invest some time to discover where mouse-hovering works in the city screen.

Addendum: You are better off with several each of science, gold, & production cities. You will probably have one city that is supreme in each because of national wonders (i.e., Wall Street, Oxford U. & Ironworks).

[eluciv]

potoroo,

I agree. No civver can predict the future.
But think practical advice like not building libraries or banks in a city with little commerce or not building forges in cities with no real hammer production. You can read the land and pretty much tell how the city will (and won't) be able to contribute to the whole in the near term. It comes down to building what you need when you need it and not because you don't have anything else to build... Waste is the absolute enemy and will hinder your/my/our level of play.

Believe me, I'm still far from being satisfied with the way I play many games of Civ4, but eliminating waste (in time, opportunity, builds, etc) is a major part of getting better. That's why I say "know why you're doing what you're doing".

[eluciv]

whoops.