Space Race

[hunad10]

Hello all who are reading this!
I am starting this thread about the space race...
first of all, what exactly is this space race...can you actually go into space with this? If so...what does this do to you? Thank you for any answers and I hope this thread helps many people out.

[Ming]

Welcome to Apolyton... I responded to your PM.

The space race is just one victory condition.
To win, you have to build all the space ship parts, and then launch you space ship, and most importantly, have you space ship reach AC before anybody else's space ship does, or before some other victory condition is met by some other civ.

You don't get to play or expand into space

Again... welcome to poly.

[rah]

But think how cool it would be to have laser space platforms to destroy units from low orbit.

[Blaupanzer]

That was what I hoped the future tech mod that came with the game would lead to. However, we are in some semi-fantasy mech walker hi-firepower units but not an advanced warfare concept extending into earth orbit and then into space. Not near as much fun.

[hunad10]

can you play in space at all?

[Theben]

not without a mod.

[self biased]

how difficult would it be to mod in multi-layer maps like we had in test of time?

[hunad10]

can u play in space in beyond the sword...and if u can't what mod would let you play in space...i thought there was the scenario Final Fronteir and that is how you could play in space.

[self biased]

final frontier is its own mod, and is more like master of orion than civ.

[hunad10]

o...i have another question...i was playing a game of Civ 4: Beyond the Sword and I was the Carthagians (Hannibal)...i had a good empire going but towards when I started discovering Gunpowder...the Vikings (Ragnar) took like 4 cities and then was threatening to take my last city! I quit before they did...but I have a question...how can you defend well...or not get in any war in at all?

[Ming]

Some claim you can avoid war by simply being a diplomatic genius... While there is a lot you can do to avoid war, it usually is going to happen. The best thing to do is have the RIGHT kind of army. The enemy is at a disadvantage when they are attacking you in your territory, they are limited in their movement and you aren't.

You need a good mix of units. A stack or two of collateral damage units (cats, tribs, cannons...) near the front that can cover your border. You then need a large stack of mobile units that can respond quickly to threats. If a big stack comes, nail them with the collateral damage units then the mobile units after the stack is weakened. The mobile units will also flank their collateral damage units, probably distroying all of them. You can move quicker in your territory then the enemy can, use it. Plus, make sure you use your collateral damage units before they get the chance to use theirs.

[wodan11]

We really need more info about what happened. Did Ragnar send a big stack of units to invade? What kind of units did he send and how many? How may units did YOU have in each city and how many total?

If I had to guess I'd say you probably were focused on making buildings and wonders and having your workers improve your terrain, and had few if any military units.

Take a look at the Power graph screen. It's on F8 and then look for the drop-down menu on the upper left. Compare your graph to Ragnar's.

The AI can see that graph just as you can. If he is a lot higher than you are, he is more likely to invade. What it means is he has a LOT more military units than you do, so he figures he can conquer you pretty easily (which he did).

[rah]

In MP the power graph screen is probably the most important thing to be looking at.
It's hard to fool a human player when they can see they've got 8x the power you do.
In SP even the AI can figure that one out, but at least you have some things you can do diplo wise.

[hunad10]

Well...Ragnar sent siege weapons and a boatload of cavalry...

[Blaupanzer]

If I read you correctly, Ragner has cavalry (which requires rifling) when you've barely discovered gunpowder. So you are using knights and macemen to fight cavalry and cannons(?). You need to monitor your opponents on the charts (power, gold, and espionage) and watch the technology status based on who is offering (or not offering) what in the trade screens. Only five cities at Gunpowder sort of guarentees that you would fall behind in tech and soldiers. Not to be discouraged. Read Vel's guide on the early game. Then play on the level one below the one you are sure you can win. When you win 60% or so on that level move up. Then you will be a veteran and will answer other people's questions.