threadbare review

[snoopy369]

Culture flipping was vastly improved. In Civ4 you get a LOT of warning before it flips ... and thus a chance to do something about it

[Aro]

Originally posted by hexagonian

When dealing with civ4, no post is too long (especially for those who do not have the game yet)

We have to live vicariously though you.

Agreed.

Keep typing! Keep posting!

Please, mister...

[alva]

It was one of those things that was not an option in original civ3, but was changed in the xpacks.

It's even better this way around.

option to eliminate flips altogether (off by default IIRC)
option to elimate flips for conquered cities (On by default)

[Mace]

Originally posted by Aro
Keep typing! Keep posting!

All right, you asked for it

My second game is now complete. I did much better, but still no victory for me in Civ4.

I played on Noble level again, this time as the English on a standard size map, normal climate, etc. etc. All standard options.

I finished as the #2 civ out of 7, and the civ that actually won the game (via Space Race) was well down the list (probably about the #5 civ). Think about that...in Civ3, a bottom-tier civ usually would have no chance at a Space Race victory...or any other vic for that matter.

I started on a large continent with the Japanese (Tokugawa) to my west and the Russians (Peter) to the east. It MATTERS which rulers you have in Civ4. In both of my Civ4 games so far, Peter the Great has been a real pain in the rear. Very capable of backstabbing. At this point, I would have to recommend you watch out for him.
Mao was also a rat in this game.

In this game, I actually completed the tech tree...I got up to future tech...so I had a chance to play with some of the more modern military units and features.

I did a lot more fighting in this game, on purpose, so I could get used to the combat system in Civ4. I conquered the Japanese civ entirely, and fought two or three nasty wars with the Russians.

Some brief comments on fighting in Civ4:
1) when building your army, be sure to include a few artillery units in there, catapults, cannon, artillery, whatever you can build. The reason? In Civ4 the AI sometimes (but not always) will invade you with a stack of troops. Artillery units are great for injuring stacks.

1a) What happens is, when you attack the stack with your, say, catapult unit, it is likely that you'll lose the catapult (because they are not that strong)...BUT the good part is that even if your cat loses and is destroyed, it will still do what is called "collateral damage" to some or all of the units in that stack. This is VERY NICE, because most of the units in the stack will be weakened when they try to attack you. Keep some around for when the AI comes a knocking.

2) in a related vein, build your army with all types of troops. I know you all have heard this before from others reviews (such as Sullla, Solver, etc.) but it cannot be emphasized enough.

3) pay close attention to terrain when you're fighting. Forests give a nice defense bonus in Civ4. I do not recommend you attack an enemy unit in a forest or on a hill unless you have to. Wait til they move off if possible.

4) The AI will send in a few units to pillage your improvements at times...and not just focus on taking out your resource tiles as in Civ3.

5) Garrison your cities A LOT in Civ4. Much more than in Civ3. You can get away with leaving interior cities relatively unguarded, but be on your toes. The AI is quite capable of dropping an amphibious assault somewhere in the back of your empire...

6) if the AI attacks you with lots of tanks, use the new Gunship unit (a helicopter) on them...the Gunship gets a big bonus against armored units such as tanks. The Gunship saved me when the Russians attacked me in the modern era.

7) In this game, I didn't have to create a large navy, unfortunately. (If any of you know, I have always liked to play on Arch maps with big navies). What I did create was enough to handle the occasional AI landing. In Civ4, it does not appear that artillery units can be used to bombard passing ships off your coast, so you had better have a little navy at least.

8) development-wise, I was better about it in this game. Tile development is, I think, a problem area for many players in Civ games; in Civ4 it appears the crucial choices are, "Do I put a cottage in this tile, or do I put a farm there?", and, for hills, "Do I put a windmill here, or do I build a mine?". The good thing about it is, in Civ4 the workers move quickly and you seem to be able to re-work your tiles pretty quickly.

9) Promotions. Extra collateral damage for your artillery units seems to be a nice one. City defender promotion seems less useful than does Combat I, Combat II, etc. The "Combat" promotions appear to give a unit extra strength (think of str as hit points) and I'd rather have the hit points than anything else on most units. But that could be my initial personal preference...it's early, I'm still learning this.

[Aro]

Thanks, Mace!

KTKP (Keep typing, keep posting )

[Mace]

In a nutshell, since I did more fighting in this game, here's some sage advice:

PROTECT your cities more in Civ4 than you did in Civ3. You have to because the AI is meaner and slicker.
And that means more than 2-3 units. It means 6-7 and a MIX of unit types (including artillery to hurt AI stacks) if the city is vulnerable.