How do you play Emperor and above?

[planetfall]

Anum,

Try to go across oceans with curraghs.Some will sink, i.e. suicide,
hopefully some will make it and allow meeting other civs.

-- PF

[RobC]

If you want a more manageable emperor+ game, play on an archipelago as any civ that starts with alphabet. Build 1 or 2 curraghs early on and tech whore to your heart's content so you aren't as far behind tech wise (in fact, you can often get ahead of the pack) without significantly impacting the rest of your strategy.

[Efugia]

One of the most important aspects to emperor+ games, imo, is setting the AI civs against one another.

This does several important things to help you out:

1) AIs cannot trade techs with civs they are at war with.
2) AIs will burn up a lot of shields.
3) AI teching will slow down
4) Often, AIs city pops will start dropping from rushing/conscripting.
5) If the wars really get rolling and self perpetuating, you will become less of a target. AIs are less likely to declare war on you if they're busy fighting amongst themselves. This makes it much more likely that you're calling the shots.

So make those contacts. Build those embassies. Start those fake wars. Ring up those alliances vs. poor sucker you can't get to.

If things are going well, EVERY powerful AI will be fighting every other powerful AI. Even if you've fallen behind in techs, often this will give you room to catch up, and a lot more room to play middle man trading between the civs.

30 GPT might seem like an awful lot to get the russians against those pesky inca, but that 600 gold will reap unrivaled benefits.

[Mountain Sage]

Planetfall,

Look at the thread 'Emperor games C3C: how to improve your skills' on the strategy forum.
You will find there comparative games, explanation about strategy, tips, screenshots etc.
And it's free!