Monarch to Emperor: the Great Leap

[Aqualung71]

Nice to see all this stuff written down, thanks Ision.

Micro-management, the key to early game strategy. Happiness, tech trading, working the right tiles, irrigation vs mining.....mostly tedious stuff, but unfortunately vital.

Not sure of others, but I found with C3C that Emperor was a little easier than with PTW and the "great leap" may now be at Demi-God. Perhaps this was because I had a few games under my belt by that time.

Still, when I originally went from Monarch to Emperor in PTW it was a mighty big shock to the system!

Cheers!

[Fatwreck]

I agree with DrSpike, I think you scare away players from taking on emperor when you talk about needing that much more micro for beeing able to play it. If I would have seen a thread like this I would have waited years before trying emperor.

nice tips though

[DrSpike]

Yes, Fatwreck, I'd hate for a well-meaning thread to scare people away with tales of completely relearning gameplay elements, when in reality not much changes and you only need to modify a few existing elements.

[SirOsis]

It definately is a progression. I'm comfortable playing Monarch but decided to try Emperor for a bigger challenge. There is a greater level of MM but as everyone has noted it isn't that bad once you get used to it.

[Arrian]

My issues with the jump (made originally right before PTW came out, so CivIII 1.29, and now again recently with Conquests):

1) 1 citizen born content. I'm just used to Monarch happiness levels. It's no big deal, just something I need to adjust to. I've been reloading a lot of turns where I've had city growth and it just didn't occur to me to adjust the slider to prevent disorder.

2) The added importance of micromanagement and careful advance planning. I am still getting better at this stuff (I'm going a bit beyond just setting up settler/worker pumps now), in part due to my activity in the mp demogames.

3) The AI unit counts. This was especially evident in AU501, when I ran into a backward AI on a small island, as did several other players. The number of archers they had built up was staggering (even to my pikemen). But this holds true in my other Emp games too. I just need to remember to bring more units, or to have more limited objectives. I keep launching offensives and bog down due to attrittion. On Monarch, I would have flattened the opposition. It's like 1 extra unit per city, and that's a lot.

-Arrian

[vmxa1]

That is a huge key as you go up levels IMO. It is the free support and the bonus for each city.

Monarch get 4 extra free support and Emperor get 8.
Bonus for cities is 1 for Mon and 2 for Emp.

Additional Free Support (AI Unit Support Bonuses)
Determines how many extra units the AI can support, in addition to any existing governmental bonuses, on the selected difficulty level. Note that this number is cumulative with all other support bonuses.

Bonus for Each City (AI Unit Support Bonuses)
Determines how many extra units the AI can support per city, in addition to any existing governmental bonuses, on the selected difficulty level. Note that this number is cumulative with all other support bonuses


So when to you go after civs, especially if they have been isolated (read no wars) they will have a lot more units.
The cost factor makes it easier for them to replace lost units.

[Agathon]

Why would anyone but a masochist want to play Deity. I can beat Monarch pretty easily and have managed to beat Emperor (not having played that much either) but Deity is satanic.

[ErikM]

There are some pros to Deity.

For instance, you never have to declare war since AIs will kindly do it for you

And your citizens are permanently happy since you are always in a defensive war or three.

Nonstop warfare from ~2500bc onwards means you'll get leaders by dozens. Quite likely you will be able to construct Pentagon before researching Construction.

Diplomacy is exceptionally simple. Everyone hates you.

No need to check for available trades every turn since you are either at war or cannot afford the asking price anyways.

And so on

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by ErikM
There are some pros to Deity.

For instance, you never have to declare war since AIs will kindly do it for you

And your citizens are permanently happy since you are always in a defensive war or three.

Nonstop warfare from ~2500bc onwards means you'll get leaders by dozens. Quite likely you will be able to construct Pentagon before researching Construction.

Diplomacy is exceptionally simple. Everyone hates you.

No need to check for available trades every turn since you are either at war or cannot afford the asking price anyways.

And so on

And a sense of satisfaction when you win.

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Agathon
Why would anyone but a masochist want to play Deity. I can beat Monarch pretty easily and have managed to beat Emperor (not having played that much either) but Deity is satanic.

Yeah went it is so much more fun to take your licks at Sid.

*vmxa still licks his wounds*