What can I expect when moving up to Regent?

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by bob rulz


2-Building more marketplaces/cathedrals/colosseums (I always build temples though)

The cities to the far northwest though are so unproductive I can't really do anything with them. I only got that many improvements in Nineveh because I rushed them.

Be careful not be too literal on #2, the city needs to justify each one.

If a city is totally corrupt, it cost you little to go ahead and use citizens as specialist. You could make a bit of headway will civil engineers to get in courts and such.

ROT (rule of thumb) as just guidelines, not gospel, so they need to adjusted in some cases.

[bongo]

Remember that to be successful, each trick, strategy etc needs to be adapted to the current situation.

Like settler pumps, they can be really powerful but you better forget them if you don't have enough land to take advantage of them.

City spacing is important.
In general, unused tiles is much worse than overlapping. Overlapping can in fact be a game-winning strategy. Try to see into the future when placing cities.


Don't be afraid of reloading now and then to help the learning experience.(just don't do it if you are in any game where reloading is prohibited). Make 'time-machines' by saving before any crucial decisions.


One more thing:
Take notes.

I know it sounds a bit over the top but it can be really helpful if you want to analyse the game afterwards. Keeping large amounts of saves can also be helpful, it will also catch much more details than notes can.

[Solomwi]

On that last note, I try to keep a save at the end of every turn, beginning in the middle ages, and before that, I pull the autosaves into a permanent folder. To avoid an inordinate amount of clutter in my save folder, I keep them separated in subfolders by game, such as "Germany IV", "PTWDG II", "Iroquois I", etc. I also number even the starts I throw away and keep the 4000 BC save, just in case. It makes it very easy to go back and review a game, critique yourself and what have you. If I ever get brave enough, one day I may post a particularly embarassing save from my early days just to give you all a good chuckle.

[bob rulz]

Well, thanks for the tips. I can play Civ 3 again! I have the game open right now, and I have more than a few cities in disorder...I just noticed that all the cities in disorder are highlighted in red in the Domestic Advisor screen. Well, I'll keep these tips in mind. I have a save approximately every 50 turns or so, and I do keep notes, mostly on who has what strategic resources and how many.

[Epistax]

I don't really have any trouble with Regent. I don't get everything I want, true, but I'm usually on top by a longshot. This, compared to Monarch, where my ass just gets handed to me on a platter. I think this is when the AI cheating starts taking effect (They build faster than you, research faster than you, even all trade together in deals they'd never accept from you). I'm pretty much stuck now because I want a harder game, but I just can't cope with a cheating AI to such a degree. :-(

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Epistax
I don't really have any trouble with Regent. I don't get everything I want, true, but I'm usually on top by a longshot. This, compared to Monarch, where my ass just gets handed to me on a platter. I think this is when the AI cheating starts taking effect (They build faster than you, research faster than you, even all trade together in deals they'd never accept from you). I'm pretty much stuck now because I want a harder game, but I just can't cope with a cheating AI to such a degree. :-(

AI Bonuses
Def Land Units 0 2
Off Land Units 0 1
Start unit type 1 0 0
Start unit type 2 0 0
Extra free support 0 4
Bonus for each city 0 1
Max gov transition 0 4
Cost factor 10 9
AI to AI trade 130 140

Changes from Regent to Monarch are minor, a 10% boost in productivity. AI to AI trading is even less of a difference.

I find that most players that have trouble with Monarch are not managing their empires well enough. This is usually a case of insuffience workers and workers not being used effectively.

Then they fail to expand quickly enough. If you do those two things you will out produce the AI and win in the end.

[Epistax]

Originally posted by vmxa1

Changes from Regent to Monarch are minor, a 10% boost in productivity. AI to AI trading is even less of a difference.

I find that most players that have trouble with Monarch are not managing their empires well enough. This is usually a case of insuffience workers and workers not being used effectively.

Then they fail to expand quickly enough. If you do those two things you will out produce the AI and win in the end.

I wish I could believe that. When I play I let everything go random (except map size [large], barbarian activity [least]), including my tribe. First go I won Regent space race. I then disabled it and next run won regent diplo. Disabled it then next run won regent domination. Disabled it, won by conquest. These were all in a row. Now my attempts on Monarch so far have been completely dismal. Now I'm restarting often due just to terrible start positions-- something I never had to do before. I find that everyone is able to out-tech me and not only that-- they do it synchronously. The turn one person gets a tech, they all do, and are at least a step if not two ahead of me. In one attempt I did have a lot of money (I made first contact between the two halves of the random world and made a fortune off of maps) and tried to catch up but even at -46 gold/turn I couldn't keep up-- despite my appreciable empire size.

I do expand like nuts and experiment with such things as making granaries (the thing is, if don't start with pottery, is it worth actually researching it? I doubt it, so trade for it).. I end up expanding much faster than the computer but they typically have a more available landmass where as mine is thin, rocky, or very jungled. I guess it just seems like something major out of my control goes wrong each time. I'll keep trying but given the previous record I had, this ain't good.

[bongo]

How long did those failed monarch attempts last? One of the best advice when moving up is to play on, even though you know you'll loose. You can learn more from those failed attempts than you will if you get a lucky win.

I did a small experiment in my last game. Normally I play at Monarch and win *all* the time(I know, I should have moved up to emperor long time ago...). My playstyle is very aggressive, and normally I will reach the point of certain victory sometimes in the early medevial age.

In this game though, I chose to play a more passive game. I won a diplomatic victory in the end but was somewhat surprised by how strong/dangerous the AI would get when I wasn't constantly beating them into submission.

So in order to be successful at monarch, be aggressive. If an AI are becoming a threat, deal with him(but prepare first), get the others to join you and go 100% full military until you have reached your objectives.(general note: while it is both fun and satisfying to wipe someone out completely it is rarely neccessary. Most of the time crippling them will be enough)

[vmxa1]

Epistax it is hard to say what is going on from where I sit. I would say it would take a very poor start to not eventually beat the AI on Monarch for an experienced player.

If you have managed to beat the AI handily at Regent, without lots of wars, then I would think you can do it at Monarch.

The timing of when you start to pull ahead is mainly a function of your civ and your start.

It is more common to see the AI get in contact with everone at Monarch than at lower levels and then trade techs. They have a lower threshold for making a deal as you move up levels.

The free starting units lets them jump start their empire and make contacts. If you are using maps with less water they get contacts sooner.

Skip the random starts and use a specific settings until you beat it. That way you can better know what is going on. I don't mean tilt the deck, just keep things the same, except the civs.

Put up some screen shots for a game so we can see if the world is normal.

You just have to get familar with the play of the setting and learn what needs to be done. IOW how long it takes to get ahead in tech, then score. It is hard for some players to play from behind at first and they are not aware of how to proceed.

Knowing where and when you need to make milestones makes it easier to play on.