Bad Habits

[rah]

Originally posted by Marid Audran
I hate dealing with intermediary unrest and corruption whilst "waiting" for your government to re-form.

OEDO YEARS.

[duke o' york]

If you don't know anything about Oedo years, or just want to be able to print out a list for the level of your choice ([cough] Ahem - deity [cough]), then visit this thread for all your Oedo needs. It's included in the Great Library, which is stickied at the top of the Strategy page.

[-Jrabbit]

Agreed. HG yes, Oracle no.

Congrats on making the move to Deity! You'll never look back.

Add to my list of bad habits (noticed in current game) -- Inadequate use of diplomacy for tribute etc., even when I have Marco Polo. I just never got into the habit...

[rah]

Unless I'm record shooting, I lay low on the tribute, since it's too easy and seems kind of unfair. It's not like you need to pillage their treasury to kick their butt.

[-Jrabbit]

Yeah, I think that's why I've never gotten into it much.

I'll never subject myself to the kind of serious record-shooting that was common here 2-3 years back.
But I do like to set personal records from time to time, and I'm guessing that a bunch of early tribute would give me a considerable boost compared to my usual scores.
(I track conquest/landing dates as much or more than Civscores.)

[rah]

More important than using the money is denying the AI using it. They can't bribe your cities if they have no money.

[-Jrabbit]

AI city bribes are pretty rare before the modern era, in my experience.

[Elephant]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Agreed. HG yes, Oracle no.

I did fairly well in one of the EL Comparison Games with an early Oracle, skipping MT until someone else discovered it lategame whereupon I swiped it and built MC. No one else discovered THE before I launched.

Not a strat for a more normal game...

[rah]

But it does seem that happiness wonders are not a big priority for AIs since they don't suffer the same happiness problems as the human player at Deity.

[Jac de Molay]

Turn-screwing - Hurrying thru turns too quickly and not taking stock of what's happening with the various aspects of my civ, and how to improve on them.

Jac.

[Marid Audran]

Thanks for the feedback all. Just returned from a chess tournament in Denver over the weekend.

I actually did try building the Hanging Gardens but the AI beat me to it. It seems to be the only happiness wonder the AI takes care to build, actually. Well, perhaps an AI neurotic obsession with Shakespeare's Theatre and the Cure of Cancer exempted, but those two are non-critical IMO.

Concerning the Oracle; two extra content citizens is nothing I disdain against in the ancient period of the game! True, its effects tend to cancel relatively early but careful planning to construct J.S. Bach's Cathedral swiftly after theology can tame the loss of its boon. The fact that theology isn't an advance on most AI's favored researching paths (I've observed) helps too.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

Originally posted by rah
Unless I'm record shooting, I lay low on the tribute, since it's too easy and seems kind of unfair. It's not like you need to pillage their treasury to kick their butt.

couple of things here...

do you restart until you get a good starting position? Or, of course, do you always play what you get - no matter how crappy? and if you do get a crappy start (island with nothing but mountain and swamp) is it still easy to kick their butts everytime??

And... if yes to the last question - why play?

[Caesar the Glutton]

a lot of interesting points here...i just recently got back into Civ2 after far too long...i think i'll leave work early & try out a few of the pointers i just picked up. thanks!

[rah]

When I first started playing SP, I used to look for the perfect start, now after many years of MP, I'll take almost anything it hands out. (but there was one MP game that I started on a one square Island.) Fortunately I had a tech so I didn't have to ask for a restart.

[Grigor]

My most pernicious bad habit is to build roads in the beginning instead of cities. I wonder when the best time to start roads is? Certainly not before Trade.

And all the other previously mentioned habits - JOMT, Who is Oedo?, what was I just building? Oh golly, I shoulda asked for tribute 6 turns ago, etc.

But the worst is playing way too much instead of paying attention to RL. MWHC has a fellow traveller.