Tweet
What are yours in a Civilization II game?
Probably most of mine come from approaching CivII from an "intuitive," gestalt perspective more than a "sensory," detail-orientated one, checking your cities every turn with F4 and being zealous about caravan production and accruing beaker rates, and so forth. I play a common-sense game and follow general guidelines about what to build and when, probably akin to the average strong player (I play on Emperor level). This amounts to steady, piecemeal development, though I imagine not without inefficiency; examples such as hanging out in Monarchy a few decades longer than you should because I like supporting three units per city, ditto with Republic because dealing with a stagnant civ before the transition into Democracy several turns in late-game is a hassle, and building city improvements I probably don't need. I also can't help being egalitarian about my cities; they ALL need marketplaces/libraries/banks/universities/stock exchanges/research labs/superhighways! And building things like mass transits and recycling centers because I don't like the idea of promoting ultra-polluting city-scapes, even with scores of engineers sauntering around to clean up waste. My early game probably isn't all it should be, since there seems to be a billion things to do and not enough shields in the world to do it in. It's not uncommon in the 1600s for me to have nothing but barracks/granaries/temples/cathedrals in my cities because I've been too busy expanding into permanent nation boundries and building caravans to do much else (though usually the game really picks up by the time Industrialization is discovered). Usually my spaceship lands on AC in the late 20th or early 21th century.
Bad habits I no longer do:
Neglecting home defences: Just because one staves off war with the AI with the Great War/UN/bribes doesn't mean it's full-proof. Bad experiences of dealing with bellicose mid-game AI landing their cavalry/cannons/armor on my shores against cities defended by antiquated phalanxes/pikemen scared me straight. Now I update all my defenders when appropriate tech becomes available, I include "countertrike" fast units in critical cities (including fighters in the modern era), and city walls in border territories.
Neglecting counter-espionage forces in cities: Less crucial than standard defences but important nonetheless. Ultimately by late-game the point is moot however, as AI will steal any space-race tech they please with diplomats entering cities guarded by veteran spies.
Building the Manhattan Project: Another bad habit I conquered.
Not bringing down enemy city walls before sending in the troops: Speaks for itself. Middle Age/Rennisance wars are the worst, since I usually have to send 5-6 diplomats into a city I want to sack in order for the buggers to [/i]finally[i] target the city walls.
Neglecting creating trade routes: I no longer do this, despite the great nuisance in building three caravans a-piece in your major cities, loading them onto caravels/galleons, and then starting the often prolix journey overseas to a neighboring civ to dump them off. The long-term effects of trade are simply too much of a boon to write caravans off due to laziness.
So those are some of my current and past bad habits in a Civ game. What are yours?
Probably most of mine come from approaching CivII from an "intuitive," gestalt perspective more than a "sensory," detail-orientated one, checking your cities every turn with F4 and being zealous about caravan production and accruing beaker rates, and so forth. I play a common-sense game and follow general guidelines about what to build and when, probably akin to the average strong player (I play on Emperor level). This amounts to steady, piecemeal development, though I imagine not without inefficiency; examples such as hanging out in Monarchy a few decades longer than you should because I like supporting three units per city, ditto with Republic because dealing with a stagnant civ before the transition into Democracy several turns in late-game is a hassle, and building city improvements I probably don't need. I also can't help being egalitarian about my cities; they ALL need marketplaces/libraries/banks/universities/stock exchanges/research labs/superhighways! And building things like mass transits and recycling centers because I don't like the idea of promoting ultra-polluting city-scapes, even with scores of engineers sauntering around to clean up waste. My early game probably isn't all it should be, since there seems to be a billion things to do and not enough shields in the world to do it in. It's not uncommon in the 1600s for me to have nothing but barracks/granaries/temples/cathedrals in my cities because I've been too busy expanding into permanent nation boundries and building caravans to do much else (though usually the game really picks up by the time Industrialization is discovered). Usually my spaceship lands on AC in the late 20th or early 21th century.
Bad habits I no longer do:
Neglecting home defences: Just because one staves off war with the AI with the Great War/UN/bribes doesn't mean it's full-proof. Bad experiences of dealing with bellicose mid-game AI landing their cavalry/cannons/armor on my shores against cities defended by antiquated phalanxes/pikemen scared me straight. Now I update all my defenders when appropriate tech becomes available, I include "countertrike" fast units in critical cities (including fighters in the modern era), and city walls in border territories.
Neglecting counter-espionage forces in cities: Less crucial than standard defences but important nonetheless. Ultimately by late-game the point is moot however, as AI will steal any space-race tech they please with diplomats entering cities guarded by veteran spies.
Building the Manhattan Project: Another bad habit I conquered.
Not bringing down enemy city walls before sending in the troops: Speaks for itself. Middle Age/Rennisance wars are the worst, since I usually have to send 5-6 diplomats into a city I want to sack in order for the buggers to [/i]finally[i] target the city walls.
Neglecting creating trade routes: I no longer do this, despite the great nuisance in building three caravans a-piece in your major cities, loading them onto caravels/galleons, and then starting the often prolix journey overseas to a neighboring civ to dump them off. The long-term effects of trade are simply too much of a boon to write caravans off due to laziness.
So those are some of my current and past bad habits in a Civ game. What are yours?
I used to be that way, but now I try to not build improvements unless the situation completely cries out for them. The default is always Settlers/Caravans/attack units. For example, my SSC gets a library, but most of the others don't until they're, oh, about size 12 and have 30+ arrows.
I suppose my other major bad habit is not focusing on one of conquest or AC... I find myself expanding and attacking AIs while trying at the same time to get 1 turn/tech so as to land on AC. If I focused on one or the other, I'd win faster.
I agree with what you say however; I suppose the sentimental part of me that indulges in excess improvement construction likes to believe I'm building a "civilized" empire for my citizenry to live in.
Lots of trade is involved, I'm sure.
Comment