How do you play this game and actually win?

[Smash]

hehe.no substitute for experience

The problem with that is this game is decided in the early/mid game.

First crack at wonders=first to build wonders.

first to Philosophy.To Democracy etc..

By the time you "catch up" the game will be over.You will take even more time to build infastructure to support your "larger" civ.To keep em happy.Meanwhile the "trader" will have used "we love" to catch up in population in literally a few turns.Whilst the "production" civ will be full of Elvi'

The transition from science to production is easy and natural in late game.Not so the other way.

You will have to make war to slow them down but you will be facing superior military technology all game.

The game favors the peaceful scientist.

imo

[JERandall]

Ming wrote:

> Your strategy is sound against the AI. [...]
>
> However, in MP, you can't afford to fall
> behind early in sciences, especially with
> agressive opponents who are racing through
> the science tree. All your shields can't
> build wonders if they are already built
> before you get the science.

This point is well taken. I have never played multiplayer (MP), so my strategies are directed against the AI.

Two further comments.

First, to continue the comparions to MOO2 -- in that game, the production maximization strategy is even *more* effective in multiplayer. Currently there is a discussion on alt.games.moo2 as to whether a non-production player can possibly keep up with everyone else. It can be done against the AI but not against good human opponents.

In CivII the opposite appears to be the case: the science maximization strategy is the only effective strategy against human opponents.

My second comment -- getting away from the shields vs. trade arrows argument -- let us focus on population. More pop. means more shields or trade (or both). Because the early game is so critical, it seems that you goal should be to maximize your trade as quickly as possible. The question is, will you maximize trade faster by concentrating on trade arrows from the start, or should you engage in a brief period of pop. maximization first?

If, by turn X, you have 5 size-2 cities to an opponent's 2 size-3 cities and 1 size-1 city, it seems you should always have more trade than him (barring outrageous imbalance in special resource squares). Thus it may be that your best bet early in the game is to expand as quickly as possible, spreading out and maximizing your pop. *which equals* maximizing trade.

Clearly there is an inflection point somewhere, beyond which you receive diminishing returns from the pop. maximization strategy. After that point you should allow your main cities to grow and focus on maximizing trade (while still building new cities in outlying areas). I don't have a hard and fast rule for when this inflection point occurs, just a general feel -- but I would be interested to hear from anyone who has a more rigorous mathematical underpinning to his strategy.


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JERandall

[Jim W]

Well, folks, day before yesterday I started a new game. As of last night, I'm still at 1060 BC, with 15+ cities. (Sorry, I was half asleep when I counted them last night and I didn't write the number down.)

I should perhaps give some of the credit to Tim Smith's Hi-Res Graphics, which I installed just before starting the game. I mean, when your Settler is represented by a covered wagon icon, it's a little harder to say, "okay, you just do a bit of irrigation here before you go off and found a new city."

Thanks again, everyone.

Jim W

[general_charles]

Here's how I do it:
first, you must build a lot of cities, I always first build a settler with a city (except for the first one where it comes second) and then a defensive unit, then I move on to the imrovements, try to favor library then market and wonders, continue building new towns and use those new towns to build new towns until you discover explosives (NOTE: you must get Leonardo's workshop) then stop building new cities, you should have a pretty good empire by now and start improving your land with the engineers (NOTE: each time a city finishes building, build an engineer until every city has one). When all of your cities have roads, farms or mines and railroads on each square and railroads between them, you can start expanding again (it will take time).
But this strategy ensures sufficient research and military potential, to attck, go to the PARTISANS folder and follow my directions.

[Ming]

As the old argument goes... 3 one size cities produce 6 workers (the city square plus one in the surrounding terrain) One three size city has 4 workers... It's easy math! Plus, mulitple cities will probably mean more special resources to draw on.

Early expansion is key. Overall pop, while making a difference, can always be made up latter via we love you days in Republic and Democracy. So the more new cities, the better. I start developing my cities when I either run out of room to expand, or the original cities are so far from the front, that a settler will take way to long to start a new city. This is when I start thinking of building roads to. Unless a settler is crossing over a square that I wanted roaded for trade purposes, I will not improve until I'm getting close to my max cities, or the settler has nothing better to do

[SilverDragon]

Jim W -

If you have 15 cities around 1000 BC on Warlord, you will probably win. Soon you'll be ready for prince level.



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Long live the Communists!
-- SilverDragon