How do I beat a better civer?

[Guest]

Ive been playing on MSN game zone for a while now. Everyone I play against is like a great tactition and civ player! What do I do to beat them?! should I try to over run them with a BIG attack force? Or should I try to beat them to the space race?

[DaveV]

First, save periodically in all your games. If you lose (or even if you win), you can go back and learn from what your opponent did.

Second, keep track of the F11 screen. It will give you an idea of whether you're ahead or behind in the game. If I'm first in production and land area in the early game, I'm happy. Look at the F8 screen periodically to see whether your opponent is building a few big cities or a lot of small ones.

Playing style is an individual choice. I like to play an attacking game to keep my opponent off balance. I've heard of MP games going to AC, but I think military victories are a LOT more common.

[Shadowstrike]

Play ICS and become everyone's hated enemy! (Just kidding! )

Try to pick up a few cues from other players and some from this forum, and try them out in SP. Then, go out and try what you usually do in MP. I dunno if this really works (I only have FW), but using this method, I have advanced from Chieftain to Prince in SP (so go ahead, laugh at me! I'm not one of those people who can beat Diety/Raging Hordes with one city, but at least I have fun playing Civ!)

Note: Mild sarcasm in effect in between the last set of brackets.

[Hasdrubal]

For instant advice, call 1-800-CARTHAGE ($1 a minute) a lot while your playing!

------------------
Hasdrubal's Home.
Ceterum censeo Romam esse delendam.

[Mao]

Simple: Bring Ming along as your ally

[Alexander's Horse]

Do your best and if that fails, plead faulty Internet line or cheat.

[Smash]

1.select "show all topics"

2.read every thread in the strategy forum.

3.read every thread in the multiplayer forum.

4.go to the archives and do the same.

that will get ya started...

[Hydey]

You get beat you learn

You get beat you learn

You get beat you learn

you keep doing this until you don't get beat but still you will learn

[Alexander's Horse]

You must be learning a lot in the game we're playing now

[My Wife Hates CIV]

Get a laptop (or any second PC). During turns save the game. Move the saved game over to the second PC and take a look at the whole map. You should now be able to win.

oh, but I guess some would consider this cheating... whiners! Half of the people on the zone do this anyway, why do you think they always win??

[rah]

lol, mwhc
Only 50%, you're obviously an optimist.


RAH
Practice Practice Practice. Play MP with only yourself and try to accomplish the following goals.

Assuming 2x1x Deity raging, or you can alter goals appropriately.

In Monarchy by 3000,
4 cities by 3000
8 cities by 2000

Once you can do these consistently, set the bar higher. You will improve.

RAH

[rah]

Good write up inca911,
Made mine look really simplistic. hahahaha
Yes, you are correct, you must analyze why you're getting your butt kicked.

The method I described will usualy help the novice player, since early expansion and being in despotism till 2000 is the normal problem.

Liked your answer better.

RAH

[tobyr]

Austin,

Chances are that the people who beat you are better players in many, many little ways, rather than better in a few easy-to-describe big ways. Civ2 is a game with an extraordinary number of techniques that can be learned to play better. Smash's advice (above) reflects this idea that there is an awful lot of different things to learn.

If you do look through the strategy topics, you will find some that make more sense to you now than others. Try improving with these first, and then take another look later -- with more experience, some of the other advice will make more sense. If you keep integrating new ideas and undertanding into your play, you will have to improve a lot, and maybe catch your opponents.

Hydey (above) has an important point also. No strategy guide will give you the intuitive feeling you will need to decide what constitutes enough offense or defense, and when it's safe to shift away from defense to speed research. You also have to build a lot of cities to learn what are good layouts and what are weak ones.

There's a good way to speed up your intuitive learning process. When you have to make decisions, think hard about the CONTEXT in which you are making these decisions, and then note whether they work well or not. The hundredth time you think about whether it would be a good idea to postpone building a city wall, you should be subconsciously comparing this game situation to similar situations in which you had to make the same decision. You can only make these comparisons effectively (and intiutively) if you paid attention to the details of similar game situations in the past.

- toby


- toby


------------------
toby robison
criticalpaths@mindspring.com

[inca911]

Thanks for the kind words, rah. You are absolutely correct that the #1 goal for any civ game should be Monarchy ASAP. After that, opinons should and do differ, but I've never seen any convincing argument showing Monarchy late is better than Monarchy early!!!

[Austin the Iron Fisted]

I cant really pinpoint the exact problem. I think it is that I have only played a few multiplayer games and those didnt last beyond 1000 BC, so I havent had enough playing time to know what im being beaten in. Am I asking for help to soon? one time I think the problem was just bad luck. It was 2000 BC and I had no income and my science was discoveries every 15 turns, and I had the science as high as it could go!
[This message has been edited by Austin the Iron Fisted (edited August 01, 2000).]