Why do players find Deity so difficult?

[La Fayette]

quote: Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly on 04-25-2001 05:15 AM in SimCity, it's the more sedate pleasure of building and maintaining a world. Civ: it's two, two, two games in one!

Have you tried Simcity at highest difficulty level, Rufus?
IMHO it's no sedate pleasure: deep in debt and no way out (took me over a month to master it; still I suppose that people like Dave or Xin Yu turn to green within a few years, ...don't they?).
Agree with you though: civ is at least 2 games in 1 (dream of what happens when civ3 appears ).

[TCO]

quote: Originally posted by Dissident on 04-24-2001 03:46 AM OK here are my problems (although I have learned a few new tricks but haven't played civ2 so I haven't implemented them yet) one is i was too perectionist. I let the ai build up uninterrupted. and I just couldnt' keep up with their cheating. by the time I reach gunpowder the ai has surpassed me in size (# of cities and population). plus I wasn't using caravans and trade efficiently. the unhappiness really isn't tooo bad. but it is a nuisance. [This message has been edited by Dissident (edited April 24, 2001).]

You need to learn to be more of a ruthless little bugger. Tape that AI to the bulkhead and ream his non-qual ass!

[Waaaaaayne]

I play Deity only very Rarely because I find that Civ II is just more fun when I don't loose all my hard work when the computer defeats me.
Also I find it a lot of fun to re-write history in bizarre and amusing ways (nuking knights is so stress relieving) especially when playing on the world map.

[The Mighty Asterix]

I can only win on deity if I reload games...

[Kitana]

I play all levels but I don't play Deity very often. I actually like starting games more than finishing them, I tend to get bored with all of the micro-management and all the moves of units. Probably why I play what I call Isolationist. I try to play with out going to other civs.

I like turns that last from 5-10 minutes and I can at times get bored with longer turns. That is also why I usually don't play MP, I tend to get bored waiting between turns. So it isn't that I can't play Deity it is that it requires more management than say King which I usually play.

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Kitana
Shogun of the Japanese

[My Wife Hates CIV]

'Why do players find Deity so difficult? '

don't know AH. I've never lost a deity game. The AI can't wage war - on any level.

[Waaaaaayne]

quote: . I actually like starting games more than finishing them

I'm the opposite, I get bored at the begining sitting around for ages waiting to get up a force of two or three units to attack with. I find the game much more fun later on when you're airlifting two or three units a turn against the enenemy in a massive Blitzkreig.

[Mixam]

I am kinda like Kitana. I like to start games and sometimes don't finish them. I like founding my empire but once I have a lot of cities and there are units popping out everywhere. I find I usually just hit w or space until I can do what I wanted to this turn and then deal with the new units. I think that is the reason people like OCC so much. You don't have to worry about that. Myself I hate ICS. Not because I play multiplayer and someone kicks my ass with it but because I tried it a few times and there is so damn many cities to control with 100 units popping out a turn sometimes. Give me 4000 BC over 1500 AD any day!

[VetLegion]

quote: I can only win on deity if I reload games...

Try The Rock in your next game. Like this:
Build and grow your usual way (any is good, even pretty perfectionist). At the point you discover trireme, send them around to research map (always loaded with at least a warrior for huts!).
When you find an AI civ, find a chokepoint on their continent (they always exist) and put your unit there. If there are two chokepoints, secure both. If you brought a settler (or tipped from a hut) found a city near chokepoint, if not, bring one over from mainland. The purpose of this city is to build units to choke the chokepoint. AI will usually concentrate on your chokepoint and not send triremes with settlers around.

Do not let AI spread settlers around. Isolate the guy and he will never expand.

This is far easier then it seems. Usually even weakest units (warriors) are good for The Rock. If they kill it you make peace and build another. With some feeling for the map, you can do it fast, and secure all enemy civs before they have 10 cities (usually 3-6). Later you can pick them off one by one at time you see fit with strategy you see fit.

That is assuming you would like to win at deity, fast, and hate ICS, OCC and other weird stuff
It is how I play. It is especially nice when you block off 4 city civ on a far away continent with room for 20 cities, and send elephants/crusaders 20 turns later to finish the poor guy.

[solo]

quote: And along this broad spectrum of play-styles, the AI is strongest in the middle. The two ends of the spectrum can be exploited strategically for easier victory. ICS occupies one end of the strategic spectrum and OCC the other. ICS expands more rapidly than the AI, builds bigger armies, becomes Supreme, demands tribute and goes for early conquest. OCC forms peaceful alliances, builds caravans, becomes Pathetic, requests gifts, and goes for early AC Landings. Most people who have difficulty at Deity, I think, play a style that is in the middle of the strategic spectrum where the AI is toughest. samson

A very succinct and well written analysis. It's funny how we players gravitate towards one or both extremes in attempts to excel at the game. Perhaps the better challenge would be to purposely avoid either extreme and find the best way to beat the AI where it is strongest, in the middle.

[airdrik]

I am only starting to play on diety, and hopefully I will be able to play it regularly. The way it has been for me is that I end up loosing all but about one of the early wonders because the AI snages them sometimes before I even get the tech to start building it. In all my previous games something ended up happening and I just never got back to the game, but In my current one I had a pretty decent starting position where I settled 4 cities and started to expand elsewhere. Right now in those 4 cities I am able to build just about any wonder long before the AI does using my allies' money to buy caravans/freights (I just can't spell that word ) to help build the wonders.

It will take some getting used to, but I don't think it is nearly as hard as I used to think it was. You just have to make sure and secure a few alliances with the other civs.

[Edward]

quote: The two ends of the spectrum can be exploited strategically for easier victory.

samson,

Well said. In any game that allows a lot of flexibility in building your persona (e.g. role-playing and empire building games) you can almost always become very powerful (albeit lopsided) by throwing all your resources into one area. As Rufus T. Firefly pointed out, once you play a game for a while it becomes more interesting to use sub-optimal strategies and see what happens.

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I'm with Kitana and Mixam. I most enjoy the beginning when everything is undiscovered and new. Dealing with a lot of cities and units in the late game can get to be a drag. Also the ancient units, like the past, hold some romantic sway over my mind that machine guns and nukes just don't have.

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VetLegion,

Great advice! This is what East Street Trader was alluding to in his earlier post and is a strategy I use every game. Rapidly explore in the beginning and fence in the AI with well-placed units. Then you can settle/conquer at your leisure.