CtP difficulty levels

[Rubbduck]

Hey!

I could need a few hints concerning the difficulty levels.

I easily played through "King" level and decided to try Imperator level for a change. Even this posed few to no resistance to a dedicated player; I was far ahead of all computer opponents by the time we approached renaissance.

So, I decided it was time for deity. Much to my surprise, however, winning on deity level seems to be almost impossible. By 200 AD, I was already so far behind ALL of the computer civs that I had no chance to compete anymore. I was really happy to discover the technologies needed to generate knights, when one of the comp civs entered renaissance!

Is there any trick here? Do I have to change my approach fundamentally when playing at this level, did I even do something really wrong maybe? Or is it truly so that all of the other difficulties are not much different at all, while deity is almost impossible to make? Help!

[ENGINEER]

Deity is harder, but sometimes just a bad start or bad location can get you far behind. Did you start with 2 settlers or one? This can also make a big difference. If all else fails, try again

[ZoboZeWarrior]

This not impossible to win on Deity level. It's harder to win with Alien project through.

More the card is big, more is easier. It's difficult to beat computer on Techs or wonder run. But This not essential to win.

Polution is a big problem, because it's dangerous for you and the computer didn't matter about it.

[Immortal Wombat]

card

map ?

[phoenixcager]

Originally posted by ENGINEER
Did you start with 2 settlers or one?

Hmmm....I thought you always get 2 settlers in Deity.

[Fuzzball]

I've never had 2 settlers on deity in single player...the ai gets 2 and I get 1. At the beginning of a single player game (diety level ofcourse) the first thing I build is a warrior, settler, phalanx, settler, phalanx, settler. When I settle my second and third cities I go all out for wonders. Then I go for further expansion, moving each settler with phalanx and keeping atleast one unit in each city. The ai knows which of the cities are unoccupied and will always hit them. I normally don't bother with any city improvements until I reach a pop of 3, but that always depends on distance from cap and wonders etc. Anyways, there's alot more to it, but little things like that help.

[Rubbduck]

Okay, thanks alot for the hints I got. I have started quite alot of Deity games by now, and I NEVER got a second settler; but it was obvious that the AI had two settlers everywhere.

Thanks anyway; I'm trying to win a purely military victory now, counting on the fact that even men with sticks can easily bring down a tank or stealth bomber given numbers... ;-)

[PN]

If you take a look in DiffDB.txt in your CTP directories, this gives you a good idea of the differences between starting positions for the difficulty levels.

[Fuzzball]

DiffDB.txt also gives you a fair idea of how much the program allows the ai to cheat. It's a good file to play with in modifications.