I tried Civ4; I sucked. Trying Civ5 because it's supposed to be easy...

[QuantumPion]

Reposting my reply:

The problem with Civ4 is that at higher difficulty (BTS --> Prince and above) you need to constantly wage war to expand or you -will- get behind. The AI get so many bonus, its not even funny. It makes the game kinda formulaic to be honest, you have to trade tech and wage war or you die. I now prefer playing Paradox's grand strategy games.

That may be true on Deity only, because the bonuses from Emperor->Deity are 2x as much as the bonuses from monarch->emperor combined. But I can definitely win on Emperor without having to go to war - depending on map conditions. It's all a matter of diplomacy - keeping yourself neutral while everyone else at war.

The game is only formulaic in the sense that the AI follows rational, predictable rules. Not that what the AI does in any particular game is predictable, but you can be confident that Montezuma will declare war on the nearest neighbor, and that Napoleon will try to backstab you, and Mansa Musa will trade every single tech he has or that you give him to everyone else. This makes the game, you know, a game, and not just a bunch of random shit that you can't predict or control.

 

[QuantumPion]

As far as Civ4 is concerned, it's really quite easy on the lower difficulties. Unless you've never played a TBS before ever and have no idea what to do. In which case you might want to start with a simpler game like Civ 1, Master of Orion 1, etc.

Here's a guide on how to win Civ 4 at the first three difficulties:
Settler: Build 6 settlers.
Chieftain: Press Ctrl-R to see resource bubbles. Build 8 workers.
Warlord: Press F9 to see demographics screen. Make sure you are first in soldiers.

That's basically all you have to do. You can basically automate all workers and automate all city governors, and hit next turn until you win on settler and chieftain.

 

[QuantumPion]

Excellent strategy guide here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632

 

[rga]

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I've been checking out those resources, and playing around in the game to get a better understanding of it. I downloaded the instruction manual too. I've been playing quick games at lowest difficulty on small maps. In my current game I've come across a barbarian camp that I destroyed, and I came across two other civilizations. They both gave me a gift upon discovery. Again Germany greeted me, but I'm not sure if I should declare war or allegiance with them yet, so again I've done nothing.

I'm back to work this week, so I won't have much time to play. As soon as I do though, I'll be hopping right back into it.

 

[paperfist]

while we're at it, why is it that in 5 you can use a resource only once? who thought that up?

They needed a way to up the difficulty level after producing this gem of a console game...

You guys saying that CIV V is difficult feel the same way about RTS games?

I think hard isn't the correct word, the game is easy to play, you just have to figure out what all the units do. Primarily to learn, you should be concerned with your settler unit which can be produced from any city queue. Pump one out and place it at least 6 titles away from another city. You want it to be within 3 tiles in any direction of ample food producing tiles, bonus tiles like gold, gems, fish, etc and near some hills so that it can turn them into mines for production.

Then pump out a worker. These guys can take grassland near water and irrigate them (with the proper technology) and turn their food resources into greater food production. They can turn hills into mines, build roads and other items as you unlock them from the tech tree.

You'll want to produce some warriors or archers after the settler and worker to protect your city from opponents.

A scout is a good next unit to produce (or first overall depending on your stagey), they can explore the land faster and get larger returns on uncovering 'goodie' tiles.

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I've been checking out those resources, and playing around in the game to get a better understanding of it. I downloaded the instruction manual too. I've been playing quick games at lowest difficulty on small maps. In my current game I've come across a barbarian camp that I destroyed, and I came across two other civilizations. They both gave me a gift upon discovery. Again Germany greeted me, but I'm not sure if I should declare war or allegiance with them yet, so again I've done nothing.

I'm back to work this week, so I won't have much time to play. As soon as I do though, I'll be hopping right back into it.

If you generate a larger map it typically gives you a lot more 'turtle' time to build up your civilization without some other civilization breathing down your neck.

 

[arredondo]

Excellent strategy guide here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632

As a new player who will play his first game after the expansion launches, thanks for the link!

 

[QuantumPion]

As a new player who will play his first game after the expansion launches, thanks for the link!

It's for Civ 4