Who has actually won on Civ4?

[CPA]

I have tried nearly a dozen times on Normal speed, default skill level (forgot what it is called) and I get my asked kicked every time. Anyone have any good tips?

I have tried a variety of maps and civs, but none have done any better than the other. My last attempt, I focused on getting the tech/government/whateveryoucallit to pay to speed up unit production. Did well for a while, then the AI slowly pulled away from me in terms of score. Eventually, I got triple teamed and destroyed

Oh, and is there a way to pay for research similar to paying to speed up unit production?

 

[Anubis]

i beat it on prince the otherday

 

[Celstar]

its damn difficult to beat the game on conquest... and the other types of victory don't really appeal to me, so I shelfed the game for a while.

 

[Looney]

I've been playing on prince... and my success rate is about 1 in 4.

If you're first starting out, i would suggest you play Warlord, until you get the hang of it. Then play Noble. The trick is to use forests clearning to punch out wonders as fast as you can. And make one city a wonder city, and load up as much wonder as possible. This city will also be the Great Persons factory, and if you're a nation with a GP bonus, and you have the wonders that give GP bonus, and have the pacificism civic, you can pump out GP at a very fast rate.

The only direct way to speed up research is with GPs.. as well as have research on full 100%. You can also assign specialists in cities for research... and create a research city.

 

[Atheus]

It's one of those games that requires you to put a bit of effort into learning the system, like RPGs and such. civfanatics.com is a great resource.

 

[Jman13]

I haven't beaten it yet, but I'm well on my way with just a standard time win with highest score. I'm in the process of systematically nuking all the Japanese cities (nothing against Japan, just they were a weaker civilization and far enough away that they can't attack me with land based units.) It's about 1975 in my game, so I've got a while left, but I don't see anyone overtaking me.

 

[Looney]

Out of all the games i've played, and i'v played like over 20 of them, i've never nuked but in one game... it just didn't seem to be worthwhile. The city doesn't get destroyed or anything, which is a shame.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Looney
Out of all the games i've played, and i'v played like over 20 of them, i've never nuked but in one game... it just didn't seem to be worthwhile. The city doesn't get destroyed or anything, which is a shame.

it kills half the pop of the city and destroys units like no other, nukeing before you go in and sack teh city is a sure fire way to almost gaurentee takeing it

it however does give you a HUGE amount of negative points with everyone else

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Does anyone here play online?

 

[Kyteland]

There are a bunch of good tips in this thread. I'm too lazy to retype any of them.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Looney
Out of all the games i've played, and i'v played like over 20 of them, i've never nuked but in one game... it just didn't seem to be worthwhile. The city doesn't get destroyed or anything, which is a shame.

it kills half the pop of the city and destroys units like no other, nukeing before you go in and sack teh city is a sure fire way to almost gaurentee takeing it

it however does give you a HUGE amount of negative points with everyone else

The few times i used nukes... more than half were intercepted... and then the land would be radiated.

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Did you assume that Nuclear winter was a Wonder of the World? Could'nt keep your finger of the shiny red candy like button now could you?

 

[lozina]

So far I only lost once to the IA- due to a space race

but I've only played maybe 5 or 6 full games. usually standard map with alot of civs to play with

edit: oh and difficulty is usually Noble I think- whatever the one is where neither me or the IA get bonuses. Last game was prince though

 

[CPA]

Thanks for some of the tips. I assume I should wait to clear forests until I start producing a wonder, correct?

Also, has anyone tried raiding or taking cities very early on? or is it a waste of time?

How far do you guys normally space out your cities?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: CPA
Thanks for some of the tips. I assume I should wait to clear forests until I start producing a wonder, correct?

Also, has anyone tried raiding or taking cities very early on? or is it a waste of time?

How far do you guys normally space out your cities?

optimum spaceing is 5 squares between them, so City 1 ( 4 empty spaces) City 2 on 5th square
this makes it so that each city can have its "fat cross" and not overlap with other cities

and in civ 4 unlike civ3 having a LARGE ammnt of cities isnt always better, on a LARGE world like 8-10 is optimum

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: CPA
Thanks for some of the tips. I assume I should wait to clear forests until I start producing a wonder, correct?

Also, has anyone tried raiding or taking cities very early on? or is it a waste of time?

How far do you guys normally space out your cities?

optimum spaceing is 5 squares between them, so City 1 ( 4 empty spaces) City 2 on 5th square
this makes it so that each city can have its "fat cross" and not overlap with other cities

and in civ 4 unlike civ3 having a LARGE ammnt of cities isnt always better, on a LARGE world like 8-10 is optimum

Until you start conquering :evil:

 

[Hacp]

1/2 on prince. won once on monarch but the starting position had a buncha forests and 2 clams.

One tip is to balance yourself on the trading of techs. There is a certain amount of techs you can trade before the AI won't trade iwht you unless you are friendly. Only trade the times you NEED the techs, as later on, you might not be able to trade techs anymore.

Another tip would be to try to grow your main city a fair size before putting out settlers. Size 4-6 is a nice area to be in, depending on how many food resources you have.

In the early ages, try to get code of laws and currency. Those two techs allow for marketplaces and courthouses. Marketplaces add 25% gold and courthouses reduce corruption by half.

Try to at least found one religion. The Religoius Wonders matter alot. They might be the difference between 4 cities and 6 cities. Each aditional city after the first you found costs gold per turn. The more cities you have, the more gold per turn you have to pay.

Research at 100% or close to it. Research is very important in Civ4

Remember to build some cottages. More gold= More research and research is very important in Civ4

Theres are the early wonders that I rate the highest. They are not set in stone. They are just the best early wonders based on my playstyle.

Stonehedge
Colossus
Great Lighthouse
Pyramids
Oracle
Great Library
Hanging Gardens

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: CPA
Thanks for some of the tips. I assume I should wait to clear forests until I start producing a wonder, correct?

Also, has anyone tried raiding or taking cities very early on? or is it a waste of time?

How far do you guys normally space out your cities?

The only time i would start a war is if i needed to.... for example, they have a quarry tile. Or they're on a chokepoint and i need access to another side. Usuually though, they start wars with me.

And yeah, save the forrests for wonders or pushing out workers/settlers in the beginning.

 

[torpid]

I've won a fair number of them, but it seems like it's impossible to win a long game without a space victory or UN victory. I have no idea how anyone can win a cultural victory.

Also worth noting, my score has been pretty pathetic each time I've won.

 

[CPA]

Another question: someone mentioned that you don't need libriaries, universities, etc in every city. Does this hold true for marketplaces and grocers also? Does it mean that there is a dimishing scale of return for each one I add? My understanding is the marketplace, grocer, courthouse only impacts the city it is in, so it would make sense to build one in each city.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: CPA
Another question: someone mentioned that you don't need libriaries, universities, etc in every city. Does this hold true for marketplaces and grocers also? Does it mean that there is a dimishing scale of return for each one I add? My understanding is the marketplace, grocer, courthouse only impacts the city it is in, so it would make sense to build one in each city.

Basically, it all depends. For libraries/universities, it is ideal to have it in all cities, but if you don't thats OK. You want the libraries and universities in the cities that produce the most gold, or in your largest cities. As for marketplaces/grocers, you should have them in your biggest cities first, then go down to smaller cities. For courthouses, have them in the cities farthest away from your capital first. These are all generalizations, and of course the situation may vary.

 

[sandorski]

Haven't played Civ 4, but have played Civ1,2,3. Your best bet as winning is to focus on how you want to win first, then consistently work towards that goal developing the Tech, Cities, and Wonders that will help you the most. Not always easy to do and many a time I had to change my goal mid-game, but if you jump around trying to do everything you'll end up completely unable to win no matter what you do.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: torpid
I've won a fair number of them, but it seems like it's impossible to win a long game without a space victory or UN victory. I have no idea how anyone can win a cultural victory.

Also worth noting, my score has been pretty pathetic each time I've won.

I have won cultural victories, it's tough. (Prince level)

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: torpid
I have no idea how anyone can win a cultural victory.

You need to plan out which cities you are going to use for culture and act accordingly. You definitely need buildings that produce culture, but there are also buildings and civics that increase your culture by a percentage, not by points. The Hermitage increases the cities culture output by 100%. Cathedrals produce +50%, but require 3 temples for each one you build. The Free Speech civic gives all cities 100% more culture. If you can run a large enough food surplus, the artist specialist procuces a lot of culture each turn, and when you generate a Great Artist you can culture bomb the city.

 

[everman]

It's one of those games that seems like it might be simple, but it gets very complex. Learn how make specialized cities so you can turn out lots of great people, science, and production. civfanatics.com forums is a great resource.