Why do I suck at CivIV?

[Man in the Funny Hat]

There was a time when I could win Civilization at any difficulty level. With CivI I could win at any level by any means. That was a much simpler game than it is now, though. With CivII it was still pretty much the same and I never had real problems, though I recognized that there were flaws and crutches. If you ever got behind the 8-ball you just converted to fundamentalism and blew everything up with tanks and artillery until you'd done enough damage to win by other means without worries. With CivIII and CivIV however I just never have grokked it. Too many changes, new rules and issues to balance or something.

The question I had was can anyone point me to a strategy guide - a REAL strategy guide? One that actually taught strategy to apply in the game? Something to TEACH me how to win at Civilization again? Online or print doesn't matter. I'd look for something in print but all they ever seem to be is a printed Civilopedia, they never seem to deal with the game concepts, how they interact (and DON'T interact), and how to apply them to acheive various types of victories. I looked briefly at a few Civ-dedicated forums, but they don't look to be terribly "newb"-friendly these days.

 

[Simplicity]

Well, civfanatics.com and apolyton.net are probably your best places to look for guides. It might help you to read a few walkthroughs as well.

What level do you play at? I usually play and sometimes win on Prince, so if that's the level of play you're looking at, I can probably help some.

Basic tips:
----------

1) Cottages are your friend. Put them in every floodplain or grassland you can find.
2) No copper and no iron = you lose. Get them and defend them.
3) Barbarians spawn in the fog. If they're giving you a hard time, put some archers out on some hills to bust that fog up.
4) Also, don't attack animals/barbarians unless given no other choice. Let them attack you. Preferrably on a wooded or hilled area. This is harder to do with the latest expansion, but still good advice.
5) Know how to play rock-paper-scissors. Archers defend cities. Swordsmen beat archers in cities. Axemen beat swordsmen (and aren't bad against archers in numbers). Chariots beat axemen (in later patches).
6) Scout. You need to know the lay of the land if you want to win. You also need to know where your opponents are. Plus, nothing makes the early game easier than a few free techs.
7) Defeat one neighbor early. The earlier you kill a neighbor, the more room for expansion you'll have.
8) Don't over expand! In Civ4, this is vital. Every city costs you maintenance. You won't be able to sustain more than a handful until you get economic improvements. If you have spare land nearby, aim for courthouses and marketplaces.
9) Trade technologies with abandon.

 

[WhatGravitas]

8) Don't over expand! In Civ4, this is vital. Every city costs you maintenance. You won't be able to sustain more than a handful until you get economic improvements. If you have spare land nearby, aim for courthouses and marketplaces.

This is the most important point of a Civ-veteran. In Civ I and to a lesser extent in Civ II, spamming cities was a viable win strategy. In Civ IV, you have to slow your rate of expansion, and develop cities. Especially, because cities don't cost per building in the city any more.

Developed cities in Civ IV can be monsters in their output... and specialize them. The national wonders are limited to two per city, so choose them wise, possibly in accordance with your 'great personalities'.

And I also agree with killing your first neighbor, if possible. And then, keep your cities tight, to minimize the maintenance costs.

Also identify key technologies - some give you a bonus, if you research them first. Also: Getting one religion is pretty much a must, because then you can get the religion wonder, that gives you one gold per city with that religion on the map - that's a huge boost, especially during the start of the game. And more gold = more technologies.

Well, that's basically, the stuff I've learned with Civ 4, and I win more than the half of my games (not by points - there I'm always winning) with a mid-difficulty.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Simplicity]

As fun as religions are, I only really pick them because I like that aspect of the game. I find that even though they can rake in quite a bit of gold (and now other bonuses with the expansion packs), they tend not to be worth the massive diplo penalties unless I go wonder crazy. But then again, I like my wonders too.

Regardless, you should know that picking a religion is going to anger most of the world unless you are really, really persistent with those missionaries.

 

[XCorvis]

I'm not great at CivIV, but I can win and find it fun. What I've noticed is that it really takes a different play style than earlier versions.

1. Keep good diplomatic relations with others. That means TRADE! If you don't keep them happy, they gang up on you. If they're happy, you can get them to gang up on others.
2. Mixed unit types are REQUIRED to win battles.
3. No one Tech is going to win for you. Each individual tech is better (none are totally useless), but none of them are overpoweringly awesome like in other games.
4. Wonders are good, but not that great.

Also, CivFanatics.com is totally the place to go. Their War Academy is up and running, so check that out:
http://civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/

 

[WhatGravitas]

As fun as religions are, I only really pick them because I like that aspect of the game. I find that even though they can rake in quite a bit of gold (and now other bonuses with the expansion packs), they tend not to be worth the massive diplo penalties unless I go wonder crazy. But then again, I like my wonders too.

With the Beyond the Sword-expansion, a well-spread religion + the Apostolic Palace can help immensely. It you do it properly, you can enforce peace and war. And thus keep yourself quite safe.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Nifft]

I just got Beyond the Sword today, so I'm only speaking about Civ IV + Warlords.

Be Aggressive! You need an early kill or two. If you can't kill your neighbor, at least make sure you get one of his cities. If you can't keep his city, then make sure you destroy one of his cities. You need to weaken your neighbors early, and you need to kill them often. Being a straight-up Builder will get you a fair fight later, at the time of your foe's choosing -- and you do NOT want a fair fight!

Cheers, -- N

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Also, as silly as this sounds to have to say, maintain a standing army, both in your city garrisons, and outside.

There's nothing like having the Aztecs come across the border and not having enough of a garrison in your city to hold them off while you build an army to fight them. I'm especially guilty of this, because I'm still used to Civ2, where you could apply production from buildings to units in an emergency.

The other benefit of the standing army is that you're less likely to get attacked for having them, since the computer does take your relative strengths into account. They also give you the option of attacking your opponent, and dealing with barbarians. They are expensive to upgrade, but then again, if you use them up, you don't have to upgrade them.

Brad