Overall Style/Preference of Play

[bigvic]

Just wondering what others like in a game. Very general question, I know, but curious about such various aspects as mods, choice of map, number of restarts, peaceful/warlike choices, level of difficulty, etc.

Recently got into playing large world, 16 civs, raging hordes, monarch, map & civ totally random, and sticking it out until all hope is totally lost or victory. Having good results w/ the American game I'm playing, struggling valiently in the French one.

[Harovan]

Ok, here's my input:

My map preferences vary. I play huge maps now (finally my new hardware allows it ). Sometimes 16 civs/continents, sometimes 9 civs/pangaea, but this preference is often broken by the map generator. My current huge/9 game had the preference pangaea too, but has ocean separated continents. Playing on huge maps is best with expansionist civs, so I concentrate on those. My overall favorite are the Iroquois, but I am gaining experience with other expansionist civs as well.

My difficulty level varies between Monarch and Emperor. I strive to be the biggest fish early, so I concentrate on settler building, but keep a decent army. Since on huge maps (especially with only 9 civs) the civs are far each from other, I avoid early conquests. My ancient wars are rather destructive, I weaken the AI, what helps to achieve the "biggest fish" goal. I raze cities (most are size 1 without culture anyway), but I keep the cities I gain in peace negotiations.

My game style is warmonger-builder, I also call it "snake style". That means, I build up till no space is left. Then I make space for further growth by attacking my neighbors. After this, I build up the gained space again, but at the same time attack the next victim. Since I mostly have more than one neighbor, I more or less am constantly at war.

I don't use mods far from Sn00py's excellent graphics. I also refuse to change settings in the editor.

[I-iZ-1337]

I general33 playz small or tiny mapz on deit33, altho I've played bigga, I wouldn't b33 1337 if I couldn't. I like pang33a on smaller mapz, on bigga mapz I tend to goz continentalz. If j00 want yo s33 my stratz check out my stratz thred.

[bigvic]

Originally posted by I-iZ-1337
I general33 playz small or tiny mapz on deit33, altho I've played bigga, I wouldn't b33 1337 if I couldn't. I like pang33a on smaller mapz, on bigga mapz I tend to goz continentalz. If j00 want yo s33 my stratz check out my stratz thred.

How many civs? Any mods? guess I should check out your strat thread closer. Sorry if I said anything disparaging on your thread. Didn't really mean it that way, though it was a rough week. Anyway, I'll have to go back & see. Modding is the best part of this game.

[I-iZ-1337]

I playz the gamez without modz, coz I d00 it az practize for MP (when mozt ppl will j00ze the game az out the box with no modz). I playz with the standard number of civz on the mapz, unless I am tezting new stratz when I uze tiny mapz with 1 other civ.

[bigvic]

Ok, reread your strat thing, missed that one civ strat test thing. Doesn't that skew things? I mean, I see what yer doing, but...I just hate missing out on the grand politics of the thing. 16 civs on a large map gives a chance to develop. Do you ever play that type game? Don't know if I'll go MP, like modded game too much. Maybe I'll get my a$$ in gear, list all the specs for my mod and post it here. Man! I spend way too much time on this stuff.

[Bella Hella]

i play standard maps and am doing regent level. barbarians on roaming, continents with medium water, wet (so i can at least have one river somewhere!), temperate, medium rockiness. i don't remember how many civs; i think 5 others...? two less than the max. i play mostly builder style and try to research really fast. i try to take over the AI "border towns" (as in, on the borders of MY continent) through high culture instead of military action. i'll usually only get into a war if somebody's REALLY pissing me off or if i need more land (unless i decide to go monger some war just to be evil). i get more satisfaction out of making my culture, money and tech the highest, although i do enjoy a good war. if somebody decides to declare war on ME, i usually try to have enough money to fund a big huge army and kill kill kill!!! when not at war, i make sure i have a large enough defensive force (uh, and workers ) that my military advisor tells me we have a strong military compared to "these guys." like i said in the "reload" thread, i usually only reload if the AI demands something. i always have to tell him to shove it just for the fun of it before sighing, restarting and then giving in to his bribe. stupid AI. i have no qualms about restarting a game if, after exploring for a few turns, i realize that 2 other civs are right up my @$$. i've never used the editor to change anything. i try to expand quickly, but keep making the mistake of not building towns on the borders of my continent! it makes me SO MAD when i see the settler of another civ suddenly building a retarded little town on the borders of my continent, in the jungle or tundra! i HAVE to just bite the bullet and do it myself next time.

[bigvic]

Kool avatar, Bella...

[DrSpike]

_throws confetti_

[Bella Hella]

haha, thanks, you too!

[grapedog]

Well, mainly continents on large. Middle option for Age, Temperature and Wetness. I've never been a sea-going man so I never play on the Arc maps and I find Pangea a little claustrophobic. How ever many civ's is the standard, i never change that. I try to mainly build up to 15 or so cities with at least 3 def units each and maintain peace for a bit. Try to hit for Great Library and Leonardo's Workshop at least. If I can stay ahead Scientifically, I usually use Gunpowder as my attacking point trying to take our 1 or 2 civ's and pruning another. For some reason the one Civ I usually buddy up with always becomes the red-headed step child that just gets beat up so I try to keep them technologically advanced and protect their borders a good bit. After I successfully take out one or two civ's I rebuild defenses at all new cities and strike out anew with technology as it comes.

[Cookie Monster]

My weakness is that I tend to stick to two map types. Either I play on medium continents/large map or small archipeligos/large map. I max out the opposing civs and play on regent. Never enable diplo victory. Other than that everything else is set to the default.

[AIL]

Mods: I play my own mod as this:
- no Factories
- no Power Plants
- no MFG Plant
- Hoover Dam = Hospitals in all Continental Cities
- Synthetic Fibers require Recycling

Level:
Regent

Map:
Standart with everything on Random.

Number of Restarts:
I ALWAYS play the game, even if there's nothing but Tundra around me!

Style:
I try to play the way that seems to be most efficient... In my actual Game I had an early war vs 2 Nations... I did not loose much but I was thrown back in Developement and had to keep peace until some turns ago... Now I am assisting the French and the Russians to kill the Germans. I don't think I can win the Game since the French have the largest and best developed Nation.

[bigvic]

Originally posted by AIL
Mods: I play my own mod as this:
- no Factories
- no Power Plants
- no MFG Plant
- Hoover Dam = Hospitals in all Continental Cities
- Synthetic Fibers require Recycling

Is this b/c the AI never builds these?

[AIL]

Not never but very seldom...

[Purple]

I've played all kinds of map configurations, but usually find myself drawn to Old (few mountains), large archipelago maps with a medium amount of water coverage, the rest default. This tends to generate maps with a lot of peninsulas and choke points (good for defense) and narrow straits (good for exploration).

I like fewer rather than more Civs, because I love the early exploration and settling phase of the game, and less competition gives me more time to build.

As I reach the limits of expansion by settlement, I begin a military buildup, but keep a few extra settlers ready to exploit sudden open spots created by razing. I settle for rebuffing weak attackers from distant homelands, but go into full revenge mode against my nearest neighbors whose defeats offer me opportunities to expand, often continuing a war until the enemy Civ is completely eliminated (otherwise a rival might take advantage of my weakening of my former enemy and absorb the last vestiges of its territory).

[Giovanni Wine]

Map: Standard or large, Continent, temperate, medium.

Civ: Rome (almost always), played with almost all of them beside India at least once.

Opponents: Maximum allowed

Style: ultra-early war, build up my empire, when cavalry comes around I take out one (or two) other civs, when it is tanks I try to go for all my continent. Almost never go for war on the other continent, i like to let them warring, give them supply and receive tons of money to win the space race.

Saluti

[Theseus]

Giovanni,

I like your style.

When MP comes, I will play Persia.

Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutamus!

[bigvic]

Yeah, ultra early war? Give me the Iroqois, and we got an @$$kicking game

[Theseus]

Slight detour from OT:

We are all developing styles / strategies in SP...

My god, what a riot the early days of MP will be.

Ultra-early war guys are gonna duke it out with what, Impis, JWs, WCs, MWs, and Warriors, Spearmen, and Horsemen for the rest ... facing off against the early turtles with Hoplites.

Boom, then come the Iron Age players, Legions and Immortals, and Swords for all else.

Then the Chivalry players...

I got some bad news for the builders out there.

[Velociryx]

When I was playing, it was mostly with default settings, 8 civs (keeps the traits balanced more-or-less).

My favorite civs were/are:

Egyptian (the combination of Industrious and Religious is tops for any style of game)

Aztec (pure terror)

Iroquois (just cos I like 'em, and they've a wicked UU...not quite as coolio as the Jags, but close...verrrrry close)

Babs (cultural Gods)

Game-style: Early all-out war (first conquest is generally a suckerpunch with 2-3 cities and warriors only...brief period of settlement, and then almost all cities go to producing troops, keeping 1, maybe two making settlers to continue growth during hostilities). Oscillating between opponents, stir well, mix thoroughly until the continent is under control. Once it looks to be in the bag, all cities produce settlers and we blanket the continent like nobody's bidness. From there, the sounds of the fat lady singing can be clearly heard.



-=Vel=-

[Theseus]

Play out of balance, grasshopper.

[Velociryx]

Perhaps out of balance, but it plays a perfect accompaniment to the built in game mechanics and is blazingly effective. Makes your troops like an elemental force in the game....

-=Vel=-

[Nym]

Map: Huge (preferred but minimum standard), all random.

Opponents: maximum, depending on the map.

Civ: Babs (I tried Rome for my first game and India once).

Style: Builder (easy to guess considering the civ ). The strategy I prefer is absorbing civs by cultural flip. I noticed it works very good with the Zulus.

[planetfall]

All out early war. This sounds like the default AI behavior for Germany, no building, just military and attack, attack, attack. What was the German AI doing bad that you are doing good? Could there be more to your strategy than this?

I can see how this strategy would work if civ's are close to each other, but can it work on standard map with civs spaced further?

[Velociryx]

Hiya planetfall!

The short answer to that question is yes! All out early war is not map dependent, tho you DO have to change the meaning/timeframe of "early." In general, "early" in my book is "as soon as I see the first bit of someone else's border markers.

Doesn't matter who...that Civ's goose is cooked. No warning, no apology.

If I'm playing a game where the civs are more spaced out, I'm either playing a civ with a fast UU (Aztec), or I'm playing an Industrious Civ (my favorite trait, and generally that sees me playing Egypt). In those cases, I have a readily available means of getting to the badguys, no matter how far away they are. My general rule of thumb is 4 units per # of cities I see = my attack force. If I need more, that will become apparent as the war grinds on, and I can drop to the defensive till reinforcements arrive. If I need less....:: shrug:: no biggie. I've got troops already made for the next conquest.

As to what I'm doing differently in the early war....mostly, it has to do with force concentration and unyielding pressure. I simply hit and don't let up until the civ is backed into a corner and has to cry uncle. Generally, in the early game, if a civ has 2-4 cities, I plan on hitting two of them on the same turn.

More often than not, the "war" lasts exactly one turn, and I can move on, having dealt the civ I just attacked a devastating early game blow from which they will never recover. I'm also two cities bigger for my troubles, and begin using those new cities to backfill the territory between the new cities and my established ones, makin settlers and smiling politely at the former owners as they struggle in vain to make up for lost ground.

The key to success is a good military road network that enables the rapid shifting of troops. You don't NEED an army equal to the size of all your rivals combined. You simply need a good road network and steady focus.

-=Vel=-

[Giovanni Wine]

Velociryx!

I see you like Religious civ most of all: Aztecs, Iroquois, Egypt or Babs.
Do you think that the Religious trait is the most important?
What do you find so good about being a Religious, yes free temples are huge advantage for a warmongerer, but I personally find myself better with Militaristic Industrious (Chinese), or Rome (I like the UU).

The key to success is a good military road network that enables the rapid shifting of troops. You don't NEED an army equal to the size of all your rivals combined. You simply need a good road network and steady focus.

There is nothing more true than that

Saluti

[monkeyman]

Originally posted by Giovanni Wine
or Rome (I like the UU).

Saluti

Yeah, I just started my first game as the romans. Was sandwiched betwn the greeks and the americans. I had to offensive settle to get an iron from the neighboring americans. ...20turns, 10 american cities and 5 greek cities later ... a continent of my own. Those legionaries go though spearmen like hot knife/butter and hoplites?.. The best thing was when abe's men tried to counterattack it was just plain silly...

love those legionaries

--mm

[monkeyman]

Ooo look at me, I'm a chieftain!

--mm

[Giovanni Wine]

Originally posted by monkeyman
Those legionaries go though spearmen like hot knife/butter and hoplites?.. The best thing was when abe's men tried to counterattack it was just plain silly...

love those legionaries

--mm

Yup!

They took the most powerful Ancient Era Unit and gave to them the best defense possible, they defende better than spearman, they attck like swordmen, if you use them with some horsies, you can be sure that you'll never lose one manin one of your attack!

Saluti