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[Skyzard]

I bought Civ 5 Gold and Civ 4 complete yesterday.

Never played a Civ game before but luckily it works on my Mac (just about) so I don't have to wait to enjoy the discounted title.

I played V for the first time today. Persia, 135 turns so far, 3 cities and looking good but 2 unknowns looking a bit better.

5 hours+

Partly because my laptop is melting while playing it, but also I'm really, really enjoying the game. Why did I wait so long to play Civ. This was a bargain.

And the presentation with the kings and queens is especially cool but the game generally just seems packed with awesome, can't wait to load it up in the morning and continue. [actually. damn this post]

My friend is a big fan of the Risk board game, I want to get him to play this.

And that main menu music, excellent.

Edit- Okay, so I'm basically in the wrong thread, I didn't buy the expansion My bad. It looks and sounds good though, I'm sure I'll pick it up.

The cultural victory of previous versions of the game, which boiled down to wonder spamming and turtling in a small empire hitting next turn with little interaction with your neighbors, has been completely reworked.

Found myself doing this already...although it might be because I could barely control the game with the lag.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Civ is an essential PC gaming experience-playing PC games without playing Civ is like having a Nintendo but not playing Mario. Glad you are enjoying the game.

 

[Skyzard]

Civ is an essential PC gaming experience-playing PC games without playing Civ is like having a Nintendo but not playing Mario. Glad you are enjoying the game.

I see that now. Although I will miss sleeping. Thank you for the OP + new post as well, just read some more chunks, definitely buying BNW soon and subbed. Back to the game


I put everything on low/minimum and it's running better, looks acceptable too.

 

[marvelharvey]

It works on my Mac (just about)

Use Bootcamp if you can. The game runs so much faster in Windows than OSX.

 

[xenist]

I see that now. Although I will miss sleeping. Thank you for the OP + new post as well, just read some more chunks, definitely buying BNW soon and subbed. Back to the game

This is how Civ games should be played. At least for me. They should be an all consuming experience. You should gorge yourself on them. Then, after a couple of weeks and dozens of hours, you should get mad at the game. You should tell it to go fuck itself. That it doesn't run your life and that you're never playing it again. Ever. Then a few months later someone will say something. You'll start Civ again and fall into the hole only for the cycle to repeat itself.

 

[Psychoward]

Won my first BNW game I played. Morocco, Prince, Continents, Huge, Standard Speed. I was planning on going a culture victory but either Morocco sucks, I screwed it up much worse than I thought in the early and end game, or generating tourism is really, really slow. I ended up going diplomatic difficulty because the tourism bars were barely moving. I managed to get three civs under my influence, but out of 9 that's not too great. Some were very close though, but Greece and Babylon in particular I don't even think I was 50%.

Edit: Oh hey it's two in the morning, oops.

 

[Skyzard]

Do some all units require the same amount of gold to maintain? Is there somewhere I can find out for individual units if not?

Use Bootcamp if you can. The game runs so much faster in Windows than OSX.

Thanks for the recommendation, I may try that once I've cleared some HDD space, although it's not too bad now with low settings...quite convenient too compared to restarting anyway. Will keep it in mind.

This is how Civ games should be played. At least for me. They should be an all consuming experience. You should gorge yourself on them. Then, after a couple of weeks and dozens of hours, you should get mad at the game. You should tell it to go fuck itself. That it doesn't run your life and that you're never playing it again. Ever. Then a few months later someone will say something. You'll start Civ again and fall into the hole only for the cycle to repeat itself.

Nicely said, this seems exactly what this will be. Like Sim City but hopefully more manageable in the later stages for me

 

[Socreges]

This is how Civ games should be played. At least for me. They should be an all consuming experience. You should gorge yourself on them. Then, after a couple of weeks and dozens of hours, you should get mad at the game. You should tell it to go fuck itself. That it doesn't run your life and that you're never playing it again. Ever. Then a few months later someone will say something. You'll start Civ again and fall into the hole only for the cycle to repeat itself.

I've managed to restrain myself so far. Real proud.

 

[parasight]

Just bought Civ 5 Gold over the Steam Sale with some friends but I had a question as to how the multiplayer works. If I buy Brave New World, can I still play with my friends who haven't bought it yet? And if so, does the game simply revert to whatever amount of DLC everyone owns?

 

[roosters93]

Just bought Civ 5 Gold over the Steam Sale with some friends but I had a question as to how the multiplayer works. If I buy Brave New World, can I still play with my friends who haven't bought it yet? And if so, does the game simply revert to whatever amount of DLC everyone owns?

Yes and yes.

In saying that, I don't know if it can do it automatically. (someone else more experienced will know)
I wonder what happens if you try to start a Brave New World game with someone who doesn't have it for instance. Probably get kicked back to the menu I presume.

You can turn DLC off and on in the creation of a game.

 

[SRG01]

So, does the AI combat seem weaker than before for you guys? I just finished a conquest game, and early on, Germany invaded me with a bunch of their UU pikemen. They could've easily swarmed with their crossbows and trebuchets as backup, but they always kept them in the hills as I picked them off one by one.

Wow seriously? 2 cities for the entire game? I've yet to try to win culturally but it sounds like most of the tourism stuff comes in very late game, what do you do for the 200 turns before that?

My first BNW playthrough was also two cities. You basically beeline culture research and use either production/currency to backstop your cities.

 

[marvelharvey]

Do some all units require the same amount of gold to maintain? Is there somewhere I can find out for individual units if not?

Every unit has the same maintenance cost (i.e. a scout costs the same as an Xcom squad) but the costs scale depending on how many units you have and what turn you're on. There's a cost chart at the bottom of this page. Although it may now be out of date.

Thanks for the recommendation, I may try that once I've cleared some HDD space, although it's not too bad now with low settings...quite convenient too compared to restarting anyway. Will keep it in mind.)

BTW If you want to reduce turn times whilst staying in OSX, try halving the number of city states on the Advanced Setup screen before the game starts. The city states use up a fair chunk of CPU.

 

[Vespene]

Babylon

Everyone's favorite tech victory beast returns in BNW and he's actually nastier than ever. Babylon has always been a Civ with a linear strategy-build a tall empire, turn Babylon into a huge academy farm, launch spaceship in the mid 200s and completely clock the AI's tech rate.

THE FUCK???! As in... 200AD?

 

[Jintor]

I WANT TO DO THAT

 

[Myomoto]

Around which tech should you start grinding your great scientists into raw tech juice vs. making academies?

 

[Acorn]

THE FUCK???! As in... 200AD?

Turn 200 I think

 

[hypersheep]

Some days you just feel like picking Spain and playing the natural wonder lottery. Sometimes you get Old Faithful, sometimes you get nothing, sometimes you get the Fountain of Youth.

 

[marvelharvey]

Around which tech should you start grinding your great scientists into raw tech juice vs. making academies?

There's no hard crossover point, so you usually have to calculate it on a game by game basis. Bulbing a great scientist gives you a boost equivalent to the previous 8 turns of technology. Therefore, once the value of 8 turns of technology becomes greater than what you *think* an Academy will produce, bulb the scientist.

Of course, guesstimating how many turns are left in the game can be a little tricky and academy yields will improve over time too (due social policy bonuses and science buildings), so calculating the exact crossover point is impossible.

However, there are some situations (like suddenly needing tech superiority in a war) where it may be beneficial to bulb the scientist much earlier than normal.

Like with everything Civ5, it's all situational but if you're after an easy answer, I'd say somewhere in the Industrial or Modern era.

 

[Rentahamster]

Around which tech should you start grinding your great scientists into raw tech juice vs. making academies?

Generally, my plan with Bablyon was to develop my cities until I research the research facility building, start saving up some scientists (or having been saving them already), then bulb them 8 turns after the last research facility is done constructing. That way, it maximizes the science. Bulb every great scientist thereafter, and bulb the ones from Hubble too.

 

[Fragamemnon]

THE FUCK???! As in... 200AD?

I always use a turn-based, note date-based temporal frame of reference when talking about Civ, sorry. "mid-200s" means turn 230-260 .

I stop settling academies after about 3-4 total are settled, which is usually in the late Industrial period. There's a lot of backfilling that goes on after you beeline Scientific Method so you have plenty of time to create 2-3 more Great Scientists before you get Plastics and finish off Research Labs, which you do not want to expend but save until after you get your labs up and running everywhere.

 

[Esch]

Frag maybe we can get a mod to shoehorn your guide for the existing civ into the op/1st post somehow

 

[Psychoward]

Any tips for playing the Zulu? I was planning on building a ton of units, utilizing the buffed honor policy tree, then rationalism then Order probably. I'm also planning on using a ton of internal trade routes considering they're much harder to plunder and I want to be able to feed newly conquered cities.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

The best way to learn how to play Civ 5 is to just jump in with a friend who knows what he is doing and play for 5 hours. I promise you after 5 hours you will both be on the same chapter.

It isn't a very complicated game on the surface but it has its intricacies.

This isn't directed at anyone specifically just something I wanted to say in case any curious new comers peek in.

 

[roddur]

The best way to learn how to play Civ 5 is to just jump in with a friend who knows what he is doing and play for 5 hours. I promise you after 5 hours you will both be on the same chapter.

It isn't a very complicated game on the surface but it has its intricacies.

This isn't directed at anyone specifically just something I wanted to say in case any curious new comers peek in.

it's really hard not play the game but watch someone's playing

 

[marvelharvey]

Any tips for playing the Zulu? I was planning on building a ton of units

Just remember that the 50% maintenance discount and honour production buffs are for 'melee' units only! The bonuses will be lost once you progress into gunpowder. That means you need to wage wars early and win all the territory you can before gunpowder, when unit maintenance returns to normal.

What Civ5 classes as melee units:

-Warrior (and any unique replacement units)
-Spearman (and any unique replacement units)
-Swordsman (and any unique replacement units)
-Pikeman (and any unique replacement units)
-Longswordsman (and any unique replacement units)

Even though gunpowder and beyond units work like melee units, they're not classed as melee units.

The 25% XP bonus runs for the whole game though, no need to worry about that.

 

[InertiaXr]

Do you HAVE to make a proposal every time at the World Congress/UN? The first time it comes around there isn't really anything I want to propose but I can't get the MAKE A PROPOSAL icon to get off the next turn button.

 

[Trigger]

Do you HAVE to make a proposal every time at the World Congress/UN? The first time it comes around there isn't really anything I want to propose but I can't get the MAKE A PROPOSAL icon to get off the next turn button.

You have to if it's your turn. There's gotta be something you could use.

 

[DSmalls84]

I feel like I'm starting to better understand the systems and intricacies of the game now. I started a new game as greece and have been culturally, diplomatically and technologically dominant for most of the game on prince.

What Civ should I use for a domination victory? I wanted to try Persia, just because the golden age bonuses seemed like they would work well if you could also get wonders/policies to further increase the duration.

 

[DopeyFish]

You have to if it's your turn. There's gotta be something you could use.

I think what he is saying is... It's always his turn

Which is what has been constantly happening to me

 

[Myomoto]

I think what he is saying is... It's always his turn

Which is what has been constantly happening to me

Once I didn't have to make a proposal. No freakin' idea why!

 

[Deadman]

Is there a screen somewhere that tells you how close an ai is to a culture victory? Im going for space and im pretty sure hes going for culture, but i cant really tell who is winning

 

[fresquito]

I'm new to Civ and I have two doubts. Hope someone can help:

1. How do you add to the build queue? For the tech tree, you hold Shift, but it doesn't work for building.

2. How can I expand my religion to other cities?

 

[DSmalls84]

@Fragamemnon

Great Read and super helpful for us Civ V noobs! Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts.

 

[Kastrioti]

Sweet Jesus the Siege Towers the Assyrians have fuck shit up.

As soon as I researched Mathematics I built like 10 of them through my 3 cities, went and demolished Montezuma quick, took him out of the game, then blitzkrieg the Ottomans captured their three cities and took them out of the game. I then went and captured Copenhagen from the Danes but didn't have enough swordsmen or bowman to defend the siege towers since they can only attack cities.

Decided to call peace as I regroup.

I'll be back to capture yet another capital city, and wipe the Danes out. I have to watch out for the Japanese in the south though...

 

[Human_Shield]

Is there a screen somewhere that tells you how close an ai is to a culture victory? Im going for space and im pretty sure hes going for culture, but i cant really tell who is winning

The culture screen tells you everything you need to know in regards to a cultural victory. It will show you which civ's have how many other civ's under their influence, what the input/output is, any bonuses you might be receiving (from diplomats, open borders, etc.), and how quickly your influence is rising or falling, amongst other things.

 

[DSmalls84]

Any tips for playing the Zulu? I was planning on building a ton of units, utilizing the buffed honor policy tree, then rationalism then Order probably. I'm also planning on using a ton of internal trade routes considering they're much harder to plunder and I want to be able to feed newly conquered cities.

From my limited experience playing against them, you should probably use lots of Impis early on. I played against them as the Germans and they were a nightmare to deal with. They almost took my capitol and I wasn't able to push them back until I got gunpowder units. Even then they seemed to soak up a ton of damage.

 

[Fragamemnon]

What Civ should I use for a domination victory? I wanted to try Persia, just because the golden age bonuses seemed like they would work well if you could also get wonders/policies to further increase the duration.

China is a favorite of mine for domination games. Their UU is very powerful and upgrades well for a large chunk of the game. Try to farm XP with them as archers/composite bows early, it makes getting range on them easier later. Use a horseman to capture cities.


Other good options: Zulu, Arabia, Azetcs, Sweden, Rome, Songhai, Atilla, Assyria

 

[InertiaXr]

I'm a little confused on how to spread religion past your own borders if the other civs have put any effort into their own. How are you suppose to push your own religion into either a Holy City of another one, or the nearby cities that can have 18/24 or more pressure on them from a Holy City? Do you have to combine a few missionaries to pump up your own religion, then use an inquisitor same turn when yours is the 'majority'?

 

[Esch]

Has anyone tried out the Bazookas yet? no verdict on those?

 

[Fragamemnon]

Has anyone tried out the Bazookas yet? no verdict on those?

They are quite good at holding citadels and other fortified positions if you are just trying to stall out a game. Put AA behind them though.

The real offense at that point in the game comes via air power ,with infantry on the ground to capture and hold territory.

 

[Rentahamster]

It's funny how I used to be a warmongering asshole.

Now, with BNW, I want to be a shining beacon of hope for the world, as they fall before my onslaught of tourism and culture.

Scratch that. Tried out Venice, finally.

Commerce + Big Ben + Autocracy = cheap units all over the place. Buying a barracks, arsenal, military academy, and 5 bombers in one turn in a puppet city feels so good.

I was still pretty cultural, though, I guess. After I took everyone else's shiny toys, I had a lot of culture and tourism

 

[Kastrioti]

I'm seriously considering starting a new game without barbarians for the first time ever. They're getting really fucking annoying, especially with this expansion. I can understand if they start new camps and make their way to my Holy lands, but how in the fuck do they consistently pop up right by my capitol city, or nearby once every 4 turns or so?

I feel like I'm not going to play the game as is, but at the same time how do three barbarians randomly show up right by Assyria in 1700 AD as if they were cloaked with some super secret technology not yet known to mankind?

I liked it better in Civ 4 where once you got rid of a barbarian camp they were gone for a good long while and all but disappeared past 1400 AD or so.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Commerce + Big Ben + Autocracy = cheap units all over the place. Buying a barracks, arsenal, military academy, and 5 bombers in one turn in a puppet city feels so good.

Commerce is a wonderfully syngeristic tree with a domination win. I wouldn't dream of warmongering without at least three points there, and the finisher really helps with the mass unhappiness you can get from large captured cities.

 

[SaskBoy]

I'm seriously considering starting a new game without barbarians for the first time ever. They're getting really fucking annoying, especially with this expansion. I can understand if they start new camps and make their way to my Holy lands, but how in the fuck do they consistently pop up right by my capitol city, or nearby once every 4 turns or so?

I feel like I'm not going to play the game as is, but at the same time how do three barbarians randomly show up right by Assyria in 1700 AD as if they were cloaked with some super secret technology not yet known to mankind?

I liked it better in Civ 4 where once you got rid of a barbarian camp they were gone for a good long while and all but disappeared past 1400 AD or so.

Do you have an ideology yet? I'm not 100% sure, but I think if you're citizens aren't content with your ideology then Barbarians might spawn near the capital as a kind of revolutionary group. I've never experienced it but in one of my games Rome had tonnes of Infantry barbarians plaguing his capital in the 1900s.

 

[f0rk]

I'm seriously considering starting a new game without barbarians for the first time ever. They're getting really fucking annoying, especially with this expansion. I can understand if they start new camps and make their way to my Holy lands, but how in the fuck do they consistently pop up right by my capitol city, or nearby once every 4 turns or so?

I feel like I'm not going to play the game as is, but at the same time how do three barbarians randomly show up right by Assyria in 1700 AD as if they were cloaked with some super secret technology not yet known to mankind?

I liked it better in Civ 4 where once you got rid of a barbarian camp they were gone for a good long while and all but disappeared past 1400 AD or so.

Are you sure they aren't unhappiness rebels?

 

[TriniTrin]

I'm seriously considering starting a new game without barbarians for the first time ever. They're getting really fucking annoying, especially with this expansion. I can understand if they start new camps and make their way to my Holy lands, but how in the fuck do they consistently pop up right by my capitol city, or nearby once every 4 turns or so?

I feel like I'm not going to play the game as is, but at the same time how do three barbarians randomly show up right by Assyria in 1700 AD as if they were cloaked with some super secret technology not yet known to mankind?

I liked it better in Civ 4 where once you got rid of a barbarian camp they were gone for a good long while and all but disappeared past 1400 AD or so.

I think you have eyes on your kingdom, they dont spawn. I thought they only spawned in the fog of war.

 

[Psychoward]

I'm having much more trouble warmongering now. I have much more unhappiness since the honor tree doesn't give happiness bonuses for walls anymore, and I'm not making any money because either my trade routes are internal or they're going to city states for barely anything, with the risk of getting plundered as well.

 

[Fragamemnon]

I'm having much more trouble warmongering now. I have much more unhappiness since the honor tree doesn't give happiness bonuses for walls anymore, and I'm not making any money because either my trade routes are internal or they're going to city states for barely anything, with the risk of getting plundered as well.

I look at Honor as an accessory tree that can complement one of the "base" social policy trees of Liberty and Order, and not a tree that you can go full hog on. Piety is the same way. I like the left side of Honor when I know I will be warring nonstop either offensively or defensively from turn 80 or so onward since it means I can get ranged composite or crossbows faster. I rarely use the right side, it simply doesn't do enough.

I also like to make sure I have some form of additional culture gain-city state allies being the usual suspect-when doing these kind of split builds, especially with Tradition because finishing that tree is really important (unlike the awful liberty finisher with its not-really-free Great Person).

 

[Kastrioti]

Do you have an ideology yet? I'm not 100% sure, but I think if you're citizens aren't content with your ideology then Barbarians might spawn near the capital as a kind of revolutionary group. I've never experienced it but in one of my games Rome had tonnes of Infantry barbarians plaguing his capital in the 1900s.

Are you sure they aren't unhappiness rebels?

I think you have eyes on your kingdom, they dont spawn. I thought they only spawned in the fog of war.

Hmmmm interesting. So unhappiness within your civilization will spawn barbarians/"rebels"? It makes sense but maybe my memory if foggy but I don't remember that happening in Civ 5 OG or Civ V GK. It kind of makes sense if your populace if unhappy that their will be rebellions throughout your empire. I certainty don't remember it in Civ 4.

Although the barbarians tend to spawn right near my capitol of Assur, and this is after I conquered Istanbul, Tenochititlan and Copenhagen in a very, very brief period with my siege tanks.

I can understand rebellions in other civs I conquered, then destroyed, but you'd think the original 3 Assyrian cities I founded would be happy with our military prowess.

I'm playing on Prince mode BTW.

 

[Psychoward]

I look at Honor as an accessory tree that can complement one of the "base" social policy trees of Liberty and Order, and not a tree that you can go full hog on. Piety is the same way. I like the left side of Honor when I know I will be warring nonstop either offensively or defensively from turn 80 or so onward since it means I can get ranged composite or crossbows faster. I rarely use the right side, it simply doesn't do enough.

I also like to make sure I have some form of additional culture gain-city state allies being the usual suspect-when doing these kind of split builds, especially with Tradition because finishing that tree is really important (unlike the awful liberty finisher with its not-really-free Great Person).

That's what I did in Gods and Kings and Vanilla, but people said it meshed really well with the Zulu, and it does. The problem though is that Zulu's bonuses cater to an early rush and I like going Honor second after Liberty for Domination. But most times I'll skip Honor entirely when going wide and do Commerce and Rationalism.