Civilization V Strategy

[elmateo487]

Hi!

So.. I bought the game, so far I really enjoy it. But I know I am probably tapping 5% literally of what the game can do. I know there are plenty of sites out there where I can get information, and I have been and will be using those too.

But lets hear what tips you guys can come up with, or any questions that need to be answered.

Questions myself:

I am always mid pack in getting to the next era, do the tech trees need to be memorized? and I shouldn't really just pick what I think might help me now or soon, but look into the future?

How often do you build new cities, and how many new cities do you build/have in the first 50 turns? and does the more you have equate to better tech sooner?

How many military units do you have around in the first 50 turns?

When a city is starving, what can you do to help it? (I assume mine was because it was cut off from the Capitol. Which leads to another question)

Can you trade to your capitol on roads through a civ with which you have open borders?

Do you want a balanced city? ex. happiness, research, etc to win? or do you want to go one route and crush it?

Wonders: What is a good way to guess if you are going to be able to complete a wonder? So the build time is not wasted when someone else builds it.

A lot of questions! But then again this game has a steep learning curve.

 

[PatrickCocoa]

Somewhat unhelpful reply

I haven't played Civ V very much, so read my comments with that in mind. I did play quite a bit of Civ I, II, and III, and a little IV.

It looks like Civ V (and IV to some extent) gives you many ways to win the game. Another way of saying that is that it almost doesn't matter what you do, as long as you stay on the same path you'll be OK.

That is, pick a strategy (war, science, diplomacy, expansion, or whatever) and stick with it. Pick your bonuses so that they enhance your strategy - if you picked a war strategy, pick the culture bonuses so that you have better fighters.

Then play through the game. Don't worry about whether the war strategy is better than the diplomacy strategy, just pick one and stick with it.

On your next game, either pick the same strategy and try to do better, or pick a different strategy and see if that's more or less fun.

 

[HawtTuna]

I haven't played Civ V very much, so read my comments with that in mind. I did play quite a bit of Civ I, II, and III, and a little IV.

It looks like Civ V (and IV to some extent) gives you many ways to win the game. Another way of saying that is that it almost doesn't matter what you do, as long as you stay on the same path you'll be OK.

That is, pick a strategy (war, science, diplomacy, expansion, or whatever) and stick with it. Pick your bonuses so that they enhance your strategy - if you picked a war strategy, pick the culture bonuses so that you have better fighters.

Then play through the game. Don't worry about whether the war strategy is better than the diplomacy strategy, just pick one and stick with it.

On your next game, either pick the same strategy and try to do better, or pick a different strategy and see if that's more or less fun.

Basically what he said.

Personally I go with Liberty social and expand the crap outta of my empire. Barbarians are super annoying in Civ V however so keep a warrior with you at all times.

 

[cerote]

I noticed that too in Civ V about the Barbs.

 

[miles01110]

I am always mid pack in getting to the next era, do the tech trees need to be memorized? and I shouldn't really just pick what I think might help me now or soon, but look into the future?

Honestly I don't think eras really matter that much as long as you aren't way behind (20 turns +). Numerous times I've seen other Civs advancing to the next era, only to have the little window pop up showing the rankings based on tech to see that I'm at the top.

How often do you build new cities, and how many new cities do you build/have in the first 50 turns? and does the more you have equate to better tech sooner?

Depends on what civ. I try to expand as fast as possible because I usually play on the Continents map. Land is hard to come by in the late game.

How many military units do you have around in the first 50 turns?

Not many.

When a city is starving, what can you do to help it? (I assume mine was because it was cut off from the Capitol. Which leads to another question)

Build the improvements that increase food production.

Do you want a balanced city? ex. happiness, research, etc to win? or do you want to go one route and crush it?

Depends on the city. If you have a city smack in the middle of 4 gold deposits, it makes more sense to build economy buildings to maximize income from that city before doing much else (or at least emphasizing economy).

Wonders: What is a good way to guess if you are going to be able to complete a wonder? So the build time is not wasted when someone else builds it.

There's no good way to tell. You just have to cross your fingers and hope you finish first. Obviously depending on your strategy some wonders will be more valuable than others to you.

 

[Cboss]

I can't play Civ V on my computer, but I played III and IV quite a bit. My general strategy was to research as much as possible as fast as possible. I only had 1-2 military units at each city for defense. I built cities as fast as possible at the beginning, it makes things a little slow at first, but once they all get going you've got a very strong civilization.

My strategy worked pretty well unless someone focused solely on military and crushed me before I had a chance to get going.

 

[elmateo487]

thx to all. The tips were very useful. The game is fun!! A little bit intense.

So.. heres another question. How do you not sit and play a game 8 hours straight? Games can take like 20 hours on some settings! I need completion usually in a game, so I find myself wanting to finish in one sitting, which is not possible. Haha so what do you all do?

 

[miles01110]

Save the game and come back. Duh? Or if you insist on finishing it in one sitting play a small map and duel.

 

[elmateo487]

Save the game and come back. Duh? Or if you insist on finishing it in one sitting play a small map and duel.

you are right. "Duh" I forgot