Civilization VI

[danlightbulb]

Im not finding this game very intuitive at all tbh.

My latest attempt, I build absolutely loads of units, and layered them up into a big front line about 8 tiles wide and 4 tiles deep. But when I tried to move them forward against an enemy, it was just a complete mess. The units don't seem to be able to move through each other to attack, and they were trying to go backwards to get to the spot I pointed them to. Then the enemy units were just wiping out all my units leaving massive holes in my front line, but the units don't move enough spaces at once to fill those holes.

its all a bit crap really.

And every time I start a game I have to go through the same initial 100 or so turns before anything gets interesting.

With all the tech trees, research etc, it felt initially like there was going to be a lot of depth to the game but there isn't, Im just skipping through turns over and over whilst waiting for things to build, then all the prep work (like making a strong front line above) is undone in just a few turns.

Id have been annoyed paying £30+ for this.

 

[Tombstone]

Im not finding this game very intuitive at all tbh.

My latest attempt, I build absolutely loads of units, and layered them up into a big front line about 8 tiles wide and 4 tiles deep. But when I tried to move them forward against an enemy, it was just a complete mess. The units don't seem to be able to move through each other to attack, and they were trying to go backwards to get to the spot I pointed them to. Then the enemy units were just wiping out all my units leaving massive holes in my front line, but the units don't move enough spaces at once to fill those holes.

its all a bit crap really.

And every time I start a game I have to go through the same initial 100 or so turns before anything gets interesting.

With all the tech trees, research etc, it felt initially like there was going to be a lot of depth to the game but there isn't, Im just skipping through turns over and over whilst waiting for things to build, then all the prep work (like making a strong front line above) is undone in just a few turns.

Id have been annoyed paying £30+ for this.

Pretty much describes every Civ game since Civ 1, its either a series for you or not for you. Its one of the longest and best selling series in gaming history and literally created the term "just one more turn". I'd say though that its very clear that this series and perhaps even genre just isnt for you. Nothing wrong with that, I dont like any beat em up or any platformer, everyone has different tastes. Chalk it up to not being to your tastes and you can at least say you tried the genre before deciding it wasnt for you, which is more than some people can say

 

[danlightbulb]

I played some online empire/castle building games for a while and quite liked them. The downside they always have is speed of building things. The online ones do that to make money (in game payments to speed things up) but this game isn't that model so whats the point having the early stuff take 10 to 20 turns to build when all you can do during that time is keep clicking next turn, next turn.

I don't dislike this game, its just not very intuitive and some elements downright frustrating. Perhaps I'll have to watch some tutorials on youtube.

 

[Tombstone]

I played some online empire/castle building games for a while and quite liked them. The downside they always have is speed of building things. The online ones do that to make money (in game payments to speed things up) but this game isn't that model so whats the point having the early stuff take 10 to 20 turns to build when all you can do during that time is keep clicking next turn, next turn.

I don't dislike this game, its just not very intuitive and some elements downright frustrating. Perhaps I'll have to watch some tutorials on youtube.

But were those TBS ? (Turn based strategy), Civ is literally the father of the TBS genre.

Its possible that you will come to like it but I would say that its highly unlikely, the things you dislike, such as the slow pace and the turns of building up and slow preparation are key to the genre and its idealogy. Its an inherent fundamental feature and if its a factor you dislike , its not going to change and I fear neither will your dislike of it. Again, nothing wrong with that, nobody likes every game style.

 

[delta0]

Im not finding this game very intuitive at all tbh.

My latest attempt, I build absolutely loads of units, and layered them up into a big front line about 8 tiles wide and 4 tiles deep. But when I tried to move them forward against an enemy, it was just a complete mess. The units don't seem to be able to move through each other to attack, and they were trying to go backwards to get to the spot I pointed them to. Then the enemy units were just wiping out all my units leaving massive holes in my front line, but the units don't move enough spaces at once to fill those holes.

its all a bit crap really.

And every time I start a game I have to go through the same initial 100 or so turns before anything gets interesting.

With all the tech trees, research etc, it felt initially like there was going to be a lot of depth to the game but there isn't, Im just skipping through turns over and over whilst waiting for things to build, then all the prep work (like making a strong front line above) is undone in just a few turns.

Id have been annoyed paying £30+ for this.

Start your era later if you don’t want to build up tech from scratch

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Im not finding this game very intuitive at all tbh.

My latest attempt, I build absolutely loads of units, and layered them up into a big front line about 8 tiles wide and 4 tiles deep. But when I tried to move them forward against an enemy, it was just a complete mess. The units don't seem to be able to move through each other to attack, and they were trying to go backwards to get to the spot I pointed them to. Then the enemy units were just wiping out all my units leaving massive holes in my front line, but the units don't move enough spaces at once to fill those holes.

its all a bit crap really.

And every time I start a game I have to go through the same initial 100 or so turns before anything gets interesting.

With all the tech trees, research etc, it felt initially like there was going to be a lot of depth to the game but there isn't, Im just skipping through turns over and over whilst waiting for things to build, then all the prep work (like making a strong front line above) is undone in just a few turns.

Id have been annoyed paying £30+ for this.

The game has a huge amount of depth to get the most out of it but it doesn't sound like you are approaching it in the right way. Building big armies is not really what Civ is about, in fact it can damage your chance at winning the game. All the time you are building armies you are not able to develop your own cities which harms your economy and how your cities progress through time (this is pretty realistic if you think about how certain real countries are doing...).

Correctly utilising worker units to improve tiles and long term planning of districts and putting them in the right places is key to winning.

Early game units get overpowered quickly as Civs get new technology. Units which have levelled up through killing others units are also much more powerful. You are often better off having a small military to defend and levelling them up by clearing barbarian camps in the early game and expanding all the free space on the map using settlers. Once the map starts getting filled out then war is often a good next step if you are that way inclined but you need the economy and infrastructure behind you to back it up. I typically end the game with the same set of units I built right at the start. The longer you keep them and the more experience they get the more powerful they become. Warriors eventually upgrade into mechanised infantry, heavy chariots turn into tanks. It's far easier to win if you out develop your neighbours than it is to try and beat them with sheer numbers.

When playing against the easy CPU players you generally don't huge numbers of units, 5 or 6 powerful, levelled up units at the right tech level can steam roll a continent with ease. You just need a units to back fill and garrison captured cities.

It might be worth watching a few how to play videos on YouTube if you are not sure how to approach this kind of game.

 

[danlightbulb]

But were those TBS ? (Turn based strategy), Civ is literally the father of the TBS genre.

Its possible that you will come to like it but I would say that its highly unlikely, the things you dislike, such as the slow pace and the turns of building up and slow preparation are key to the genre and its idealogy. Its an inherent fundamental feature and if its a factor you dislike , its not going to change and I fear neither will your dislike of it. Again, nothing wrong with that, nobody likes every game style.

Is the research timeline meant to be realistic? So for example by the time i get to research writing its already 200 AD or something. Im pretty sure writing was invented before that. On last night's first play i got to 2050 and hadnt invented something basic like astronomy or something.

 

[danlightbulb]

Building big armies is not really what Civ is about

oh ok. i thought the objective was to wipe out the other opponents.

 

[delta0]

Is the research timeline meant to be realistic? So for example by the time i get to research writing its already 200 AD or something. Im pretty sure writing was invented before that. On last night's first play i got to 2050 and hadnt invented something basic like astronomy or something.

Depends on your game play and difficulty. I can easily be launching rockets into space in the 1800s if I focus on the science victory.

 

[Tombstone]

Is the research timeline meant to be realistic? So for example by the time i get to research writing its already 200 AD or something. Im pretty sure writing was invented before that. On last night's first play i got to 2050 and hadnt invented something basic like astronomy or something.

Well to be fair, I only play multiplayer and I only play on Marathon game length, so 1 game is 1,500 turns for me. But even so it doesnt really correlate to a historical timeline, I'll often have something like Jet Bombers by the year 1900. I tend not to think about it, I just look at it based on the turns rather than the year. Then again, considering that my leader lives for 5,000 years without dying and that America and Roosevelt exist at thousands of years BC, I dont think of it as trying to be realistic.

 

[Tombstone]

oh ok. i thought the objective was to wipe out the other opponents.

Not necessarily, you dont have to win by a military victory, you can win by a cultural victory, or a diplomatic victory or a scientific victory or (with a certain mod) even an economic victory

 

[new boy]

Noob question here guys but Im struggling with how long it takes to progress anything. Ive started a few games now and gone through like 100 turns and thousands of years on the game clock, and i still only have a couple of cities, a few units. Everything takes 10+ turns to build and most of the time Im just clicking though the turn button waiting for things to be ready. Am I playing it right?

Hi

Just a quick few tips for you.

You should never really just be clicking next turn over again waiting for something, you should always have something to do

Try building a scout first. then scout all around looking for the tribal villages or city states. these can make a huge impact if you get lucky. finding city states first gives you a free envoy and that can be a big bonus early game.

You don't need a massive army. 3 archers and a couple of warriors should be able to wipe of your neighbour if you are quick enough at getting them out. Concentrate on not letting any units die if at all possible.

Try using the policy cards to you advantage. try and slot in the appropriate cards when you are building militarty usnits / settlers / builders. that will save you a good chunk of production.

the key to gaining a military advantage isnt necessarily having a massive number of units. having fewer more powerful units is usually better.

Try adding getting some extra culture and science to gain a tech advantage, and use the euricas (sp?) and insirations to move through the trees quicker to get key techs sooner.

 

[JeditOjanen]

I'd go into a bit more detail about the first 30-40 turns.

1) You want to build your first city no later than turn 2. Mostly you will only move to get next to the coast or a river, or to bring a resource into range.

2) Barbarians aren't strong enough or numerous enough to capture your city at the start, so don't worry about defence. Use your Warrior to explore the surrounding area until you can build a Scout.

3) You want to build a Slinger quite early to get the Eureka for Archery. Your opening build order should be Slinger/Scout in whichever order seems best - Slinger if you have Barbs nearby, Scout if you're in dense terrain. Once that's done you should have the techs you need to use the resources around you, so make a Builder. Then you should have enough population to create a Settler and your second city.

4) Take a look at the tech tree and the civics tree and see what Eurekas and Inspirations you can get early. Plan your research around that by not researching them before you can get the boost.

5) Wonders are a trap early game. Don't start building one until you have multiple cities that can build districts.

 

[delta0]

For my science victory I usually aim for about 10 cities and focus on religion>science>money>culture>production until turn 100 then I stop building new cities and switch to science>production>money>culture. If I see another player building up strongly in tourism I may switch up the culture a bit just to stop them getting enough tourists.

I go for religious settlements and try to get a golden age early on. Scouts help here as they will find natural wonders etc. Then you can start buying settlers. Make sure you go for the governor that stops you consuming population for the settler and also get a 50% boost to settler production from one of the government cards.

You will have lots of religion building up which can buy settlers in the early game and great people in the late game so you can get the ones that boost rocket production. The cash you will be accruing can be used to purchase buildings and units. I try to have some ranged units in my cities nearer other Civs and a good amount of cash so I can buy lots of units if I end up in a war.

 

[new boy]

For those playing vanilla, governors and golden ages are dlc things

 

[danlightbulb]

I keep running out of amenities, and nothing available to build seems to give me additional amenities. What am i doing wrong?

 

[delta0]

I keep running out of amenities, and nothing available to build seems to give me additional amenities. What am i doing wrong?

Entertainment complex is good. Also trade duplicate luxury resources with other players that have duplicates of ones you don’t have. Colosseum can be a good wonder to help as well

 

[danlightbulb]

Ive built everything I can build, and still in negative amenities. I don't understand what gives me more amenities. I've sent out all my envoys and have a trader.


Also Im still not understanding how combat works in this game. I had 3 cities and there was a city state in a prime spot, in my expansion path so to speak. So I tried to build some units to capture it but just kept getting beat. It was only a population size of 10 and I had 3 cities on 10, 8 and 5. I tried ranged units, land units, and catapults. Just couldn't make a dent in it.

 

[delta0]

Ive built everything I can build, and still in negative amenities. I don't understand what gives me more amenities. I've sent out all my envoys and have a trader.


Also Im still not understanding how combat works in this game. I had 3 cities and there was a city state in a prime spot, in my expansion path so to speak. So I tried to build some units to capture it but just kept getting beat. It was only a population size of 10 and I had 3 cities on 10, 8 and 5. I tried ranged units, land units, and catapults. Just couldn't make a dent in it.

Letting your cities get too big? I tend to stop feeding them too much once they get over 10

 

[new boy]

Improving luxury resources is the primary source of amenities