Help me understand Civ 5

[kinger8938]

Morning! Ive had the base game for sometime but over that time have only put about 8 hrs into it :O its my first game of this type and i reallly want to love it but i find myself lost before i get that far in to a round

So ti encourage me to try again i purchased all the dlc in the steam sale as it was dirt cheap and i hear it vastly improves the game.

Suppose im just after some advice. Last night i started as egypt randomly, got fairly far on a small map, found all the other 3 civs on the map but then sort of hit a wall as to what i should do next. For example when you can talk to the leaders nothing seems to work like make friendships etc so i imagine i must somehow increase my relationship with them? At what point would you decide to just attack instead?

I set up a caravan trade route with one by myself but dont really understand what that did for me! It then got attacked by bandits

Also i did start on easy which probably makes things a bit boring but just want to understand it for now! I also feel lost when it lets you choose so many options difficulywise as i dont want it too easy or too hard, maybe its a case or starting low and keep increasing until it feels fair

 

[kinger8938]

That's hilarious, pretty much the exact same situation for me the other day. Bit less hours, but I also randomly started with the Egyptians on a small map and eventually had no idea what to do next.

I did take out the Russians, cuz well, they kept whining about things, but I dont want to be a total warmonger, even though apparently all the other civilizations hate me now and consider me one.

Not sure how to 'win' at this point without just destroying everything in sight.

Not just me then! Lol

I always read about people sinking hours in and time flying by as they play! I really want that from this, but right now im not too sure what its all about.

I do understand there are several ways to achieve victory, so maybe its about deciding on that first as a path and going with it. Also research etc im never too sure what the best choice is, i tend to go with what sounds good, or what most advisors suggest

 

[kinger8938]

Well i restarted this morning as washington on difficulty 3 using what i learnt from yesterdays game! Expanded fairly early and have new york now too, met a lot of citie states some of which are friendly as i got rid of bandits etc

Now another civ has asked for help in war against portugal, and i thought she was a bit rude at our first meeting so have agreed to help

Also produced something that instantly duplicated my ground units which is handy as they finished just in time for this agreement, so am i right in thinking i just declare war and start attacking?