StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Just picked up Civ 4 today. Ladies and Gents I am a Civ noob. I've played things like Alpha Centauri before but that was years ago. Any tips for a noob fourty years from AD with only a pair of citys to his name and half the world pissed at him? I'm thinking of starting over but some tips would realy help.

You've got to expand like a mofo in the early years. City hits 3 or 4 pop, bust out a new settler and get those borders expanded. More cities = more research, which is desperately needed if you hope to keep up with the clock. I prefer science structures and bonuses wherever possible, and I usually find it not-too-difficult to grab Christianity first, which tends to be a huge plus.

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:You've got to expand like a mofo in the early years. City hits 3 or 4 pop, bust out a new settler and get those borders expanded. More cities = more research, which is desperately needed if you hope to keep up with the clock. I prefer science structures and bonuses wherever possible, and I usually find it not-too-difficult to grab Christianity first, which tends to be a huge plus.

Massive expansion like Civ II or III is a very bad idea early on. Cities can utilize more tiles and should be fewer in number and widely spaced. Expansion should be limited to good city spots, not just to fill in the map.

I usually try to block the computer players from expanding by placing my cities in such a way that theres no way through without open borders treaty. Depends on the map but can be very effective.

early game tips:

use your scout to find good areas for a new city. This is your biggest priority. Second priorities are grabbing tribal villages and loacting other civs.

Turn on the "show resources" and "show rare resources" buttons just above the minimap.

When your capital hits 3 pop, build a settler, then a worker.

Have the settler go to a good city spot.

Specialize your cities! Coastal cities are good for commerce, inland cities next to hills are good for production, and cities near floodplains are good for food and building more settlers/workers.

All cities need food to expand. Who cares if your city is built in the hills if you can only work 1 tile at a time? You NEED farms, and you need all cities to get food.

So, while your settler is going to the new city site, have your worker build a road to that site. Get your first city working on a warrior or archer to defend your new city.

Don't build a worker or settler in your new city. While workers and settlers are being built, your city won't grow.

Good luck!

I suggest you start the game on the easiest difficulty setting to find your feet, and move up from there. It may be tempting to start at a medium difficulty, but with all the AI cheating and your novice skills, you will get stomped on by aggressive AI's.

You might want to keep barbarians off until you are a stronger player, as well.

The forums at civ fanatics are useful for beginners and advanced players alike:

www.civfanatics.com

I, too, am a Civ 4 noob. One of my biggest problems is keeping the sanitation of my cities under check. How can I have cities with a population of 14, for example, and have the sanitation relatively low?

build a city near special foods or put a worker or work boat on em to build farms will help