What did I do that went wrong? - New Player

[Noodl]

So I had my settlements and they were all basically decked out with everything, My military was strong, my resources were a lot and basically I was trying to set up a trade route with one of the other powers, had a few revolts for some reason idek why but i had these red cards with no good option to make them mad and when i scrolled back to my settlements I no longer had control of them and my ally and some other random power had control over 2 of my main settlements, there wasn't a war or anything, just poof when i moved my military in my previous owned settlement because i thought ah maybe they have surpassed me in religion or something.. nope! Immediately it brought up the war page so I had to declare war on both powers to get my settlements back, I'm really confused I'm new to Civ only ever played the previous one and this one and I'm so confused, if someone could let me know what happened exactly I'd be very grateful.

[Rhudda]

Sounds like you were in one of the crises at the end of one of the ages - that's where those bad cards come from. The crisis lowered your happiness, and so your settlements revolted and ultimately defected.

Obviously I can't tell you what exactly you could have done better as I can't see your setup, but I think you should have done more for your settlements' happiness or maybe selected cards that didn't lower it quite that much.

[Noodl]

by make them mad i mean my settlements were mad at me not the other powers, I just feel like if they're going to be taken over by other powers shouldn't there be a war or message or anything explaining this? My military was really advanced so like I had no problems getting them back just had to defeat both my ally and the random power in war over them which I did, But I'm just confused as to how they got control over the cities in the first place, I was on turn 121 btw and both the other powers had one settlement each

[Ishau]

Looks like you had the happiness crisis.

Just need to make sure you are building happiness buildings in your cities (you can also buy them in your towns during this crisis) and making sure they are slotted with good resources to keep that happiness up.

[Noodl]

Originally posted by Rhudda:

Ah okay, I didn't know that was possible, Are those crises quite often during an age?

[Noodl]

Originally posted by Ishau:

Okay thank you so much :)

[Ishau]

You only get one crisis per age usually when the game gets to around 70-80%.

The only ones I have seen so far are happiness, plauge and religious.
I haven't ever gotten far enough in the modern era to see a crisis as I usually win at sub 40% era score.

[Sheldon666]

Revolts come from unhappiness.
Red Cards mean that you are in a Crisis. At the end of each age there comes a Crisis. There Are some different ones. During the Crisis you have to Choose Bad red Cards as the crisis unfolds until the age is over and a new One Begins.
Surely this is Hard for new Players and the Game doesnt explain Many things well.
One Main reason for the Crisis System and the change of ages from a gameplay perspective is to cure a Problem that all civ Games and civlikes had: snowballing. Depending on your competency and the difficulty you chose often there was a Point where the Games got boring because you were too strong for your enemies and the strong Tend to get even stronger. So it became too easy.

While the Crisis and age progression Systems are far from Perfect Right now, they nevertheless make the Game fresh again. I like them very much for it now gets spiced up and you have to struggle even when you did well in a Game. Keeps it exciting! 😄

[Noodl]

Originally posted by Sheldon666:

I do get that stuff like that spices up the game-play, I'd imagine people who play this a lot need stuff like that, its just I was on the easiest difficulty and was doing my first ever run so I got really confused as to what happened lol

[Noodl]

Originally posted by Ishau:

Ah okay thanks so much :)

[Sheldon666]

In every age between 70-80% completion there is a Crisis.
You should prepare for that: strong Military, good happyness, and Ressources Like Gold and influence.
As the Crisis begins you See what Kind of Crisis it is ( happiness, pestilence, barbarian tribes …). Then you go all in to defeat it. Buy happiness buildings or troops with your gold. Use influence where needed. Delay all other Plans - it’s Crisis Time!
ONCE you think you know how to handle it you could force age progression by completing Legacy Paths. Behause this brings you closer to age Transition. As the age reaches 100 % a new age begins and the Crisis is over.
But beware. Before the Crisis ends it will get even stronger the further you get to the end of the age.
Good Luck! 😁
P.s. watch some Videos with Tipps. It helps a Lot.

[Noodl]

Originally posted by Sheldon666:

Thank you so much! I'll keep this in mind and give that a go :)

[Amethyst_Cat]

Funny how the rival AI player cities never seem to 'defect' to your side. I've done 3 playthroughs and sailed through the crises - by good luck or unwitting good planning.