Anyone Else Just Play Civ as Sort of Their Relaxing Game and Play at the Lowest Difficulty?

[Ironheart]

Just Curious!

Most games, I prefer playing at or near the hardest difficulty, typically normal being the lowest. I like playing pretty competively in ranked games, such as League, or competing with other healers in WoW raids to do the most healing. But for whatever reason, Civilization games are the ones I always opt for the lowest difficulty because I enjoy watching my AIs be incredibly stupid as my civ advances way ahead of them, making the most wonders and having the highest grade in science. It feels nice watching my civ expand without much effort while the wonders I build don't get easily stolen from other civs. I never start wars with other civs, I like co-existing with them while feeling like the most powerful out of all of them. I just like to relax, not have to think much, and watch my civ flourish without raging over stolen territory, going to war with civs, or having my cities be captured due to poor defenses (because I don't often prioritize armies in my games).

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised with the AIs seeming to be a bit more intelligent and aggressive with this new release, even at the lowest difficulty. Russia and several other civs managed to get ahead of me in science at certain points, while I focused on building more culture and currency in my civ, in one game. Spain had been the bane of my existance in two games, simply because it announced a surprise attack on my capital while I was focusing on expanding my civ and had my military no where near it, nor did I have enough warriors to protect it. The second time, I raged because Spain decided to settle a city next to my territory when my city was too well armed to be attacked. This is the first time where I'm actually considering going to war with a civ now, whenever I see Spain in a game, because I don't want to deal with Spain's aggressive ♥♥♥♥.

It probably doesn't help that I'm playing a civ that's probably not my play style, but I seem pretty set on sticking to Poland, due to my heritage. I had a lot of fun playing Poland in Civ V, which probably helped for me in having a super easy game since it was considered one of the OP civs for that version. Guess I need to learn how to play better with a faith-based civ, with Jadwiga being the leader and all.

I know that Civ actually kind of makes fun of you for playing the lowest level difficulty (rewarding you with the title of one of the worst leaders in one of its older games), but that doesn't really deter me. I just like playing without raging and enjoying how my civ develops.

Anyway, that's just how I like to play. I'm curious to see if anyone else feels the same. :P

If you enjoy playing more competitively, and at harder difficulties, feel free to give you reasons why.

[paugus]

Originally posted by Gwenhwyfar:

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised with the AIs seeming to be a bit more intelligent and aggressive with this new release, even at the lowest difficulty.

Hoo boy. I'm fairly confident in saying that the staggering majority of people with complaints about the game would first complain about how bad the AI is. I'm glad you're enjoying it, but I'm not sure you're going to find too many people who'll agree with you on this.

[Daisii]

Can you come heal my Ele Shaman please

[jnewman]

I enjoy playing in various settings but I would like to see some user content available such as maps and other user generated content.

[BatMart]

Originally posted by paugus:

Originally posted by Gwenhwyfar:

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised with the AIs seeming to be a bit more intelligent and aggressive with this new release, even at the lowest difficulty.

Hoo boy. I'm fairly confident in saying that the staggering majority of people with complaints about the game would first complain about how bad the AI is. I'm glad you're enjoying it, but I'm not sure you're going to find too many people who'll agree with you on this.

iIf you don't take it out of context what he says makes sense.

The AIis more agressive in civ 6. It's also more competitive on science and domination victories than it was in civ 5. and that's what he points as "more intelligent".

In that regard he is right.

When you look at the big picture though, it is true that civ 6 ai is awful.

One of the main problem stems from the hidden agendas, wich are random, and can totally be in contradiction with the ai other agenda.

Like a Nuke Happy ghandi for example. I've seen that in civ 6. and that explains why you can't understand what the ai is trying to do most of the time.

[paugus]

Originally posted by BatMart:

iIf you don't take it out of context what he says makes sense.

The AIis more agressive in civ 6. It's also more competitive on science and domination victories than it was in civ 5. and that's what he points as "more intelligent".

In that regard he is right.

When you look at the big picture though, it is true that civ 6 ai is awful.

One of the main problem stems from the hidden agendas, wich are random, and can totally be in contradiction with the ai other agenda.

Like a Nuke Happy ghandi for example. I've seen that in civ 6. and that explains why you can't understand what the ai is trying to do most of the time.

I love that you can read his mind and know he specifically meant science and dom (which they're bloody awful at, btw. Not sure what game you're playing <_<), while accusing me of taking him out of context. The AI is not more intelligent than V, and it certainly is piss poor at waging effective wars, unlike in V. He chalked Russia outpacing him in science up to the AI being smart, when in reality, if you're focusing purely on culture and gold, of course you'll fall behind. It's an issue of priority, not the AI being good at effectively teching. He said Spain launched a surprise attack on his capitol because it was undefended, but in reality, the AI almost ALWAYS launches a "surprise" attack, regardless of player activity. He also said he doesn't prioritize military and likes to be primarily peaceful, which is not often a winning strategy in this game. Remind me again how I'm taking something out of context.

PS Hidden agendas are not that big of a problem. The AI's ineptitude at everything besides religious victory definitely is, however. Nuke happy Gandhi has been around for a very long time through the series history. It's a running gag.

[Juliustice]

To be ahead on Culture Science and Gold is dam tough especially on higher difficulties. I suggest choosing to focus completely on 1 ahaead of all, and when you can go ahead and invest in some other stuff when its clear you aren't taking away from your primary win path. Most Civs will move close to your city to claim spots you havent. You can war for those cities if necessary and be denounced all game and take warmongering penalties. The solution here is to expand to fill the areas around your city so they can buff eachother with Entertainment Complexes and Industrial Zones. MAke lots of cities and each District yoiu make towards your goal increases great people points and so much can be gained with having many cities. I rather like the new AI myself. You know what one agenda is and there are several possible secondaries. It allows for some fun and interesting play. I do like to play higher difficulties and there are ways to defend against losing wonders. Espionage can be key, play as France for that extra visibility as to what your competetors are doing, establish a delegation and later a embassy, Send spies to listening post and be a step ahead, even know who is planning a war on who, then you can make premptive steps to either assure peace or assure your defense/domination.
I love that there are so many paths and so much opportunity for things to vary between games even with the same civs. To me this current Civ 6 is bringing me more of the fantasy of what I want. Not everyone will like you. Some games everyone hates you, some games everyone will love you and rarely make a war on you. For example I like to develop Suiezariens and occasionally conquer a citystate, and therefore I expect that if I meet Germany we will be at odds, unless he has a secondary objective that I can meet. And they will give you hints about what they like or dont with their communications. If you can meet one objective establish a embassy/delegation, oben borders, give a favorable trade, and send trade routes to they civ it will boost their love of you. Also being friend or allies with a friend or ally of theirs, and once you get to that tough friendship, alliance is easy and brings a friendship bonus that will cover some sins such as going against an agenda or sending archeologists.

[SamBC]

To the OP, please edit out the language filter evasion from the OP. It's not allowed, and would normally be deleted, but it would seem a shame to have to delete the whole thread.

[Ironheart]

Originally posted by SamBC:

To the OP, please edit out the language filter evasion from the OP. It's not allowed, and would normally be deleted, but it would seem a shame to have to delete the whole thread.

Apologies!

I was actually trying to censor myself though, not work around it, because I forgot if there was even a language filter on this forum. :P

Edit:

Was my most recent reply on this thread deleted?

[SamBC]

Originally posted by Gwenhwyfar:

Originally posted by SamBC:

To the OP, please edit out the language filter evasion from the OP. It's not allowed, and would normally be deleted, but it would seem a shame to have to delete the whole thread.

Apologies!

I was actually trying to censor myself though, not work around it, because I forgot if there was even a language filter on this forum. :P

Edit:

Was my most recent reply on this thread deleted?

We do not discuss moderation details publicly. I will say that sometimes, when a post is deleted, posts that quote it are also deleted.

[protista123]

When I play for relaxation, I usually play on a small map at the Prince level. If I want a challenge, I play on King or higher. So yes, I also play the game for casual relaxation at times. Playing at lower levels than prince does not appeal to me, as it is almost "samdbox" mode.

[jcp011c2]

I don't know if it helps any OP, but I'm finding Chieftan to actually be easier than Settler. I am playing several games on Cheiftan (haven't finished any yet though) and seem to be doing much better, was continually getting beat on Settler and had massive waves of religious/military units and an uberagressive AI for what should be the lowest difficulty.

I just think the Settler setting may be borked some how, but I do think all in all this game is more aggressive with AI than other versions. AI is still ridiculous in many ways though of course.

[Ironheart]

Originally posted by Juliustice:

To be ahead on Culture Science and Gold is dam tough especially on higher difficulties. I suggest choosing to focus completely on 1 ahaead of all, and when you can go ahead and invest in some other stuff when its clear you aren't taking away from your primary win path. Most Civs will move close to your city to claim spots you havent. You can war for those cities if necessary and be denounced all game and take warmongering penalties. The solution here is to expand to fill the areas around your city so they can buff eachother with Entertainment Complexes and Industrial Zones. MAke lots of cities and each District yoiu make towards your goal increases great people points and so much can be gained with having many cities. I rather like the new AI myself. You know what one agenda is and there are several possible secondaries. It allows for some fun and interesting play. I do like to play higher difficulties and there are ways to defend against losing wonders. Espionage can be key, play as France for that extra visibility as to what your competetors are doing, establish a delegation and later a embassy, Send spies to listening post and be a step ahead, even know who is planning a war on who, then you can make premptive steps to either assure peace or assure your defense/domination.
I love that there are so many paths and so much opportunity for things to vary between games even with the same civs. To me this current Civ 6 is bringing me more of the fantasy of what I want. Not everyone will like you. Some games everyone hates you, some games everyone will love you and rarely make a war on you. For example I like to develop Suiezariens and occasionally conquer a citystate, and therefore I expect that if I meet Germany we will be at odds, unless he has a secondary objective that I can meet. And they will give you hints about what they like or dont with their communications. If you can meet one objective establish a embassy/delegation, oben borders, give a favorable trade, and send trade routes to they civ it will boost their love of you. Also being friend or allies with a friend or ally of theirs, and once you get to that tough friendship, alliance is easy and brings a friendship bonus that will cover some sins such as going against an agenda or sending archeologists.

Thanks for the tip!

I've actually started getting a hang of the game after I narrowed down my focus to only certain win conditions in the game.

In the beginning of my new game, I focused on building up my army so my civ can defend against the stupid, random surprise wars and "formal" wars that the AIs decide to launch (Scythia was on friendly terms with me, but decided to launch a random, "formal" war on me). I put formal in quotes because, from what I understand, you need to denounce someone before you go to war with them, but I didn't see that happen with Scythia and I don't think she was doing it as a joint war. There were waaay too many formal wars where I wasn't even denounced by one civ.

Anyway, I later moved on to focusing on building up faith and currency. I focused my religion on faster tile expansion, being able to build cathedrals for culture and art slots, strong pressure of my religion being influenced into nearby cities, being able to purchase theatre and campus buildings with faith, and I believe the last one I selected was receiving additional science from campus districts or something.

With that, I managed to quickly build temples in all my cities using currency, then using faith to turn them into cathedrals, and then being able to purchase all theatre and campus buildings with the rest of my faith. My civ is currently a theocracy and I'm using that to purchase armies, and missionaries when my civ isn't being attacked. I'm currently on a science and culture winning path... Now to just pick which one I really want to focus on.

Originally posted by jcp011c2:

I don't know if it helps any OP, but I'm finding Chieftan to actually be easier than Settler. I am playing several games on Cheiftan (haven't finished any yet though) and seem to be doing much better, was continually getting beat on Settler and had massive waves of religious/military units and an uberagressive AI for what should be the lowest difficulty.

I just think the Settler setting may be borked some how, but I do think all in all this game is more aggressive with AI than other versions. AI is still ridiculous in many ways though of course.

Thanks! I'll try testing it out for my next playthrough.

I've also found that setting the game speed to epic also helps to make the game slightly easier for you, in my opinion, because it gives you a little more time to get ahead of other civs in science if you choose not to focus on it so much to expand your army for defense. Having resources as abundant also helps, ofc.

[Juliustice]

I am glad that helped. When I just want to play a easy Civ game like you describe I also enjoy the epic speed and sometimes marathon, as it lets me enjoy the power of my unique units longer extending their hay day. If you have enough trade routes to foreign cities buffed with the + sci and cul policy, you can out pace your opponents on culture or science with just trade routes and not even build up buildings.

If you are going to transition into science you will need 1 or 2 cities with very high production to get the space races done. Great scientists and engineers can buff space race projects. If you are going to transition from religion into culture the build christ redentor wonder, and in the late game do seaside resorts as much as you can and eifel tower. Only problem is it can take a while to get your tourists, what you really need are great works more than wonders. If you are dominating on currency you can buy great works from other civs, usually not too expensive and they will be big boosts to tourism as well as the culture and gold they give.

[Smyt]

I like playing on Emperor the best.1 jump up to immortal and diety and it just becomes way too many barbs to deal while trying to build my cities the way I want.The AI seems to like to go to war at turn 10 alot on immortal + also.

[Juliustice]

Indeed. Another fun way to play the toughest difficulties is jump forward some eras to level the playing field for the extra settlers and other units the AI get on highest difficulties. You can win Deity easier if you start modern era and settle smart. However great prophets are gone making religion pointless.