Are there any good general guides for how to play BTS?

[Cruiseo]

So, I've always been pretty bad with Civ IV. It was the first civ game I got like 13 years ago but I've never properly wrapped my head around it like I was able to for V. As others have noted IV is quite a bit more difficult than V and me especially seems to suffer a poor information feedback loop. To be clear, I certainly understand the basic game mechanics, how to get the victory types, etc. What I don't understand about this game is the minutiae of strategy.

I frequently find myself drawing a blank on where I should be at and what to do on any particular turn, especially during the generally action-less early part of the game. I know that my actions early are very consequential especially towards the end of the game but I don't know how to determine if I'd made the right decision in city placement, when to make new cities, what tech to research next, how to specialize cities and what improvements to build for each specialization... and the consequences for those choices don't manifest themselves until much later on or never do.

When I do look up guides, they tend to either be basic (discussing controls and gameplay mechanics) or advanced and talk about very specific strategies by the author. There's IGNs guide, where the author just demos basic game concepts and gets his ass kicked in an early war during the walkthrough section: https://www.ign.com/wikis/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword

I really wish there was a guide that could help me get a better sense of the game. What kind of stats I should be comparing me and my rival civs to. How to determine if my civ is doing well or not, how to remedy those issues if not. Let's say it's the Medieval Era, where should I be now in terms of empire size depending on victory condition? All of those kinds of things.

I appreciate any help anyone can give.

[Scathe]

Originally posted by Scathe:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8800/discussions/0/1640915206464263438/

some overall good general advice is given in the thread I linked.
edit - especially the advice given by ghpstage.

Originally posted by Scathe:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8800/discussions/0/1751268382256613476/

in that thread some of the analysis is a bit more advanced, but if you can follow what we're talking about, it may help you understand what a good map and good city sites can look like.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8800/discussions/0/4462460605175526372/
above is the thread I pulled those two quotes from, some good advice and other links are also given in this thread by myself and others.

[ghpstage]

Sisuitil's guide is decent for beginner players up to noble/prince, covering a lot of basics.
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/sisiutils-strategy-guide-for-beginners.165632/

Most of the good information is found on Civfanatics. Such guides can be found in the 'war academy'
https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ4-strategy-articles.156/
and cover everything from basic concepts and strategies to mathematical analysis and detailed specifics on how things really work.

Unfortunately there is a lot of articles and not everything in there is of equal quality, so it can be difficult to filter the good stuff from the nonsense. It may be easier to ask for help in the forums strategy and tips section as it appears to still have some life in it
https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ4-strategy-tips.155/
If you have the patience to play through a game very slowly while posting thoughts, screenshots and saves from it then that forum has a history of walking people through games offering tips, fine details and with a 4000BC save even their own attempts at the same map.

The IGN guide should be used only for comic relief, it is hands down the worst guide that I have ever seen (for any game).

[Cruiseo]

Thanks to both of you!

[red255]

I did a playthru, clipped it down to 44 minutes, probably could have clipped it down to 30 minutes.
https://youtu.be/3lbDczV7uX0

felt like I was about to end the game so I went for it, but it took an extra 15 minutes more than what I wanted to say.

not saying you need to play the way I played. just that I played that way and got an unreasonably high score.