mattador101: Hey all.
So I recently purchased Civ IV after playing Civ III for a while. I'm pretty bad at Civ III so I figured I'd switch things up a bit and try out Civ IV. So far I must say I'm a big fan. It's much more involved, which I love, and there's actual strategy to be implemented. I've picked up some things through CivFanatics, YouTube, and others, but figured I'd post here asking for additional help.

Being somewhat of an experience Civ player I have the basics understood (I think haha). I play on Noble and plan to hang there until I get really comfortable with the game. I also plan to play on Continents for most of my games. I'm not in love with worrying about having a naval presence but it makes the game more realistic. I think I only have a smidge over 10h of gameplay under my belt.

Any tips/strategies are much appreciated, along with any suggestions for 'outside' help. Information for all skill levels is welcomed. Some specific topics I'd really appreciate (but please feel free to branch out) are Expansion, Military build-up, Tech Tree powerhouses, and strategies for winning outside of Domination, especially Culture.

I understand every game is different, and should be approached that way. There are dozens of variables that have an affect on the game before you even found your first city. And I dig that. I'm just trying to gather as much knowledge on the game as possible. I tried searching for threads about this topic but didn't really find much. If I missed something, my apologies.

Thanks in advance!

mqstout: Drydocks would like to have a word with you. (Which is admittedly late and expensive.)

Maxvorstadt: I love CIV IV too, but I play on lower difficulty and with "Always Peace" enabled, so I can build, explore and research without being forced to waste my resources for war. Instead, I go for a cultural or space victory.

Darvin: In general I find Taoism and Confucianism are the easiest religions to get...

Maxvorstadt: I love CIV IV too, but I play on lower difficulty and with "Always Peace" enabled, so I can build, explore and research without being forced to waste my resources for war. Instead, I go for a cultural or space victory.

mqstout: You can do great things for war with religion once you get theocracy. Vassalage, slavery, theocracy can make for a great military.

mattador101: Have you played V and/or VI? I started with Civ II waaaaay back in grade school (we had a magazine-type program through our Computer department that allowed us to buy games). Have only played III and IV since. Never even seen the original, V, or VI.

mattador101: Funny cause I was a hair behind in tech and accidentally stumbled upon Taoism. At the time I was a bit surprised, but your remarks made it make sense.
mattador101: Have you played V and/or VI? I started with Civ II waaaaay back in grade school (we had a magazine-type program through our Computer department that allowed us to buy games). Have only played III and IV since. Never even seen the original, V, or VI.
mattador101: Noted. I'm actually keeping a Google Doc full of information. I'm a nerd :).

Maxvorstadt: And for the culture victory: It`s easier to archieve it in a game with war, since you can conquer enemy cities and get their cultural influence. In a peace only game you have to build many more cities and try to conquer enemy cities through culture, which takes quite a bit of time.

Darvin: I think you may be getting different games in the series confused. In Civilization 4 you do not get cultural influence from enemy cities you capture. They get bumped right back down to 0 culture and any buildings and wonders that were built by your opponent do not provide culture for you. Moreover, only your 3 most cultured cities count towards culture victory so having more cities doesn't help much (they're mostly there to build temples to meet the cathedral construction requirements, and to build military units to keep your three cultural jewels safe)

Darvin: Okay, so we're talking about completely different victory conditions that have nothing in common.

Darvin: You can start producing culture in the city after you conquer it, but its culture rating does indeed go down to 0 immediately after conquest and you have to start from scratch.

Maxvorstadt: Can`t confirm this, but I will take a look at this, the next time I play CIV IV. But as far as I remember, people on Civforum stated the same.

ConsulCaesar: I can confirm this is how culture works. Incidentally, it's also the reason why Creative is an excellent trait for war: your conquered cities start producing culture immediately after going out of revolt.

Darvin: I think you may be getting different games in the series confused. In Civilization 4 you do not get cultural influence from enemy cities you capture. They get bumped right back down to 0 culture and any buildings and wonders that were built by your opponent do not provide culture for you. Moreover, only your 3 most cultured cities count towards culture victory so having more cities doesn't help much (they're mostly there to build temples to meet the cathedral construction requirements, and to build military units to keep your three cultural jewels safe)

mattador101: Tell me if I'm wrong but in order to get a cultural victory don't you need 3 cities to eclipse a certain Culture Score (I wanna say 50,000)?

Darvin: The amount of culture necessary depends on what you choose for the game speed settings. I usually play on Marathon, which requires 150,000 in a given city to achieve the "legendary" culture level, and you need three cities to reach the legendary level in order to win culture victory.