How to win in Civilization IV – an ultimate guide to the strategy game. Difficulty levels (part 2) - by John Sinitsky

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Introduction

Sid Meier’s Civilization had become THE computer game when it was introduced and It is widely known and recognized as such by many strategy gamers . It was first real turn-based strategy ever. Launched in October 2005, the latest PC playable version of Civilization is “Civilization IV”, and for a computer game 3 years is an eternity; but not for Civilization series game.

Civ IV is a very playable and enjoyable today. With game victory options described in “Civilization IV – Part I” article, and several the pre-game selections (choosing the map, the climate and sea level) covered, we continue our overview the effects of difficulty level.

Overview

As it was stated, there are 9 difficulty levels in Civilization IV.

  • Settler
  • Chieftain
  • Warlord
  • Noble
  • Prince
  • Monarch
  • Emperor
  • Immortal
  • Deity

The effects of difficulty level from the aspects of barbarian, tribal villages and research have been covered in previous article. The rest is covered below – once again, by categories.

Unit Maintenance

Generally, you have several units that are “supported” by your cities - so they do not cost you money. The number of “free” unit varies - depending on civics and number and size of your cities. However it is are also affected by game level. You receive a larger number of “free units” on the lower difficulties; in other words, you can build more units before having to pay gold to support them. This number declines as the difficulty level increases.

Overall Maitenane

Not only units cost you money. Cities and civics also have to be paid for. Maintenance costs, civic costs, and inflation also all increase with difficulty level. The net result is that you will have a much more strained budget on the higher difficulties.

Happiness and Health

Every city has certain amount of happiness and health - depending on the city tiles and your civics. All of your cities always start with a certain amount of health and happiness, but this amount decreases as the difficulty increases; for example, cities start with 3 health and 6 happiness on Chieftain, but only 1 health and 3 happiness on Deity. Your cities thus hit the health and happiness limits much sooner on the higher difficulties - making it harder to ensure city growth which is necessary for developing your civilization.

Artificial Intelligence Penalties and Freebies

This is the most significant difference between the game levels. The difficulty level affects how quickly the AI civilizations develop and expand. On the lowest difficulty levels, it takes the AI civs longer to train units, construct buildings and wonders, grow their cities and research technologies. As it was said, on Noble difficulty they play under the same conditions as the human players, and on higher difficulties they receive discounts on these items.

Moreover, on the higher difficulty levels, the AI begins receiving extra units to start the game. Notable jumps in difficulty come from the free worker that the AI civs start with on Monarch, the 2 free workers they get on Immortal, and the free settler they get on Deity - meaning the computer civilizations will have 2 cities from the very beginning!The AI civs also start with additional technologies on the higher difficulties.

This post is part of the series: Civilization IV - Guide To Sid Meier’s Civilization IV PC Game

This series on Civilization IV tells you how to get the best out of the classic Sid Meier PC game. Game strategy and options are reviewed and disscussed

  1. Mastering Civilization IV - Victory Conditions
  2. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game Part I – Selecting a Map (A)
  3. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part II – Selecting a Map (B)
  4. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part III – Climate and Sea Level
  5. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part IV – Map Size
  6. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part V – Difficulty Levels (A)
  7. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part VI – Difficulty Levels (B)
  8. Mastering Civilization IV – Starting the Game - Part VII – Game Speed
  9. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing the civilization - Overview
  10. Mastering Civilization IV – The American Empire in Civilization IV
  11. Mastering Civilization IV – The Arabian Empire in Civilization IV
  12. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Your Player Nation – Aztec Empire
  13. Mastering Civilization IV – Playing As The Chinese Empire - Choosing Your Playable Nation
  14. Mastering Civilization IV – Playing as the Egyptian Empire in Civ IV
  15. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Your Nation – English Empire
  16. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Which Nation to Play – French Empire
  17. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Playable Nations – German Empire
  18. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing A Playable Nation – Greek Empire
  19. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Which Nation to Play – Incan Empire
  20. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing the nation – Indian Empire
  21. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Which Nation to Play in Civ IV – Japanese Empire
  22. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Which Nation to Play – Malinese Empire
  23. Mastering Civilization IV – Mongolian Empire in Civ IV - Choosing the Nation to Play in Civ IV PC Game
  24. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing Playable Nations – Roman Empire
  25. Mastering Civilization IV – Choosing the Nation to Play in Civ IV – Russian Empire
  26. Mastering Civilization IV – Playing as the Persian Empire in Civ IV - Player’s Guide to Choosing their Nation in Civ IV
  27. Mastering Civilization IV – Selecting Playable Nations in Civ IV – Spanish Empire