re: Civilization 5 : help me not be awful

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Roads between your cities will help with the unhappiness. Also lux resources will cut down. Also there are happiness generating building to cut down on the unrest. My suggestion is to sell off some of your smaller satellite cities that dont give you much benefit.

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All of this except the roads. They help a good bit, but don't overdo them because they carry maintenance costs. Keep your cities spaced properly as well to maximize efficiency.

My biggest hangup when I started was settling too many cities in poor locations. I would settle more just because another civ was approaching. It isn't the worst thing to do, but don't let other civs dictate your entire strategy. You'll settle close and piss them off...and if your new city is too weak, you're screwed and they get the land anyway.

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I dont start large scale wars until 1800s and usually I try to get others to fight for me via denouncing and ratting others out with the spies then I sit back and watch

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This too. Cause a little chaos with your diplomacy. Warmonger penalties are reduced if you aren't the aggressor.

One strategy I really enjoy sometimes is instigating a 2-front war. If you're warring with a neighbor (or plan to) pay off the AI to fight them. Say your setup is:

You | Opponent (or soon to be opponent) | Their Neighbor

You pay off the neighbor to distract them from you. If you're a little overmatched this can pay off big time if you play your cards right. If those two civs are already uneasy (denounced, etc) you can do it for cheap. I got one over the weekend to go to war for 3 horses for 30 turns and 6GPT.

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My favorite civ is Babylon. Get walls of babylon and good archers early on and the they pump out great scientist very fast. Usually by the turn of the 18th century im 7-12 techs ahead of everyone else.

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Great one to play with. Rome is awesome for expansion (production bonus for building already in capital). Greece is solid for allying with CS. France USED to be unstoppable before G&K.