EDIT.
The fourth and final part is now posted on the second page, post number 33.
Enjoy.
STABILITY in Rhyes and Fall of Civilization..
What is stability?
Stability plays a very important role in RFC. Nearly everthing you do effects the stability of your civilization.
- The number of cities you build, there location and the buildings you construct.
- The mood of your citizens.
- The technologies you research.
- The civics and religions you adopt.
- Your economy, taking into account the population, agriculture, Industry and financial aspects.
- Your relations and contacts with other civs.
- The wars you fight.
Plus many other factors.
What impact does this have on the game?
Well a very big one.
You can not play RFC like regular Civ or Warlords. If you do you will soon be seeing you empire collapsing around your feet and your citizens clamouring to join other civilizations.
So what can we do about it?
Well if we know what factors effect stability we can plan our gameplay accordingly. The thing to remember though is that stability improvements occur overtime - not instantaneously. So do not wait until you have stability problems before acting, as you probably will be to late.
What is my stability when I start a new game?
There are three levels of gameplay. When you start a new game the stability value is set as follows:
Viceroy = Solid.
Monarch = Stable.
Emperor = Shaky.
How is stability calculated?
This is the complicated bit.
The game uses two methods to calculate stability, which when added together give your actual total stability.
These two methods are base stability and stability.
Base stability is calculated every turn on certain factors and is the main indicator of your actual stability. This value is not accumulated but is added to the permanent values each turn. The reason for this is that you can change your actions and thus cancel or reverse a previous effect.
Some base stability factors are calculated every 3 turns - so as not to slow down game play.
Stability adds some permanent modifiers, triggered once as certain events happen. These values are applied only once and are accumulated.
Each calculation (of which there are many) can produce either a zero or positive or negative value depending upon what you are doing.
Total stability is what you see in the game. This total stability is the sum of base stability and stability.
So at the start of each turn we have a total stability value which can be either positive or negative.
What is our total stability and where is it shown?
As these values are not displayed in the game, I shall refrain from using numbers where possible. But there are three ranges for positive values and three ranges for negative values.
Positive values are displayed as: Very solid, Solid and Stable.
Negative values are displayed as: Shaky, Unstable and Collapsing.
This stability is displayed in two ways.
On the main screen in the score list, next to each civ you will see one of three icons
(o) (in a bowl) represents: . .Very solid and Solid.
_o_ (flat surface) represents: Stable and Shaky.
o
( ) (on top of an upturned bowl) represents: Unstable and Collapsing.
Do not worry, the actual icons look much better.
Press F2 or click on the '$' Icon to enter the renamed Interior Advisor Screen (was Financial Advisor).
Near the bottom of the screen you will see the Stabilty level which will have one of the following descriptions :
Very solid, Solid, Stable, Shaky, Unstable or Collapsing.
Under the description are five categories:
Cities, Civics, Economy, Expansion and Foreign.
Each category has a star rating from one to five. The stars show the stability of your civilization under each category. So at a glance you can see what part of your empire needs attention.
Each rating roughly equates to:
***** = Very solid,
**** = Solid
*** = Stable or Shaky
** = Unstable
* = Collapsing
Because some categories have lots more factors influencing stability than others it is not safe to assume that 3 stars in one category equates to the same numeric stability values as the other 3 star entries. THEY DO NOT.
So now we know what our stability rating is and what parts of our civilization are causing it.
So what can happen?
Well, you or the AI can lose a city or cities or all of your empire (except for one city if the human player).
Stable or above civs are safe. (Note: Not sure what happens when a new Civ is born - e.g. France German etc.)
Shaky civs are only at risk of losing cities when new or resurrecting civs spawn.
Unstable civs are in danger of secessions. From time to time, unhappy cities will declare independence.
Collapsing civs risk to end up in civil war. When this happens, the AI collapses and it is split into independent states and barbarians. Neighbouring civs can absorb some cities.
The human player retains one city, usually the capital, from which he can take the others back.
There is a warning before secessions and resurrection of civs.
What can we do?
The next thing is, what do we do about it.
Well that is for the future.
I intend to put together notes covering each category plus any other general factors I come across. They wont be to detailed (we do not want spoilers ruining the game) and I shall try to refrain from using numbers - just pluses and minuses. Because Rhye is bound to change values as he ruthlessly tracks down human exploits and lays traps for the unwary player.
Credits will be given to any existing posts I use as I use them.
Guess I should credit Rhye at this point.
PS. Please comment and correct any errors I have made and I will update the post accordingly.
The fourth and final part is now posted on the second page, post number 33.
Enjoy.
STABILITY in Rhyes and Fall of Civilization..
What is stability?
Stability plays a very important role in RFC. Nearly everthing you do effects the stability of your civilization.
- The number of cities you build, there location and the buildings you construct.
- The mood of your citizens.
- The technologies you research.
- The civics and religions you adopt.
- Your economy, taking into account the population, agriculture, Industry and financial aspects.
- Your relations and contacts with other civs.
- The wars you fight.
Plus many other factors.
What impact does this have on the game?
Well a very big one.
You can not play RFC like regular Civ or Warlords. If you do you will soon be seeing you empire collapsing around your feet and your citizens clamouring to join other civilizations.
So what can we do about it?
Well if we know what factors effect stability we can plan our gameplay accordingly. The thing to remember though is that stability improvements occur overtime - not instantaneously. So do not wait until you have stability problems before acting, as you probably will be to late.
What is my stability when I start a new game?
There are three levels of gameplay. When you start a new game the stability value is set as follows:
Viceroy = Solid.
Monarch = Stable.
Emperor = Shaky.
How is stability calculated?
This is the complicated bit.
The game uses two methods to calculate stability, which when added together give your actual total stability.
These two methods are base stability and stability.
Base stability is calculated every turn on certain factors and is the main indicator of your actual stability. This value is not accumulated but is added to the permanent values each turn. The reason for this is that you can change your actions and thus cancel or reverse a previous effect.
Some base stability factors are calculated every 3 turns - so as not to slow down game play.
Stability adds some permanent modifiers, triggered once as certain events happen. These values are applied only once and are accumulated.
Each calculation (of which there are many) can produce either a zero or positive or negative value depending upon what you are doing.
Total stability is what you see in the game. This total stability is the sum of base stability and stability.
So at the start of each turn we have a total stability value which can be either positive or negative.
What is our total stability and where is it shown?
As these values are not displayed in the game, I shall refrain from using numbers where possible. But there are three ranges for positive values and three ranges for negative values.
Positive values are displayed as: Very solid, Solid and Stable.
Negative values are displayed as: Shaky, Unstable and Collapsing.
This stability is displayed in two ways.
On the main screen in the score list, next to each civ you will see one of three icons
(o) (in a bowl) represents: . .Very solid and Solid.
_o_ (flat surface) represents: Stable and Shaky.
o
( ) (on top of an upturned bowl) represents: Unstable and Collapsing.
Do not worry, the actual icons look much better.
Press F2 or click on the '$' Icon to enter the renamed Interior Advisor Screen (was Financial Advisor).
Near the bottom of the screen you will see the Stabilty level which will have one of the following descriptions :
Very solid, Solid, Stable, Shaky, Unstable or Collapsing.
Under the description are five categories:
Cities, Civics, Economy, Expansion and Foreign.
Each category has a star rating from one to five. The stars show the stability of your civilization under each category. So at a glance you can see what part of your empire needs attention.
Each rating roughly equates to:
***** = Very solid,
**** = Solid
*** = Stable or Shaky
** = Unstable
* = Collapsing
Because some categories have lots more factors influencing stability than others it is not safe to assume that 3 stars in one category equates to the same numeric stability values as the other 3 star entries. THEY DO NOT.
So now we know what our stability rating is and what parts of our civilization are causing it.
So what can happen?
Well, you or the AI can lose a city or cities or all of your empire (except for one city if the human player).
Stable or above civs are safe. (Note: Not sure what happens when a new Civ is born - e.g. France German etc.)
Shaky civs are only at risk of losing cities when new or resurrecting civs spawn.
Unstable civs are in danger of secessions. From time to time, unhappy cities will declare independence.
Collapsing civs risk to end up in civil war. When this happens, the AI collapses and it is split into independent states and barbarians. Neighbouring civs can absorb some cities.
The human player retains one city, usually the capital, from which he can take the others back.
There is a warning before secessions and resurrection of civs.
What can we do?
The next thing is, what do we do about it.
Well that is for the future.
I intend to put together notes covering each category plus any other general factors I come across. They wont be to detailed (we do not want spoilers ruining the game) and I shall try to refrain from using numbers - just pluses and minuses. Because Rhye is bound to change values as he ruthlessly tracks down human exploits and lays traps for the unwary player.
Credits will be given to any existing posts I use as I use them.
Guess I should credit Rhye at this point.
PS. Please comment and correct any errors I have made and I will update the post accordingly.
