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Hey folks, is there a link to a FAQ which explains the options when you start a Custom Game? Most are actually fairly self-explanatory, but I haven't seen these elsewhere:

(1) No city limits from civics (tooltip: "No explicit limits or penalties from civic choices for founding any number of cities")
There are penalties for founding too many cities, other than happiness/health/gold? Are we actually prevented from founding more cities by certain civics? If so, I suppose the player will either have to change civics or conquer existing cities if he wants more cities?

(2) No fixed borders (tooltip: "No fixed border mechanics, whether from civics or any other sources")
Is this referring to cultural borders? If this option is unchecked, does this mean that some civics/other things can stop a city's cultural borders from expanding?

(3) Infinite XP (tooltip: "No loss of experience when upgrading troops")
I've never had units last more than a handful of "level ups" so I don't know whether a level limit exists (probably?). On the surface it seems this option means unlimited level ups, but on the other hand the tooltip is talking about xp loss when upgrading, so now I'm confused.

I'm sure all the new stuff will eat me alive, which is why my first games will be back on Settler difficulty in an island map until I know wtf I'm doing...
 
Hey folks, is there a link to a FAQ which explains the options when you start a Custom Game? Most are actually fairly self-explanatory, but I haven't seen these elsewhere:

(1) No city limits from civics (tooltip: "No explicit limits or penalties from civic choices for founding any number of cities")
There are penalties for founding too many cities, other than happiness/health/gold? Are we actually prevented from founding more cities by certain civics? If so, I suppose the player will either have to change civics or conquer existing cities if he wants more cities?
Without this ticked there are city limits in one category of civic (the one that has monarchy, republic, etc.) which set the max number of cities that type of governance can optimally support. If you exceed that amount there is an unhappiness penalty proportional to the amount you exceed it by in every city. The penalty per city also varies with civic. Basically it means early governance civics don't support large civilizations, and later ones progressively do so better. If you DO tick this (to turn these limits off) then you'll still have per-city maintenance which will increase with city count, but the net ersult is less restrictive.
(2) No fixed borders (tooltip: "No fixed border mechanics, whether from civics or any other sources")
Is this referring to cultural borders? If this option is unchecked, does this mean that some civics/other things can stop a city's cultural borders from expanding?
A few civic choices give 'fixed borders'. When you have fixed borders your owned tiles cannot b taken by enemy cultural expansion unless it is very dominant (75% rather than 50%). It also allows you to annex neutral tiles by stationing a unit on them and buying them
(3) Infinite XP (tooltip: "No loss of experience when upgrading troops")
I've never had units last more than a handful of "level ups" so I don't know whether a level limit exists (probably?). On the surface it seems this option means unlimited level ups, but on the other hand the tooltip is talking about xp loss when upgrading, so now I'm confused.
Without this ticked, if you upgrade a unit it will lose its levels above a threshold (can't remember what the threshold is because I always tick this one!)
 
Without this ticked, if you upgrade a unit it will lose its levels above a threshold (can't remember what the threshold is because I always tick this one!)

All XP above 35 will be lost.

And we should make the hover text for those three more explicit about what the options do.
 
Yeah, LEVELS aren't lost on upgrading a unit when Infinite XP is off but a lot of XP on the unit may be. (according to what ls612 stated)

The difference is, units won't lose promos from level loss but they will be potentially set to have a hell of a long road ahead to gain the next level if they were fairly high level when upgraded.
 
Thanks! Sorry guys, I'm slow >___> still not clear on the last one.

Without this ticked, if you upgrade a unit it will lose its levels above a threshold (can't remember what the threshold is because I always tick this one!)
All XP above 35 will be lost.
Yeah, LEVELS aren't lost on upgrading a unit when Infinite XP is off but a lot of XP on the unit may be. (according to what ls612 stated)

The difference is, units won't lose promos from level loss but they will be potentially set to have a hell of a long road ahead to gain the next level if they were fairly high level when upgraded.

I still don't quite get it. Okay, I understand how leveling up can hit a limit if the game throws away any XP gained past 35. But how does that translate into level loss? If the "next level up" is, say, 40 XP, the unit will simply never reach it, right? Is there an example I can see?
 
I still don't quite get it. Okay, I understand how leveling up can hit a limit if the game throws away any XP gained past 35. But how does that translate into level loss? If the "next level up" is, say, 40 XP, the unit will simply never reach it, right? Is there an example I can see?

Suppose it already had 70XP. Say that makes it 11th level. It would still be 11th level, but would only have 35XP. It can still accumulate XP, but needs 40 or more before getting to level 12.

I hope I've got that right. I'm fairly sure that's what "levels aren't lost but XP is" etc. means.
 
Suppose it already had 70XP. Say that makes it 11th level. It would still be 11th level, but would only have 35XP. It can still accumulate XP, but needs 40 or more before getting to level 12.

I hope I've got that right. I'm fairly sure that's what "levels aren't lost but XP is" etc. means.

:yup:
 
Suppose it already had 70XP. Say that makes it 11th level. It would still be 11th level, but would only have 35XP. It can still accumulate XP, but needs 40 or more before getting to level 12.

I hope I've got that right. I'm fairly sure that's what "levels aren't lost but XP is" etc. means.

Which is why I don't have the option for losing XP enabled. It is counter-intuitive and penalizes you for getting highly trained units.
 
Which is why I don't have the option for losing XP enabled. It is counter-intuitive and penalizes you for getting highly trained units.

I don't know why you think it is counter intuitive. It has been thus since Civ 1:p. Basically you have replaced all the units gear so tactics and strategy have to change to and that takes awhile. Also supper promoted upgraded units don't happen in RL.
 
As of version 29, what is the best map to play? I try using PerfectWorld_2f but some resources never seem to spawn.
 
I don't know why you think it is counter intuitive. It has been thus since Civ 1:p. Basically you have replaced all the units gear so tactics and strategy have to change to and that takes awhile. Also supper promoted upgraded units don't happen in RL.

Civ 1 came out before I was born, so that isn't what I'd call 'intuitive'. :p As for largely promoted units IRL, take a look at the Napoleonic Old Guard or the modern Navy SEALs for what I think of as 'super promoted' units.
 
Civ 1 came out before I was born, so that isn't what I'd call 'intuitive'. :p As for largely promoted units IRL, take a look at the Napoleonic Old Guard or the modern Navy SEALs for what I think of as 'super promoted' units.

Also think of it this way: Those arent the guys themselves, the units are actually military divisions. Every turn, in-verse, people are leaving those units and being replaced.

So when you upgrade them, you are swapping technology. As a result, the unit has to spend time learning how to use them.
 
Also think of it this way: Those arent the guys themselves, the units are actually military divisions. Every turn, in-verse, people are leaving those units and being replaced.

So when you upgrade them, you are swapping technology. As a result, the unit has to spend time learning how to use them.

Under that outlook, units should lose their promos and all exp every round until nearing the modern era when the amount of time that's passing doesn't mean every soldier in the unit would've died and been replaced, possibly a few times over again within the span of one turn to the next.

Honestly, this is not a conversation worth having because it's an argument much like 'less filling/tastes great'. We provide the option because different players have different preferred outlooks on this subject. I can understand both but really personally fall strongly into the unlimited camp, thus why I made the option. I'd removed the limit only to have it placed back... surprised, I learned at that point that there WERE players that appreciated that approach and it immediately thus required an option to resolve things.
 
Honestly, this is not a conversation worth having because it's an argument much like 'less filling/tastes great'. We provide the option because different players have different preferred outlooks on this subject. I can understand both but really personally fall strongly into the unlimited camp, thus why I made the option. I'd removed the limit only to have it placed back... surprised, I learned at that point that there WERE players that appreciated that approach and it immediately thus required an option to resolve things.

This is the favorite settings thread, where we all have arguments about which option is best. ;) I see no reason not to have this conversation (or the option).
 
I think I was personally trying to keep myself off the soap box there. No offense to those having the discussion. I absolutely cannot tolerate the mechanism that makes it so I can build units with more xp than they can keep as soon as they upgrade. And its just irritating to have your prize developed army become impossible to further improve.
 
I hate loosing/resetting XP as well...

However, I had an idea last night:
Instead of loosing all XP over certain total every time the unit is updated... why not just loose a percentage.

Throwing numbers out there say base 20% (so a unit with 100XP goes to 80 when updated). Then the base percentage could be adjusted by how big an upgrade is occurring (so skipping upgrades isn't really an XP benefit, or as much of one); or if it crosses significant thresholds (e.g. melee unit to gun powder unit). Additionally you could also modify the base percentage by particular unit promotions and leader traits.
 
I think I was personally trying to keep myself off the soap box there. No offense to those having the discussion. I absolutely cannot tolerate the mechanism that makes it so I can build units with more xp than they can keep as soon as they upgrade. And its just irritating to have your prize developed army become impossible to further improve.

I usually don't play with Infinite XP. That said after a while you don't fret over losing some XP or a promo after upgrading. You expect it and do the best you can with what you have.

Just a question to throw out for thought: Is the XP now worth more than the Unit?

JosEPh
 
I usually don't play with Infinite XP. That said after a while you don't fret over losing some XP or a promo after upgrading. You expect it and do the best you can with what you have.

Just a question to throw out for thought: Is the XP now worth more than the Unit?

JosEPh

Not really, because all combat units can get similar XP levels at build, and most units have built-in modifiers that are much bigger than promotion modifiers. The trick is to specialize a couple cities for producing military units and just produce units there for your invasion forces.
 
Is the XP now worth more than the Unit?

Once you've got more than 20-30 XP, yes the XP is worth more than the unit. Maybe even earlier. I can build an Archer in 1 turn in a couple of cities, but how long will it take to replace my 90XP Archer? Probably forever! He is at least the equivalent of a World Wonder!

And he's the only one for most attack missions against barbs, getting 98% odds where another Archer has 60-something.
 
I usually don't play with Infinite XP. That said after a while you don't fret over losing some XP or a promo after upgrading. You expect it and do the best you can with what you have.

Just a question to throw out for thought: Is the XP now worth more than the Unit?

JosEPh

It depends on your strategy a lot. I tend to keep a small standing army but work hard to actively promote it so its an elite force. It can be a risky approach, but its financially very efficient. If you take this approach then losing exp on promotions is a huge deal (exp really is worth more than the unit in many ways). It you maintain a larger, but less higly promote army it's less of an issue.
 
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