Trade routes

Hi! I just want to share a small feature I have found out yesterday.

As I already knew, when you capture an enemy city you inherit any trade routes it has established before. The location of the city (or cities) involved in a trade route are displayed by clicking "map" on the city screen as well as the location of any units assigned to that city.

What I didn't know is that this could be an easy way to find out where enemy cities are located if you still haven't found them.

For example, in my current game I am sharing the continent with the Babylonians. We have lived at peace until 200 AD. On 200 AD a sneak attack by the Babylonians triggered a war that lasted until 380 AD (I think). During the war, I conquered one of their cities (the closest one to my territory). This city, called Nineveh, while under the Babylonians, have established a trade route with Moscow. I have had no contact with the Russians yet. However, to my surprise, by checking the "map" on the city screen, I discovered the location of Moscow. Now, I'm in possession of important information: if I want to meet the Russians I should sail to Southwest.

On conclusion, after more than 20 years of playing this eternal game, I am still finding something new!

thanks!
Didn't know that.

Indeed, it's always great to keep discovering things on a game you're playing after so long!

I knew about the trading cities shown on the map, but what I discovered very recently are the "very unhappy citizens"... As a matter of fact, I am not even sure they exist in the French version of the game - just like the "Rename" city feature form EN 474.05 does not exist in FR 474.05...

Another thing I discovered very recently: cheat-buying city improvements (or units), by progressively buying more and more expensive improvements/units... The total price afforded becomes much lower than the initial price (which I really see as a design flaw, but I never actually played a game using this cheat).

darkpanda said:

Indeed, it's always great to keep discovering things on a game you're playing after so long!

I knew about the trading cities shown on the map, but what I discovered very recently are the "very unhappy citizens"... As a matter of fact, I am not even sure they exist in the French version of the game - just like the "Rename" city feature form EN 474.05 does not exist in FR 474.05...

Another thing I discovered very recently: cheat-buying city improvements (or units), by progressively buying more and more expensive improvements/units... The total price afforded becomes much lower than the initial price (which I really see as a design flaw, but I never actually played a game using this cheat).

Click to expand...

yes - really unhappy citizens and the rename button came in later versions, I don't play with them.

Eh - I've never seen that the price drops. You mean that a palace is 200 first and after a few improvements it's only 100 or something??
Or in later turns - that's because you buy less shields and without any shields in the box you pay double.

darkpanda said:

Indeed, it's always great to keep discovering things on a game you're playing after so long!

I knew about the trading cities shown on the map, but what I discovered very recently are the "very unhappy citizens"... As a matter of fact, I am not even sure they exist in the French version of the game - just like the "Rename" city feature form EN 474.05 does not exist in FR 474.05...

Another thing I discovered very recently: cheat-buying city improvements (or units), by progressively buying more and more expensive improvements/units... The total price afforded becomes much lower than the initial price (which I really see as a design flaw, but I never actually played a game using this cheat).

Click to expand...

Very unhappy citizens were added in 474.05 reduce the effectiveness of aggressive expansion in the early game. They made it significantly harder to expand with primitive governments (like despotism) because each new city beyond the first few will add an unhappy citizen in a city.

The progresive pricing only applies to units.

The city buying rules as I understand them:

• City improvements has a set price of 2 gold per shield
• Wonders costs twice that at 4 gold per shield
• Units are generally more expensive than buildings and gets more expensive the more shields you buy (I'm not sure about the exact formula)
• Prices are doubled if work has not begun yet (if you are buying all the shields)

The strategies for buying production should therefore be:

• Instead of buying units, buy city improvements with the closest production cost. This will almost always be cheaper even if you end up throwing shields away (For instance buying a temple and changing production to a musketeer is often times cheaper than buying the musketeer even though you are throwing away 10 shields)
• Generally you should avoid buying something in cities until you have produced at least 1 shield. If you absolutely need to buy something and have no shields, start off by buying a militia first. This way you only pay the double price penalty with the first 10 shields. If militias are obsolete use a temple or barracks instead.
• If you need to buy a wonder, first buy the most expensive city improvement available.