Help for new Civ player. This game is frustrating!

Carpe Discus

Chieftain
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
1
I have never played any Civ game before now, despite many opportunities over the years. I've just purchased Civ Rev for the iPhone, and I'm having a really hard time understanding it all. It's like it's designed for people who have played Civilization before, only. The tutorial helps a little, but there's SO much that's not addressed.

There appears to be very little out there that's iphone specific, and civilizationrevolution.com/iphone is a Flash site unaccessible from the iPhone. Great work, guys. All I want is a a manual!

City boundaries vs. culture boundaries: There's these colored outlines around cities. I assume it's city limits or culture limits, since these are both referred to. Or maybe they're something else. But there's also some other limit that's independent of the outline that is the radius of the resources I can see on the city overview screen. Is that then the city limit? Are they related? If I'm kinda close to a resource that I can't currently get to, how do I get to use it?

Resources: Are the hammer resources related to gold production? Or are they just for units and buildings and the like. What the heck are the circular blue and red arrows? Something to do with trade? If so, do I need to manage Caravans to use them? And do I get anything besides gold for having a worker on one of these tiles--or do I even get that? Can I somehow trade gold for resources or vice versa, or food for production or something (between cities/civilizations).

Are ships just good for transport and coastline defense?

I read somewhere that gold and science production are mutually exclusive. So I can set a city to only one or the other? What determines how much gold/science is going on? What's the purpose of gold besides rush production and buying off people?

I can tell this game has lots of potential, but it's clear that there are a ton of rules that are not obvious to the beginner, and there appears to be no place to go to find them.

I've had a ton of questions, and read some of the strategy guides out there, and they're interesting (and mostly not Revolutions-specific, which is also annoying to a new user that can't automatically adjust)--but I'm interested more in gameplay advice/mechanics.

Oh--the custom allocation of workers--I can't make sense of that screen at all. I can sorta get that I'm supposed to pick up workers and drop them on other tiles, but I can't really figure out what all the numbers on the sides of the screen have to do with anything.

Anything else you'd deign to clarify for me, the newbie iPhone Civ player, would be much appreciated.
 
I have never played any Civ game before now, despite many opportunities over the years. I've just purchased Civ Rev for the iPhone, and I'm having a really hard time understanding it all. It's like it's designed for people who have played Civilization before, only. The tutorial helps a little, but there's SO much that's not addressed.

There appears to be very little out there that's iphone specific, and civilizationrevolution.com/iphone is a Flash site unaccessible from the iPhone. Great work, guys. All I want is a a manual!
Welcome to the forum. I'd recommend downloading the Expanded DS manual. The game is the same, the iPhone version just has a different interface.

City boundaries vs. culture boundaries: There's these colored outlines around cities. I assume it's city limits or culture limits, since these are both referred to. Or maybe they're something else. But there's also some other limit that's independent of the outline that is the radius of the resources I can see on the city overview screen. Is that then the city limit? Are they related? If I'm kinda close to a resource that I can't currently get to, how do I get to use it?
A city may only use the resources in the 8 squares adjacent to the city. If you build a courthouse, then an additional 12 squares may be used (in a fat plus sign around the city).
Although at the start your culture limit will be the same as which squares your city is working, that will change as the culture limit of the other civs start encroaching on your culture. Your cities may only work squares inside your culture boundary. Your culture boundary depends on your population, temples & cathedrals, wonders & great people.

Resources: Are the hammer resources related to gold production? Or are they just for units and buildings and the like. What the heck are the circular blue and red arrows? Something to do with trade? If so, do I need to manage Caravans to use them? And do I get anything besides gold for having a worker on one of these tiles--or do I even get that? Can I somehow trade gold for resources or vice versa, or food for production or something (between cities/civilizations).
Hammers are used to build buildings, units, and wonders. The circular arrows are trade and generate either gold or science depending on the setting in the city. Caravans are units which produce gold when they arrive at a city of a different civ. Each terrain produces one or more resources - hammers, trade (gold or science), food. Gold (need currency) and gem terrain bonuses produce gold. Gold may be used to rush production.

Are ships just good for transport and coastline defense?
Ships have three main purposes: exploration, transport & naval support (both defense and offense). Submarines are useless because they can't be used for any of those purposes.

I read somewhere that gold and science production are mutually exclusive. So I can set a city to only one or the other? What determines how much gold/science is going on? What's the purpose of gold besides rush production and buying off people?
Correct, each city may be set to produce either gold or science from trade. (However, certain bonuses may mean the city will produce both.) There should be a control in the city management screen to select gold or science. Having 20K gold opens up the World Bank Wonder, which wins you an Economic Victory when you build it. There are also bonuses given when you accumulate certain amounts of gold (i.e. you get a free settler the first time you accumulate 100 gold). Gold may be used to buy technologies from other civs, or incite one civ to declare war on the other. And, as you mentioned, gold is used to rush production and to buy peace.
 
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