PolyCast Episode 116: "Not a Paraphrase"

Not this time. The one-hundred-and-sixteenth episode of PolyCast, "Not a Paraphrase", features regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua" and Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and Lisa "qnl" Bang; it has a runtime of 59m59s.

The summary of topics is as follows:
- 01m10s | News
Dissecting the list of the latest upcoming patch for Civilization V.
- 14m57s | Open Mic
Responding to not one, but two, emails 'on-air': one from a "Patrick M." requesting tips to guide a new Civilization IV player, and another from "Creatureboy11" about a thread he started on Cottaging vs. Farming flood plains titles in the game.
- 36m17s | Forum Talk
Teaching CivIV to a friend, and one's favourite Downloadable Content (DLC) civilizations for CivV.

- Intro/Outro | Miscellaneous
Some unwanted allusions.

PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution and ModCast focuses on Civ modding.

Great episode as always! Just wanted to note that I believe the "no RA while in Future Tech" patch note is probably aimed at preventing the AI in future tech to sign an RA when it clearly doesn't need one (but doesn't know better). Not a big deal, as mentioned, but a potential exploit a human could use.

Seek said:

Great episode as always!

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On behalf of myself and my fellow co-hosts, thank you kindly.

Just wanted to note that I believe the "no RA while in Future Tech" patch note is probably aimed at preventing the AI in future tech to sign an RA when it clearly doesn't need one (but doesn't know better). Not a big deal, as mentioned, but a potential exploit a human could use.

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Such a "future tech"ed technology for the AI would yield a higher score for them as well, though yes again unnecessary. I wouldn't go so far as to call it an "exploit", though; I can see needing to address it, but I think it should be more 'situational' and less of an 'absolute'. For example, the AI recognizes that it is already in the Future Tech era when you propose a RA to them. As such, it insists on some notable amount of gold be paid to them in order for it to go through.

Nice episode. I have a suggestion for a future topic of discussion: the "selling" of open borders and lump sum manipulation in Civ V, which many players use for their strategies. Also, another alternative: sell a luxury to an AI, then have it pillaged, then sell it to the AI again, for another lump sum. Evil, silly....and many use it! XD

Great episode! It's been a while since I listened to one of these, sadly...

Some great topics... Floodplains! My opinion on those are, I usually cottage them if there are lots of them (since the city will then grow of itself while growing the cottages). If there are only a couple of them, I usually farm them to feed the surrounding area and keep city growth up (ie: with two floodplains and two riverside grasslands, farm the floodplains and cottage the grasslands. This ties into my "specialize tiles as much as possible"-philosophy; It's more effective/versatile than the opposite (since all tiles would then produce 3 food; What do you do if you need to slow growth or grow really fast?)). Long paranthesis here. There are of course cases where this rule gets broken (you mention specialists and watermills, the two main sidetracks).

Uhm... Teaching people civ. Really great tips you're giving/passing on! I'll keep it in mind if I ever find someone interested in learning the game

And... Civ V; The DLC civs... I've only tried Mongolia and I like them (hig five, TMIT!). Because I am a warmonger at heart. I still look for the axeman in CivV Keshik are ridiculously powerful; They can move within range, fire, and run. This basically means that the two main weaknesses of Knights, pikes and cities, are obsolete. You can kill pikes without risking close combat, and you can damage cities and withdraw in order to not get hit. You just need some mobile melee units to deliver the final blow (ie. horsemen). I've heard a bit about Incans, Polynesians, etc. from a friend. My impression is that Polynesia are pretty wicked because of their UA, and so are Incans. The Spanish sound more mediocre and interesting, just like they were in IV. Babylon... No clue.

Anyhow thanks for a nice podcast - I hope you get EVEN MORE emails for the next time around

Morningcalm said:

Nice episode.

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Diamondeye said:

Great episode! [..] Some great topics...

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Thanks.

Morningcalm said:

I have a suggestion for a future topic of discussion: the "selling" of open borders and lump sum manipulation in Civ V, which many players use for their strategies. Also, another alternative: sell a luxury to an AI, then have it pillaged, then sell it to the AI again, for another lump sum. Evil, silly....and many use it! XD[/i]

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We have mentioned the latter in passing a couple of times at least on previous episodes, but not the former... which I myself employ all too often. I've made a note to myself to make mention of it on the show in the very near future.

Diamondeye said:

It's been a while since I listened to one of these, sadly...

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and ...

Floodplains! My opinion on those are, I usually cottage them if there are lots of them (since the city will then grow of itself while growing the cottages). If there are only a couple of them, I usually farm them to feed the surrounding area and keep city growth up (ie: with two floodplains and two riverside grasslands, farm the floodplains and cottage the grasslands.

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Makes sense to me.

Uhm... Teaching people civ. Really great tips you're giving/passing on! I'll keep it in mind if I ever find someone interested in learning the game

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and respectively.

And... Civ V; The DLC civs... I've only tried Mongolia and I like them (hig five, TMIT!). Because I am a warmonger at heart. [..] I've heard a bit about Incans, Polynesians, etc. from a friend. My impression is that Polynesia are pretty wicked because of their UA, and so are Incans. The Spanish sound more mediocre and interesting, just like they were in IV. Babylon... No clue.

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I concur on Spain. (Polynesia's UA can admittedly get all but nullified on maps that are not particularly water based/heavy.) As for Babylon, ... don't miss out on learning about them.

Anyhow thanks for a nice podcast - I hope you get EVEN MORE emails for the next time around

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I agree with TMIT's speach about improving gameplay.

Are you sure you want to improve something you do for fun and turn it into drills and disect it ?

I read for pleasure, but I don't want to take a speed-reading course. If I were a golfer, I could probably improve my game by contorting my body in uncomfortable ways, but that doesn't mean either would enhance my enjoyment.

Indeed -- Civ is for fun. What people view as fun varies from person-to-person, and therefore so would -- and should -- their playstyle in the game.

Though if you don't have a Civ playstyle, I'm not certain where to begin about what's wrong with you.