This city shouldn't flip but it does

[morchuflex]

Hello.

I really need help evaluating the chances of cultural flip.

I am playing Carthage and have founded a city in Ottoman territory on the only available iron deposit I could find.
I cannot afford to loose it, so I garrisoned nine defenders in it. It just flipped. I reloaded (yes, that's wrong... ) and a few turns later it flipped again.
So I turned to the flip calculator I found here somewhere, filled the numbers I think are correct, and the answer is: 0% chance of cultural flip provided garrison is at least four.
Therefore, I must assume I miscalculated stg.
I suspect the "number of tiles under enemy influence": what does this exactly mean? Isn't it the number of the city's tiles that an enemy city could be working it I wasn't? Or the number of tiles that are within the enemy civ total influence radius?
Furthermore, I don't know the AI's total culture. The advisor says the Ottomans are "in contempt" of my civ (I'm unsure of the English words because I play the French version; the French words would be best translated by "they despise our cultural achievments"). I assumed that meant a ration of 2:1 in their favor. If I'm wrong, correct me.
Finally, the flip calculator contains the line "AI civ local culture greater than yours?" which I simply don't understand. Therefore I don't know wether I must check it or not.
Note: the city isn't rioting, contains no resisters or foreign citizens
Any light?

[smackster]

Take the guesswork out, use Dianthus MapStat utility.

http://www.cfc-dianthus.com/CRpSuite/

This utility should ship with Civ and Dianthus should get a $1 per copy sold.

smackster

[nameless53]

there is your whole country's border and culture along with the cities own
if your city has no library and stuff generating culture, and the other city its next to does, thats local cultures influence on your city.

[morchuflex]

Originally Posted by smackster

Take the guesswork out, use Dianthus MapStat utility.

Very nice!
It does indicate a 0.97% chance of flipping. Which is huge if you consider the long term.
However, it doesn't tell me why, and I wish I knew.
It tells me I need to garrison 29 units...

[Catt]

Originally Posted by morchuflex

Hello.

I suspect the "number of tiles under enemy influence": what does this exactly mean? Isn't it the number of the city's tiles that an enemy city could be working it I wasn't? Or the number of tiles that are within the enemy civ total influence radius?

It is the number of tiles in your city's potential 21-tile workable range that currently fall under foreign culture control. If you control 9 tiles and the enemy civ controls everything else around you, the number of tiles under enemy influence is 12.

Furthermore, I don't know the AI's total culture. The advisor says the Ottomans are "in contempt" of my civ (I'm unsure of the English words because I play the French version; the French words would be best translated by "they despise our cultural achievments"). I assumed that meant a ration of 2:1 in their favor. If I'm wrong, correct me.

My guess is that the AI's culture is more than 3 times yours. In the American english version, 2:1 is "dismissive" and 3:1 or greater is "dsidainful;" "disdainful" is a lot closer to "contempt" than is dismissive.

You can probably get a good sense by looking at the culture graphs in the victory status screen.

Finally, the flip calculator contains the line "AI civ local culture greater than yours?" which I simply don't understand. Therefore I don't know wether I must check it or not.

This only refers to which civ has historically generated the most culture in the specific city. If you founded the city and have never lost it, you're the only civ with any local culture. If you conquered the city and rcently built a temple, but the prior owner had enjoyed a temple for some time, it's likely the other civ will have more local culture than you will for quite some time.

[morchuflex]

Now these are the explanations I hoped for. Thanks a lot!

[Jawz II]

or just disable culture flips neXt time

ive played civ 3 once with it on,lost city to flip,10 secs later, figuered out what happened, started a new game and disable the flip thing,and havent looked back yet

i guess it makes the game easier,i kick ass on emperor regularly,maybe i wouldnt with culture on...

[LaserSquad]

Since my 2nd or 3rd game of Civiliation 3 I haven't had a single culture flip go against me, and I'm taking enemy cities through 'the flip' all the time. The rule that I follow is this: if the borders projected by an enemy city will cover the square where my city is located, then it will flip. Also, by making sure my border covers an enemy city I know it's going to be mine eventually. Of course if it produces lots of culture it may not happen for some time.

[warpstorm]

Originally Posted by Jawz II

i guess it makes the game easier,i kick ass on emperor regularly,maybe i wouldnt with culture on...

Odds are you'd still do well, but it is easier. By turning this off you get rid of one of my favorite tactics, flipping the enemy cities to me. In general, many more cities flip to me than away from me because I play the culture game.

[alamo]

With 29 troops can't you just clear out the offensive cities nearby?

Also, build some culture buildings in your core. It makes it much easier to conquere other civs later.

[AbuHab]

Originally Posted by warpstorm

In general, many more cities flip to me than away from me because I play the culture game.

I've never had an enemy city flip to me, even though I almost always have higher culture than my opponents -- sometimes two or three times as high. What am I doing wrong?

[smackster]

I'll quote myself.

Originally Posted by smackster

Take the guesswork out, use Dianthus MapStat utility.

http://www.cfc-dianthus.com/CRpSuite/

smackster