I haven't posted or even checked the forums in more than a year mostly because of my resistance to change leading me to conclude that many of the new features (at their respective times) would be detrimental to gameplay, and for the most part, kept finding that I was completely wrong - with Rise and Fall, I thought the loyalty system would be such a headache so I didn't pick up that expansion until shortly before next XP's release, only to find that loyalty wasn't really an issue of any consequence unless you intentionally made it one. With Gathering Storm, I thought the disasters would ruin the game especially for me - I really enjoy the empire-building aspect of the game and didn't want everything to get torn up by disasters. I found that while they do cause need for a few extra build charges here and there, occasional damage to a unit, and infrequent loss of a pop point or two, these are all manageable and the extra yields that the disasters provide usually makes them more of a benefit than a hindrance. So I didn't pick up GS until last August, figured I wouldn't pick up NFP until I had a little more experience with GS, but after only completing 8 games, I had to pick up NFP when I saw what these SS's could do! I got some Xmas Steam cash and have been trying it out since.
So, I haven't checked the forums as we were basically playing different games. Now I'm all caught up with the XP's, but have so many observations and even more questions! I'll probably make a couple of threads as some of the topics (hopefully) will lead to in-depth discussion. But first, I have three quick questions and one more in-depth one:
1.) Now that I have the whole NFP purchased, will the new packs automatically update and install or do I have to do something to update the game?
2.) My understanding is that the buildings unlocked by the Secret Societies replace the corresponding buildings even if the civilization has a unique building for it. So, it's better to pick a society that doesn't have a building replacement for civilizations that have a unique building of that type as they will lose their unique building's bonuses (Arabia with Hermetic Order, for example)?
3.) Is there any way to stop the spread of forest fires? (In the game; please no Smokey the Bear jokes...) Earlier in my current game, one started, cost a few pop points and pillaged some improvements in one city, and that was fine, but then it spread to a second city causing a little damage and pop loss there, before spreading to my capital and devastating it - I got the Era boost for having the first size 10 city, and every turn it lost a pop point, sometimes two, until the city was down to 2 population. It was more than 35 turns. I thought about chopping a forest to kill the chain, but as the game was focused on a culture victory using Colossal Heads, it would have compromised the strategy.
4.) Vampire Castles: I'm looking for the specifics of the yields they give the capital. I've read that they give the yields of the 6 surrounding tiles, that the yields are that of the tiles at the time the vampire castle is created, and that adjacent districts provide their adjacency bonus to the capital. Sooo..........
4a.) Is it the total yield of the tile or just that of the improvements? For example, a grass/hill/ woods (2F/2P) gets a lumber mill (2F/4P.) So does the capital get 2P or 2F/4P? If it's the latter (which I think it is) this means that simply placing a vampire castle in the middle of 6 flat grass tiles gives the capital +12 food, right?
4b.) Does it include the base yields of the tile that the vampire castle is actually on, making it actually 7 tiles instead of 6 that are transferred?
4c.) I've read that adjacent districts have their adjacency bonuses transfer, do the yields of the buildings in that district also get transferred? If so, are they the base yields of the building or the augmented yields (boosted by great people, city-state envoy level bonuses, etc.) This kind of makes the difference between whether it's optimal to place them next to improved tiles or districts...
4d.) If the castle is next to a district, is it only the districts bonus or that in addition to the base yield of the tile?
4e.) What about cities with increased yields of tiles in that city due to a world wonder (Petra, St. Basil's Cathedral, Mausoleum) If a vampire castle is placed next to tiles of that city, is the capital granted the extra yields from the wonder?
4f.) What if you place the vampire castle adjacent to a rival civilization's territory who is following Hermetic Order and there is a ley line adjacent to the vampire castle and it's after the industrial era - does the ley lines' yield transfer?
4g.) My understanding is that the yields of the tiles "at the time the vampire castle is constructed" is what transfers to the capital - so you'll want to tear down and rebuild it every time you hit a tech that increases the yield of the improvements on that tile, right? (For example, a vampire castle next to mines should be removed and built again when you hit the apprenticeship technology, the industrialization tech, and Smart Materials.
4h.) Similarly, if the rule regarding adjacent districts to a vampire castle is that "the adjacency of the district at the time the vampire castle is built" then wouldn't that mean if you were running the cards that double the adjacency of a district, the doubled amount would transfer, even later when the card is not being used?
So, I haven't checked the forums as we were basically playing different games. Now I'm all caught up with the XP's, but have so many observations and even more questions! I'll probably make a couple of threads as some of the topics (hopefully) will lead to in-depth discussion. But first, I have three quick questions and one more in-depth one:
1.) Now that I have the whole NFP purchased, will the new packs automatically update and install or do I have to do something to update the game?
2.) My understanding is that the buildings unlocked by the Secret Societies replace the corresponding buildings even if the civilization has a unique building for it. So, it's better to pick a society that doesn't have a building replacement for civilizations that have a unique building of that type as they will lose their unique building's bonuses (Arabia with Hermetic Order, for example)?
3.) Is there any way to stop the spread of forest fires? (In the game; please no Smokey the Bear jokes...) Earlier in my current game, one started, cost a few pop points and pillaged some improvements in one city, and that was fine, but then it spread to a second city causing a little damage and pop loss there, before spreading to my capital and devastating it - I got the Era boost for having the first size 10 city, and every turn it lost a pop point, sometimes two, until the city was down to 2 population. It was more than 35 turns. I thought about chopping a forest to kill the chain, but as the game was focused on a culture victory using Colossal Heads, it would have compromised the strategy.
4.) Vampire Castles: I'm looking for the specifics of the yields they give the capital. I've read that they give the yields of the 6 surrounding tiles, that the yields are that of the tiles at the time the vampire castle is created, and that adjacent districts provide their adjacency bonus to the capital. Sooo..........
4a.) Is it the total yield of the tile or just that of the improvements? For example, a grass/hill/ woods (2F/2P) gets a lumber mill (2F/4P.) So does the capital get 2P or 2F/4P? If it's the latter (which I think it is) this means that simply placing a vampire castle in the middle of 6 flat grass tiles gives the capital +12 food, right?
4b.) Does it include the base yields of the tile that the vampire castle is actually on, making it actually 7 tiles instead of 6 that are transferred?
4c.) I've read that adjacent districts have their adjacency bonuses transfer, do the yields of the buildings in that district also get transferred? If so, are they the base yields of the building or the augmented yields (boosted by great people, city-state envoy level bonuses, etc.) This kind of makes the difference between whether it's optimal to place them next to improved tiles or districts...
4d.) If the castle is next to a district, is it only the districts bonus or that in addition to the base yield of the tile?
4e.) What about cities with increased yields of tiles in that city due to a world wonder (Petra, St. Basil's Cathedral, Mausoleum) If a vampire castle is placed next to tiles of that city, is the capital granted the extra yields from the wonder?
4f.) What if you place the vampire castle adjacent to a rival civilization's territory who is following Hermetic Order and there is a ley line adjacent to the vampire castle and it's after the industrial era - does the ley lines' yield transfer?
4g.) My understanding is that the yields of the tiles "at the time the vampire castle is constructed" is what transfers to the capital - so you'll want to tear down and rebuild it every time you hit a tech that increases the yield of the improvements on that tile, right? (For example, a vampire castle next to mines should be removed and built again when you hit the apprenticeship technology, the industrialization tech, and Smart Materials.
4h.) Similarly, if the rule regarding adjacent districts to a vampire castle is that "the adjacency of the district at the time the vampire castle is built" then wouldn't that mean if you were running the cards that double the adjacency of a district, the doubled amount would transfer, even later when the card is not being used?
