I used to think disasters were mostly harmless and inconsequential

[MrRadar]

build more cities.

 

[Nefelia]

hurricanes have not slowed my coastal settling strategy one bit. I'm settling 20+ coastal cities every game so who cares if one city suffers a setback...that's what the other 19 cities are for.

people sometimes forget this is not civ 5 - tall is bad. build more cities.

Good point. I didn't consider that. I tend to play on colossal or larger maps, so any set back on any particular city is mitigated by the production and income of my dozens of other cities. Those playing on small maps will be far more vulnerable to untimely disruptions.

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

In one of my games Sweden settled right next to a volcano. It erupted right before I discovered it. Seeing Stockholm at almost no health, I declared a surprise war immediately. My scout conquered the entire Swedish Empire with a single hit!

 

[tetley]

My scout conquered the entire Swedish Empire with a single hit!

I hope you were Norway.

 

[Ownsya]

After giving it a try, I'm almost convinced that disaster level 3 is optimal for keeping the weather system interesting in the game but not too detrimental, to me at least. IMO it should've been the default setting.

 

[Depravo]

After giving it a try, I'm almost convinced that disaster level 3 is optimal for keeping the weather system interesting in the game but not too detrimental, to me at least. IMO it should've been the default setting.

I agree. Tornadoes seriously razz me off though, especially when you have a ring of cities around a mountain range which they just seem to port across to take out that vital nitre mine.

 

[AsH2]

In one of my games Sweden settled right next to a volcano. It erupted right before I discovered it. Seeing Stockholm at almost no health, I declared a surprise war immediately. My scout conquered the entire Swedish Empire with a single hit!

I hope you were Norway.

A lucky strike or what they say in Norway: "gå på tur"..

 

[Fluphen Azine]

One thing I don't understand about floods is how my units can get caught in the flood and lose half health.
In the same turn they can just walk right across the flood with my other troops with no problems.
I would think they would have to walk around the flooded area for some time or have a special promotion.

Anyways, I do hate floods but what can you do to avoid settling in flood zones?
It seems to me you have to settle that area and make the best of it?
I suppose you could play with the 0 setting but that seems extreme for me.
I like to play the standard type of game.
This is why I don't use any mods even though many great mods exist.

 

[Victoria]

I suppose you could play with the 0 setting but that seems extreme for me.

The thing is setting 0 does not mean 0... it is deemed REALISM_SETTING_MINIMAL which means for example
only 45% of volcanoes can be active at once.
With floods at least moderate floods do not affect units I guess but Major floods still happen giving all units 30-50HP damage

FLOOD_MODERATE" DamageType="IMPROVEMENT_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_MODERATE" DamageType="BUILDING_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="IMPROVEMENT_DESTROYED" Percentage="50"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="IMPROVEMENT_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="DISTRICT_PILLAGED" Percentage="50"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="BUILDING_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="POPULATION_LOSS" Percentage="15"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="UNIT_KILLED_CIVILIAN" Percentage="15"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="UNIT_DAMAGE_LAND" Percentage="100" MinHP="30" MaxHP="50"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="CITY_GARRISON" Percentage="100" MinHP="30" MaxHP="50"
FLOOD_MAJOR" DamageType="CITY_WALLS" Percentage="100" MinHP="30" MaxHP="50"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="IMPROVEMENT_DESTROYED" Percentage="80"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="IMPROVEMENT_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="DISTRICT_PILLAGED" Percentage="80"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="BUILDING_PILLAGED" Percentage="100"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="POPULATION_LOSS" Percentage="25"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="UNIT_KILLED_CIVILIAN" Percentage="25"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="UNIT_DAMAGE_LAND" Percentage="100" MinHP="50" MaxHP="70"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="CITY_GARRISON" Percentage="100" MinHP="50" MaxHP="70"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" DamageType="CITY_WALLS" Percentage="100" MinHP="50" MaxHP="70"

FLOOD_MODERATE - MINIMAL" OccurrencesPerGame="1" , HYPERREAL" OccurrencesPerGame="1.5"
FLOOD_MAJOR" MINIMAL - OccurrencesPerGame=".6" , HYPERREAL" OccurrencesPerGame="2"
FLOOD_1000_YEAR" MINIMAL- OccurrencesPerGame="0" , HYPERREAL" OccurrencesPerGame="3"

 

[Fluphen Azine]

The thing is setting 0 does not mean 0...

Obviously I did not know this information.
Do you consider the 0 setting the standard for the game?
When you play 0 Natural Disaster Settings do you notice a significant difference compared to a 2 setting?
I have been playing 2 for 7 to 10 games now and haven't noticed too many problems.
I haven't had that Hurricane wipe out a bunch of cities yet or the Tornado either.
My main disaster is flooding or floods.
I have had those roll in the same spot 3 or 4 times in a short span.
I have also seen Blizzards in the Tundra over and over again a couple times.
Sometimes if I spawn near Volcanoes I notice those erupt often.
Thanks for the information though... didn't realize 0 doesn't mean disabled

 

[Victoria]

Do you consider the 0 setting the standard for the game?

TBH if it made a big difference I would set it each game. It does however stop units being damaged in floods so if your bugbear is with that then yeah. I just want 0 to mean 0. I could change the xml but meh.

 

[Ownsya]

One thing I don't understand about floods is how my units can get caught in the flood and lose half health.
In the same turn they can just walk right across the flood with my other troops with no problems.
I would think they would have to walk around the flooded area for some time or have a special promotion.

Anyways, I do hate floods but what can you do to avoid settling in flood zones?
It seems to me you have to settle that area and make the best of it?
I suppose you could play with the 0 setting but that seems extreme for me.
I like to play the standard type of game.
This is why I don't use any mods even though many great mods exist.

Yes, flood zones are quite beneficial for a city with high food yields. Hard to avoid them, but they can also be a hindrance. If one tends to flood then certainly build a dam on that river.

 

[Flaxton]

I just see them as a chore - auto repair builders please!

 

[civxander]

IMHO I think it is because they do not play the game as often as we do.

The negative reactions are well described in one of Ed Beachs interviews. (i dont find the source now)

He talked about the pollution system in (was it Civ 4?!) earlier Civ game.
And he said, the gamer like and demand new inventions features and more "realistic" style in the games. But in the moment they invent new things, gamer are very sensible if the game is hard and destory things the player built up with a lot of love and ambitions.

Ed said this is quite a dilemma for their game development. And he is aware of the responsibilty about the gamer. They tried to learn out of old faults in the past and renew some "old" ideas for the actual serie. And it is like a tightrope because the claim of player are very individuell.

So it is easy to simplify, what the developers are doing in any way, even if you are right, that most of them spend not that much time we do.

My thought is, they try really hard to get solutions for a wide mass of players.

For me the desasters systems are a great feature. And it took a while for me to figure out, how to handle it with the mechanics the game provide to me.


(Sry for my crappy english - i try my best)

 

[Fluphen Azine]

Natural Disaster wiped me out just now.
Huge Dust Storm from the Eastern Desert.
Took out 3 Population along with 3 or 4 improved tiles/luxuries.
Pushed Pyramids back 4 turns.
Just devastating
I spawned in an area with massive land and was doing better than usual.
Barbs spawning but I wiped out 4 or 5 camps so things were great.
Game trolled me as usual when things are going too good

 

[nyika13]

How about adding a city center project to mitigate damage and loss of life caused by disasters. Might be something that unlocks at Flight or Radio. Perhaps a passive effect unlocks at the tech that would give you even more advanced notice of an impending disaster, and the project becomes available to allow you to invest production into mitigation instead of waiting for the destruction to conclude and then investing in repairs.

 

[Fluphen Azine]

How about adding a city center project to mitigate damage and loss of life caused by disasters. Might be something that unlocks at Flight or Radio. Perhaps a passive effect unlocks at the tech that would give you even more advanced notice of an impending disaster, and the project becomes available to allow you to invest production into mitigation instead of waiting for the destruction to conclude and then investing in repairs.

Not a bad idea but it needs to be unlocked at Pottery or even sooner

 

[nyika13]

Not a bad idea but it needs to be unlocked at Pottery or even sooner

Fair point. Maybe there is an opportunity to tie disaster mitigation to city walls... its pretty well established that Level 2 and 3 walls aren't very useful, but if they could guarantee a 50% or greater reduction in damaged tiles and lost citizens while maintaining the positive benefits of a disaster, there would be a greater incentive to build them.

Walls could be the defense against disasters through Ren age, and then in Modern you can unlock Weather Forecasting and the associated projects.