Beginning Questions

[Grump]

what are the best wonders and social policies/synergies?

Are you limited in how many national wonders you can build per city? Or can you cram all of them in a mega city?

The computer almost always recommends that I build a farm or a mine on non resource squares. Where should I put trading posts? Where should I put Great People Buildings? Does putting them on resources get you both the (improved) resource bonus and the building bonus?

How do Research Pacts work both before and after patch?

 

[shihuacao]

what are the best wonders and social policies/synergies?

Depends on your play style.

Are you limited in how many national wonders you can build per city? Or can you cram all of them in a mega city?

There is no limit.

The computer almost always recommends that I build a farm or a mine on non resource squares. Where should I put trading posts? Where should I put Great People Buildings? Does putting them on resources get you both the (improved) resource bonus and the building bonus?

Farms are for your Capital, and Trading Post are for your other cities. GP Improvements are better placed on non-river Grassland in your capital.

How do Research Pacts work both before and after patch?

Before patch, when Research Pact run through its course, it grants you a tech, which can be choosed through RA Blocking. Post patch, Research Pact grant you some bonus beakers on the tech you are currently researching.

 

[ShahJahanII]

Post patch, Research Pact grant you some bonus beakers on the tech you are currently researching.

Actually, it is the median value of all techs available.

 

[Brichals]

Wide areas of flat grassland with 1/2 luxuries make ideal trading post farms in my opinion, also coastal towns with a couple of fish. Concentrate all your commerce in 1 city and have just enough food to support all your trading post tiles. Rivers are obviously good to give an extra commerce per riverside tile, but then you might want to farm them instead for high population cities running specialists.

Jungles also should almost always be trading posted for 2 food, 2 commerce, 2 research with university.

 

[Grump]

Wide areas of flat grassland with 1/2 luxuries make ideal trading post farms in my opinion, also coastal towns with a couple of fish. Concentrate all your commerce in 1 city and have just enough food to support all your trading post tiles. Rivers are obviously good to give an extra commerce per riverside tile, but then you might want to farm them instead for high population cities running specialists.

Jungles also should almost always be trading posted for 2 food, 2 commerce, 2 research with university.

So only build trade posts in one city?

 

[anandus]

Actually, it is the median value of all techs available.

Offtopic:
My maths is a bit hazy, it's been a while since I went to school. But median was 'the highest occurence in a set', right?
So in a set of {1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 9, 15} 3 is median?
Or is it 'the middle number in a set of numbers', so in a set of {2, 2, 4, 6, 8} 4 is median?

 

[wobuffet]

Offtopic:
My maths is a bit hazy, it's been a while since I went to school. But median was 'the highest occurence in a set', right?
So in a set of {1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 9, 15} 3 is median?
Or is it 'the middle number in a set of numbers', so in a set of {2, 2, 4, 6, 8} 4 is median?

No, the median is the number in the middle. If there are an even number of members in the set, it's the average of the middle two.

So the median of {1, 1, 6, 9, 10} is 6, and the median of {0, 4, 6, 14} is 5.

As a side note, if you queue up more than one tech via shift+select, tech boosts from RAs (and beaker "overflow" from research beyond what you needed to complete your last tech) flow into the techs you set.

 

[Brichals]

So only build trade posts in one city?

One city focussed purely on economy is probably enough for a small-medium empire. You can mix some TPs into other cities but in general it's good to have specialised cities. So 1 commerce, 1 production (for army) , 1 high population (for science and specialists). Outside these core cities you can mix and match a bit more. Also depends on your victory plan, if you are going for domination you can make 2-3 heavy production cities for example.

I couldn't say for sure that this is the most optimal way as I am not expert but I think it's a general principle for making cities more efficient. As you only need the modifier buildings of each type in each type of city. Barracks in army city, banks in commerce city etc.

 

[Babri]

Offtopic:
My maths is a bit hazy, it's been a while since I went to school. But median was 'the highest occurence in a set', right?
So in a set of {1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 9, 15} 3 is median?

No that is mode. Median is the middle value.

 

[Grump]

lol okay I just got sneaked by Bismark on Warlord. I had an army but I didn't think he was much of a threat with only 2 cities and 1 puppet but all of a sudden he busts out 10 units simultaneously attacking 2 cities so my military got steamrolled. It also didn't help that one of my units was in my city fighting back one moment then teleported outside right next to the enemy. I guess all that Prince level on Civ IV so long ago taught me nothing...