cities defecting to other civs? how to stop this?

[futurehermit]

Hi all,

In a couple of my games now I've had cities defect to other civilizations. How do I prevent this from happening? They are usually cities which I plan to use as launchpads for invading the civ that "steals" them. Thus, it's frustrating when I see them in "enemy" colours. Any advice?

Thks!

 

[Crighton]

You'll need to boost your culture up. Basically you'll need to counteract the other civ's culture as it influences your cities. You'll need to build stuff like temples, theatre's, the occaisional wonder, etc. Culture expands borders and the other guys culture is expanding around your city and over time converting it's inhabitants. You can also play around with the culture slider where you are directly contributing revenue into your civ's culture output.

Or you can just go kill the other guy. Tends to settle the culture war permanantly.

 

[cabert]

only 2 ways to go :
- culture : build some as fast as you can (artists, culture bomb, buildings, slider(?!))
- put a lot (i mean a LOT) of powerful units in it

It seems religion is also of importance : give the small cities your state religion (which hopefully isn't the same as your opponent's)

Anyway, don't cry about this, just capture them back as soon as you can. Once captured, they cannot flip back.

 

[futurehermit]

Ok, thks, in my current game I took over the city from China, but before I could build any culture buildings or get a Jewish missionary over there, it flipped to English control. China and Englad were both Confucians and thus the city started under the same religion as England.

I've decided to let England have the city...for now, since I am focusing my efforts on helping Cyrus beat up the Russians. But it is only a matter of time before the heathen English get what's comin' to 'em.

 

[ChicagoCubs]

Ok, thks, in my current game I took over the city from China, but before I could build any culture buildings or get a Jewish missionary over there, it flipped to English control. China and Englad were both Confucians and thus the city started under the same religion as England.

I've decided to let England have the city...for now, since I am focusing my efforts on helping Cyrus beat up the Russians. But it is only a matter of time before the heathen English get what's comin' to 'em.

One thing to keep in mind is that if another civ's cultural border is right beside the city you took/plan to take, then you will probably lose the city due to a culture flip. I typically just raze these cities.

 

[futurehermit]

One thing to keep in mind is that if another civ's cultural border is right beside the city you took/plan to take, then you will probably lose the city due to a culture flip. I typically just raze these cities.

ok, thks, in the future i will do so! prior to the advice i've received here i didn't really know what the conditions were for a city culture-flipping, but now i know and won't make the same mistake again. i think that's my one strength with this game, i never make the same mistake twice!

 

[cabert]

ok, thks, in the future i will do so! prior to the advice i've received here i didn't really know what the conditions were for a city culture-flipping, but now i know and won't make the same mistake again. i think that's my one strength with this game, i never make the same mistake twice!

sure about this?
it's pretty tricky to change one's habits...

 

[jray]

Once captured, they cannot flip back.

Wow, didn't know that. I'm curious how you found that out... is it documented, or has someone proven it on these forums, or is there overwhelming anecdotal evidence, or...?

 

[cabert]

Wow, didn't know that. I'm curious how you found that out... is it documented, or has someone proven it on these forums, or is there overwhelming anecdotal evidence, or...?

numerous affirmation on the forums, confirmed through experience (even in this thread : the city futurehermit captured flipped to a third civ, not to the previous owner)

 

[futurehermit]

sure about this?
it's pretty tricky to change one's habits...

yep, i'm adaptable. it's how i've gone from struggling on warlord to winning on prince in about 1.5 weeks.

 

[cabert]

yep, i'm adaptable. it's how i've gone from struggling on warlord to winning on prince in about 1.5 weeks.

well done!
took me, well, more time (can't really say, i never struggled on warlord )

 

[pholkhero]

Wow, didn't know that. I'm curious how you found that out... is it documented, or has someone proven it on these forums, or is there overwhelming anecdotal evidence, or...?

Plus, there's a "Allow city flipping after conquest" option which means that, normally, cities can't flip back after conquest...

 

[shivute]

Ok, thks, in my current game I took over the city from China, but before I could build any culture buildings or get a Jewish missionary over there, it flipped to English control. China and Englad were both Confucians and thus the city started under the same religion as England.

I've decided to let England have the city...for now, since I am focusing my efforts on helping Cyrus beat up the Russians. But it is only a matter of time before the heathen English get what's comin' to 'em.

The great artist culture bomb is the best option if you want the city and the land. If not raze it, but you will lose the land as well as the city. I don't like losing land!

 

[futurehermit]

well done!
took me, well, more time (can't really say, i never struggled on warlord )

I came new to the Civ series so when I was playing on warlord I was figuring out what the heck everything did

 

[futurehermit]

The great artist culture bomb is the best option if you want the city and the land. If not raze it, but you will lose the land as well as the city. I don't like losing land!

yeah, me too, that's why i was trying to get those cities. i'm having problems generating gps with mongolians (see my other thread on this), so unfortunately i don't get really any great artists. plus i generally take a long time to get the art-related techs since i am getting everything to do with combat since i try to play very aggressively with mongolians.

 

[jray]

Plus, there's a "Allow city flipping after conquest" option which means that, normally, cities can't flip back after conquest...

Hmm, I always assumed that meant a chance for a conquered city to revert back to its previous owner even if it has dominant culture. Or does that option only apply to flipping under the normal (out-cultured) circumstances?

 

[misterfilmgeek]

One thing that you can do to plan ahead is use the mouse-over information on tiles. It will give you the percentage of influence on that tile. For example, if the Japanese border touches one of your cities, mouse over those tiles, and you will see something like "56% Japanese". The higher the number, the more likely that civ is influencing your city. Also, in the city screen, look in the lower left where the percentage of population is (ex. "32% English"). Mouse over that an you see the percentage chance of this city revolting each turn. It usually takes more than one revolt to flip to another civ, though (basically you get a warning). The only actions to counter high cultural pressure, as stated, are to build cultural buildings, use the cultural slider, or drop a Great Artist in the city.

 

[Pantastic]

Dropping a large army in the city helps too, the more units you have the lower the chance of revolt. With a big stack, you can turn off revolts in the city entirely, which gives you time to build up some cultural buildings and artists. Obviously, you can't do this for every city, but it comes in really handy for one you want to keep.