Civs re-spawning

[Bestbank Tiger]

1) Anyone else ever see the same civ re-spawn?

2) Anyone ever see the same color re-spawn as soon as you eliminated the old one?

I had both those things happen in my current game. I started with the Arabs (I modded the rules file and replaced the Perdians with the Arabs) as the light blue civ, and they were immediately snuffed out. Then the Americans popped up and were quickly eliminated. Then the Chinese appeared and were conquered by the Yahoos (green civ). Finally the Barbs captured the Inbred (yahoos) capital, triggering a civil war that split their empire into Yahoos and Americans.

For #2, I killed off the last Gangsta (orange civ) city, and my intelligence report showed the Carthaginians as the orange civ on the next turn. What caused that--was there a surviving unit somewhere, or did it have somehting to do with killing instead of capturing the last city?

 

[Peaster]

1) Yes. Usually you get something like Persia -> USA -> China -> Persia (unless it stops early). But I think you can get Persia -> Persia instead.

2) Yes (isn't that what normally happens?)

There is a thread about these possibilities at Apolyton, probably listed in the GL there.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

2) Yes (isn't that what normally happens?)

There is a thread about these possibilities at Apolyton, probably listed in the GL there.

Never seen it happen that way before (at least not that late in the game). Usually it happens if an AI capital is captured and there's an open color.

I'll check out the GL--thanks for the tip.

 

[ElephantU]

Respawning stops happening some time in the 1750s or so (might depend on your difficulty level). If you've rarely played a game that got down to eliminations by then you probably have not run into it often. The better you get the more you will.

 

[DBear]

I turn respawns off. If I kill a civ dead, it's STAYING dead!

 

[GenMarshall]

I turn respawns off. If I kill a civ dead, it's STAYING dead!

That is how I used to play. Quite annoying having a new civ just pop up after you killed off another.

 

[MajorGeneral2]

I turn respawns off. If I kill a civ dead, it's STAYING dead!

In my experience, the respawned civ doesn't usually do very well anyway.

 

[Ace]

In my experience, the respawned civ doesn't usually do very well anyway.

I second this thought. Respawned civs are, in effect, starting over after the human player has developed an effective empire and it is no match. The respawned civ is just a minor obstacle on the march to victory.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

I second this thought. Respawned civs are, in effect, starting over after the human player has developed an effective empire and it is no match. The respawned civ is just a minor obstacle on the march to victory.

True, but what annoys people is searching for them on a large map with large uninhabited areas. You know they pose no real challenge, but you still have to find them to finish them off. It gets even more annoying when you have already disposed of all the original rivals.

 

[Ace]

True, but what annoys people is searching for them on a large map with large uninhabited areas. You know they pose no real challenge, but you still have to find them to finish them off. It gets even more annoying when you have already disposed of all the original rivals.

Easy solution: Use the United Nations to make "nice" with the new civ, stuff em with gifts and than swap maps...No annoying searches, just conquest!
The only time this won't work is the brief time period between the discovery of communism, ending Marco Polo, and the completion of the UN wonder.

 

[Peaster]

I agree with Ali's comment, especially if "finding them" includes "getting to them", which takes longer .

With respawns OFF, playing for early conquest or GOTM score is a fine craft - enjoyable - like a good game of chess. With respawns ON, it's nonsensical, like a race with randomly moving finish lines, different for each runner.

 

[geofelt]

The best way to handle respawns is to kill each civ off, including the palace city, leaving only a small city from each in a location where it is easy to kill it off, or bribe it. Then finish them all off in one turn.

 

[Peaster]

geofelt - I am curious about your method. Several people have suggested it and several others say it does not stop respawns.... Have you actually done this in games that ended before 1500AD [reportedly, this is when respawns end, at least in Deity level games] Could you post a save, just prior to such a victory, to prove this method works, once and for all ?

 

[Millman]

Turn it off? I need some kind of challenge unless I play with or among opponents. Lets see the whole map, start with tech, and do whatever else we were not meant to do.

 

[geofelt]

I play at deity, but I can't remember if I ever did this before 1500( I doubt it). I have always thought respawns were active up to 1750, and perhaps later if there was some available room. I do think it works, but you must kill them all off in the same turn. Also, I often play white(romans), the first civ, which might have something to do with it.

 

[Millman]

Anyone want to interview the makers of the game and ask them details about the game they didn't tell us. Since we are clearly so good at it, we are able to find hints in things other casual players wouldn't.

 

[Weird_bug]

Or you could just try building a spaceship...

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I think the respawns are meant to represent what tends to happen in reality when a society or civilization disappears for some reason -- leaves, is exterminated, dies of natural causes such as plague or flood, etc. There is a natural power vaccuum created, and the natural tendency is for other people to come in and take over the territory or function of the people who used to be there. Thus, civs we killed off come back either with the same name or another using the same color.

Another hint for finding them: update any shared maps you may have with older civs. Their maps may include the location of the new civ.

 

[Peaster]

I play at deity, but I can't remember if I ever did this before 1500( I doubt it). I have always thought respawns were active up to 1750, and perhaps later if there was some available room. I do think it works, but you must kill them all off in the same turn. Also, I often play white(romans), the first civ, which might have something to do with it.

We can be at least 95% sure that respawns end in 1500AD (Deity) and later at easier levels (and 1750AD sounds familiar). I think people disagree about your all-in-one-turn theory, but nobody's posted much clear evidence either way. Personally, I can't believe it works, since the civs respawn immediately . IIRC, I have killed off the same color 2-3 times in one turn. But if anybody ever tries this method, PLEASE save your game just before the end, and post it!! Of course, it should be before 1500AD/1750AD to be of any use. Here's the best thread I know of about respawns:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106281&perpage=30&pagenumber=1

La Fayette wrote "From then on I decided not to care about destroying all civs on the same turn, since this seemed to have no influence at all upon respawning."

 

[Ace]

My experience with respawning is limited because I usually play with restarts off. That said, the restarts I got all occurred immediately after a civ was destroyed. Not at the end of my turn and before I got to move another unit, but as soon as the AI civ was destroyed, so it seems very unlikely to me, that one could destroy all the AI civs at once, since respawning occurs as soon as a civ dies.