Condensed tips for beginners?

[kcd_swede]

Just like your ALCs, your explanations are very easy to understand with great details, Sisiutil. Thanks again.

Another quick question just popped in my head as I was playing my Cathy online game:

What happens when the builder of the Apostolic Palace, who happens to be the resident, converts to another religion or adopts Free Religion?

I ask this because you have to be in the religion that the Apostolic Palace belongs to, in order to be a full member. You get demoted to only a voting member if you don't run that religion. As far as I know, only a full member can be elected resident, correct?

So if you are running a different religion from the Apostolic Palace, then obviously you shouldn't be a full member. Being in Free Religion means you don't have a state religion, so that obviously should demote that civ to a voting member.

Or, does it not apply in the case for someone who built the Apostolic Palace? Is that civ qualified to be a resident no matter what religion it is running just because it built that wonder?

In my online Cathy game, Liz built the Apostolic Palace when she was running Buddhism. Now she is in Free Religion, but still a resident. I am wondering if she will keep her residency, or continue to be eligible for it, or be ineligible for reelection. Check it out if you are curious btw. ^_^ I could always use more advice and criticism.

The AP elections will always be between the AP owner and the Full Member with the highest population under the AP religion (or next highest if the AP owner is highest).

If there are no full members, then ONLY the AP owner is eligible to become AP resident, and you get a vote with only 1 candidate (just like in Libya ). Same for Religious victory, just the number of votes required is greater.

 

[Riflin'Joe]

Is it possible for a civ to go into wheoohrn mode because its planning an attack on a barb city? That seems to be what happened in my current game, but I've never seen it before.

 

[Nick Carpathia]

The owner of the city the AP is in is always a full resident, no matter what their state religion. So yeah, it's a great technique to gerrymander votes, temporarily switch into a junk religion, build the AP so it gets designated the AP religion, then switch back to the status quo. Then spread the AP religion to 1 weak city of civs who don't like you and to many cities of civs that do. Voila, auto religious victory!

Also, I disagree with Sisuitil regarding the utility of Woodsman III supermedics!

Is it possible for a civ to go into wheoohrn mode because its planning an attack on a barb city? That seems to be what happened in my current game, but I've never seen it before.

I've seen it happen as well, it always scares me. I don't understand it either, I'd still prefer to be careful and garrison my border cities well.

 

[Gwaja]

Ah, now I understand completely. Thank you for the clarifications! ^_^

@Nick Carpathia:

I've never done the religious victory but I now know why many players consider it a cheese victory. But... I love cheese ^_^

 

[Choeimok]

In my current game (Pacal, Monarch), I started alone on an island, but not isolated. So, Ragnar galleyed a Settler on my continent, guarded by a single Chariot, and founded a city. My closest fogbuster was a Holkan. I immediately knew what to do.
So, my question: Was this war the right choice, or should I have let his city (was the best of my leftover spots, and even settled in the right place) stand there? I don't trust Ragnar at all, I'm sure he would happily have galleyed over more troops over there and declared war. He was in WHEOORN anyway, and most of his troops were in Nidaros, across the sea but right on my border anyway. The war ended a few turns later when I payed Ragnar 25 Gold. Greedy bastard, my war success war far higher - I destroyed one unit and one city, he did nothing at all. His worst enemy is even with the -3 relation with me, still Sitting Bull by the way, but he is way on the other side of the continent (I'm pretty sure by now I was the only one not to spawn on it). Ragnar is in WHEOORN again. Should I be worried and utilize the fact that I traded for Feudalism recently or will he prioritize a land target?

 

[Sisiutil]

In my current game (Pacal, Monarch), I started alone on an island, but not isolated. So, Ragnar galleyed a Settler on my continent, guarded by a single Chariot, and founded a city. My closest fogbuster was a Holkan. I immediately knew what to do.
So, my question: Was this war the right choice, or should I have let his city (was the best of my leftover spots, and even settled in the right place) stand there? I don't trust Ragnar at all, I'm sure he would happily have galleyed over more troops over there and declared war. He was in WHEOORN anyway, and most of his troops were in Nidaros, across the sea but right on my border anyway. The war ended a few turns later when I payed Ragnar 25 Gold. Greedy bastard, my war success war far higher - I destroyed one unit and one city, he did nothing at all. His worst enemy is even with the -3 relation with me, still Sitting Bull by the way, but he is way on the other side of the continent (I'm pretty sure by now I was the only one not to spawn on it). Ragnar is in WHEOORN again. Should I be worried and utilize the fact that I traded for Feudalism recently or will he prioritize a land target?

Yes, you should be worried, or at least cautious. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. The AI will go in and out of WHEOORN without declaring war, but with an aggressive leader like Ragnar (in all senses of the word), chances are he means it. Are you the target? Tough to say. He already doesn't like you because of the earlier declaration of war. The AI was revised (either in Warlords or BtS, I can't remember which) to perform amphibious/intercontinental invasions more often.

Now, was the earlier DoW the right thing to do? Maybe, maybe not. Unless the landmass I'm on is quite large I prefer to own all of it. (Then again, if it's a large land mass and I'm playing as Rome I still want to own all of it! ) If the AI can reach said land mass they will settle on it. If their city claims a spot (or near one) that I coveted and planned for, then a DoW is likely. However, I might leave the city for a while--if it's in a good spot I may want to keep it and save a Settler; and if I wait long enough there might be a Worker or two there that I can snag in the process. Another consideration in whether or not to declare war is my chosen victory condition. If I'm going for conquest or domination then there's no question, but if I'm after a space race or cultural win I may leave it.

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

I need some tips for dealing with runaway techers on the other side of the planet. I like playing hemispheres, but a civ that is way ahead in tech by the time I discover them never seems to fail to ruin my games. I can't take them out with force because their units are too advanced and I can't beat them in a space race (obviously). Other than trying to pull out a hail mary diplomatic win, what are some other ways to overcome this?

 

[kcd_swede]

I need some tips for dealing with runaway techers on the other side of the planet. I like playing hemispheres, but a civ that is way ahead in tech by the time I discover them never seems to fail to ruin my games. I can't take them out with force because their units are too advanced and I can't beat them in a space race (obviously). Other than trying to pull out a hail mary diplomatic win, what are some other ways to overcome this?

The key (for me) to not letting them run away with tech is to contact them early and get in on the trading circle. Optics should come much earlier on a hemisphere map than usual. The Great Lighthouse is very powerful if you build your cities on the coast, too. You should also try to stir up some hate between civs on the other side, too, if you can. And avoid founding a lot of religions... if the far civs get enough different religions, it will cause strife that slows them down without you having to do anything.

Keep enough civs alive on your own continent, and befriend them, and trade tech liberally. Then your hemisphere will be the advanced one. There will be time to secure the home hemisphere afterwards. (But an axe rush on closest neighbor for a quick start is still a good idea).

Knowing what gamespeed and mapsize you are using, and number of opponents, would be useful for giving more specific advice. Also game difficulty level...

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Normal, Epic, Emperor.

I played the game out a little more and tried for a culture win, but they were out-pacing me in that too even with cathedrals, free speech, and 70% culture. Blah.

 

[cabert]

Normal, Epic, Emperor.

I played the game out a little more and tried for a culture win, but they were out-pacing me in that too even with cathedrals, free speech, and 70% culture. Blah.

it probably means you aren't teching fast enough.
solutions are scarce :
- the internet is always a good choice
- going for spy economy can help
- sometimes you just need a good trade bait to get back

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

I was actually teching faster than everyone except the tech leader. He was beating all of us by a country mile. I suppose it's just bad luck when things like that happen.

And he was a voluntary vassal of a more powerful but less advanced civ. I hate when the AI does that.

 

[dalamb]

Mansa Musa is famous for both fast teching and voluntary-vassaling. Was he the AI in question?

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Hueenie Crapac. If I opened up world builder to look at his territory, I wouldn't be surprised to see more than a couple gold/gem mines.

 

[Sisiutil]

Huayana is a formidable tech fiend--he's up there with Mansa and Gandhi, with Willem and Hannibal nipping at his heels. If any of them managed to found a religion, spread it, and build the shrine, watch out.

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

I'm learning to just chop rush the Great Wall in every game in which my neighbors are far away. On higher levels, I just can't keep up with the barbarians while trying to grow my cities. All that whipping tends to put me too far behind in tech.

 

[vorlon_mi]

I conquered a city, and it got through its initial period of unrest. Because the surrounding area still had my enemy's culture, there was a second revolt after a few turns. I don't have any spare Great Artists, at the moment.

How should I help quell this revolt, to prevent a culture flip? I remember techniques for doing this from Civ3, but I've forgotten the differences for Civ4. If there's a pointer to a strategy thread, that would be welcome. I did a little searching, but didn't find anything quickly.

And if the city does flip back to its former owners, what happens to my garrison troops that were stationed there?

 

[Sisiutil]

I conquered a city, and it got through its initial period of unrest. Because the surrounding area still had my enemy's culture, there was a second revolt after a few turns. I don't have any spare Great Artists, at the moment.

How should I help quell this revolt, to prevent a culture flip? I remember techniques for doing this from Civ3, but I've forgotten the differences for Civ4. If there's a pointer to a strategy thread, that would be welcome. I did a little searching, but didn't find anything quickly.

And if the city does flip back to its former owners, what happens to my garrison troops that were stationed there?

To prevent another revolt, station more troops there. They don't have to be modern troops; this is an excellent use for old, obsolete units. Just keep moving units into the city until, in the city screen, when you hover the mouse over the nationality bar at lower left, "Chance of revolt" disappears from the pop-up. Also, over time, build culture-generating buildings in the city (and, if necessary, run some artist specialists) to build up your own culture in the area.

IIRC, by default, a city conquered by force will not flip back to its original owners (I think there's a game option to change this). It can flip to another civ with a strong cultural presence in the area. If you have an Open Borders agreement with the civ the city flips to then your troops remain in the city; if you don't, they are magically transported to the nearest "friendly" or neutral tile.

 

[eagle0153]

Hello Sisiutil;
I've been reading this website for a while, learning to play Civ IV BTS. I've played about eight games and really love this game. I'm playing on Prince level, Epic speed, Huge world, everything else random. My question is about barb behavior. I got a msg that a massive Goth barb uprising was occurring. And sure enough, soon a SoD of axemen appears. They walk across my neighbor's land (I can view all this from my spys and hilltop sentries). They ignore the other AI workers, improvements and a lightly defended city (they walk right past it). Make a beeline for my more heavily defended city, and attack me!!!! What's that all about? Is AI immune to barb attacks?
Thanks for any info, and BTW all contributors thanks for the great articles and ideas. I didn't get a manual with the disc I bought, this website really helps me.

 

[Gudinsdiv]

I can assure you that the AI is not immune. Often that message comes up and the victims are another civ. Also, I've seen these marauders skirt my territory and then move on. I'm not sure how the AI works for these hordes, but it seems like they must have some unique feature. I imagine that like any AI they will go for what they think is the most profitable, and easy attack...? Anyway, AI is not immune in any case, so don't take it personally. Likewise, you can always bribe them if you have the money, right?

 

[Sisiutil]

Hello Sisiutil;
I've been reading this website for a while, learning to play Civ IV BTS. I've played about eight games and really love this game. I'm playing on Prince level, Epic speed, Huge world, everything else random. My question is about barb behavior. I got a msg that a massive Goth barb uprising was occurring. And sure enough, soon a SoD of axemen appears. They walk across my neighbor's land (I can view all this from my spys and hilltop sentries). They ignore the other AI workers, improvements and a lightly defended city (they walk right past it). Make a beeline for my more heavily defended city, and attack me!!!! What's that all about? Is AI immune to barb attacks?
Thanks for any info, and BTW all contributors thanks for the great articles and ideas. I didn't get a manual with the disc I bought, this website really helps me.

That is a random event you've run into there, and one of the most hated ones. Usually the AI is not immune to barb attacks, but it seems as though that even designates a target civ, and if you're it, those barbs will march across other territory to attack you (perhaps someone else who's looked at the code can confirm this). Sometimes the AI is the target of that event--once or twice I have seen nascent civs wiped out and encountered a barb city with the name of their capital.