Julius Americus
Chieftain
Has anyone else found that the Russian AI never chooses communism? Every game sees either a Russian Empire or Federation into the 1990s...
Dawn of Civilization General Discussion
- Thread starter Leoreth
- Start date
The stability calculation is the same regardless of difficulty level.
Imperator Knoedel
Simperator Knoedel
Perhaps because it realizes how ridiculously underpowered the civic is?
Anyway, as someone recently made a post about and I verified for myself when I tried downloading my modmod as zip archive on a different computer, apparently that function is broken because of something with how Linux treats characters versus Windows or something. Is there any way to fix that on the developer's (i.e. my) end?
Imperator Knoedel
Simperator Knoedel
I'll see what I can do.
Edit: So I tried comparing the 600AD scenario file from TortoiseGit with the 600AD scenario file from the zip archive. When opening them in Winmerge I get a message that the two files use different carriage return types, and asks me if I want to treat all carriage return types as equivalent for this comparison. If I say yes there are no differences, if I say no literally both of the entire files are marked yellow, i.e. as different.
Edit #2: I solved the problem by cutting the figurative Gordian knot and just replacing the 600AD file in the zip mod with the one from the git mod, which apparently resolves the issue as it allows me to start a game as China in 600AD.
Royal Tenenbaum
Exiled
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2012
- Messages
- 2,738
1.14 is excellent Leoreth. Thanks.
merijn_v1
Black Belt
I loaded quite a few Polynesian starts (for a secret project I'm working on 
) and noticed that Zoroastrianism is founded by Babylon in about 80% of the games. As the techtree and therefore the religion founding will change soon it will probably be fixed anyway soon, but I wanted to give my findings on the recent founding tech change.
) and noticed that Zoroastrianism is founded by Babylon in about 80% of the games. As the techtree and therefore the religion founding will change soon it will probably be fixed anyway soon, but I wanted to give my findings on the recent founding tech change.
Imperator Knoedel
Simperator Knoedel
I loaded quite a few Polynesian starts (for a secret project I'm working on
This is a side effect Leoreth was willing to tolerate in order to prevent even more ahistorical foundings of Judaism, especially since it is only temporary with the upcoming tech tree restructuring.
mrrandomplayer
Hopeless Situation Warrior
Were free barbarian wins removed? Playing as any ancient civ is now infinitely harder. If they were, why were they?
ales_
Heir
In case of a human Babylonia, not an AI one.
I didn't AI Babylonia to beeline Monarchy so much, I will adjust their priorities.
They were removed. I think free wins should be a crutch to help new players (Heir still has some if I'm not mistaken), not something you should expect or plan your games around. It makes early exploration somewhat harder, which is a good thing. And gamey strategies like "saving" free wins by avoiding weak barbarians are removed from the game.
Wessel V1
Emperor
I think respawns should be limited. Playing as Japan now. The situation is as follows: somewhere in the 14th century, China respawns with only Fuzhou and Beijing. I already control Guangzhou / Koushuu. Then, in the early 15th century China loses Fuzhou and Beijing due to Mongol conquests and collapses subsequently. The very next turn, China respawns and takes not only Fuzhou and Beijing, but also many more inland Chinese cities including Guangzhou. It's as if these cities were waiting for China to collapse, only to announce a new China with the cities that were brave enough to declare themselves China in the first place.
I really like the automatic respawn feature on conquests. Playing as Prussia, I 'liberated' Spain, Portugal and Morocco only by destroying France. The downside was that later in the game, I had a very tough war against Russia, which I won in the late 1930s. Russia collapses, the Vikings respawn and I fail the UHV goal because I couldn't declare war on the Vikings. Perhaps these civs should be excepted from the can't declare war feature.
I really like the automatic respawn feature on conquests. Playing as Prussia, I 'liberated' Spain, Portugal and Morocco only by destroying France. The downside was that later in the game, I had a very tough war against Russia, which I won in the late 1930s. Russia collapses, the Vikings respawn and I fail the UHV goal because I couldn't declare war on the Vikings. Perhaps these civs should be excepted from the can't declare war feature.
Royal Tenenbaum
Exiled
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2012
- Messages
- 2,738
Congress never started in my 1700 Turkey start
Re: Free barbarian wins,
Thanks for mentioning this. I was going to ask if you'd turned off that feature.
But I'd offer a counter-perspective for your consideration.
The FBW is useful even at higher levels not as a cheat but as a warning of pain to come. With FBW, the first probing barbarians attacks can be blunted and the player given notice to start cranking up the military production. Without that warning -- with the risk that the very first barbarians to appear will take out cities -- the player has no choice but to skew research and early production by packing cities with defenders long before such defenders become necessary, lest he get caught with an insufficient defense. Given the vagaries of the Civ4 combat system -- in which a single bad roll can destroy even the most powerful unit -- a good defense is a costly investment.
[And speaking of barbarian hordes, are you sure you don't have the barb production turned up too high? In a China game not long ago one of those early barb attacks consisted of 15 horsemen slamming at high speed into Zhongdu on a single turn. And just a few hours ago, while goofing around as Babylon, I had the pleasure of watching a Civ5-style carpet of barbarian doom composed of Civ4-style stacks of doom moving out of Anatolia. I turned on Worldbuilder to see what was up, and counted 22 barb units of warriors, swordsmen, axemen, and horsemen. And those 22 barbs were what was left AFTER the Germanic horde took out Athens, Byzantion and Ankyra. God only knows how many there were originally when it started invading Greece.]
Meanwhile, the lack of FBW makes those barbs that spawn inside your borders really nasty. With FBW, you can sharpen your defenders on the early units so that they have a decent chance against later enemies (whether invading or those that spontaneously appear). Without FBW, from the very start you face the unappetizing prospect of pitting your few early units against barbs with only a 60% chance in each combat of winning, which leaves little margin for error against bad rolls. There are have been a couple of times where two medjays killed three of my chariots, leaving my Egyptian realm completely open to predation.
I understand the principle that you're appealing to. It makes perfect sense to me. But it also seems to me that the combination of no FBW plus popping-out-of-spiderholes barbs and early-game rampaging hordes interacts treacherously with Civ4 combat mechanics. Early empires either have to shut down badly needed research paths and production queues in order to insure themselves sufficiently with strong defenders, or they have to perform combat in situations where even a few bad rolls will lead to catastrophic setbacks: widespread destruction of improvements at best, and the wholesale sacking of cities at worst. The FBW does not fully protect them against; nor should it. But it gives these empires an early warning of what's coming, and a chance to improve their unit promotions so that they have a better chance of surviving with smaller defense investments.
As I say, this is just for your consideration.
Thanks for mentioning this. I was going to ask if you'd turned off that feature.
But I'd offer a counter-perspective for your consideration.
The FBW is useful even at higher levels not as a cheat but as a warning of pain to come. With FBW, the first probing barbarians attacks can be blunted and the player given notice to start cranking up the military production. Without that warning -- with the risk that the very first barbarians to appear will take out cities -- the player has no choice but to skew research and early production by packing cities with defenders long before such defenders become necessary, lest he get caught with an insufficient defense. Given the vagaries of the Civ4 combat system -- in which a single bad roll can destroy even the most powerful unit -- a good defense is a costly investment.
[And speaking of barbarian hordes, are you sure you don't have the barb production turned up too high? In a China game not long ago one of those early barb attacks consisted of 15 horsemen slamming at high speed into Zhongdu on a single turn. And just a few hours ago, while goofing around as Babylon, I had the pleasure of watching a Civ5-style carpet of barbarian doom composed of Civ4-style stacks of doom moving out of Anatolia. I turned on Worldbuilder to see what was up, and counted 22 barb units of warriors, swordsmen, axemen, and horsemen. And those 22 barbs were what was left AFTER the Germanic horde took out Athens, Byzantion and Ankyra. God only knows how many there were originally when it started invading Greece.]
Meanwhile, the lack of FBW makes those barbs that spawn inside your borders really nasty. With FBW, you can sharpen your defenders on the early units so that they have a decent chance against later enemies (whether invading or those that spontaneously appear). Without FBW, from the very start you face the unappetizing prospect of pitting your few early units against barbs with only a 60% chance in each combat of winning, which leaves little margin for error against bad rolls. There are have been a couple of times where two medjays killed three of my chariots, leaving my Egyptian realm completely open to predation.
I understand the principle that you're appealing to. It makes perfect sense to me. But it also seems to me that the combination of no FBW plus popping-out-of-spiderholes barbs and early-game rampaging hordes interacts treacherously with Civ4 combat mechanics. Early empires either have to shut down badly needed research paths and production queues in order to insure themselves sufficiently with strong defenders, or they have to perform combat in situations where even a few bad rolls will lead to catastrophic setbacks: widespread destruction of improvements at best, and the wholesale sacking of cities at worst. The FBW does not fully protect them against; nor should it. But it gives these empires an early warning of what's coming, and a chance to improve their unit promotions so that they have a better chance of surviving with smaller defense investments.
As I say, this is just for your consideration.
Force44
King
The point Mxzs makes is that the horde of barbs should announce itself not that you should neglect early military.
You have your military evenly spread out over all of your empire at the start of the barbarian onlslaught (because you do not know where it will land) and you move them to the point of the brunt of the invasion.
The FBW acts as a warning signal where that point will be.
The FBW is actually a poisoned crutch if you only start to build military by the time you get attacked, you will be overwelmed despite the free first victory.
The bonus it gives is not losing any improvements vs losing a few (without the bonus).
Of course this bonus can be exchaned for other benefits in the previous implementation of the warning signal.
You have your military evenly spread out over all of your empire at the start of the barbarian onlslaught (because you do not know where it will land) and you move them to the point of the brunt of the invasion.
The FBW acts as a warning signal where that point will be.
The FBW is actually a poisoned crutch if you only start to build military by the time you get attacked, you will be overwelmed despite the free first victory.
The bonus it gives is not losing any improvements vs losing a few (without the bonus).
Of course this bonus can be exchaned for other benefits in the previous implementation of the warning signal.
Imperator Knoedel
Simperator Knoedel
Wouldn't it be easier to just have barbarians always spawn outside of borders? Free barb wins or no, some medjays popping up literally right next to one of my most important cities out of nowhere is one of the most frustrating things about this mod. Having one or two turns to send reinforcements or whip a defender would be really nice.
Force44
King
Although elegant, the FBW tells you what comes by showing you what is to come, personally I would lend my support to a different sort of warning (albethem less elegant)
A textmessage that pops up or a token (eg fire) on the map that tells you where the barbs will spawn.
Then again, in the specific example Imp. Knoedel gives, after a couple of games, the spawn of the medjays becomes frequent and predictable enough to warrent keeping a (small) force within reach around.
A textmessage that pops up or a token (eg fire) on the map that tells you where the barbs will spawn.
Then again, in the specific example Imp. Knoedel gives, after a couple of games, the spawn of the medjays becomes frequent and predictable enough to warrent keeping a (small) force within reach around.
