Firaxis: Galleys sinking - hidden bonus???

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

A simple question - but a puzzling one for me:

Is there a hidden bonus for higher levels concerning the probability with which galleys sink?

Example: last game, 1 Galley was at risk in ocean for 4 turns consecutively, another for 2 (Turns 3 & 4 of the first), another for 1.

None sank until turn 4 - then all sank.

What makes me wonder is: on turn 3 I gained contact to 1 other civ, on 4 I met all remaining ones (through the galleys and trade).
I had been on an island with another civ I killed earlier.

Now this is somehting i alos see the AI do - the one isolated guy has remarkable success with suicide galleys.




So: are the mechanics of sinking as advertized or is there something in it that makes it easier for 'lonely' civs? I

 

[Hurricane]

I think you are just seeing things.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Hurricane: so do i, but it would be nice to *know* - don't you think?


I also begin to suspect thta the Ais value Republic and Monarchy higher than their research price - do they *know* that these two are of 'special' value?

often, I can buy Monotheism (cost = 36), but for the same price cannot even get a 'close to a deal' for the government techs (cost = 20/24).......

 

[Karasu]

I don't know. I have played a few island games, but my suicide galleys seem to be true kamikaze... they all sink as soon as they can...
No one has certainly ever managed to stay afloat for 4 consecutive turns, I am sure.

So, in my limited experience I never noticed any trend like the one you suggest.

It is true, instead, that the AI's galleys seem to be rather unsinkable, but I think this has been covered in some other discussion (sorry I cannot point to any specific thread, it is just a vague memory I have).

 

[Hurricane]

Yeah, I have noticed the same thing with Monarchy, too. I think it is perfectly possible that these techs come with a premium, not only because they give a new government form, but also because they are the last techs in the era tree. Monotheism, on the other hand, gives nothing.

About the AI galleys: the AI will never send them on suicide runs. Put another way, AI galleys never sink, because they never end their turn in dangerous waters.

 

[Fredric Drum]

I yesterday saw a galley staying alive for 3 turns.

 

[billindenver]

Originally posted by Hurricane
About the AI galleys: the AI will never send them on suicide runs. Put another way, AI galleys never sink, because they never end their turn in dangerous waters.

I've had galley visits from civs that were WAY too far away to get to my continent without sinking. I've yet to see an AI galley sink, but that may just be happening out of my sight. I'm quite suspicious that this is one big advantage given to the AI though.

 

[Soren Johnson]

Originally posted by Lt. 'Killer' M.
A simple question - but a puzzling one for me:

Is there a hidden bonus for higher levels concerning the probability with which galleys sink?

Example: last game, 1 Galley was at risk in ocean for 4 turns consecutively, another for 2 (Turns 3 & 4 of the first), another for 1.

None sank until turn 4 - then all sank.

What makes me wonder is: on turn 3 I gained contact to 1 other civ, on 4 I met all remaining ones (through the galleys and trade).
I had been on an island with another civ I killed earlier.

Now this is somehting i alos see the AI do - the one isolated guy has remarkable success with suicide galleys.




So: are the mechanics of sinking as advertized or is there something in it that makes it easier for 'lonely' civs? I

the probability of a galley sinking does not change according to difficulty level. further, the ai never sends its galleys on suicide missions. if you see them seem to get lucky and survive, it is because they have the Lighthouse/Astonomy for safe travel over seas or they have Magnetism/Navigation for safe travel over oceans (these techs affect galleys...)

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Soren: thanx a lot!!!!!

 

[sumthinelse]

Originally posted by billindenver


I've had galley visits from civs that were WAY too far away to get to my continent without sinking. I've yet to see an AI galley sink, but that may just be happening out of my sight. I'm quite suspicious that this is one big advantage given to the AI though.

If you post a saved game we can investigate.

 

[billindenver]

However, I didn't realize Lighthouse let vessels travel safely in seas.

What is the difference between ocean and sea squares? I didn't realize there was a difference. Maybe that's what I'm seeing. Does a sea square only exist under certain conditions, e.g., when there is less than 6 squares of water between continents?

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

ocean is dark blue, sea middle, coast light.

At the coast, you alwys get lans-coast-sea-(sea-)ocean........ except for some user created maps. To cross sea you need Lighthouse or Astronomy, to cross ocean you need Magnetism or Navigation

 

[DaGgeR]

There's also the miraculous jump across the ocean when the boat is automatically moved out of another civ's territorial waters after a "leave my territory" demand and the boat appears on a coastal square across the ocean.

 

[RedwoodTree]

LOL I've used it a few times, when I couldn't "sail" over the ocean safely, why not warp over it

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

It has never worked for me never

Once, it should have, but it seems an AI Galley had a got order to the spot it should have warped to, so the second closest was chosen - sadly, on the island the Galley was from

 

[GuangRong]

Since the AI already knows the terrain, they could easily plot the safest and shortest route to transverse betwween continents.

 

[Hurricane]

Soren is probably ripping his hair out after reading threads like these. I think he has answered the galley question a thousand times.

GuangRong: the AI doesn't know the terrain of it hasn't got a map over.

 

[GuangRong]

Originally posted by Hurricane
Soren is probably ripping his hair out after reading threads like these. I think he has answered the galley question a thousand times.

GuangRong: the AI doesn't know the terrain of it hasn't got a map over.

I guess The AI just likes to trade world maps and explore the seas agressively.

Very often I get a World Map with all the surrounding waters explored . The again it could also be the fact AI usually dot the coastline with cities

In most games , the AI plant settlers all over the world with thier galleys.

 

[Hurricane]

A newly found island will be filled with AI cities extremely fast, so it sure does seem like they will put settlers on most of their exploring galleys. And yes, they like to explore as much as they can.

In my current game I ended up with all 8 civs on a continent that only took up about 1/4 of the whole huge map. The rest of the world was hidden in black until navigation, when the AI started exploring (I had been very unlucky with my suicide runs). I traded maps every turn, and could clearly see how about 3 ships were revealing more and more of the map every turn. They finally found another small island (room for 4 cities), and only 1 of the 3 galleys were heading towards the island (each one in nice straight paths east- or westwards). So it looked to me like they went out with no idea where to look, and one ended up lucky.

 

[Rowain deWolf]

Originally posted by Lt. 'Killer' M.

I also begin to suspect thta the Ais value Republic and Monarchy higher than their research price - do they *know* that these two are of 'special' value?
often, I can buy Monotheism (cost = 36), but for the same price cannot even get a 'close to a deal' for the government techs (cost = 20/24).......

Yes the AI values the goverment techs and Nationalism extremly high.


Rowain