Frequently Asked Questions

[Breunor]

Marathon, huh? Well, I do not believe that experience gained through combat changes depending on game speed. The only way to slow down exp gain is to use the 'Slow XP' custom game option, which I'm pretty sure is in base FFH.

Unit 666,

I'm pretty sure he meant the 'free' XP that the AI gets as the game goes on; I have to admit I don't know if the free XP's are a function of game speed or not, my instinct is that they should be.

Best wishes,

Breunor

 

[XV8crisis]

Thank you for input Stephanie (in a funny way not condescending)

 

[Bahmo]

Why were the citizen care civics removed? They were probably too simple, but I would have prefered to see them revised than taking out.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

You mean the Compassion Civics? I think that Kael thought that they were kind of boring, that even Good AIs went with Fend for Themselves too much, that having fewer catagories would allow more meaningful choices in each category he kept, and that the screen would be too cluttered if he included both that and the Membership category he added at tat time. It could also be that he didn't want to have to hassle with the python code needed to display a larger number of categories properly.

 

[Bahmo]

The obvious solution would be to bar good leaders from the Fend from Themselves and Sacrifice the Weak civics, and the screen isn't cluttered at all. As for the too boring, I really think they should've just been amended, not removed.

Strictly gameplay-related question now--how do I break the spell that holds a unit in place?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

There are multiple ways.

You could basically copy Blinding Light or Entangle, which would set units that did not resist the spell as immobile for the number of turns set in the <iImmobileTurns> tag.

You could also make a spell add a promotion ((either PROMOTION_HELD or a new one you make).



Edit: D'oh. I misread "break" as "make," and thought you wanted modding advice. I don't think there is a way in the game to counteract Blinding Light or Entangle. There is a spell to remove the held promotion, but it only works if the unit in on a "Cage" improvement (given by the exploration result that also makes units on the tile held). Units that are immobile though the timer or a promotion cannot cast spells, so you have to move another unit there. Note that this does not seem to apply to DOMAIN_IMMOBILE units, who cannot move but can cast just fine.


If the unit is held by Blinding Light or Entangle, you would have to use python (probably a new python spell) to let them move again. I believe that you could use the pUnit.changeImmobileTimer(x) function, where x could be any negative integer with an equal or greater absolute value than that of the unit's immobile timer. Note that such a spell would likely be able to expedite spells with a delayed casting.

 

[Bahmo]

It seems to me that if there is no spell in for removing the held effect, there ought to be. I went through a lot of trouble to capture a dragon, and then somebody put a spell on to immobilize it. I have little idea how to mod python, so that's not really an option.

 

[clearbeard]

It seems to me that if there is no spell in for removing the held effect, there ought to be. I went through a lot of trouble to capture a dragon, and then somebody put a spell on to immobilize it. I have little idea how to mod python, so that's not really an option.

Have you tried casting dispel magic (metamagic II)? Not sure if that works on the immobilizing spells or not. IIRC, the in-game spells like entangle or blinding light should all wear off in a couple of turns, if you can keep your dragon alive that long.

 

[arcticnightwolf]

Hmmm ... question: What's difference between fractal and tectonic mapscript ??

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

iirc fractal randomly chooses between continents,archipelago, pangea and another.

tectonics otoh simulates earth plate tectonics. nice script indeed.

 

[Lord Parkin]

iirc fractal randomly chooses between continents,archipelago, pangea and another.

tectonics otoh simulates earth plate tectonics. nice script indeed.

Fractal is completely unique; it doesn't pick from continents, archipelago or pangaea. Fractal maps tend to contain several large land masses (sometimes only one), several choke-points, and only a small amount of islands (sometimes none). The layouts of Fractal maps are some of the most unpredictable of all the map scripts.

Tectonics does produce nice-looking maps, although the maps that it produces tend to be somewhat unbalanced. This is fine for single player games, but something to bear in mind for multiplayer games. Some areas will have excessive amounts of plains, and others will have very few (or no) resources. Still, it's a nice map script to have a fun non-competitive game with.

 

[Cutlass]

I have a unit that explored a dungeon and got caught in a trap. The thing said another unit had to go and free it. But before another unit got there my held unit was expelled from the trap by another civ's border expansion. So now I can't free it from the trap because it isn't in a trap. But it's still held. Is there any way to unhold it, or is it a glitch not covered by the programming?

 

[cyruz84]

Im playing everytime with automated worker and allow them to change old improvements... so is there a way to avoid them to build 3 or 4 castles around my cities even if the city is in the middel of the empire?
i think 1 castle makes sense because of the defense bonus, but often tha workers instantly build castles, raze them, build eg. mines, raze them, build castles again.....

 

[Keeper_GFA]

1. Don't let them change old improvements.
2. Instead of automating them, use the queue function for their build orders.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

not letting them change old improvements is a given. you can also control what they're going to do with the cities' emphasize buttons.

 

[cyruz84]

Yes but i want to play with automated and with the renew option, especially on very large maps. but self-manage is ok too i think ^^

[QUOTE='[to_xp]. you can also control what they're going to do with the cities' emphasize buttons.[/QUOTE]

can you explain that please`? maybe my englisch or my civ-skill is to week to understand

 

[Polobo]

"emphasize buttons": Within each city screen you will see a set of buttons toward the lower right corner. These are below the whip/rush-buy arrows. They allow you to indicate how you want the city to function. Options:

Food
Science
Production
Great Person Points
Commerce (general)

Selecting one or more these will direct the AI to improve the city and work tiles that maximize the output of those categories over time. I say "over time" because the AI will work excess food instead of, say, production, under that assumption that in X more turns you will be able to work even more hammer tiles.

 

[cyruz84]

ah ok than i have to look if they stop building castles... thx for explaining ^^

 

[Beamed]

Aside from affinities, is there a significant advantage to having more than 4 of a mana type?

 

[clearbeard]

Aside from affinities, is there a significant advantage to having more than 4 of a mana type?

Depends on the mana type. Empire bonuses from mana (such as +1 health from Life mana) stack, so if you're having health issues in your empire, Life mana beyond 4 might help. In terms of your units, the only benefit beyond 4 is affinity, yes.