Golden Age just HOW god is it?

[warhead66]

I've played Civ 4 since pretty much the day it came out and frequently so on. I'm not a pro but i can with a little luck win a game on Emperor. But i've never in my entire time of playing civ gotten a golden age. Not for any apparent reason.. just never went for it, and it just didn't happen by itself..


So i'm wondering for my future playing, how good is it and is it worth contributing your great people too? Do you ever build wonders just for the sake of helping trigger the golden age, or do you ever build the Taj Mahal?

If anyone has a detail list of exact info on how much it benefits i'd be grateful! (i know it triggers more great people and helps you build a little faster, of course)

 

[Polobo]

How good is relative to the size of you empire as it increases existing "production" (hammers/commerce) on a per-tile basis, plus the increase in GPP production rates in all cities. Like other strategic options, you want to use it for a reason. Since all it will really do is get you to where you are going faster the question becomes what immediate benefit is there to being somewhere now? Can I get a free great person by reaching a tech first? Can I quickly finish an army before my target gets riffling? Can I produce the spaceship parts faster so I can launch first? The later you put off a particular golden age the more tiles you will probably be working and thus the better it will be, but you need to balance that against the delay and also, the alternate benefits a great person can provide.

Aside from the Taj Mahal (and some events) you can only achieve a golden age by committing a increasing number (starting at 1 in BTS) of unique great people.

Late game you are probably best off using a great person (or three) for a golden age unless you can found and leverage a corporation.

 

[warhead66]

How good is relative to the size of you empire as it increases existing "production" (hammers/commerce) on a per-tile basis, plus the increase in GPP production rates in all cities. Like other strategic options, you want to use it for a reason. Since all it will really do is get you to where you are going faster the question becomes what immediate benefit is there to being somewhere now? Can I get a free great person by reaching a tech first? Can I quickly finish an army before my target gets riffling? Can I produce the spaceship parts faster so I can launch first? The later you put off a particular golden age the more tiles you will probably be working and thus the better it will be, but you need to balance that against the delay and also, the alternate benefits a great person can provide.

Aside from the Taj Mahal (and some events) you can only achieve a golden age by committing a increasing number (starting at 1 in BTS) of unique great people.

Late game you are probably best off using a great person (or three) for a golden age unless you can found and leverage a corporation.

Well i've never played a level where i didn't have a booming minus without state property so that will probably never happen

Thanks for the info though! Sounds pretty good especially getting it in the later ages! What do you mean by committing an increasing number?..

 

[MrCynical]

A golden age is very powerful, since it gives:

+1 hammer on any tile that generates at least one already.
+1 commerce on any tile that generates at least one already.
+100% to great person point production in all cities.
You can change civics/religions without anarchy for the duration of the golden age.

Golden Ages are normally triggered by spending great people. The first costs one great person, the second two great people, and so on. You can't use multiple great people of the same type to trigger a golden age (so a merchant and an artist would work for example, but two artists wouldn't). The Taj Mahal also triggers a golden age, as do a few random events and quests. Finally the Mausoleum of Mausollos extends all your golden ages by 50%.

 

[Common Sensei]

A golden age is very powerful, since it gives:

+1 hammer on any tile that generates at least one already.
+1 commerce on any tile that generates at least one already.
+100% to great person point production in all cities.
You can change civics/religions without anarchy for the duration of the golden age.

Golden Ages are normally triggered by spending great people. The first costs one great person, the second two great people, and so on. You can't use multiple great people of the same type to trigger a golden age (so a merchant and an artist would work for example, but two artists wouldn't). The Taj Mahal also triggers a golden age, as do a few random events and quests. Finally the Mausoleum of Mausollos extends all your golden ages by 50%.

Also, I believe the 100% bonus to great person points during a Golden Age is multiplicative, not additive.

Sometimes with a Philosophical leader, I will have Golden Ages, prioritizing the Mausoleum of Mausollos and Taj Mahal. They tend to go very well, as they speed the transition times of building Courthouses to catch up with expansion, modernizing military, industrializing, etc.

 

[Still_Asleep]

The most important part in BTS is that you dont suffer from anarchy for changing civics.

This can easily save you 3 or more turns with a non-spiritual leader.

The first golden age costs only 1 great person, and is easily worth it when you get a great person that you dont need for anything special (like a prophet for shrine, or an academy in a commerceheavy city).

Every subsequent golden age will cost 1 more GP. Spending 2 great persons for a golden age can be worth it late in the game, 3 or more is usually not (lightbulbing 3 GP will always have a greater effect than a golden age).

 

[gettingfat]

I once played Willem, built the Mausoleum, then Tajal, with dikes in most cities hammers were everywhere for 36 fxxking turns!!! The city with the the Moai statue had 3 hammers in every water tiles! This is just insane. I usually don't burn 3 GP for a GA but that was too much fun, so I.... had another 12 turns GA. This was one of the few games you know you already had the win in your pocket, but keep playing because just looking at the screen will make you excited.

 

[Stalker0]

Yep, as mentioned the big thing is the ability to switch civics without anarchy.

Compare two turns of increased production and commerce due to GA vs 2 turns of nothing because of anarchy and you can imagine how strong it can be.

I find GA's are good for the rushes (spaceship, liberalism). They are also good on terra maps when astrology is on the horizon. Often, he who colonizes the new world first has a big advantage going in to the mid game.

 

[lordqarlyn]

I will always try to build the Taj. As others pointed out, BTS really improved GA by allowing you to change civics w/o anarchy. Since I generally have enough esp points being generated, my first Great Spy is used to generate GA as well.

Building the Mausoleum helps too.

Terra Maps are my favorite ones to play! Love the mad dash to the New World, and barbarian cities are reminisent of native tribes...

 

[troytheface]

how god is it ? I guess it is god-like in the sense that it might help produce great person points and then a great prophet. Unless god is a war
like god in which case declare war before you start your golden age so that god will be on your side.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

My most common use for golden age is making that huge civic switch from medieval society to modern society. The first golden age only costs 1 GP, definitely don't be afraid to blow it off before 1000AD. It's worth it once you consider your hammer gain.

 

[DigitalBoy]

Golden Ages are extremely useful in BtS. I guess they're still OK in vanilla and Warlords, even without the pseudo-Spiritual/Philosophical bonus, but the cost is way higher since the first golden age requires two great people and the second three.

 

[Stalker0]

Golden Ages are extremely useful in BtS. I guess they're still OK in vanilla and Warlords, even without the pseudo-Spiritual/Philosophical bonus, but the cost is way higher since the first golden age requires two great people and the second three.

And by okay, he means extremely crappy

GA definitely got their due in BTS

 

[TheDS]

Also, I believe the 100% bonus to great person points during a Golden Age is multiplicative, not additive.

In this case, beliefs are not facts.

Philosophical + Pacifist + National Epic + Golden age = +400% GPPP for that city. Add in the +50% wonder (forgot the name) and the Roman Forum (+25%) and you can get almost 6x as many GPPs in your GP farm. The MoM makes GAs funner!

 

[Tephros]

In my games, for instance, I really despise emancipation, but you know Ghandi or some other bastard is going to use it, so you have to switch. I'm definitely not going to give up my slaves AND endure anarchy for 3+ turns to switch to emancipation+communism+representation. So I do my final civic switches during a golden age, and I'm usually also building the Statue of Liberty in a city with a factory, power, and often ironworks. Those extra hammers really add up there. Definitely keep in mind that it's not just the size of your empire that makes GA's godly, but more importantly the infrastructure of those cities (banks, academies, forges, etc.) that increase the effect of those tiles.

After all, what are you going to do with that damned artist you accidently got during your domination game because of your national epic?

 

[Supr49er]

how god is it ? I guess it is god-like in the sense that it might help produce great person points and then a great prophet. Unless god is a war
like god in which case declare war before you start your golden age so that god will be on your side.

He might also mean how gold is it, or how good is it.

 

[solitary]

Seems like everyone here agrees that you can change civics during GA; without suffering Anarchy;
but I have tried this a few times; and it never works out for me;
I am playing BTS / Rhyes and Fall Mod however .
but the wiki on Stability for this Mod also mentions this tip; so i dont really know what i am doing wrong


any tips ?

ps : I have installed the latest patch : 3.13

 

[Diamondeye]

Just finished a cultural Gandhi game on Prince where I had 2 golden ages. First one, spent a Great Merchant, second Taj Mahal, after Mausoleum of Mausollos. It should be noted that both of these wonders are built faster with marble, which makes it much easier to catch these wonders. If you are the techleader, getting the tech reqs first, even more so. For the record I finished in 1851 with a 17k score, flipped Gilgamesh's 3 largest cities while keeping him at friendly, was techleader most of the game and ended with a output of 400-something a turn on a standard epic map with 0% spending. And I didn't have the pyramids - I beelined Cons for rep civic Pacifism since Philo lightbulbed, and 100% slider for entire endgame.

Solitary, you should write in the RFC forum with this or simply message Rhye, if you have the guts

 

[solitary]

and wich would be the RFC forum ?

 

[Winston Hughes]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=204