How many WoWs does it take to trigger a Golden Age?

[morchuflex]

Hello.

In the Civilopaedia, wonders subsection, you can read "this Wonder MAY trigger GA for [religious / expansionistic / whatever...] civilizations".
I'm wondering (no pun intended) about the meaning of this verb, "may". Is it random? Is there a probability depending on difficulty level? Are some WoWs more likely to make it than others?
I had played all my games so far with religious civs, and never got a GA with religious WoWs only (Sistine, Bach). I'd always had to build an "industrious" WoW too (such as the Hoover Dam). So, I had come to the conclusion that you needed build at least two WoWs, each of them corresponding to one of your traits (one industrious and one religious for Egyptians, etc.).
But this afternoon, I tried a game with the English and to my surprise (and my dismay), I got an early GA upon completing my very first WoW, the Lighthouse.
Can anyone shed some light (still no pun intended) on this issue?

 

[Arathorn]

Sure! In vanilla and PTW, the Lighthouse is Expansionist and Commercial...just like England -- it matches both of the traits. In C3C, it's E, C, and Seafaring, again getting both of England's traits.

The rule for a wonder GA is:
- Upon completion of a wonder, if you own wonders comprising all of your traits, you trigger a GA (assuming you haven't already had one).

This is carefully worded. If, as England, you CAPTURE the Lighthouse and then build Sistine, you will trigger your GA, because the wonders you own cover all your traits, even though Sistine helps not at all on covering your traits.

And, no, it's not random. If you cover your traits, you get the GA. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Civilopedia is .... somewhat flawed in spots.

Arathorn

 

[sabo]

Hello.

".
I'm wondering (no pun intended) about the meaning of this verb, "may". Is it random? Is there a probability depending on difficulty level? Are some WoWs more likely to make it than others?

I think the only requirement is that you are the very FIRST to build the wonder.. (kidding)

It's happened to me a few times but most of my GA's are triggered with UU's

 

[morchuflex]

Arathorn, thank you.
However, if I read you carefully, I have to BUILD at least one WoW to get my GA, is that right? Your exemple with the English suggests that CAPTURING a WoW fitting all your traits is not enough, am I correct?
If this is the case, the rule could be rephrased this way:
"To trigger a GA (without using your UU), you need to OWN WoW(s) fitting both your traits, among which at least one has been built by your own civ."
Is this correct?

 

[Arathorn]

You read me correctly. You have to BUILD at least one WoW to get a GA from wonder-building. (The other method is to win a battle with your UU -- man'o'war for the English.) Capturing is not enough.

Actually, having built a WoW in the past isn't enough, either. The code, apparently, checks what wonders you own when you complete a new wonder, and then decides whether to trigger a WoW-based GA. At no other time is this check made...only when a WoW is completed by you.

HTH,
Arathorn

 

[morchuflex]

Thanks again. Everything's clear, now.