June 2020 Update - Patch Notes Discussion

[bitula]

Floods aren't multi-turn disasters. I'm not sure if the single-turn disasters provide yields when they're created by soothsayers.

That would be strange if they are provided only by natural floods. What would be the consideration behind that? But yeah, they didn't provide to me. Did anyone try it? And what's with volcanic eruptions?

 

[Quueg]

So now we'll have Aliens, Cultists, Borderlords, Jocks, Mutants, Preppers, Pirates, Mad Scientists, Wanderers, Zombies - all controlled by an AI that still has no idea how to play the game. Good to see the developers devoting their efforts to what really matters.

 

[bitula]

So now we'll have Aliens, Cultists, Borderlords, Jocks, Mutants, Preppers, Pirates, Mad Scientists, Wanderers, Zombies - all controlled by an AI that still has no idea how to play the game. Good to see the developers devoting their efforts to what really matters.

Well those are not in the base game. But actually Soothsayers are best used on one's own cities to increase yields. I didn't (couldn't) observe AI doing this. It's not useful to use them on your opponent, since then they will just have more yields - except for maybe floods???. Again, I didn't (couldn't) observe AI doing even this, although once I saw an eruption and an AI Soothsayer was standing near my volcano - is that an indication?. But then I did get extra yields on the volcanic terrain. What I know, that the AI does sacrifice his units in competitions. So far I don't understand what is the benefit of that, since according to my observations the battle units are more valuable than the soothsayer which can be received in such competitions. I never tried it though.

 

[acluewithout]

snip

Sorry, not directed at you specifically, but I’m really over reading all this negativity about FXS spending some time on Red Death.

You know what? Red Death is actually pretty fun. It reminds me of @Victoria ‘s occasional tactical combat problems, where you have to kill 6 swordsmen in two turns using a Slinger, Spearmen and a Builder armed with half a brick in a sock..

It’s also very well executed, with quite cool little mechanics, great visualisation and a sharp simple gameplay loop. Personally, I don’t really like multiplayer, precisely because if I play a video game it’s to get away from people. But Red Death is a real exception - it’s quite short, very focused, and the stakes aren’t huge.

Video games are a Creative endeavour. Red Death wasn’t at the top of my list of stuff I wanted. But I’m also okay with the Developers having some room to try different stuff. It’s what ends up making other things good too.

Let’s see what happens with the next couple of DLC. People might find NFP snowballs a bit once some more stuff has come out, and FXS get to build on top of other things.

 

[Kwami]

So now we'll have Aliens, Cultists, Borderlords, Jocks, Mutants, Preppers, Pirates, Mad Scientists, Wanderers, Zombies - all controlled by an AI that still has no idea how to play the game. Good to see the developers devoting their efforts to what really matters.

Firaxis has always advertised Red Death as a multi-player scenario. That they put any effort into the AI at all is already extra credit.

 

[pokiehl]

In addition, the very fact that Red Death got a "season 2" must indicate that their metrics show sustained popularity with the playerbase.

 

[Casualty of war]

There's a whole lot of Civs that I'm going to be beelining Theology for, because Work Ethic and +100% adjacency is going to be silly. Sure just made Russia, Japan and Mali greatly upgraded, 3 civs that probably didn't need the boost. 14 Hammer Holy Sites!

 

[Republic of San Montuoso]

There's a whole lot of Civs that I'm going to be beelining Theology for, because Work Ethic and +100% adjacency is going to be silly. Sure just made Russia, Japan and Mali greatly upgraded, 3 civs that probably didn't need the boost. 14 Hammer Holy Sites!

It's a welcomed boost for Mali since you might have your religion before your economy is truly amazing so you might have to use the, hem, the... eugh... hammers

And hammers are still important for wonders. Sure, you don't have production penalties for wonders, but in the desert, the main source of hammers are mines, but Malian mines just produce 4 gold, no hammer. So the extra hammer, if the religion is founded quickly, could help for things like Petra or Jebel Barka...

 

[Wielki Hegemon]

So now we'll have Aliens, Cultists, Borderlords, Jocks, Mutants, Preppers, Pirates, Mad Scientists, Wanderers, Zombies - all controlled by an AI that still has no idea how to play the game. Good to see the developers devoting their efforts to what really matters.

Good to know The Red Death is a single-player scenario where you play against AI

 

[oSiyeza]

I honestly expect higher yields at this stage of the game, moreso for John Curtin.
Sorry to burst your bubble I honestly think you don't really know how to play the game

Can we just stop being so self obsessed? There is no good or bad way to play. And I'm a bit tired of arguing as if everyone that does not beat deity has a less valid opinion about the game.

The moment we start to segregate the players on how well they perform, is the moment this community dies.

 

[Wielki Hegemon]

Can we just stop being so self obsessed? There is no good or bad way to play. And I'm a bit tired of arguing as if everyone that does not beat deity has a less valid opinion about the game.

The moment we start to segregate the players on how well they perform, is the moment this community dies.

hmm very good though to stop and think about it.

 

[Gbest]

I noticed the AI is not rushing early religion so hard.
This is a welcome change imho as on immortal or deity was hard to get one, unless you put all focus on that, which in most cases was not worth it.

 

[Abaxial]

So I am trying out the Work Ethic belief. I have two holy sites, and I'm getting the extra production in one but not the other. Has there been a quick nerf?

 

[The googles do nothing]

So I am trying out the Work Ethic belief. I have two holy sites, and I'm getting the extra production in one but not the other. Has there been a quick nerf?

You need to spread your religion to the second city. It's not automatically given, it just seems that way because cities close to a holy city will convert because of pressure fairly quickly.

 

[trev1972]

It's a welcomed boost for Mali since you might have your religion before your economy is truly amazing so you might have to use the, hem, the... eugh... hammers

And hammers are still important for wonders. Sure, you don't have production penalties for wonders, but in the desert, the main source of hammers are mines, but Malian mines just produce 4 gold, no hammer. So the extra hammer, if the religion is founded quickly, could help for things like Petra or Jebel Barka...

Speaking of mali, trying them for the first time today...in 3 starts - no desert? is this normal?

 

[Abaxial]

You need to spread your religion to the second city. It's not automatically given, it just seems that way because cities close to a holy city will convert because of pressure fairly quickly.

It's the second city where the bonus is working, and the original holy city where it isn't. I have an idea it did work in the first city when it was the only holy site, but I wasn't checking carefully.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

It's the second city where the bonus is working, and the original holy city where it isn't. I have an idea it did work in the first city when it was the only holy site, but I wasn't checking carefully.

Did it get volcanoed or anything?

 

[KayAU]

I tried out the patch today. It's been a long, long time since I tried out Russia, but wow, are they stupidly powerful now. I went for Dance of the Aurora and Work Ethic, which combined with the policy card which doubles adjacencies, makes my Lavras produce silly amounts of faith and production. I am also swimming in Great Writers, Artists and Musicians.

This seems like something I could consistently pull off as long as I spawn near tundra, but this game in particular was exceptionally lucky. I got natural wonder nearby, and by the time I got my Government Plaza up, the Lavra in my capital had a base +10 adjacency, which was doubled to +20. Then, I got the Great Scientist which gives a single Holy Site science from its adjacency bonus. So, relatively early Classical era, and my capital city Lavra is producing +20 Faith +20 Production +20 Science. Could it get any more ridiculous? Well, how about having Valetta nearby, allowing me to purchase infrastructure with the absurd amount of Faith I'm producing? I think I might win this game.

 

[Kwami]

It's the second city where the bonus is working, and the original holy city where it isn't. I have an idea it did work in the first city when it was the only holy site, but I wasn't checking carefully.

As @SammyKhalifa hinted at, there seems to be a bug that disables the production bonus if the Holy Site is pillaged, even once it's repaired. This used to happen to a lot of districts, but they were all fixed quite a while ago. I'm surprised to see the bug resurface. Hopefully, it's fixed in the July patch.

 

[criZp]

I haven't personally tried the new work ethic yet, but from what people say it really sounds like the "extra faith from tundra/desert/jungle" pantheons might be too OP now that they can combine with work ethic.

Perhaps put an upper limit on how much adjacency yields a district can get would be a reasonable tweak.