Newbie Questions: Ask here and get answers!

[Bamspeedy]

No, they can't be changed as they are hardcoded (unless you have exceptional hacking skills, I suppose).
Part of the programming seems to like to use powers of 2.
2
4
8
16
32 (number of civs + barbarian civ)
64
128
256 (the max # of cities before the patches)
512 (max # of cities after the patches, and for PTW)
1024 (this is what I heard the new max would be if they ever do increase the limit).

 

[DANGERBOY]

There is a reason for it. The game assigns a number to each civ. There is a register that contains 32 possible entries (00000-11111 in binary) The barbarians are entry 0 (00000), which leaves entries 1-31 (00001-11111) as possible civilizations. This is hardcoded. I guess Firaxis could do it a different way, but remember, later editions of Windows are 32-bit based software.

 

[DANGERBOY]

Powers of 2 are very important to computing (this could change with multi-state quantum computers, but that is still years in the future) because everything is coded in binary. Which means that it is easier to use powers of two, as you don't have to create exceptions for the unused portions.

"Unused portions" you ask? If I want to use a number from 1-100 with binary code, I have to have enough binary digits to remember the number (I'll define the lowest number to be 1 for this example). 2^7 is 128, so the numbers between 101 and 128 are not used. If they occur, some error has occured, and the program needs to recognize this.

 

[Padma]

Any competent programmer can tell you that using vaklues that are powers of two can improve the efficiency of your program - less "wasted" data space. It also lends itself to faster "bit-masking" operations, instead of normal arithmetic, gaining a slight boost in speed.

The 32-bit system windows uses refers to the address space available and to the "width" of the data pipe. With 32-bit addressing, you can directly reference 4Gig locations in memory. With a 32-bit data pipe, you can retrieve a full 32-bit word at once, instead of in 2 or 4 chunks. Both of these increase program speed.

BTW, Bamspeedy, that last number of yours should be 1024.

 

[Oceanus]

Whats the 'Blitz' ability? I have heard reference to it but not sure what it is, whats an example?

 

[Bamspeedy]

Ah, I wasn't using my calculator I changed it now.

I forgot about binary code and that easily explains the whole 'powers of 2' thing.

Never thought I would be getting lessons from Computer Programming 101 in the Newbies thread .

 

[Oceanus]

Oh, also, I remember reading back in patch they added 'lethal bombard' (1.21?, I think), but I have yet to figure out what units have it. Is it only in the editor, not applied to any standard units?

 

[DANGERBOY]

Blitz is being able to attack several times in a turn with one unit. It is hardcoded to be the same as the number of moves per turn a blitzing unit has.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Blitz is being able to attack multiple times in one turn (based on how many movement points the unit has left).

 

[Bamspeedy]

No unit has the 'lethal bombard' in the unmodded/unedited game. It is an option you can turn on if you want it and you select which units have it.

 

[Padma]

Originally posted by Oceanus
Oh, also, I remember reading back in patch they added 'lethal bombard' (1.21?, I think), but I have yet to figure out what units have it. Is it only in the editor, not applied to any standard units?

Letahl Bombardment is an option thatmust be turned on. I never use it, so I forget where it is. I think it needs to be changed in the editor, but it might be in "Preferences" also.

 

[Bamspeedy]

It's in the 'units' tab. You have to go to each unit and then in the lower left you will find it under all the other abilities. Hold the control key down while selecting this, so that other abilities don't get unselected.

 

[Oceanus]

Thanks all was considering trying 'lethal' bombard on some units, but I dunno, I like the way it works now... ground units would be hard to root out and kill completely with bombing...I wish just certain units had flags that made them susceptable to death by bombard... drives me nuts I can't sink a galley with a bomber.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Well, there are two different flags, one is 'lethal land bombard' and one is 'lethal sea bombard', so you could make it so only ships are vulnerable to lethal bombard (sinks). This is what most people prefer, as far as lethal bombarding (to be able to sink ships).

 

[Norm!]

I've enjoyed playing Civs 1-3 and heard about Play the World on this forum. I checked the FAQ and couldn't find the answer to this: if I purchase PTW, will I still need my Civ3 CD to play PTW?

Q2: If I'm not interested in the Multi-player features of PTW, is it that much better a game than Civ3? Is PTW the preferred path to getting bug fixes, scenarios, mod packs, etc. in the future?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bamspeedy]

You won't need the Civ3 CD to actually play PTW, but I do think you may need Civ3 installed on your computer, so you better keep the disk somewhere in case you ever get a new computer or reformat your hard drive, etc.. PTW and vanilla Civ3 have 2 separate folders, so you can play either one, just by inserting the correct CD.

Whether or not it is worth the money for just the single player improvements depends on how much you like the game. It adds 8 new civs (and UU's), a couple other new units, improvements and a wonder into the standard game, and some new victory conditions (although the AI doesn't deal with these very well) along with some units that are needed for those victory conditions (kings, princess). It also includes many scenarios/maps, and terrain graphics, that yes, you could download yourself, but this saves you the time of doing all that. It does make modding/scenarios much easier to manage once you know how it operates. Improved espionage screen.

There won't be any more fixes (patches) for vanilla Civ3, just PTW.

 

[sabo]

Originally posted by Bamspeedy
No unit has the 'lethal bombard' in the unmodded/unedited game. It is an option you can turn on if you want it and you select which units have it.

bamspeedy you forgot Cruise missles have 'lethal bombardment'

 

[Padma]

Originally posted by Norm!
I've enjoyed playing Civs 1-3 and heard about Play the World on this forum. I checked the FAQ and couldn't find the answer to this: if I purchase PTW, will I still need my Civ3 CD to play PTW?

Q2: If I'm not interested in the Multi-player features of PTW, is it that much better a game than Civ3? Is PTW the preferred path to getting bug fixes, scenarios, mod packs, etc. in the future?

Thanks for the help.

Bamspeedy actually covered it, but just to add on:

You must have Civ3 installed in order to install PTW. You can then play either Civ3 or PTW by inserting the appropriate CD into the drive.

If you enjoy Civ3, the upgrade path is through PTW. I do not play MP, but I still play PTW almost exclusively, because of the fixes and enhancements it contains. (The only exceptions are on-going Succession Games and the Demo Game, where one should not "change horses in mid-stream", so to speak. )

 

[Dongoyo]

I have my capital city located at border of my territory so i have too much corruption, how can i move my palace to other cicy better located????? and Can i choose the new city????

Thanks All, and sorry for my bad english

Happy Crhismas!!!!

 

[satchel]

You can move your palace, Dongoyo - just build a new palace in the preferred location. When it is complete, the old palace will disappear.

A quicker method that some may view as an exploit is to abandon the city containing your palace. A new palace will spring up instantly in your most populous remaining city.