Pink hexes, cities and resources, trade

[MrMT]

Loving the game so far - it really does feel like they have stripped it down to a much more fun focused game, and the hexes/ 1 army per tile for me is great. And embarking! Sooo much better than all that fiddly boat management.

I am a little confused about a couple of things though, would be grateful for help.

a) In the city screen, around the city boundaries some hexes are surrounded by pink. What are they? I assume this is something to do with where the city is due to expand via culture (and they seem cheaper to buy), but is there a way of determining that?

b) Trade - I get the strategic and luxury resources side of things, but don't really understand what trade routes do. Any way of determining how much more moolah they bring in? etc

c) Building cities on top of resources... does this somehow negate the resource? Or is the tile considered to be automatically improved to its max? I haven't dared build a city on top of a nice resources yet.

d) Citadels - only to be build outside cities? Or is there someway of building them inside.

e) Buying/rushing production - one city I had let me buy pretty much every improvement except a courthouse. Bug, or are there reasons why I cannot buy certain units/improvements. Also, is there no rush production option?

f) Focusing on great people? I don't really understand what resources make you more likely to generate great people points.

g) Negotiations. With AI, you ask the computer to suggest what deal will work. Is that the absolute best deal on offer? Or are there ways of squeezing a little more out of your would be partner?

I am sure I will come across many more, but any help on these question would be great!

Thanks

 

[Pragmatic]

a) Pink tiles in the city screen are ones the governor of the town is planning on expanding to when the culture bucket fills.

d) Citadels are built on flat, open terrain (i.e., grasslands, plains, deserts, tundra, snow). They're best built--when necessary--to help seal up a bottleneck. Otherwise, like most GP-built structures, they're generally not worth it.

e) Courthouses are the "remove 'we just conquered'-itis" from a newly annexed city. They're not meant to be purchased, as that would allow conquerors to easily take over the world with gold. Just rush production (to speed up the building of the Courthouse) and happiness (to mitigate as much unhappiness as possible) structures, then next turn start building the Courthouse.

f) Focusing on great people will probably put citizens into the Specialist slots (e.g., libraries and markets).

 

[Pragmatic]

b) Trade routes are links between your cities and your capitol. Hook them up via roads or harbors (both kind of expensive...). And I think I saw the breakdown of my trade route info in the Income Summary (??? - it's one of lists to the left of the big buttons on the top right).

 

[MrMT]

a) Pink tiles in the city screen are ones the governor of the town is planning on expanding to when the culture bucket fills.

d) Citadels are built on flat, open terrain (i.e., grasslands, plains, deserts, tundra, snow). They're best built--when necessary--to help seal up a bottleneck. Otherwise, like most GP-built structures, they're generally not worth it.

e) Courthouses are the "remove 'we just conquered'-itis" from a newly annexed city. They're not meant to be purchased, as that would allow conquerors to easily take over the world with gold. Just rush production (to speed up the building of the Courthouse) and happiness (to mitigate as much unhappiness as possible) structures, then next turn start building the Courthouse.

f) Focusing on great people will probably put citizens into the Specialist slots (e.g., libraries and markets).

Aha - thank you.

So, if you have three pink tiles, that means you will get three more tiles?

Courthouses makes some sense then... a game design decision, although money can conquer a lot...

That makes sense for great people, I need to check it out.

 

[warpstorm]

I will disagree with you on the Citadel - they are great if you can at all funnel the enemy near it since it does 3 hits of damage to any enemy adjacent to it and adds 100% to the defense of the unit in it.

 

[Pragmatic]

No, you get 1 pink tile. It's just that those three tiles are equally desirable.

And specialists, from what I've seen, have their own benefits. A scientist, for instance, contributed 3 Science points, and 3 Great Scientist points.

 

[warpstorm]

So, if you have three pink tiles, that means you will get three more tiles?

You will get one of these tiles.

 

[Pragmatic]

I will disagree with you on the Citadel - they are great if you can at all funnel the enemy near it since it does 3 hits of damage to any enemy adjacent to it and adds 100% to the defense of the unit in it.

Which, coincidentally, is what I said.

In general, a Great General is better than a Citadel. There will be situations where a Citadel is pretty darn good. But in most situations, choose the Great General, instead.

 

[Roconar]

b) I think the trade revenue depends on the population of the cities you are connecting to the capital.

c) You get the resource, but not the production bonus you would get by improving that resource.

 

[MrMT]

c) You get the resource, but not the production bonus you would get by improving that resource.

Interesting. In other words, don't build a city on a resource!

Seems restrictive though...

 

[Bridger]

Interesting. In other words, don't build a city on a resource!

Seems restrictive though...

I saw a big bump in production when I built a city on a resource...It seemed to have many more hammers. Can't remember what it was though...I know it had 4 hammers. I don't think any city on a normal tile will have 4 hammers (3 on rough yes?).

 

[sohvan]

No, you get 1 pink tile. It's just that those three tiles are equally desirable.

How can I change which tile the city is going to aquire next? Sometimes the AI makes extremely stupid decisions.

 

[Pragmatic]

How can I change which tile the city is going to aquire next? Sometimes the AI makes extremely stupid decisions.

Gold.

 

[sohvan]

Gold.

Yes I obviously know about buying tiles, but is there any way to change what tile the city is going to aquire by culture? Buying hexes that are 3 away from the city gets really expensive.