Is there a way to get your city to produce nothing at all? For when your economy is tanking, science rate is at 0% and you are losing money... would be nice to just make nothing instead of having to delete everything as soon as it is made over and over.
Producing Nothing
- Thread starter wilhelm13
- Start date
Wolfshanze
CFC Historian
If your economy is tanking and you don't have enough money, why don't you produce COMMERCE/GOLD with your cities instead of NOTHING?
If you're also to the point where everything you build is immediately disbanded and your slider is already to 0% for science, I would suggest you might want to rethink how you play the game instead of trying to find-out how to produce nothing (and/or lower your difficulty setting).
He might not have currency yet
No way to build nothing at all but if you set your cities to build wonders but instead of completing them change production just before they are finished then when someone else completes the wonder you will get a chunk of money instead
DanF5771
Emperor
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2008
- Messages
- 1,194
There is this mod...
Wolfshanze
CFC Historian
If he doesn't have currency, it's also quite possible he doesn't have the option to build a wonder either.
It's clear by the OP statement that he has MUCH bigger problems then building nothing... I suggest he completely changes how he plays the game, then try and enable a continuation of his playstyle by having his cities build NOTHING.
Providing advice and mods on how to do nothing in Civ4 with your cities is counter-productive to constructive help.
I agree he probably needs to change his playstyle - build less units or not expand so quickly - but saying that doesn't help him in his current situation
I'd say its quite unlikely that he doesn't have the option to build a wonder
Techs like mysticism, sailing and masonry are all available way before currency and allow wonders to be built
Wolfshanze
CFC Historian
No, it doesn't help... I'd say if he's reached the point where his slider is at 0% science and everything he produces is immediately disbanded, there is no realistic hope of salvaging this game... chalk it up as a loss, learn your lesson and start-over.
It is possible to LOSE games you know... sometimes it's just best to admit defeat instead of flailing uselessly against a lost cause.
Now why do you automatically assume he doesn't have currency but that he can build wonders? It could just as likely be the opposite... no wonders but he does have currency.
I've been in plenty of situations where there were no wonders to be built in all ages.
Maybe he can build wonders, maybe he can't... maybe he has currency, maybe he doesn't... there's no way you can make assumptions of one or the other without the OP saying so.
In either case, I'd chalk this up as a lost game... if you're already at 0% science and still are disbanding every unit you build, this game is lost.... I wouldn't bother trying to salvage it... he'd be much better-off changing playing styles/strategies and starting a new game (and/or lowering the difficulty level).
Well, in my current game I had a lot of financial troubles in the ancient era because I was already at my expansion limit and I started capturing barbarian cities because they were so well placed (it saved me 2 extra settlers and they have 3-4 ressources each)
Unfortunatly that killed my economy, which was mostly based on goody huts. So from Horsebackriding (Actually it was another tech in the same height) to currency, I had most of my cities build units that I would disband while I beelined to currency.
When currency hit, ohhh man. That was the beginning of my domination over the whole planet. I sold my techs to everyone, got 2000 gold in 1 turn. (Sell the same tech to everyone for 300-400 gold). I kept currency for myself until my spies saw that my enemies were researching it. So I sold it when they were at 1 turn of breakthrough (Is that cheating? Since a human player would never do that)
From all that gold I was able to survive over expansion and support a massive army. I took over the Americas (playing earth 2) because I was the first to get astronomy and privateers are so damn good!
And then I rushed state proprety. Problem solved.
I play on noble because I just got back into Civ.
Unfortunatly that killed my economy, which was mostly based on goody huts. So from Horsebackriding (Actually it was another tech in the same height) to currency, I had most of my cities build units that I would disband while I beelined to currency.
When currency hit, ohhh man. That was the beginning of my domination over the whole planet. I sold my techs to everyone, got 2000 gold in 1 turn. (Sell the same tech to everyone for 300-400 gold). I kept currency for myself until my spies saw that my enemies were researching it. So I sold it when they were at 1 turn of breakthrough (Is that cheating? Since a human player would never do that)
From all that gold I was able to survive over expansion and support a massive army. I took over the Americas (playing earth 2) because I was the first to get astronomy and privateers are so damn good!
And then I rushed state proprety. Problem solved.
I play on noble because I just got back into Civ.
Thanks for the replies and advice.
Anyway it was a large/marathon game and I was trying Spain (new for me) and I expanded way too fast. Nope I didn't yet have Currency or Alphabet, and had built the only wonder I was capable of at that point in the game. And I know it's obviously far preferable to make wealth or research than nothing.
I asked about how to produce nothing because I have done it by accident before, looked at a city after a few turns without doing so, and noticed a big black blank under the city name, i.e. producing nothing. I can't get it to do this on purpose though, only by accident! And I thought, gee that would be great for when you can't make wealth or research and you are on STRIKE!
Anyway it was a large/marathon game and I was trying Spain (new for me) and I expanded way too fast. Nope I didn't yet have Currency or Alphabet, and had built the only wonder I was capable of at that point in the game. And I know it's obviously far preferable to make wealth or research than nothing.
I asked about how to produce nothing because I have done it by accident before, looked at a city after a few turns without doing so, and noticed a big black blank under the city name, i.e. producing nothing. I can't get it to do this on purpose though, only by accident! And I thought, gee that would be great for when you can't make wealth or research and you are on STRIKE!
And, thanks a TON for this! Woohoo!
King Flevance
Deity
I have done this on accident before too. I think it was a bug that got fixed somewhere along the line.(3.13/3.17) I think you could do it by selecting "Examine City" from the build list then not selecting anything and exiting the city screen. Or something like that. I am still not 100% sure how I did it either.
Wolfshanze
CFC Historian
If you have to use that mod, then you're just not playing right... cities should always be producing something.
KrikkitTwo
Immortal
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Messages
- 12,418
If you are on strike then building and self disbanding units is better than nothing (because the units you make can replace the units that get disbanded)
And they might be able to do something to get you money
But if you can build NO Buildings/Wonders/Research/Wealth
then go ahead and pump out units and immediately delete them
And they might be able to do something to get you money
But if you can build NO Buildings/Wonders/Research/Wealth
then go ahead and pump out units and immediately delete them
King Flevance
Deity
I would even say to look at how you are researching techs. I personally find it hard to tech to Alphabet/Currency without always having the option for a building to fall back on in every city. Religion helps to offer more buildings. Or possibly trade in some military units for workers with maintenance and cottage everywhere ASAP.
GooglyBoogly
Freakamongus
You do not have to fully produce a unit to 100%, you could just get then up to 1 turn before completion then switch production to another unit, your previous production will be saved and can be resumed later (it will decay after awhile though)
TheMeInTeam
If A implies B...
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2008
- Messages
- 27,989
Listen to Wolfshanze here, you really don't want to be producing NOTHING. Ideally, you stop short of striking in general. Maybe you can rearrange tiles and whatnot to get over too. Start making units then switch to others and leave them in queue, whatever.
If you're losing money at 0% science, hopefully you just completed a major conquest and are in the process of getting commerce onto your tiles before you strike. If this is the case, you should be building infrastructure buildings, then units to avoid a DoW and for HR garrison. If you're losing money without a major early conquest, you need to seriously modify your opening.
It's not always bad to be losing money at 0% though. In my most recent game (emperor/epic, small fractal map that wound up having 2 continents), I whipped out 6 elephants, 5 swords, 5 axes, and 8 catapults by 80 AD. When I attacked my first neighbor (my continent had 3 including myself), I was losing 5 GPT at 0% science, although by re-organizing tiles I was able to get +5 prior to entering enemy territory at least (forced to work tundra fur
). Razed cities I couldn't afford, kept ones that were cottaged well or otherwise powerful. Economy actually improved across the whole war - I actually picked up both currency and CoL along the way. Being ethiopia this meant cheap courthouse whipping, but also selling resources for 7 gpt.
The war never stopped. I killed the first guy then turned on my "ally", still using axes, elephants, and catapults exclusively (he had longbows and shortly into the war pikes, but so what? I had GG attached elephants!). I wiped out mehmed and was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was enough land for a 1525 AD domination - although I won lib in 1455 AD (stalin/hatsheput were on the other land mass warring also I think) and actually had over 400 BPT by the end of the game.
Always build something, and PLAN AHEAD so you don't strike...!
If you're losing money at 0% science, hopefully you just completed a major conquest and are in the process of getting commerce onto your tiles before you strike. If this is the case, you should be building infrastructure buildings, then units to avoid a DoW and for HR garrison. If you're losing money without a major early conquest, you need to seriously modify your opening.
It's not always bad to be losing money at 0% though. In my most recent game (emperor/epic, small fractal map that wound up having 2 continents), I whipped out 6 elephants, 5 swords, 5 axes, and 8 catapults by 80 AD. When I attacked my first neighbor (my continent had 3 including myself), I was losing 5 GPT at 0% science, although by re-organizing tiles I was able to get +5 prior to entering enemy territory at least (forced to work tundra fur
). Razed cities I couldn't afford, kept ones that were cottaged well or otherwise powerful. Economy actually improved across the whole war - I actually picked up both currency and CoL along the way. Being ethiopia this meant cheap courthouse whipping, but also selling resources for 7 gpt.The war never stopped. I killed the first guy then turned on my "ally", still using axes, elephants, and catapults exclusively (he had longbows and shortly into the war pikes, but so what? I had GG attached elephants!). I wiped out mehmed and was pleasantly surprised to learn that this was enough land for a 1525 AD domination - although I won lib in 1455 AD (stalin/hatsheput were on the other land mass warring also I think) and actually had over 400 BPT by the end of the game.
Always build something, and PLAN AHEAD so you don't strike...!
True but thats a judgement the OP has to make themselves
Why do you assume he can't build wonders. I just mentioned it as a possible way to make money if he was in that situation. I didn't assume that he was. He didn't provide enough info for either of us to know
Possibly he should but he might learn something that would help him cope. Giving up when things are difficult doesn't teach you much
If you have Currency, you should build Wealth.
If you don't have Currency and are facing strikes, then build buildings. It's certainly better than building units that will be disbanded. Also try working commerce tiles (water, cottages, furs, gold) rather than production or food.
If you have Slavery, use the whip to make buildings. With lower populations in your cities, your city maintenance will be lower and you might be able to get out of the hole you are in. Be sure to use the "stop growth" button to prevent your population from getting too high.
Although, yes, if you can build a wonder, you can try building it in hopes of getting some cash. But don't always rely on it, especially if it has been a while since your rivals have gotten the appropriate tech for that wonder.
Also, if you have enough cities and have Code of Laws, you can try building courthouses and the Forbidden Palace.
Try trading some of your resources to someone who does have currency. You might be able to grab a few gold per turn that way, especially if you are trading away a strategic resource like the metals or marble/stone.
In the end, though, I do agree with Wolfshanze in that having a city build nothing is pretty wasteful. Try not to expand too much, and try not to spread yourself thin. If you ever get to the point where units are striking... you're doing it wrong!
If you don't have Currency and are facing strikes, then build buildings. It's certainly better than building units that will be disbanded. Also try working commerce tiles (water, cottages, furs, gold) rather than production or food.
If you have Slavery, use the whip to make buildings. With lower populations in your cities, your city maintenance will be lower and you might be able to get out of the hole you are in. Be sure to use the "stop growth" button to prevent your population from getting too high.
Although, yes, if you can build a wonder, you can try building it in hopes of getting some cash. But don't always rely on it, especially if it has been a while since your rivals have gotten the appropriate tech for that wonder.
Also, if you have enough cities and have Code of Laws, you can try building courthouses and the Forbidden Palace.
Try trading some of your resources to someone who does have currency. You might be able to grab a few gold per turn that way, especially if you are trading away a strategic resource like the metals or marble/stone.
In the end, though, I do agree with Wolfshanze in that having a city build nothing is pretty wasteful. Try not to expand too much, and try not to spread yourself thin. If you ever get to the point where units are striking... you're doing it wrong!
TheDS
Regular Riot
I forget how I managed to do it, but I had the OP's problem in a game not too long ago. I built every building in a city, and had only units left. My science was really low, and I couldn't build anything but units. The problem grew to more cities as they built everything too. Not a lot of available things to build, but I knew that if I kept building units, eventually my gold rate would go to 100% and still not be enough, so I had to switch to researching a tech that would allow me to build buildings or research/gold before I got that far.
Pretty sure I had a good-sized army by the time I dug myself out of that hole and got Currency. I'm a little more careful to make sure I stop expanding if my gold slider gets too high, and to make sure I always have something to build. I didn't quite get to the level of pointlessness that OP got to, but I was headed that way.
Pretty sure I had a good-sized army by the time I dug myself out of that hole and got Currency. I'm a little more careful to make sure I stop expanding if my gold slider gets too high, and to make sure I always have something to build. I didn't quite get to the level of pointlessness that OP got to, but I was headed that way.
Similar threads
