[QUESTION] Micromanagement Problems and Leaders

[Thikr]

I always have a lot of questions the first time I post somewhere (first time in a forum that is, hello by the way!) so I will number them.

1. I see people saying "micromanage for growth!" all over but I don't know what that means. How can I switch shields to food or food to commerce?

2. Is the tile that you build a city on wasted? If so, for the "settler factory method" should I build on the flood plains (for growth on both sides of the river) or in the desert (avoid disease and just irrigate?)

3. Is there a way to increase Scientific Leader production or is it just "scientific civ, research fast."

4. The AI, even on Chieftain, seems to blow past me scientifically... how do i increase scientific output early or slow them down considerably?

5. Is there any consequence for losing money at when you have none in the treasury? I have never had problems yet...

6. I heard that Scientific is probably the best trait for a civ and Expansionist/Seafaring is the worst, is that true?

7. I also heard that Democracy is the best government, bar-none... is that true?

Hello again and thanks for the help

 

[CivAgamemnon]

Welcome to CFC, Thikr!

A good place to start learning would be The Civ III War Academy, which would give you considerably more information about what you need to know.

To answer your questions:

1). Double-click on a city, and the city screen appears. Try clicking on a spot that doesn't have any bread, shields or coins and observe the results. Those are food, production and commerce respectively. By choosing what tiles the city works, you affect what food, production, or commerce the city outputs. You can improve the tiles by sending workers out to irrigate or mine, and road. The War Academy gives you considerably more information on that.

2) No, the tile isn't wasted - it's the foundation for everything else. For a settler factory, you need to settle near a cow or wheat or flood plain - as long as you are producing at least 5 food per turn, it'll crank out settlers. Read this for tips.

3) Research: build libraries and move the science slider to 100 percent. If you're unaware of how to use the slider, try reading these reference books for the basics.

4) Read the War Academy for help on this.

5) If you lose money when you're at zero, units get disbanded.

6) It depends on your style of play - and opinions widely vary on this. You'll have to read and play before you can figure out what style you like best.

7) The form of government you use depends on your current situation. If you're in a prolonged war, republic/democracy is a real pain in the butt with unit upkeep and war weariness. It all depends on the situation and your style of play.

Above all, try reading the game's manual or the reference section cited in #3.

Hope this helps, dude, and if you have questions, don't be afraid to ask!

 

[Aabraxan]

Welcome to CFC, Thikr!

1. I see people saying "micromanage for growth!" all over but I don't know what that means. How can I switch shields to food or food to commerce?

CivAgamemnon hit the nail on the head with the mechanics. When people say "micromanage for growth," they usually mean increasing food for faster growth. Sometimes, when a city grows, the governor will assign a new citizen to a low-food tile and you may want to go back in and reassign that citizen to a high food tile. A good example of this is where your governor assigns a citizen to a forest tile for shields, leaving a city at +4 surplus food per turn (sfpt). At size 6 and below, that means 5 turns until growth. If you can reassign the citizen to get +5 spft, that's 4 turns to growth.

2. Is the tile that you build a city on wasted? If so, for the "settler factory method" should I build on the flood plains (for growth on both sides of the river) or in the desert (avoid disease and just irrigate?)

Depends on how you define "wasted." You still get some food, gold and shields out of the city, but you may not get all that you can. Food bonuses, like cows and wheat, are lost.

3. Is there a way to increase Scientific Leader production or is it just "scientific civ, research fast."

Nope. That pretty much sums it up.

4. The AI, even on Chieftain, seems to blow past me scientifically... how do i increase scientific output early or slow them down considerably?

Scientific output is tied to commerce. If the AI is outrunning you in techs, chances are that you've made one of the following mistakes:
1) Not enough workers;
2) Not enough workers early enough;
3) Building lots of unnecessary buildings;
4) Not enough roads;
5) Poor city placement.

Also, trade techs. The AI are going to trade among themselves, regardless of what you do, so you might as well get in on the action.

To slow them down, start some wars, bribe other AIs into alliances and keep them on a war footing.

5. Is there any consequence for losing money at when you have none in the treasury? I have never had problems yet...

Yes, at levels above Chieftain. You can lost units or buildings if you run into negative treasury. Don't confuse this with running negative gold per turn. As long as the treasury remains above 0, you're OK. Selling stuff to the AI so that you can run "deficit research" is a long and honored tradition.

6. I heard that Scientific is probably the best trait for a civ and Expansionist/Seafaring is the worst, is that true?

It depends on your playstyle, your map, and your victory condition.

7. I also heard that Democracy is the best government, bar-none... is that true?

No.

 

[Spoonwood]

In terms of commerce, I believe Democracy comes as the best government bar none. It's hard to argue with its worker speed and its cash-rushing ability also. But, it's an untimely revolution usually, and when warring... unlike a Republic where you *want* to manage war weariness pretty well to stay afloat, in a Democracy you absolutely *must* manage war weariness extremely well, or you will crash and burn... or at least so far as I can tell.

 

[Thikr]

Awesome, thanks a million guys... well I figured out the whole tile thing but I can't assign any workers except for the most recently produced one... e.g. I have a guy working hills in my capital. I can assign him anywhere. Then once my city grows, he is stuck where I last left him. Is this just part of the game or can I change this?

 

[Aabraxan]

You should be able to reassign any citizen in your empire. Click on the square that he's actually working & he should swap to an entertainer. Then click on a different tile to work that one.

Edit: Notice, though, that some squares will look like they're outlined. That means that a citizen from a different city is working that tile . . . assuming your cities are close enough to share tiles, that is.

 

[The Professor]

Is there a way to increase Scientific Leader production or is it just "scientific civ, research fast."

The only other advice I would add to this, is to be sure to research something that no other civ already has, and stuff that they are unlikely to go for next. See Dave McW's article "What will the AI research next?" for info on that. Although, on chieftain, you should have more cities, more workers, more roads, and more libraries than the AI can possibly produce, so you should be able to out-research them by a lot. This doesn't guarantee than you will lucky enough to get a Scientific Great Leader, though.

6. I heard that Scientific is probably the best trait for a civ and Expansionist/Seafaring is the worst, is that true?

As everyone has said, it depends on your map and your victory conditions. For Conquests, most people think that Agricultural is the most powerful trait. Industrious, especially for Vanilla or Play the World, is also a very strong trait. On lower levels, with a pangea map especially, Expansionist civ's can get free settlers, free cities, and almost all the Ancient Age tech's out of the goodie huts, which can make for an incredible start. On a map with a lot of water, Seafaring tribes can cross the waters earlier than anyone else, make contacts that allow them to trade, and get a great trading/technology advantage.

7. I also heard that Democracy is the best government, bar-none... is that true?

A lot of people will say that Republic is the best government...it comes early, gives extra commerce, and allows for warring, as long as you don't have too many losses. If you're afraid that War Weariness will be a problem, you may be better off in Monarchy, which has less commerce, but no War Weariness. Democracy doesn't come until much later in the game, when the length of the anarchy period may outweigh any advantages that come from switching to Democracy, unless your civ is religious.