Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I rarely use Civil Engineers, by the time they come available, it usually no longer matters.

Same for me. I have never actually used them, in fact.

 

[Bartleby]

Sometimes a Civil Engineer in a core city can shave a turn off a big build.

 

[Keroro]

I find that civil engineers are most useful in cities with high corruption - a few irrigated grasslands or bonus foods to keep the city from starving, then turn the others into civil engineers and the city can get any core improvements it needs finished in minimal time. Obviously they're useless for units.

 

[MAS]

I find that civil engineers are most useful in cities with high corruption - a few irrigated grasslands or bonus foods to keep the city from starving, then turn the others into civil engineers and the city can get any core improvements it needs finished in minimal time. Obviously they're useless for units.

I make 3 broad distinctions between cities:
Core
Semi-core
Non-core

Core cities are better off without specialist.
Non-core cities become less useful if you build any structure in it that cost gpt, so I build no improvements in them, and just use them as science/taxman farms.

So that leaves Semi-core cities.
The structures these cities most likely need need are a courthouse, a market and a library. All 3 of these are build before civil engineers become available.
In a science game, even the university will be build before civil engineers.

If it becomes clear at the start of the industrial age the game is going to last long enough, they may also get a police station and a factory (99% of the games that last this long I can build the Hoover Dam) And a factory only those specific cities where the factory would increase unit production per turn, or the increase in wealth production will offset the upkeep.

Using civil engineers or not for these 2 buildings then still depends on whether it would net me more shields than just working the railed and mined tiles.
And that usually only applies to the outer fringes semi-core cities, and I only have this sub-class in large and huge maps.

hence, I rarely get to use these specialist.

 

[Turner]

I find that civil engineers are most useful in cities with high corruption - a few irrigated grasslands or bonus foods to keep the city from starving, then turn the others into civil engineers and the city can get any core improvements it needs finished in minimal time. Obviously they're useless for units.

Use policemen. The problem with that is that you need to have workers on shield producing tiles. The policeman will make one shield and one commerce unwasted/corrupted, and regardless of what is being built.

 

[EMan]

CE's are very useful in high-scoring (histographic) games.

In order to maximize score, it is necessary to (eventually) irrigate ALL squares that can be irrigated in order to maximize food, thus supporting more citizens, thus increasing your score.

When you do this and have huge cities (having fewer, bigger cities also maximizes score), you will ALWAYS have specialists because there are more citizens than there are available squares. So, if you want to maximize points while building say a mass transit center, it may be cheaper to use civil engineers than taxmen; CE's are effectively worth 8 gold v taxmen's 2!

 

[Keroro]

I think it depends what kind of game you play. I tend to play on big maps, and corruption can get pretty aweful, but I like to develop my culture everywhere. CE's are very useful for getting a library or a temple built quickly when you don't have much gold to spread around. Police are useful too, but it's more productive to use CEs if building improvements. They can also help a wonder build in a metro late in the game, like if you need to build the Secret Police HQ and don't have a MGL hanging around. And yes, I know that many people don't use metros, but I find the specialists useful so personally I do.

 

[thetrooper]

Okay people, got one for you:

If you pop rush heavily in the ancient age and then decide to play as a benevolent ruler later in the game. How long will it take for your citizens to forget 'the cruel oppression etc'?

 

[Bartleby]

IIRC 20 turns per unhappy person, cumulatively.

 

[thetrooper]

Ouch, that's a rather harsh penalty!

 

[Turner]

That's my understanding as well.

To both posts, actually.

 

[psweetman1590]

Actually, I thought the unhappy person took 20 turns to go away from the time that you rushed, not cumulatively.

For example, if you rushed on turn 110 and turn 114, you would have two unhappy workers from114 to 120, then one unhappy worker from 121 to 124. From what you all are saying, it seems like that second unhappy worker would stay until turn 130.

 

[Turner]

You would have an unhappy worker from turn 110 to 130, and another one from turn 114 to 134. So from turn 110 to 114, you'd have one, 114 to 130 two, and 130 to 134 just the one.

 

[Bartleby]

Maybe my phrasenment isn't what it should be. What I meant when I said cumulatively is that if poprushing causes more than one unhappy at a time, it will wear off consecutively, as explained when I asked this question.

 

[Turner]

I stand corrected. I was never very good with cruel oppression to begin with.

 

[thetrooper]

So it is possible to 'inherit' the misery in newly captured cities that were previously whipped?

 

[Bartleby]

Yes, and if you capture and abandon, the misery will be transferred to your citizens.

 

[Scratcher]

I have just completed a tiny 60k game where I pop rushed almost every improvement in almost every town. I was only waiting 10 turns for the pop to increase before rushing again. Did my governments of despotism and then Feudalism stop the unhappiness becoming an issue?

 

[ap2019]

When your advisor notifies you that you no longer can build, for instance, the oracle, how do you ever finish building it or get a chance to build it somewhere else?

 

[vmxa]

It was telling you some else finished the Oracle. You can switch to another project at that time. If any wonders are not done and you have the tech and meet the requirements then you can switch to it.