Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Sashie VII]

AFAIK, Seafaring halves the price of harbours and commercial docks too.

 

[btfx]

Are you playing vanila (Original version). I remember when I was playing vanilla there was plenty of bugs. Even the patch didn't help for some. In conquest I have never had anything happen to me, never had any game close etc. They fixed nearly all the bugs. If you are playing conquest then that is weird. It could be some corrupt civ files.

Nope, I'm playing C3C v1.22, and (un)fortunately I cannot recreate the problem. It did crash again when I wiped out the Zulu and asked to "see the big picture", but it doesn't crash when I reload and repeat.

By the way, I learned the power of a super-mega-artillery-stack. Amazing really. it just makes my heart sing when I see a stack of doom where the best defender is redlined. And not to lose a single cavalry when destroying that stack (easy MGL)... HOORAY!

Oh, and what is the proper use for a guerrilla? He is only a little bit cheaper than infantry, but a terrible defender in comparison. I hate the civ2 instinct to make them (in civ 2 partisans [available after guerrilla warfare] treated all tiles as road, wonderful for surprise-attacking across mountains).

Also, does taking a city and abandoning it equal razing it? And when you take a city that has a population of 1, but improvements (like barracks/harbor), does it get automatically razed?

 

[Tone]

Also, does taking a city and abandoning it equal razing it?

You mean with regards to AI attitude? If so then yes. (I think that you need the majority of citizens to be your own before you don't take an attitude hit.) Actually it can be worse than just razing it because any whip or draft unhappiness will get transferred to your other cities. I'd either raze it or keep it and starve it down to size 1.

And when you take a city that has a population of 1, but improvements (like barracks/harbor), does it get automatically razed?

It will auto raze unless it has had a border expansion.

 

[btfx]

You mean with regards to AI attitude? If so then yes. (I think that you need the majority of citizens to be your own before you don't take an attitude hit.) Actually it can be worse than just razing it because any whip or draft unhappiness will get transferred to your other cities. I'd either raze it or keep it and starve it down to size 1.

Blast!

It will auto raze unless it has had a border expansion.

That somewhat makes sense...

 

[Tone]

Blast!

Surely it's not that bad. It's only their attitude towards you. It won't trash your reputation.

 

[btfx]

Surely it's not that bad. It's only their attitude towards you. It won't trash your reputation.

Ahh! I always forget there's a difference, (though it still makes me sad to see them angry at me).
By the way, is their attitude at all relevant to anything? I mean rep has a say in just about anything you do with them, does attitude?
Are there any AI patches? In some games you can interchange AIs, and even write your own, any possibility of a more realistic AI in C3C? "All the god-king Xerxes requires is this: A simple offering of earth and water, a token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes." Now most people would accept this type of offer, or at least after their army has been destroyed, but no, in Civ3, every little nation thinks their four cities, with no more than three spearmen in each can hold out against a score of medieval infantry protected by musketmen. This sort of arrogance is what I would expect from a Civ2 negotiation algorithm. I thought that by renegotiating peace I was making a hefty threat upon their civilization, apparently the AI would put honor before survival.
</rant>

By the way, if conquest&domination were not the two only options, would the AI be more likely to settle for an unfair deal against a nation which which has a MUCH more powerful military?

 

[EMan]

Nope, I'm playing C3C v1.22, and (un)fortunately I cannot recreate the problem. It did crash again when I wiped out the Zulu and asked to "see the big picture", but it doesn't crash when I reload and repeat.

Yes, Conquests does crash or at least exits.....but not sure what causes it. My guess is if you hit a certain combination of 2 keys simultaneously it will exit totally........most annoying.

...It will auto raze unless it has had a border expansion.

.............Or, if you are recapturing your own city, IIRC.

 

[Tone]

.............Or, if you are recapturing your own city, IIRC.

Good point!

 

[btfx]

Is it possible to change the keys used by the movement? I'm going to get a new laptop, and I know I'll miss the number keys. I'll probable have to buy a separated one.

Sorry to reply to an age-old post but don't worry about it cometflash. remember that you have the four arrow keys and Home, End, PgUp, PgDn. Yes I know it seems like the most awkward thing in the world, and COMPLETELY unnatural, but really, it's like learning to drive a strange car, it's frustrating, you make mistakes, even get into an accident or two, but after less than one week you're fine. I suggest you get used to the weird arrangement, it's less of a problem than a clumsy double-keyboard setup. Besides, when anyone watches you play they look at you like you're double-jointed or something.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Just curious... If you build a fortress and then build a colony, is it any safer?

 

[psweetman1590]

Only if you put a unit on the fortress..... the fort is useless without a unit on it.

And the colony will still be gone if another civ's borders encroach upon it.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

thank you

 

[TimBentley]

By the way, I have been playing the same game, and it has crashed twice. Once when I wiped out the Americans and asked to see the big picture, and once when I simply pressed F3 (coming from whatever is F2, Cultural adviser I think). It is infrequent, and not a nuisance, since I autosave, and it gives me a nice interval at which to check these forums. Just wondering if it's a known bug. If it only happens in THAT game, I could post a savegame if any bug people wanted it... Anyway, I am having a LOT of fun on a small map. It lets me try out difficulties, land mass types, and barbarian settings pretty well. <3 small.

The game crashes for me occassionally when I press F3 too. It's not that big of a deal unless you're finished with a long turn.

 

[btfx]

I wanted to do a recap of all my unanswered questions (one from my first post):

6. Craters. I noted that this is a wonderful way to screw things. Stealth bombers can make craters pretty much 100% of the time, catapults, not so much. How are craters determined?

Is it a certain amount of bombardment damage required to make them?

Has anyone ever received a positive response to "Grant us a loan of gold?"?

Do they actually offer you a loan? (Like 35g for 2 gpt).

Oh, and what is the proper use for a guerrilla? He is only a little bit cheaper than infantry, but a terrible defender in comparison. I hate the civ2 instinct to make them (in civ 2 partisans [available after guerrilla warfare] treated all tiles as road, wonderful for surprise-attacking across mountains).

It seems illogical to produce them...

By the way, is their attitude at all relevant to anything? I mean rep has a say in just about anything you do with them, does attitude?

By the way, if conquest&domination were not the two only options, would the AI be more likely to settle for an unfair deal against a nation which which has a MUCH more powerful military?

By attitude I mean Gracious/Polite/Cautious/Annoyed/Furious, which apparently has little or nothing to do with your rep (ROP rape, treaty violation etc...)
I REALLY want to be able to control a country (or at least its income) without conquering it. I want to be able to take all their income, resources I might not have, and treasury (and workers if available), and only then, only if I choose to, I can gift the nation some luxuries or even resources.
The whole game, no matter what the actual goal, I am always trying to develop such a "pet" nation, one that will obey any order in its power (other than giving up cities). Has anyone ever achieved this?

 

[psweetman1590]

Craters: Some units produce craters, other's don't. It's not a percentage chance, but rather dependant on the unit that bombards that last road on the tile. Bombers and stealth bombers do, as do radar artillery and regular artillery. I'm not sure about cannons, trebuchets and catapults don't.

Loans: Yeah, I've been offered a loan before. It's never worth it. Naturally, the amount you end up paying in gpt is more than the lump sum you're offered.

Guerrillas: If you don't have rubber, they're the best defenders you have (same as riflemen) and also the best attackers (same as cavalry). They've saved my butt several times in a war. If you have rubber, though, don't bother.

AI Attitude: The more the AI likes you, the more likely you are to be able to make better deals with them (they'll require less from you to make the same trade). They're also more likely to declare war on you when annoyed or furious, and more likely to sign open borders, alliances, and MPPs when polite or gracious.

I'm not sure about the victory condition question, but my guess is that the AI will behave exactly the same way, regardless of the conditions. It's not too smart, you see.

 

[EMan]

..Do they actually offer you a loan? (Like 35g for 2 gpt)...

If you don't care about AI relations and you are about to declare war on an AI, then ask them for a loan. If granted, it will cost you about 10%+ over the 20 turns. However, if you declare war after you get the loan, you don't have to pay it back! (Moonsinger, in her HOF #1 Sid-Level Histographic Victory, legitimately borrowed money from the AI's to buy stuff and strengthen international relations.)

...The whole game, no matter what the actual goal, I am always trying to develop such a "pet" nation, one that will obey any order in its power (other than giving up cities). Has anyone ever achieved this?

Playing 2050AD Victory condition (Histographic), I like to exile one AI to some tundra, surrounded by my forces, and eliminate all other AIs. If I can get the AI to agree to a multi-renewable ROP agreement, I will surround their 1 city (center) with my forces. They cannot have more than 2 citizens in their city and they're locked up for the rest of the game.........so I can concentrate on scoring points from juicy Sea squares and grassland!

 

[hrhomer]

Oh, and what is the proper use for a guerrilla? He is only a little bit cheaper than infantry, but a terrible defender in comparison. I hate the civ2 instinct to make them (in civ 2 partisans [available after guerrilla warfare] treated all tiles as road, wonderful for surprise-attacking across mountains).

The main plus to Guerrillas are that they require NO strategic resource to build. Infantry require (IIRC) rubber. Guerrillas also have a defensive first-strike chance and (maybe) a zone-of-control.

Joe

 

[vmxa]

There is no reason to make them, if you have rubber. Infantry have the same attack and much better defense and can become mechs, if need be.

Now guerilla can be tow and they are pretty decent units, but I do not build them. I will upgrade to them, if I have the spare cash and expect them to be used at all.

 

[btfx]

Craters: Some units produce craters, other's don't. It's not a percentage chance, but rather dependant on the unit that bombards that last road on the tile. Bombers and stealth bombers do, as do radar artillery and regular artillery. I'm not sure about cannons, trebuchets and catapults don't.

Loans: Yeah, I've been offered a loan before. It's never worth it. Naturally, the amount you end up paying in gpt is more than the lump sum you're offered.

Guerrillas: If you don't have rubber, they're the best defenders you have (same as riflemen) and also the best attackers (same as cavalry). They've saved my butt several times in a war. If you have rubber, though, don't bother.

AI Attitude: The more the AI likes you, the more likely you are to be able to make better deals with them (they'll require less from you to make the same trade). They're also more likely to declare war on you when annoyed or furious, and more likely to sign open borders, alliances, and MPPs when polite or gracious.

I'm not sure about the victory condition question, but my guess is that the AI will behave exactly the same way, regardless of the conditions. It's not too smart, you see.

If you don't care about AI relations and you are about to declare war on an AI, then ask them for a loan. If granted, it will cost you about 10%+ over the 20 turns. However, if you declare war after you get the loan, you don't have to pay it back! (Moonsinger, in her HOF #1 Sid-Level Histographic Victory, legitimately borrowed money from the AI's to buy stuff and strengthen international relations.)

Playing 2050AD Victory condition (Histographic), I like to exile one AI to some tundra, surrounded by my forces, and eliminate all other AIs. If I can get the AI to agree to a multi-renewable ROP agreement, I will surround their 1 city (center) with my forces. They cannot have more than 2 citizens in their city and they're locked up for the rest of the game.........so I can concentrate on scoring points from juicy Sea squares and grassland!

The main plus to Guerrillas are that they require NO strategic resource to build. Infantry require (IIRC) rubber. Guerrillas also have a defensive first-strike chance and (maybe) a zone-of-control.

Joe

Thanks everyone. I understand everything now, especially the guerrillas. (By the way, infantry has much higher defense, and the same attack, not vice-versa).

Also the AI attitudes makes sense now.

Finally, I have a note about the loans: Money now, is better than money later. Sometimes it's even 10% better, or more. Those are the times you should take out a loan. When there are rich AIs I usually take out loans quite a lot. Here's the trick (I had a braingasm when I started doing this):
Generally I have no problem getting a tech lead, and pretty much screwing the world over, but on huge pangea maps, I get competitors, I don't like that. So, what to do? I am not ahead in tech, but in the front lines. How to get ahead and rob the world of its wealth. Now, first of all this requires two rich nations. We will call them nA and nB.

Step 1. Take out a loan. If nA has $5000 and nB has $6000, take out $5000 from nA.
Step 2. 100% science!
Step 3. Rushbuild harbors after 1 turn of production (this lowers the price a LOT).
Step 4. Rushbuild libraries (the same way).
Step 5. Rushbuild anything you can to make science go up! That means commerce multipliers too!
Step 6. Rushbuild Universities? Maybe...
Step 7. OH CRAP! WE NEED MONEY!
Step 8. Take out a loan for however much you need to make it!
Step 9. Get any advance that nA doesn't have.
Step 10. Sell your advance, for as much as you can, preferably $5000.
Keep going! You can do amazing things taking loans from one person and paying them back with another loan. You can also get screwed to death through a hole in the back of your head...

...so be careful...

 

[psweetman1590]

You can also get screwed to death through a hole in the back of your head...

When all else fails, shoot them.