Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[ChaosSlayer]

well per my calculations, if its 100% bonus then it is irrelevant if its added or subtracted - the %factor remains the same.
However if its 50% or 25% bonus, then there is a disparity - it becomes slightly more beneficial to stand still and defend rather than attack (excluding terrain bonuses), but of course there is an initiative loss.

Perhaps I am still missing something - I will test this some more later on.

 

[Seraiel]

well per my calculations, if its 100% bonus then it is irrelevant if its added or subtracted - the %factor remains the same.
However if its 50% or 25% bonus, then there is a disparity - it becomes slightly more beneficial to stand still and defend rather than attack (excluding terrain bonuses), but of course there is an initiative loss.

Perhaps I am still missing something - I will test this some more later on.

You are not understanding imo. :

If you attack someone with Cover i. e. than Cover gets subracted from the defender, that isn't the same as if the bonus would get added towards the attacker because the defender i. e. has a lower strength (Axe vs. Archer) and then less gets subracted than would be added.

What I wasn't sure about is if those subtractions and additions change with the role of attackers and defenders. You wrote that if you attack a Knight with a Pike, then the Pike reduces the strength of the Knight. If however you attack a Pike with Knight then the Pike reduces the strength of the Knight. I understand this in that way that the bonuses might switch so if the attacker has a non-Combat-bonus then it gets subracted from the defender but if those units switch and the former defender attacks the former attacker now (that defends) that then the bonus that formerly got subtracted from the defender now gets added towards it.

 

[CaiusDrewart]

Hello, quick question.

What exactly does negotiating a trade embargo against an AI do? Presumably the two AIs in question close borders, stop having trade routes, and stop trading resources. But does it also prevent those AIs from trading techs? And if so, for how long?

 

[ChaosSlayer]

You wrote that if you attack a Knight with a Pike, then the Pike reduces the strength of the Knight. If however you attack a Pike with Knight then the Pike reduces the strength of the Knight.

Correction:
If you attack a Knight with a Pike, then the Pike reduces the strength of the Knight.
If you attack a Pike with Knight then the Pike DOUBLES its strength.

So Knight is 10 Pike is 6

If Pike attacks Knight, its : 6 vs 5
If Knight attacks Pike, its: 10 vs 12

The actual win % is identical for both cases, because bonus is EXACTLY 100% swings evenly both ways.
If bonus is less than 100%, there will be a disparity, but I haven't actually tested this with OTHER units, say Xbow vs Pike.
I will look at this tomorrow.

 

[Deckhand]

Hello, quick question.

What exactly does negotiating a trade embargo against an AI do? Presumably the two AIs in question close borders, stop having trade routes, and stop trading resources.

correct

But does it also prevent those AIs from trading techs? And if so, for how long?

No

It does cause malus from embargoed AI to the AI that canceled the open borders and to you for having them do it. (This malus could well prevent a tech trade).



When you are asked by a civ to close borders with their enemy, it usually isn't a good idea. It takes a long time for the "you stopped trading with us" malus to wear off. Plus you no longer have the trade routes etc. The malus for refusing to stop trading with enemy isn't as bad. Situational of course.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Does Civ 4 allow mods to have multiple map levels like some other versions of Civs do? (Example would be Civ 2 Test of Time)

 

[elmurcis]

Small question about forest spread. I have no-forest deer with forest next to it near my capital ("helper city" place). If I build camp and road on deer, is there any chance for forest to spread on Deer tile? Or if I build camp/road, this chance is lost and I have to stay with 4F0H tile?

 

[ChaosSlayer]

Small question about forest spread. I have no-forest deer with forest next to it near my capital ("helper city" place). If I build camp and road on deer, is there any chance for forest to spread on Deer tile? Or if I build camp/road, this chance is lost and I have to stay with 4F0H tile?

Forest/Jungle will spread over roads but not over improvements.
So if you build a camp, pasture, farm, cottage - it won't spread over.

 

[brooks tuttle]

I'm old, fat and grumpy. I have no idea what thread I'm replying to. I don't do forums, chats or threads and have no idea how to post or retrieve answers from wherever they get hidden. Where are the instructions for civ IV beyond the sword and civ IV BTS final frontier. I have no basis for comparison on how to play. I have been playing for a couple of years but don't know what the base values are or what they mean. thanks, brooks.

 

[Tristan_C]

Somehow you found the right thread. Hi!

Instruction manual (steam, pdf)

To gauge how you are doing, you might want to browse Civ4 - Strategy & Tips, particularly where screenshots or saves are posted and responses made to these. Just lurking doesn't necessarily require a high level of familiarity or "engagement" with the forum format, I think.

For more condensed & vetted red meat, a lot of people write guides and post them.

Civ Illustrated by Seraiel et al. really stood out to me recently:
#1 Know your enemy (AI infos)
#2 City Placement (article and 'case studies')
#3 City Specialization Explained
#4 The Hybrid Economy

If you have specific questions going along; i.e., how do I deal with all these citizens? you can spam this thread. That's what it's for.

 

[Seraiel]

Civ Illustrated by Seraiel et al. really stood out to me recently:

^^ .

 

[Rodney Nelson]

Does Civ 4 allow mods to have multiple map levels like some other versions of Civs do? (Example would be Civ 2 Test of Time)

Please be a little more specific in your question. Are you asking about map size? (Map sizes range from quite small to huge.) Are you asking about elevation? (Flat land and hills are usable, mountains are not except in a few modes.). Or are you asking about something else?

 

[6K Man]

Does Civ 4 allow mods to have multiple map levels like some other versions of Civs do? (Example would be Civ 2 Test of Time)

I know what you mean (I played a lot of Test of Time), and unfortunately the answer seems to be no. I say that because I've never seen a Civ4 mod with multiple map levels.

(Rodney and anyone else who's wondering: Test of Time allowed up to 4 maps, stacked on top of each other. So, for example, you could have a map for the surface of the Earth (land surface and ocean surface), a second map that mapped the bottom of the ocean of the same world (allowing for underwater cities), and a third map that mapped the upper atmosphere (allowing for cloud cities). Picture a 3-D chessboard and you're on the right track.

That made for some interesting combat situations when (for example) a flying unit would swoop down from the clouds, attack, and swoop back up again at the end of its movement, making counterattack by land-based units impossible. Deep sea submarines were invulnerable until they came up to attack depth. Etc.)

 

[SmallBrain]

I have fighters on a carrier off an enemy coast. The enemy has a fighter circling his city (intercept mode I think it is called). How do I engage in combat with the enemy fighter from the carrier to gain air superiority before attacking the city with my aircraft ? Or does it just happen when I attack the city with my aircraft ?

SmallBrain
11.April.2016

 

[Samson]

I have fighters on a carrier off an enemy coast. The enemy has a fighter circling his city (intercept mode I think it is called). How do I engage in combat with the enemy fighter from the carrier to gain air superiority before attacking the city with my aircraft ? Or does it just happen when I attack the city with my aircraft ?

SmallBrain
11.April.2016

It just happens when you attack.

 

[SmallBrain]

I was surprised and annoyed when I noticed that Julius Caesar (Purple) taken some 'tiles' from me (Seville, orange), for example, a 'tile' with a mine on it as shown by the two attached screenshots one from 1986AD and the other from 2006AD Previously I had also built a farm to the NE of the mine while those tiles belonged to me and were in my land, and he has stolen the land, the improvements and the outputs not to mention the time and effort taken !

We are not at war.

How is this possible ? Seville has happiness 17v9, health is also good, growing with surplus food +2, culture total 12 (number in top left is 10)

Seems like a good way to get land if you can get it !

SmallBrain
11.April.2016

 

[Lennier]

Rome is producing culture at a greater rate than Seville. When the Roman culture in the tile becomes greater than the Spanish culture in the tile, the owner of the tile switches. The formula for how much culture a city puts into a tile is complicated and changed from Vanilla to Warlords to BtS, but the basic concept is that the more culture a city produces, the more culture will be put into a tile; the closer a tile is to a city , the more culture will be put into a tile. It is possible to "culture flip" a city if you put enough culture into it (and the opponent doesn't put a large garrison into the city.)

 

[Pangaea]

It's due to cultural output. The AI tends to build lots of culture producing buildings, especially in the late game, because then they have basically built everything possible in all cities. Your cities simply produce less culture in this game, so over time Rome manages to steal some of your tiles.

I wouldn't fret too much over losing a mine or a farm. What really hurts is to lose Luxury resources (like Gold), and even more so, food. I just suffered a Great Artist bomb in my most recent game, and lost a Pig (only food for that city), several cottages and Floodplains Farms (essentially food). That definitely hurts, and with so much culture in those tiles, it's not exactly easy to win them back either.

Way to combat this btw, in addition to culture buildings like Theatre, is to run Artist specialists, or even build Culture.

e: -d

 

[Pangaea]

Also, are those Longbows I see? Does Rome not have proper defence? You have Grenadiers, Rifles, Cannons and better). You can just take all his stuff and not worry over a few lost tiles due to culture.

 

[6K Man]

So this is odd. I have a Commando unit that refuses to attack in a way that won't get it killed.

The screenshot below shows my Commando Cavalry with 2 move points left. I'd like it to attack the city directly to the west of it, but if I give the order, it insists on moving 1SW and then attacking 1N:

Spoiler :

But if it does that, it will use up all its movement (moving off unroaded grass tile to roaded tile + 1 attack) and will not be able to get back to the defensive stack. See below:

Spoiler :

Is there a way to override this pathing and just attack 1W?