Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[a4phantom]

And music it is..my ignorance level today is shocking,

Not really, it's a fairly obscure tech and a fairly obscure building Unless I think I can snag the free Great Artist for getting it first, I don't research Music until long after it's available. I suppose on higher levels the cathedral buildings are more urgent than on Prince.

i've checked the civilopedia several times but totally overlooked the music requirement
Thanks for the enlightenment a4phantom and btw, if you don't mind me asking..how are you doing?(iirc earlier in this thread you've mentioned recovering from surgery)

I'm doing very well, thanks for asking! I'm still weak but I don't have any significant pain, I'm up and doing stuff and I just got a job that starts in a week. I appreciate your concern, thanks CB. Mostly I'm just relieved to have it done.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Music? Or if you're on a Huge world, you might need five temples/ Mandir, I'm not sure.

I believe it's six on a huge (or large) world. It's two on a duel, tiny or small world.

 

[ChinaBlue]

Not really, it's a fairly obscure tech and a fairly obscure building

Perhaps, but..er..well..never mind, I appreciate the effort to make me look less noobish

Glad to hear you're doing well, good luck on the new job!

 

[feldmarshall]

I think I remember reading blockade somewhere as well although I'm not positive. Maybe another example of a typo in game?

this is what they mean by "blockade"

 

[a4phantom]

this is what they mean by "blockade"

So in Civ4 "blockade" means denying the ability to work certain tiles. What awkward and confusing word choice.

 

[OscarWildebeest]

The Wheel

Here's something I don't understand. I'm playing with Gandhi, who starts with Mysticism and Mining. There are other civs who start with The Wheel as one of their techs. According to the manual, The Wheel permits you to build roads. Yet my workers could build roads from the turn they were created. I have never researched The Wheel, nor traded it, nor even been given it as an option.

How do you explain that, Inspector, eh?

 

[a4phantom]

Gandhi has super workers, who can build everything from the beginning, including oil wells and fortresses. Just kidding, I have no idea.

Do city raider and city defender bonuses apply to fortresses? I don't think they do, but someone else thought so. I've never actually seen a fortress in Civ4, without any sort of zone of control you could almost always go around them. A fortress can't coexist with a tile improvement to protect a resource that's being exploited can it?

 

[Jenarie]

Oscar, what level were you playing? I've noticed that when playing lower levels sometimes I get extra free techs. I don't know for sure which level gets how many but the other day I played a Warlord game for the first time in a few weeks and was surprised that I had three instead of two techs.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

In Warlords, is it possible to see exactly how much of a maintenance increase your vassal(s) are responsible for? The manual states that you don't pay maintenance for the vassal cities, but rather experience an increase on yours. Is it lumped into your maintenance on a city by city basis so it's impossible to tell, or is it quantified separately somewhere?

If it's lumped, has anyone figured out roughly how much of an increase is typical?

 

[a4phantom]

In Warlords, is it possible to see exactly how much of a maintenance increase your vassal(s) are responsible for? The manual states that you don't pay maintenance for the vassal cities, but rather experience an increase on yours. Is it lumped into your maintenance on a city by city basis so it's impossible to tell, or is it quantified separately somewhere?

If it's lumped, has anyone figured out roughly how much of an increase is typical?

I think it's lumped, and there is no typical because it depends on the size of your empire and the size of the vassal.

 

[ori]

Do city raider and city defender bonuses apply to fortresses? I don't think they do, but someone else thought so.

In Warlords Fortresses are regarded as cities in regard to city raider and city defender bonuses.

I've never actually seen a fortress in Civ4, without any sort of zone of control you could almost always go around them. A fortress can't coexist with a tile improvement to protect a resource that's being exploited can it?

they don't have a zone of control or can be put on an improved resource

Oscar, what level were you playing? I've noticed that when playing lower levels sometimes I get extra free techs. I don't know for sure which level gets how many but the other day I played a Warlord game for the first time in a few weeks and was surprised that I had three instead of two techs.

On Settler you get Wheel, Agriculture and Mining for free
On Chieftain you get Wheel and Agriculture for free
On Warlords you get Wheel for free
On Noble and above you just get the Civ's starting techs

 

[economist]

Is it possible to lead in technology and have guaranteed (i.e. not occasional) win in the space race on emperor and higher without any tech trading with AI (tech trade allowed) and with no offensive wars? What kind of strategy is appropriate in this case? What do the experts on this forum think about it?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Hmm, I'm not certain, as I've never played such a variant myself. But my hunch is that you would most likely be greatly assisted in your quest by a Financial leader like Hannibal or Huayna Capac.

The Wheel

Here's something I don't understand. I'm playing with Gandhi, who starts with Mysticism and Mining. There are other civs who start with The Wheel as one of their techs. According to the manual, The Wheel permits you to build roads. Yet my workers could build roads from the turn they were created. I have never researched The Wheel, nor traded it, nor even been given it as an option.

How do you explain that, Inspector, eh?

Apart from the difficulty level modifiers (as ori pointed out above), the other likely scenario I can think of is that you 'popped' The Wheel from a goody hut.

 

[OscarWildebeest]

On Settler you get Wheel, Agriculture and Mining for free
On Chieftain you get Wheel and Agriculture for free
On Warlords you get Wheel for free
On Noble and above you just get the Civ's starting techs

That explains it, thank you. I'm playing on Warlord (not Warlords). Trying to get a Cultural Victory before I move up to Prince (I've already achieved moderately convincing Space Race and Dom victories).

[EDIT: So, logically, on lower levels, starting with a civ that has The Wheel as one of its starting techs is just wasting a tech, isn't it?]

 

[Roland Johansen]

Is it possible to lead in technology and have guaranteed (i.e. not occasional) win in the space race on emperor and higher without any tech trading with AI (tech trade allowed) and with no offensive wars? What kind of strategy is appropriate in this case? What do the experts on this forum think about it?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

Is it allowed to counterattack and capture cities when you are being attacked? In that case, it's just an exercise in getting a certain AI to hate you enough so that they might declare war.

If this is not allowed then you need a healthy size of land after your expansion phase and it depends on your ability and the lay of the land to get a sizeable piece of territory. Sometimes it is possible to cut off a piece of land that you can settle on your own. If you can get larger than the average AI, then that will really help your economy in the long run.

Another good idea would be to try to start wars between the various AI. First of all, it will make the AI focus on units instead of its economy and that is exactly what you want in order to stop the AI's from an early space race win. Second, it will allow you to settle in areas where cities are being razed and in that way profit from the war. You need to have the settlers ready and in place because other AI's are also quick to jump in and capture the spots.

You don't have to be the first in the technology race to win the space race. When you have a few very productive cities, you can get the technologies 5 turns later but you will construct the space ship parts quicker than the AI tech leader. Another idea is to use spies to sabotage the space ship construction of your most dangerous competitor(s) and pillage their aluminium resources. And of course, the tech leader AI will have a hard time constructing its space ship when it is at war with your buddy Montezuma. So make sure that you have an AI puppet that can be used to attack someone who is dangerous.

So it is possible to win a peaceful space race at high difficulty levels, but you need some tricks to do it. It is also not completely under your control. The possibility to get a sizeable piece of land depends on the lay of the land and the possibility to use diplomacy to create wars depends on the lay of the land and the spreading of religions. So luck is a factor too.

 

[economist]

Is it allowed to counterattack and capture cities when you are being attacked?

I meant totally peaceful space race victory with no cities capture in defensive wars.

So it is possible to win a peaceful space race at high difficulty levels, but you need some tricks to do it.

In addition, is a great artist one of these tricks too? I suppose it could be powerful expansion tool.


So tech trading with AI is not vital at high difficulty levels. Am I right?

 

[Roland Johansen]

In addition, is a great artist one of these tricks too? I suppose it could be powerful expansion tool.


So tech trading with AI is not vital at high difficulty levels. Am I right?

Tech trading is very very helpful, but given the right circumstances, an excellent player could win the space race without it. At the highest difficulty levels, tech trading is more limited anyways.

A great artist could maybe help you capture a city by cultural pressure. But generally only at the beginning of the game. Later, the AI cities are too well established culturally to be culture flipped easily.

If you build cities in an area where cities have just been razed, then building up culture is valuable. The build culture option and the rush buying of culture producing buildings can be useful.

 

[economist]

Thanks for useful information, Roland.

Just curious, do you usually prefer or not to trade techs at emperor and immortal?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Thanks for useful information, Roland.

Just curious, do you usually prefer or not to trade techs at emperor and immortal?

I will usually not enable the option that disallows tech trading at the start of the game and I will trade technologies. In civ3, technology trading could be abused, but that is a lot harder in civ4. In civ4, you can't trade a technology in the turn that you acquired it through tech trading. You also can't trade for technologies that require technologies which you just acquired through tech trading. And when you trade a lot of technologies with the AI's then they won't trade with you anymore (you're becoming too advanced).

Tech trading is usually beneficial because you get another technology and only one of your opponents gets another technology. Often you can trade one just acquired technology with several opponents which is very nice.

 

[Tman65]

CIV Vanilla

Is there any way to destroy another civ's space ship? In looking at my current game the Apollo Program doesn't actually seem to show up....in Civ 3 if you took out the city that built the wonder you could de-rail the space program (I think)...is there something similar here?