Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Arvedui]

By the way, most people don't like to see multiple consecutive short posts of the same user. I'm not a moderator so don't take this criticism wrong. There is a multi button, next to the quote button which allows you to add multiple quotes in one post. It keeps the forum nice, tidy and readable.

Thanks for the tip! I didn't notice the multi button, before...

 

[bardolph]

I have looked a couple of times in the War Academy, but have been unable to find a good explanation of "cottage spamming." The trouble I have is that my cities tend to outgrow their health resources really fast. I am playing on Noble level and only making the same number of farms as I have negative net food for the fat cross area. Can anyone tell me how to spam cottages without growing my cities too fast and ruining my citizens' health? If it's too complicated, could you at least direct me to some good information on it? Thanks!

Actually, I don't understand the problem. If you're building all cottages and no farms, then you really SHOULDN'T have any problems with overpopulation. It's FARMS that cause population issues.

If you're still having problems with overpopulation, try researching Metal Casting and building workshops on your flat tiles. These will limit the food produced by your cities.

Another, more effective solution to your population problem is to run slavery and whip the sickly...

 

[bardolph]

your vassals make you pay city maintenance in your cities "as if you add all the vassal's cities"
ie, it adds to the number of cities part of maintenance

I see. So if I'm already at the max maintenance for # of cities (-6 gold), then all of my vassals are "free"?

 

[zygut]

Why does the game sometimes recommend (by highlighting a blue circle) a tile for a worker that already has something in it? For example, I might have a mine built in a tile, and my worker comes available, and the game recommends I go there to do something -- but what is it thinking I'd do there? Every thing would destroy the mine...

 

[a4phantom]

Why does the game sometimes recommend (by highlighting a blue circle) a tile for a worker that already has something in it? For example, I might have a mine built in a tile, and my worker comes available, and the game recommends I go there to do something -- but what is it thinking I'd do there? Every thing would destroy the mine...

Even though I think Blake's AI improvement was incorporated into a patch, you're still smarter and I still wouldn't take those blue circles very seriously.

 

[zygut]

When I mouse over some cottages it says "City must Work to Become Hamlet" -- what does that mean?

 

[a4phantom]

When I mouse over some cottages it says "City must Work to Become Hamlet" -- what does that mean?

It means you don't have a city population point working that tile, so the cottage isn't growing. Cottages take 5 turns of being worked (during which time that square produces its base production +1 gold for the cottage) to become hamlets, after which time they produce +2 gold and after 10 more turns it becomes a village, which produces +3 gold, and after 20 more turns it becomes a town and produces +4 gold. (I could be wrong about the times, but that's how it works). So if you don't have a population point working that tile, you're not getting the production value of the tile (say 1 hammer and one food for a plain) or of the cottage (+1 gold), and the cottage isn't developing towards a hamlet.

 

[Jenarie]

Why does the game sometimes recommend (by highlighting a blue circle) a tile for a worker that already has something in it? For example, I might have a mine built in a tile, and my worker comes available, and the game recommends I go there to do something -- but what is it thinking I'd do there? Every thing would destroy the mine...

I've noticed that it does this a lot if there is no road. Even though roads aren't needed on everything the game likes to put them there. If you aren't sure why it wants you to go there you can right click as if you were moving there and hold it down instead of letting go so you don't actually move and it will highlight what it is recommending.

 

[a4phantom]

Hey Jenarie, I don't know if this will help, but when I became a princess the thing I had to learn was tech trading, which I still don't like but helps a lot at Prince. Namely trading the same tech to several different civs on the same turn for different techs or large amounts of cash from each. Extorting techs in return for peace from beaten foes also helps, but I always did that

 

[zygut]

I've noticed that it does this a lot if there is no road. Even though roads aren't needed on everything the game likes to put them there. If you aren't sure why it wants you to go there you can right click as if you were moving there and hold it down instead of letting go so you don't actually move and it will highlight what it is recommending.

Yeah, but it doesn't actually highlight something as recommended. I have a farm on a tile that has silk (which requires a plantation), so it is recommending that I go there, presumably to make a plantation and destroy the farm. If I right click and hold it shows me the possible tile improvements, but the planation one is not flashing.

Or this other tile, its a hill, with 4 hammers, and its got a mine on it. Its recommending I go there, but the only thing I can build is a windmill?

 

[Jenarie]

This may be a bug of some sort? I've never seen it but a friend I was playing with was complaining about the same thing recently. I'm out of ideas on this one.

 

[a4phantom]

Yeah, but it doesn't actually highlight something as recommended. I have a farm on a tile that has silk (which requires a plantation), so it is recommending that I go there, presumably to make a plantation and destroy the farm. If I right click and hold it shows me the possible tile improvements, but the planation one is not flashing.

Or this other tile, its a hill, with 4 hammers, and its got a mine on it. Its recommending I go there, but the only thing I can build is a windmill?

I think the program has a bias towards newer or possibly away from food/production improvements . . . it wants to replace farms with cottages and mines with windmills. Civ3 was much worse, it wanted a checkerboard pattern of mines and farms and would screw up your cities accordingly if you automated workers.

Do any improvements besides mines improve further from having a railroad? I think sawmills might, any others?

 

[Jenarie]

Stone quarries as well in warlords - not sure about vanilla.

 

[a4phantom]

Yeah, I always forget that quarries are completely distinct from mines.

 

[Roland Johansen]

i have tried to use that but messed up, and then for all my replies later it says something like "you have selected another post do you wish to quote it too blah blah" i forget, but i can't figure out how to use it the right way. how do i get it to work?

You go to a post that you want to quote and click multi, then go to another post and click multi and then go to a third post and click quote. After pressing the quote button, you automatically go into the the posting screen and see three posts surrounded with quote markings.

A quote is nothing more than a piece of text surrounded with quote markings. It has always been possible to quote multiple posts in one post. The multi button just makes it a bit easier.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Quick thought on food source at start of game...if you play the long game speeds (marathon especially) and if you start with mining and say animal husb is going to be far away, then mining a hill / grass / pig is often a good idea.

It will give 2 food / 3 hammers towards settler or worker production, which is just the same as an unirrigated corn farm, and you can pasture the tile when you get the necessary tech. The same applies to sheep.

 

[KMadCandy]

i have tried to use that but messed up, and then for all my replies later it says something like "you have selected another post do you wish to quote it too blah blah" i forget, but i can't figure out how to use it the right way. how do i get it to work?

quoting myself just to get it right and to better remember it later. i'm not that egotistical i promise!

You go to a post that you want to quote and click multi, then go to another post and click multi and then go to a third post and click quote. After pressing the quote button, you automatically go into the the posting screen and see three posts surrounded with quote markings.

A quote is nothing more than a piece of text surrounded with quote markings. It has always been possible to quote multiple posts in one post. The multi button just makes it a bit easier.

if you do in the right order that is! i think i'd been trying quote and then multi and i dunno what all, i'd given up since whatever i was doing didn't make the stuff i wanted show up.

thank you! and since i post a lot, i'm sure that a bunch of folks will be grateful to you too!

 

[zygut]

I have a settler with nothing else to do, until my borders expand. I have railroads, so I was thinking of laying track all over my nation, but its laborous and would like my settler to do it automatically. If I click the "Build Trade Network (Automated)" will it do this?

 

[ori]

I have a settler with nothing else to do, until my borders expand. I have railroads, so I was thinking of laying track all over my nation, but its laborous and would like my settler to do it automatically. If I click the "Build Trade Network (Automated)" will it do this?

I trust you mean "worker" not "settler" - the answer is: yes - and it will also connect any unconnected ressources, but rather inefficiently (on this setting they waste quite a few turns on crazy routing)...

 

[Jenarie]

Yes, the worker (asuming you meant worker not settler) will build roads/railroads and hook up any resources you may have missed without doing any other improvements if you chose that. I use it sometimes but you have to watch them - if they run out of roads to build they will all go to sleep in one of your cities so you have to hunt them down when you have work for them later.