Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Roland Johansen]

Is there a way to change the default number of civilizations per map size?

I'm currently fond of playing Duel maps crammed with 9 civs and would like to make it the default setting instead of the base version 2 civs. Ok, it's not that big a thing to click those 7 additional "closed" entries to "AI" in the custom game setup screen but it's one of those things that get more and more annoying the more you do it and I was thinking if there was an easy way to tweak this. (Custom ready-made maps won't work since I want to use the map generation scripts.)

I tried to search for it in the XML/py files but it's been pretty hopeless since I'm not sure what to search for or where it even might be (e.g. map scripts, global settings, some other weird place?)

I'd appreciate any tip on how to do this.

I looked through the xml files and it could be controled by the value iDefaultPlayers in ...\Beyond the Sword\Assets\XML\GameInfo\CIV4WorldInfo.xml (I didn't try it.)

However, there could be more things tied into that value. For instance, some random events use this number to determine how many things you need to build to complete a quest. And there are bound to be more things tied in with this value. So it's probably better to leave it be.

 

[Pembroke]

So it's probably better to leave it be.

Thank you. I guess it wasn't that simple afterall so I'll leave it be.

 

[bestbrian]

Thank you. I guess it wasn't that simple afterall so I'll leave it be.

What you could do is play any of the mods that incorporate the Revolutions component, such as RevDCM, Legends of Revolution (still in development, but very fun and stable), MergedMod, etc. (alot of them use it). Revolutions, combined with BarbarianCiv, allows Barbs to settle down and become new Civs (unlikely on such a crowded map as you're playing), and has new civs arise from revolutions in established civs. I've had Huge/Marathon games that started with 15 Civs and spawned another 15 (and crashed my computer ) during the course of the game.

 

[DouLou]

Two quick questions from me -

1. How do you write on tiles? You know, so I can make notes on the map of where I want to put new cities.

2. Why can I only see my score in the bottom right? I've met a couple of civs but their scores are yet to appear.. approaching AD now and still can't see anyones scores but my own! This is offline btw.

 

[duckstab]

Two quick questions from me -

1. How do you write on tiles? You know, so I can make notes on the map of where I want to put new cities.

Alt+S is the easiest way. You'll see the tile under the mouse highlighted, when you get it to where you want click the left button and you'll get a window that lets you enter text.

2. Why can I only see my score in the bottom right? I've met a couple of civs but their scores are yet to appear.. approaching AD now and still can't see anyones scores but my own! This is offline btw.

In BtS, you can't see most of the details for another civ until you've invested a certain number of espionage points in them. Click on the red spy icon in the upper right and it'll show you for each civ you've met how many espionage points you need to spend to "See Demographics".

 

[dalamb]

What happens if you turn off "conquest victory" but conquer the last AI city? Does the game record it as a loss? Edit: oops, should have said "if conquest is the only VC checked".

What does the AI do differently if this VC is turned off?

 

[Abegweit]

What happens if you turn off "conquest victory" but conquer the last AI city? Does the game record it as a loss?

Nothing. The game just keeps going on.

What does the AI do differently if this VC is turned off?

Nothing. The AI is not programmed to react to different VCs.

 

[aarbron]

2. Why can I only see my score in the bottom right? I've met a couple of civs but their scores are yet to appear.. approaching AD now and still can't see anyones scores but my own! This is offline btw.

Clicking on your own score toggles the other, maybe you did that accidentaly

 

[Timpanzee]

Abegweit said:

Nothing. The AI is not programmed to react to different VCs.

Does this mean that the AI never goes for a specific victory condition? It always just tries to survive and get a spaceship up?

 

[r_rolo1]

No, atleast on BtS. But that doesn't mean that the AI actually makes adjustements in their "game plan" based on the fact that a certain VC is blocked....

 

[Abegweit]

Or, to put it another way, if the AI has decided to go for a certain victory condition, say culture, it won't let little details (like whether this victory condition is actually allowed) get in its way...

[I'm pretty sure this is true; someone with knowledge of the code could confirm it]

 

[whyiscrowdpurpl]

Hey, how can I make the time flow pass one year at a time?

 

[bestbrian]

Hey, how can I make the time flow pass one year at a time?

That would be one loooooooooooooong game.

My guess is that you'd find better results in the Mod forums in looking for that answer.

 

[huh?]

What happens if you turn off "conquest victory" but conquer the last AI city? Does the game record it as a loss?

The game continues. You keep on playing until one of the other victory conditions are met.

In one game, I was playing without the Conquest victory condition. I eliminated the last AI, but I had forgotten that I turned off that VC. At this point, a Domination victory was the closest option. So it was me versus the barbarian horde while I tried to settle enough land for the Domination victory. I had 100% of the population, but needed the land area.

 

[dalamb]

The game continues. You keep on playing until one of the other victory conditions are met.

Oops, should have said "if conquest is the only VC checked". What happens under those circumstances?

 

[r_rolo1]

You only win if you fulfill the conquest victory requirements if you only ticked the conquest win It is a de la Palisse truth, but it is the way it is. You can have 50 legendary cities or 99.9% of the land but you won't win

 

[dalamb]

Right. So the game just goes on forever? There's not even a time victory in this hypothetical situation.

 

[r_rolo1]

Exactly. That or until you quit or win

 

[Yonez]

If a unit has March and Medic 1, does it heal others moving in the same stack? And if so, would it also heal other units who attack but don't move spaces?

 

[Roland Johansen]

If a unit has March and Medic 1, does it heal others moving in the same stack? And if so, would it also heal other units who attack but don't move spaces?

A unit can only heal hitpoints when it hasn't used any of its movement points (there are other ways to use movement points than moving) or it itself has the march promotion.

Read this article about the details of the healing of units: Unit Healing.