Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[s.bernbaum]

I've recently switched from vanilla to BTS. (Played three BTS games so far.) The ships-of-the-line always show up as a solid color (the color for the relevant civ), with details only as black lines, unlike all the other units which show in many colors and shades each. Is this normal in BTS or do I have a graphics card issue?

 

[Darth Fred]

I've recently switched from vanilla to BTS. (Played three BTS games so far.) The ships-of-the-line always show up as a solid color (the color for the relevant civ), with details only as black lines, unlike all the other units which show in many colors and shades each. Is this normal in BTS or do I have a graphics card issue?

I've never seen anything like that with my BTS.
F

 

[bestbrian]

Silu and besbrian:

Thank you both for your responses. Information is always handy.

However, I think I phrased the question wrong. I wasn't refering so much to enemy counter attack as I was to the citizens of a given city propper. I was looking towards trying to get them "settled down" quicker after an occupation and to keep them from revolting after that (Which is why I mentioned size and culture).

I find myself leaving those fast mobil units I mentioned guarding a city while the infantry (Archers, MGs... whoever) come slogging up behind. Maybe a better question then would be, can you leave a recently occupied city empty of troops for a few turns until the garison gets there? Again, citizens as opposed to counter attack.
F

As the quote states (and I paraphrase) "Victorious warriors...yada, yada, yada". The idea is that you plan your wars; that includes necessary garrisons. Your initial attacking stacks should have the garrisons attached to be left behind as the assault continues. Before you declare war you should have ample garrisons already built, and more on the way. Remember the 7 P's: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

 

[ChrisFromLux]

Maybe a better question then would be, can you leave a recently occupied city empty of troops for a few turns until the garison gets there? Again, citizens as opposed to counter attack.

Yes, you can leave newly-captured cities empty, as they are in revolt anyway after conquest; they cannot revolt while revolting

After they come out of their initial revolt, they can only revolt again if there is active culture of another civilization. By active culture I mean another, foreign city close-by who's cultural expansion reaches your new city.

If there is no such city, because it was never built or because you captured it some turns later, the other new city will never ever revolt, even if all it's citizens are of a foreign nationality. Your only problems then are making them happy and avoiding a counter-attack ...

 

[Darth Fred]

As the quote states (and I paraphrase) "Victorious warriors...yada, yada, yada". The idea is that you plan your wars; that includes necessary garrisons. Your initial attacking stacks should have the garrisons attached to be left behind as the assault continues. Before you declare war you should have ample garrisons already built, and more on the way. Remember the 7 P's: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Ok, I got yada. If that garison is attatched to the to the stack though, slog slog slog along one tile per turn. Chris answered my question though. Empty cities can be left behind for a few. They don't revert back to the original owner (Which is what I feared).

So I'm thinking the fast stack can move on and the garrison troops can stay separate.
F

 

[Silu]

Ok, I got yada. If that garison is attatched to the to the stack though, slog slog slog along one tile per turn. Chris answered my question though. Empty cities can be left behind for a few. They don't revert back to the original owner (Which is what I feared).

Captured cities never flip back to the previous owner unless you use a Custom Game option that allows it. They just keep revolting and revolting if there's cultural pressure but never flip. What you need to watch out for are situations where capturing a city puts it into revolt danger from a third Civ, as then the city can flip. Especially annoying if you're at war with that Civ as well, as garrisons of flipped cities are destroyed instead of wounded in that case.

 

[Darth Fred]

Captured cities never flip back to the previous owner unless you use a Custom Game option that allows it. They just keep revolting and revolting if there's cultural pressure but never flip. What you need to watch out for are situations where capturing a city puts it into revolt danger from a third Civ, as then the city can flip. Especially annoying if you're at war with that Civ as well, as garrisons of flipped cities are destroyed instead of wounded in that case.

That sounds bloody awful.

Good to know. Thanks.

While I have your attention, is there a decent article on using the city building queue floating around here some where?
F

 

[Silu]

While I have your attention, is there a decent article on using the city building queue floating around here some where?
F

You mean storing build queues with Ctrl+number and recalling them by pressing that number in other cities? Don't think there's an article about that, because, well, there's not much more to it Personally I just use at most a single stored queue which is used for captured cities (something like Culture->Courthouse->Granary->Library).

 

[Darth Fred]

You mean storing build queues with Ctrl+number and recalling them by pressing that number in other cities? Don't think there's an article about that, because, well, there's not much more to it Personally I just use at most a single stored queue which is used for captured cities (something like Culture->Courthouse->Granary->Library).

I hadn't heard that one yet. I'll look into it. Heck, I was just happy to figure out [Shift] + Add as oppossed to [Ctrl] + Add. Queueing backwards was getting to be a pain. In a Domination game no less.
F

 

[Trapper439]

Hi everybody. Couple of questions:

1/ How do I change my state religion?

eg Say I am the first to discover both Hinduism and Judaism. When I discover Hinduism I am asked if I want to make it the state religion, but when I discover Judaism there is no such prompt. Am I stuck with Hinduism?

2/ Also, I'd just like to check that my early build order is correct-ish, as I'm having some problems moving up from Prince to Monarch. (I know it varies from game to game). Generally speaking I do this:

4000 BC: Build a worker (or rarely a warrior if I don't have the techs to improve my tiles yet).

When that worker is built, I start on a warrior (or vice versa as per above brackets).

When that warrior is built, I generally start on a Barracks, but switch from Barracks to Settler production when the city hits size 3 (I'll sometimes build a Settler at size 2 if I get Bronze Working that early and I can chop-rush the settler).

Usually, after the Settler is finished, I build another warrior for fog-busting before finishing the barracks (the barracks may get shunted back a few more times before it is completed, I just like to get some hammers into barracks early)

Is there anything glaringly wrong with that early strategy?

PS I hope that 2nd part made sense, and thanks in advance for any replies

 

[karadoc]

Trapper: To change state religion you need to go to your religion adviser. There is a button for it in the top right corner, along with the civics adviser, foreign adviser, etc. The religion one has the 'praying hands' religion icon.

As for the build order, that sounds pretty good to me. In some situations it might be better to do something else, but what you have described sounds alright for most games.

 

[CivIVMonger]

How do you expland peacfully on pangaea maps when you are completely surrounded but there is still alot of land unsettled?

 

[Trapper439]

Thanks for the advice karadoc. Much appreciated.

/fellow Aussie

 

[Abegweit]

How do you expland peacfully on pangaea maps when you are completely surrounded but there is still alot of land unsettled?

This actually is a good moment for war. Your neighbour will be in REX mode which makes it easier to attack and conquer his established cities.

 

[IAM]

How do you expland peacfully on pangaea maps when you are completely surrounded but there is still alot of land unsettled?

Maintenance will kill you with a far flung empire. Organized trait could help. If you can grab the great lighthouse you could expand in a coastal patern. You could move your capitol to greener pastures.

 

[CivIVMonger]

Thanks. I don't play on pangaea too much for that reason. I like continents other than the "shipping" factor of the entire naval system.

On Topic: But if you are surrounded you will still be surrounded after conquering 1 other civ. I like IAM's idea of expanding on the coasts, however, there are losses to that.

1. The coastal factor on pangaea means that you lose the naval benefeit of settling on the coast. Because navy means virtually nothing on this map type.

2. There is not much land on the coast, so you are giving up alot of it to the AI.

3. Poor production due to the geography of the region.

This strategy would work. Any alternatives?

 

[Darth Fred]

Thanks. I don't play on pangaea too much for that reason. I like continents other than the "shipping" factor of the entire naval system.

On Topic: But if you are surrounded you will still be surrounded after conquering 1 other civ. I like IAM's idea of expanding on the coasts, however, there are losses to that.

1. The coastal factor on pangaea means that you lose the naval benefeit of settling on the coast. Because navy means virtually nothing on this map type.

2. There is not much land on the coast, so you are giving up alot of it to the AI.

3. Poor production due to the geography of the region.

This strategy would work. Any alternatives?

Like Abegweit suggested, not a bad time for war. To that I would add culture war! Push your boarders out as far you can. Butt them up against AI cities if possible (MAKE it possible) and THEN go to war. The AI cities around you will hurt for food and resources as you gear up to attack. Then, upon taking those cities, your culture is already established and they won't run the same risk of being starved out.

F

 

[CivIVMonger]

Like Abegweit suggested, not a bad time for war. To that I would add culture war! Push your boarders out as far you can. Butt them up against AI cities if possible (MAKE it possible) and THEN go to war. The AI cities around you will hurt for food and resources as you gear up to attack. Then, upon taking those cities, your culture is already established and they won't run the same risk of being starved out.

F

Good point. I normally would not go for a "cultural war". It would take so long and waste so much time. You do have a point on "making it work." I think it could be possible though. Perhaps just making it a goal to aquire a few hammer cities before all the land is taken. There is always a way to turn that seafood into hammers though via slavery. Maybe universal sufferage if you get mids. I know it sounds like I'm answering my own question, but I'm thinking of alternitives to add to yours.

 

[VinceV]

I don't think I understand the benefits of Caste System. A lot of people rave over it, but I haven't had it work properly. Maybe I don't understand it correctly?

"Unlimited Specialists in City"
-what that seemed to mean when I tried it, was that you can have an engineer even without a forge, a priest even if there is no temple, a scientist even if there is no library, etc...

When I tried it, though, these extras seemed capped at 1. So if I have a city with lots of surplus food, but no building, I can activate an engineer, but I can't activate something like 4 engineers or something (which would be hugely advantageous in terms of GP points and hammers)

Are these "unlimited" specialists just singles?

So I don't find it useful, because pretty early on most of my cities will have a library, temple, forge and market. It guess it gives you an early artist...if you like artists (my least favourite)

 

[karadoc]

The unlimited specialists really are unlimited, but it is only for scientists, artists, and merchants. I'm pretty sure it says that in-game. It is worth noting is that caste system also boosts the productivity of workshops. If you can get caste system + state property, the combination of effects makes workshops very powerful.

To be honest, I rarely use caste system. If I'm really struggling with border culture the unlimited artists can come in handy; or if I have plenty of food, and perhaps representation from the pyramids, then running lots of specialists is pretty good. Although I can see the workshop productivity boost as being potentially powerful, I've never made strong use of that because by the time I have all the techs that make workshops good, I'm already locked into emancipation for happiness reasons.

I know that some people like to switch to caste system at the start of a golden age, run heaps of specialists during the golden age, and then switch back at the end. This seems like an alright way to make use of the double great person points from the golden age, and also the no-anarchy civic switching.