Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[moopie]

I am just learning the game and decided to practice by playing the GOTM at a higher level so I could learn more. Since I am playing and replaying to experiment with different strategies, I am not submitting my results.

I am confused about the purpose of World Builder. Does everyone have the information it provides?

Thanks.

 

[Joeexplorer]

WONDERS QUESTION:

Is there any way to tell when other civs have started a wonder? Like in Civ 3 with the Wonder Pop Up.

 

[lost_civantares]

@moopie: What information are you talking about? The worldbuilder allows you to view what all cities are building, what the map looks like, all the stuff that you can see from the world map.

Is there any way to tell when other civs have started a wonder? Like in Civ 3 with the Wonder Pop Up.

As far as I can tell there is no way to tell who is building what, the only other way to tell is to use a spy sitting in a city .

 

[Snerk]

Ok two question, hope someone can help!

1, Do AIs ALWAYS use their "favorite civic" when it can use it? even when its not it their best interrest?

2, When AI say "you have traded with our worst enemy", what do they regard as trading? only annual deals? or also immediate deals?

thank you!

 

[moopie]

I was practicing with GOTM and went to worldbuilder and could see the whole layout, more than I had actually explored. Is this supposed to happen?

Thanks.

 

[scienide09]

As far as I can tell there is no way to tell who is building what, the only other way to tell is to use a spy sitting in a city .

You might try going to the statistics page, then looking at the Top 5 Cities/Wonders page. When a wonder is in the process of being built, the wonders section lists the wonder and shows it as "in progress" and the specific city. At least, this is true when you are building wonders. Not sure if it will show this when rival civs are building.

But no, there are no popup warnings.

 

[scienide09]

I was practicing with GOTM and went to worldbuilder and could see the whole layout, more than I had actually explored. Is this supposed to happen?

Thanks.

Yes, it is supposed to happen. The WB is like a map editor/scenario builder -- you can add (or delete) cities, units, money, techs, resources, the works. And thus you can see the entire map.

For future use, I believe that GOTM's are supposed to use custom game settings, with the "no cheating" box checked. This blocks attempts to get into the WB from the game. If you ever do decide to test yourself with a GOTM, keep this in mind.

 

[Laurence72]

Hello! I was wondering, is it possible to culturally switch an opponent's last city? I thought the answer would be no, but then I actually caused one to do the initial revolt right before the end of a game. Was this something more along the lines of a war captured city just being ruly, or is such a crazy thing possible?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SefaKajira]

Can someone please clarify the relationship between the area a city shows as being connected and what actually is producing support for the city?

Am I correct in my understanding that even though a city's boundaries extend very far, the only squares actually supporting the city are those that are within 2 (3?) squares out, regardless of how much I develop the outlying area or connect everything with roads?

If that is correct - is there any benefit to my civilization from developing these outlying areas?

Thanks

 

[MrCynical]

The only tiles a cities can use are those in its "fat cross". Draw a 5x5 square centred on the city and remove the four corner squares. This gives you the tiles the city can use (there's 20, plus the city square itself). The tiles must also be within your civ's cultural borders, so you'll only have eight tiles to work until the first cultural expansion of the city, which allows you to use the full fat cross. Your culture can expand further, but your city won't be able to use tiles further away.

There is no benefit to improving a tile that falls outside the fat crosses of your cities unless it is necessary to connect a resource.

 

[lost_civantares]

Hello! I was wondering, is it possible to culturally switch an opponent's last city?

Yes it is, but it takes more culture than normal. It tried once using cheats and put over 400 great artists (from cheats, not world builder) and then using the group command told them all to do a great work and it still would not flip for a long time.

 

[Argoth]

What happens when a city is unhappy or sick? I don't really notice a difference... Also, it feels like a waste to build a city within a bigger cities cultural boundries just to get new resources... is it?

 

[oagersnap]

What happens when a city is unhappy or sick? I don't really notice a difference...

When a city is sick, you'll lose food. Example: 10 vs. 12 You'll lose 2 food, so each surplus sickness will cause you to lose 1 food point.
Each surplus unhappiness compared to happiness will cause one citizen to refuse to work.

Also, it feels like a waste to build a city within a bigger cities cultural boundries just to get new resources... is it?

If you're talking about bonuses, you don't have to have the resources within your city's fat cross, only within your borders.For example, if you have rice four tiles away from your city, but it's within your borders, you can build a farm there and connect it with a road to your city, so you'll get +1 health, but if you wan't the +2 (or is it 3?) food that the tile also gives, you'll only get it by working the tile, and to do that you need to have it within your fat cross.

 

[lost_civantares]

What happens when a city is unhappy or sick?

When a city is sick it needs more food per person, so it can really slow down your growth if you're not carefull. When a city is unhappy you will gradually start to get citizens who will stop working, but you still have to give them food, so they just become a drag on your city.

Also, it feels like a waste to build a city within a bigger cities cultural boundries just to get new resources... is it?

First of all once it is in your cultureral borders, you can harvest it by building an improvement, it does not have to be in the "fat cross". Second of all, if you are missing a good spot by not settling there, you can be missing out, particularly since you will have reduced maintainece costs there that you would farther out.

Edit: Ah! Beat by Oagersnap!

 

[Argoth]

Well then. So if I want horses that are just outside my fat cross I can just build a pasture on them and connect it with a road!! That helps a LOT. Thanks!

 

[dennylynch]

I get a great Prophet. I take him to a holy city of one of the religions that are in my country. I own that city. No shrine building icon appears. What gives?

Any responses appreciated.

 

[oagersnap]

I get a great Prophet. I take him to a holy city of one of the religions that are in my country. I own that city. No shrine building icon appears. What gives?

Any responses appreciated.

Maybe you already built the shrine?

 

[toller pretzl]

I see the AI sailing on the ocean in caravels, when they have not yet discovered Astronomy. How do they do it ? I know from the F4 screen that they don't have Astronomy. And the Civilopedia tells me that it's Astronomy that enables on the ocean.

 

[PieceOfMind]

I see the AI sailing on the ocean in caravels, when they have not yet discovered Astronomy. How do they do it ? I know from the F4 screen that they don't have Astronomy. And the Civilopedia tells me that it's Astronomy that enables on the ocean.

Caravels and galleons always have the ability to cross ocean squares.

Astronomy allows you to make trade connections and trade routes across ocean. The trade routes don't affect and aren't affected by how your units can move. Trade routes are set up automatically and out of your control. Trade connections across oceans also means you can trade resources to civs across the ocean.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

I see the AI sailing on the ocean in caravels, when they have not yet discovered Astronomy. How do they do it ? I know from the F4 screen that they don't have Astronomy. And the Civilopedia tells me that it's Astronomy that enables on the ocean.

The magic of astronomy is galleons, which allow you to transport settlers across the ocean etc. Before astronomy, it's impossible to settle land across the ocean since caravels can only transport a limited variety of units (which doesn't include settlers).