Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[duckstab]

Is it totally random as to what AI players you will face against? Or there is there some set algorithm? In my experience the Inca appear very often indeed, as do the Aztecs, with the Chinese making regular occurences. I've barely, if ever, seen the Holy Roman Empire, Vikings and the Portguese are rare too. It seems a little too... predictable to be random.

Unless I'm mistaken, the game first chooses the opponent civs, then from among the available leaders for that civ. So you're definitely more likely to be up against HC or Monty than one of the particular leaders of a 3-leader civ like Russia or England. But any other bias you're seeing is probably explainable by the small sample size. If you play 1000s of games you'd expect to see each civ represented about the same number of times.

I used to wonder much the same thing because it seemed that every game I played, Hannibal would show up. But I actually haven't seen him in a while. Now it seems I'm always running into Pericles. It's really just the human brain trying to impose a pattern on something that's essentially random.

 

[ajsciri4]

My question is about city management pretty much.
So, Paris - my capital - is ranked the #1 city in the world, yet it's unhealthy. My health rating is at -3.
Unhealthy:
2 from flood plains
13 from population
(15 total)
Healthy:
2 from fresh water
1 from forest
4 from bonuses
2 from buildings
3 from difficulty level
(12 total)
How do I make my population healthy again? All buildings offering health bonuses I have built...
Also, the population is unhappy because it's too crowded in Paris.
Unhappy:
13 "It's too crowded!"
(total 13)
Happy:
2 "Military presence impresses us!"
2 "Some buildings make us happy!"
1 "We enjoy luxurious resources!"
1 "In our religion we trust! (Judaism)"
5 "We enjoy life!"
(Total 11)
How do I fix this? Anything offering happiness or health, I built.

Also, what are the little plus icons next to citizen, priest, scientist, etc.? What does it do?

 

[GGracchus]

@ajs: The plus signs next to specialists allow for specialists to be assigned. These generate GPP for great people and give certain bonuses, and are very powerful. Beware, a citizen that is a specialist can't work a tile. To increase happiness and health, connect health/happiness resources(i.e gold and gems for happiness, corn and wheat for health). That will increase these, and you can trade with other civs for these resources.

BTW, welcome to CFC

 

[ajsciri4]

@ajs: The plus signs next to specialists allow for specialists to be assigned. These generate GPP for great people and give certain bonuses, and are very powerful. Beware, a citizen that is a specialist can't work a tile. To increase happiness and health, connect health/happiness resources(i.e gold and gems for happiness, corn and wheat for health). That will increase these, and you can trade with other civs for these resources.

BTW, welcome to CFC

Thanks so much! I was so frustrated.

 

[God-Emperor]

Since you are getting the "Military presence impresses us!" happy bonus, which would be from the Hereditary Rule civic, just building a military unit and leaving it there will generate a point of happiness. One happy per military unit. It is entirely possible to generate a huge amount of happiness that way, but it is better to get it from resources (beyond some number, every unit costs you money - resource happiness does not).

 

[Jwitti]

for health, deal with it for now and beeline to the next health building and/or find a new food resource (one you don't already have)

 

[elmurcis]

How safe actually are Nuclear Plants in game? Is it better to take that extra unhealth from Coal or Nuclear is real option?

 

[Jwitti]

Not really much danger on Normal. I'd say the chances are about half the chance of finding gold/silver/etc under a mine

 

[ajsciri4]

Another quick question:
What's the point of cottages and how do I upgrade them?

 

[charlesb96]

Another quick question:
What's the point of cottages and how do I upgrade them?

cottages upgrade by themselves after you discover the right Tech, and they generate commerce, good money when they reach level 4 and become towns.
Well, not really by themselves, the city has to work them long enough.

 

[ajsciri4]

Okay, thanks. Now, another dilemma. Why can't I build any more farms? Even if I try to build a farm next to a fresh river, the farm button is locked. I can build a cottage and a workshop, but not a farm... 1430 AD

 

[AJ11]

Okay, thanks. Now, another dilemma. Why can't I build any more farms? Even if I try to build a farm next to a fresh river, the farm button is locked. I can build a cottage and a workshop, but not a farm... 1430 AD

Depends. You can't build a farm on hills or desert.

A screenshot might also help.

 

[Jwitti]

What was said about cottages does not seem true... I thought that they upgraded after x turns, so you built it, after a while it becomes a hamlet, then a village, then a town. each level provides more commerce than the last. BUT they only grow when you work them (when you have the city get gold/production/food from a tile) (thanks to AJ11 for pointing out my omission)

 

[AJ11]

What was said about cottages does not seem true... I thought that they upgraded after x turns, so you built it, after a while it becomes a hamlet, then a village, then a town. each level provides more commerce than the last.

No. You have to work them in the city screen or they never grow. Only the turns they are being work on counts towards growing them.

BTW, I found out the hard way that sea and coast tiles are ALWAYS considered worked, for some bizarre reason. Hence any cottage type structure in coast/sea tiles will grow automatically without needing to be worked. Not sure yet how to change that. I think it may be hard coded in.

 

[Jwitti]

well, yeah, but it has nothing at all to do with tech. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[AJ11]

well, yeah, but it has nothing at all to do with tech. Thanks for pointing that out.

Oh that. I thought he meant that you need the Pottery tech to be able to build cottages to begin with I guess different interpretations of what a person said

 

[GGracchus]

Okay, thanks. Now, another dilemma. Why can't I build any more farms? Even if I try to build a farm next to a fresh river, the farm button is locked. I can build a cottage and a workshop, but not a farm... 1430 AD

Up until you research biology, farms require irrigation to be built. So, assuming you haven't discovered biology, you can't build them unless it is irrigated(i.e on a river tile). Civil Service enables irrigation to be spread by farms, so you can build a farm right next to another one. With biology, farms can be build everywhere(with a couple exceptions, mainly tundra/ice/desert)

 

[ajsciri4]

Up until you research biology, farms require irrigation to be built. So, assuming you haven't discovered biology, you can't build them unless it is irrigated(i.e on a river tile). Civil Service enables irrigation to be spread by farms, so you can build a farm right next to another one. With biology, farms can be build everywhere(with a couple exceptions, mainly tundra/ice/desert)

Thank you!

What's the point of gold? I have a stockpile of it and the only thing I've used it for is to buy techs....

 

[GGracchus]

Gold allows you to buy stuff in universal suffrage. Also, you can run a gold deficit and run your research slider at a high place and lose gold, but have much higher science output then if you made a surplus. This trick is used extensively in higher levels.

 

[Jwitti]

And in BTS a gold stockpile is useful to get the best from good random events or ofset the bad of a bad event