Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[UnforcedError]

Actually, I believe overflow hammers no longer convert into gold for units and buildings. It used to be like you describe, but was (mistakenly, in my opinion) changed in a more recent patch. Thus, if you have more than the maximum number of overflow hammers, they may go to waste.
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Thus if you're producing a Granary on normal speed (60 hammers), then you could have up to 60 hammers of overflow (120/60) - or more if your city naturally produces more hammers per turn than 60.
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That's good to know. I thought the patch only removed the excess hammers for expansive leaders from the overflow (which will disappear completely when whipping a granary).

Edit:

Nuts! So if you are producing axes and such in a Heroic Epic city you may lose lots of hammers then?

Ran some tests and that still seemed to work for me (as long as you don't whip / chop). You'll get overflow hammers and some gold at least.

 

[weatherwarden]

I just got a quest to build 12 Swordsmen. But I'm playing as Boudica and the Swordsman unit has been replaced by the Gallic Warrior So does this mean I can't complete the quest or will building the Gallic Warrior count?

 

[bestbrian]

I just got a quest to build 12 Swordsmen. But I'm playing as Boudica and the Swordsman unit has been replaced by the Gallic Warrior So does this mean I can't complete the quest or will building the Gallic Warrior count?

The Gallic Warrior counts.

 

[Pangaea]

How does the Taoist Academy and such work? It's a massive building when going for culture with +50% !

First I thought it was sort of like a national wonder and I could only build one of them, because the boost was so big. But then I noticed a counter when hovering over the build button. Having played a bit now, it seems like I can build one for every 3 Temples for the corresponding religion. Is that correct?

If it is, religion is incredibly important when going for culture wins. Get at least 1 +50% in each of the three main cities, and you're well on your way.

 

[Kallikrates]

Yes one "cathedral"/3 temples. But you should aim for about 3 cathedrals in your 3 candidate cities. + hermitage (100%) in one of them

 

[rogue131]

out of curiousity, for maintenance purposes, how many tiles away is the maximum for establishing a city (both after astronomy and before it)?

 

[Samson]

out of curiousity, for maintenance purposes, how many tiles away is the maximum for establishing a city (both after astronomy and before it)?

I am not quite sure what you mean. I do not think there is an absolute maximum distance, other than the size of the map. For maintenance purposes the really important thing when founding cities on another continent (astronomy makes no difference, it can be accessible by galleys) is the number of cities on a landmass that you palace is not on. As you found more cities the maintenance cost go up in a much greater than linear way, so after about 4 the cities tend not to be worth it.

 

[Pangaea]

Yes one "cathedral"/3 temples. But you should aim for about 3 cathedrals in your 3 candidate cities. + hermitage (100%) in one of them

Thanks, then the deduction was correct. Been spamming wonders like it was going out of fashion. So much so that I'm surprised when anybody else gets one

Love watching the cultural borders roll into AI lands. Have even had a city flip over, and would love to see some of the big ones do the same. Though I suppose it is very difficult to get pop 9-ish cities to flip.

I am not quite sure what you mean. I do not think there is an absolute maximum distance, other than the size of the map. For maintenance purposes the really important thing when founding cities on another continent (astronomy makes no difference, it can be accessible by galleys) is the number of cities on a landmass that you palace is not on. As you found more cities the maintenance cost go up in a much greater than linear way, so after about 4 the cities tend not to be worth it.

This is where the Versailles world wonder or the Forbidden Palace national wonder is best utilised. Both reduce maintenance costs of nearby cities, like the Palace does.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Yes one "cathedral"/3 temples. But you should aim for about 3 cathedrals in your 3 candidate cities. + hermitage (100%) in one of them

Actually the number of Temples per Cathedral varies depending on the map size; it's 3 on Standard, but 4 on larger maps and 2 on smaller maps. Additionally, it's 1 when playing with the "One City Challenge" option.

I am not quite sure what you mean. I do not think there is an absolute maximum distance, other than the size of the map. For maintenance purposes the really important thing when founding cities on another continent (astronomy makes no difference, it can be accessible by galleys) is the number of cities on a landmass that you palace is not on. As you found more cities the maintenance cost go up in a much greater than linear way, so after about 4 the cities tend not to be worth it.

Though a large chunk of these extra costs are due to "colonial maintenance". If you turn off "Vassal States" in the game options, overseas maintenance costs are still high but much more reasonable.

 

[Pangaea]

The high costs are probably realistic though. The historical imperial powers like England, France and Portugal were bleeding their victims dry not just to make a good profit but also to pay for the high costs of the colonial enterprise. I believe there have been studies that came to the conclusion, at least in some countries, that the imperial powers more or less broke even (think it was about African colonies).

 

[Lord Parkin]

The high costs are probably realistic though. The historical imperial powers like England, France and Portugal were bleeding their victims dry not just to make a good profit but also to pay for the high costs of the colonial enterprise. I believe there have been studies that came to the conclusion, at least in some countries, that the imperial powers more or less broke even (think it was about African colonies).

Sure, but from the perspective of the game I find it more fun to be able to take over chunks of the new world without being completely crippled in the process. Plus, I'm not particularly fond of vassal mechanics, nor the mechanics of colonies, and I tend to play multiplayer more than single player... all of which combine to mean that I'm quite happy to have Vassal States off in most of my games. Just a personal preference.

 

[Pangaea]

I'm not a big fan of it either, especially travelling across the ocean to found new cities. It's just too much of a drag. Military conquest over sea is even worse. I much prefer Pangaea maps so I don't have to worry too much about sea vessels. Often underprioritise it in other games too.

Have another question too.

At what percentage does cities usually flip over? It's quite amazing to see 90% but it still not flipping. Though there have been a rebellion in that particulary city so maybe it will come over soon. A couple others are in the 80-range.

 

[UnforcedError]

At what percentage does cities usually flip over? It's quite amazing to see 90% but it still not flipping. Though there have been a rebellion in that particulary city so maybe it will come over soon. A couple others are in the 80-range.

Cities never flip on the first rebellion (except for barb cities), but will eventually flip if any more rebellions occur. You can prevent the rebellion itself by stationing a stack of military units in the city and of course by fighting the AI culture with your own cultural buildings, Caste artists etc. Has this city been yours from the start or did you take it from an AI? Or are you trying to culture flip AI cities?

 

[weatherwarden]

The Gallic Warrior counts.

Thanks

I ended up failing the quest though, cos it expired way too fast. Meh oh well, at least I know for next time

 

[Pangaea]

Cities never flip on the first rebellion (except for barb cities), but will eventually flip if any more rebellions occur. You can prevent the rebellion itself by stationing a stack of military units in the city and of course by fighting the AI culture with your own cultural buildings, Caste artists etc. Has this city been yours from the start or did you take it from an AI? Or are you trying to culture flip AI cities?

Seem to recall losing cities flipping to the AI without a rebellion to warn me first, but maybe I recall incorrectly.

In this instance I'm trying to flip AI cities to my side. Or rather, it's a pleasant consequence of going for a culture win for the first time by spamming wonders and using artists.

One small Roman city did flip after a rebellion (so probably the second). Maybe this other small city would have flipped too as it did have a rebellion, but then an Apostolace Palace resolution came up where I could ask for it to be returned (think that was the wording, although I never owned it) to me.

Had hoped it was a little quicker to be honest. Would think it was quite imminent when our influence comes up to 80 and even 90 per cent in the city.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Seem to recall losing cities flipping to the AI without a rebellion to warn me first, but maybe I recall incorrectly.

In this instance I'm trying to flip AI cities to my side. Or rather, it's a pleasant consequence of going for a culture win for the first time by spamming wonders and using artists.

One small Roman city did flip after a rebellion (so probably the second). Maybe this other small city would have flipped too as it did have a rebellion, but then an Apostolace Palace resolution came up where I could ask for it to be returned (think that was the wording, although I never owned it) to me.

Had hoped it was a little quicker to be honest. Would think it was quite imminent when our influence comes up to 80 and even 90 per cent in the city.

City size does not figure into the flip chance except that larger cities are probably generating more culture. That said, the AI is more likely to put enough troops into a bigger city to stop a flip than a smaller one. Also, if your culture engulfs an AI city, the size will slowly fall because it has no food to feed the population.

For example, in a recent game, I had raised my culture in two of a neighbor AI's cities to over 80% but they did not flip due to the large number of troops in them. Then the AI declared war on another AI and moved out the troops to fight the war. Within a few turns, both cities flipped and joined my empire.

The reason that the AP allowed you to "return" the city to yourself is that it decides whose city it belongs to by culture and yours was dominant.

 

[UnforcedError]

Had hoped it was a little quicker to be honest. Would think it was quite imminent when our influence comes up to 80 and even 90 per cent in the city.

Not as long as the AI keeps a stack in the city and it would always try and do so as long as it doesn't need the military elsewhere. Btw you can use spies to quicken the process (by setting the city in revolt for 1 turn). Or try bribing someone to attack your target AI, so that it moves the stack.

 

[Kallikrates]

If a recently conquered city is still in contact with the enemies borders, a probability for revolt is given, does anyone know how this is determined?

Does anyone know the probabilities for the random happenings like growing of forest/jungle, appearance of mining ressource on a mine square. The latter seems to be really low. I believe I get slightly less than one of those during a typical game.

And, most importantly, the spread of religions! I have frequently cursed the game, because after founding one of the really early religions it took 2000 years or more to spread to MY OWN cities, despite the cities being connected by river or road. I guess that's just another point against early religions, even on prince/monarch where you have a good chance when starting with mysticism.

OTOH failure of a missionary in foreign cities that have only one or two religions seesm quite rare.

 

[Lazani]

Hey guys, does anyone know how long a unit will keep it's hammers in the build queue? Let's say you want to upgrade some HA's but doesn't want them hanging around because of maintenance cost, could you then just pre-build 16 HA's until 1 turn left and have them wait until MT?

 

[Lord Parkin]

If a recently conquered city is still in contact with the enemies borders, a probability for revolt is given, does anyone know how this is determined?

Not sure, though it depends on the number and strength of units you put in the city, and the % split of the city tile. It may also be related to other things like population or city age... would be interested to hear from someone more in the know.

Does anyone know the probabilities for the random happenings like growing of forest/jungle, appearance of mining ressource on a mine square. The latter seems to be really low. I believe I get slightly less than one of those during a typical game.

Not sure about the probability of forest/jungle spreading... it does seem to happen more often than mining resources appearing, though that may just be due to the larger number of tiles adjacent to forests/jungles than worked mines, especially early on. I heard at some point that improvements like roads reduce (or remove) the chance of forest/jungle spreading to a tile, not sure if that's just a rumour or not. Would be interested to know though.

I do know that the probability of a mining resource appearing on a *worked* mine is 1 in 10000 per turn. This does not scale with game speed, so you will tend to see more resource pops in a marathon game than a normal one. Resources will never appear on mines that are not actively being worked by a citizen from a city.

And, most importantly, the spread of religions! I have frequently cursed the game, because after founding one of the really early religions it took 2000 years or more to spread to MY OWN cities, despite the cities being connected by river or road. I guess that's just another point against early religions, even on prince/monarch where you have a good chance when starting with mysticism.

Sometimes you can get unlucky; though it's unusual for the spreading to be this slow if you've got the trade connection done right. I've heard that the later religions are programmed to spread faster than the earlier ones, though I'm not sure if this is true or just a rumour. Early religions, when you've got enough neighbours connected by trade routes early on, can be a huge boon to relations (not to mention gold, once you have a Shrine)... so they can be well worth getting depending on the map.

OTOH failure of a missionary in foreign cities that have only one or two religions seesm quite rare.

I've seen the probabilities for this before in this thread, posted by Roland Johansen I think. I can't remember them exactly, but it's something like:

0 existing religions - 100% chance of spread
1 existing religion - ~90% chance
2 existing religions - ~80% chance

When you get to 5-6 religions, it's around a 50/50 (or less) chance to spread the next one. Hopefully someone else can provide the exact numbers.

Hey guys, does anyone know how long a unit will keep it's hammers in the build queue? Let's say you want to upgrade some HA's but doesn't want them hanging around because of maintenance cost, could you then just pre-build 16 HA's until 1 turn left and have them wait until MT?

On normal speed, hammers will begin to decay after 10 turns for units and after 50 turns for buildings/wonders. The rate of decay, as I recall, is something like a 2% loss per turn for units and a 1% loss per turn for buildings, rounded up (and the % values might be higher actually). I can't remember if these numbers scale with game speed or not, as it's been a while since I've played anything other than normal.

Prebuilding military units can be a good idea in some situations, though remember that when the upgraded unit becomes available it'll also cost more. Don't prebuild more than 10 turns before you'll want to switch back to the unit, or else you'll lose the hammers. Also, seriously consider whether it's worth prebuilding a unit 10 turns before you'll need it, rather than using the time to work towards another building to increase your growth/economy and building/whipping the unit later.