Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[josgalo]

One more question: where do I ask technical questions?

I got a message saying "You have selected an unusable voice capture device. Voice capture disabled". I don't have voice capture nor I want itso I'd like to know how to remove this annoying message.

I had the same issue.
Look at you have selected an unusable voice capture device thread, especially at post 13.
I did that and is solved now.

 

[dr_s]

Defying an AP resolution removes your bonus until you vote on a resolution that passes.

Ah, that's it then, thanks.

 

[bcool]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luthor_Saxburg
I play Civ III and only now am starting with Civ IV... and I have some 'Newbie' questions:
- Roads only give movement advantage or still give trade?
- In hills is mines still the best thing to build?
- Is no advantage (apart from military maintenance savings) to disband a unit?
- Workers can no longer join other cities for Pop increase?
- Is there a way to give a pre-set order of a city build units to go immediately to other place\city?
- Where can I ask questions about scenario afterworld?

Thanks in advance for all the help!!!
-correct. However, roads can be used to connect cities which results in a trade route, which does provide commerce to the connected city. But this is seen inside the city, rather than on the roaded tiles. Rivers, coasts, oceans, airports will also connect a city when the appropriate technology is learned.
-yes
-correct
-correct
-yes, you can set a rally point, but I never use it and don't really know how.
-you can look here for afterworld tips, but i don't know how helpful it is:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236146

BTW: The basic changes you'll want to know about going from Civ3 to Civ4 are pointed out here:

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/faq#CIV3

I would argue that a mine is not always the best improvement to a hill. Early on for sure and all the time before you tech replaceable parts probably. A windmill on a non-river hill is better than a mine during a golden age before or after replaceable parts (for the extra hammer for the windmill). After electricity windmill get better than a mine in almost all cases (except in hammer focused city).

For a financial leader a windmill on a river hill gives 3 commerce, this could be better than a mine even before replaceable parts depending on what the focus of the city is that works it. (a bureaucracy capital for example with Oxford University probably wants a windmill rather than mine even before replaceable parts especially for a financial leader).

I have nothing to add to the other questions unfortunately. I don't use rally points either.

 

[dr_s]

You set a rally point by single-clicking on the city's name in the main screen (you should see the bar below the city become highlighted) and then shift-right-clicking on the target tile, which can be another city. A yellow circle should appear on the rally point.

At least, that's how it works in the Mac version. I think it's the same on Windows.

 

[kcd_swede]

Defying an AP resolution removes your bonus until you vote on a resolution that passes.

Oh, thanks... I should have known that too. Probably did once... but just forgot.

 

[Darth Fred]

Perhaps, but even then, you need to determine your objectives. The AI tends to suffer from what the French call idée fixe. You might fend them off, but they'll be back again and again. So are you willing to fight a series of wars of attrition? Do you want to fight them to a stalemate and negotiate peace to buy enough time to build a better army? Do you want to weaken them enough so they (hopefully) won't bother you again? Would you be willing to vassalize them? Or do you want to wipe them from the face of the earth like an ugly stain in retaliation for the unmitigated temerity of their underhanded attack upon your people?

(Feel free to picture me pounding a podium mercilessly while shouting that last sentence.)

I think people who know me around here know which option I'd choose...

Well sure. Myself, I divide (Roughly) my army into defense and offense. My 'expeditionary' force goes into position(s) when/if diplomacy starts to go south so that if I DO get jumped by a near by CIV, retribution is close at hand.

F

 

[rogue131]

Defying an AP resolution removes your bonus until you vote on a resolution that passes.

Whaa? Really? I mean I never paid attention, I usually abstain. So if you defy an AP resolution, you lose the hammers of all your monasteries or just the one the AP represents. For example, the leaders of Judaism have gathered together for the AP, they vote on stop trading with infidels, you defy resolution. Does that mean all your Jewish temples and Synagogues or whatever, lose the hammer? But let's say your Buddhist or Toaist temples do not?

Also does this apply to the U.N. as well. Like what penalties could you get for defying a resolution there? I would imagine just a hit on the Diplo level.

 

[kcd_swede]

Whaa? Really? I mean I never paid attention, I usually abstain. So if you defy an AP resolution, you lose the hammers of all your monasteries or just the one the AP represents. For example, the leaders of Judaism have gathered together for the AP, they vote on stop trading with infidels, you defy resolution. Does that mean all your Jewish temples and Synagogues or whatever, lose the hammer? But let's say your Buddhist or Toaist temples do not?

Also does this apply to the U.N. as well. Like what penalties could you get for defying a resolution there? I would imagine just a hit on the Diplo level.

In this situation... Your Bhudist and Taoist temples should not be getting any hammers via the AP to begin with. Only the AP religion's buildings give the hammer bonus.

 

[rogue131]

In this situation... Your Bhudist and Taoist temples should not be getting any hammers via the AP to begin with. Only the AP religion's buildings give the hammer bonus.

I'm sorry, I mean I realize that. Just trying to confirm if the Jewish temples and such would immedaitely lose their hammers? Like traditionally speaking, if you are excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church in the Middle Ages, you stop receiving it's protection and benefits. Know what I mean?

 

[dr_s]

Yes, you lose all the AP-generated hammers from all the relevant religious buildings.

 

[Ataxerxes]

Yes, you lose all the AP-generated hammers from all the relevant religious buildings.

That can be an important point. It isn't just temples, the hammer benefits that extend to monastaries and Cathedrals are lost too.

Defying also gets you unhappiness in cities with the AP religion. Defying only hurts if the resolution would have passed without defiance. Voting no doesn't give a penalty.

Clarification on above - in order to lift the unhappiness and loss of hammers - you have to vote yes on a proposition and it has to pass. I try to either contain the AP religion to a few cities (damage control) or go whole hog for the AP religion so I have a better chance of controlling it. Remember, if you run the AP religion as your state religion, you get double votes.

 

[rogue131]

That can be an important point. It isn't just temples, the hammer benefits that extend to monastaries and Cathedrals are lost too.

Defying also gets you unhappiness in cities with the AP religion. Defying only hurts if the resolution would have passed without defiance. Voting no doesn't give a penalty.

Clarification on above - in order to lift the unhappiness and loss of hammers - you have to vote yes on a proposition and it has to pass. I try to either contain the AP religion to a few cities (damage control) or go whole hog for the AP religion so I have a better chance of controlling it. Remember, if you run the AP religion as your state religion, you get double votes.

Ahhhh, see I never realized that, then again I usually don't defy because I'm the one launching the resolutions.

 

[psparky]

One aspect of the game I need to work on is city placement. I tend to place a few "good" cities and then have trouble fitting in any more. This is my first attempt at a dot map. Here I have concentrated on using up most of the available tiles without too much overlap, and getting at least one food resource in each city BFC. However the result doesn't seem to be very suitable for city specialization. Also, one city is on the back of an elephant.

I would be grateful if someone could take a look and make any recommendations.

Spoiler :

Also, which city would you build first?

BTW, this is a game purely for testing a few things out - don't worry about the odd build/reseach choices.

 

[Ghpstage]

Avoiding overlap isn't something you should be going out of your way to do. In fact doing it is likely to cause something disastrous, like that dotmap

Move these sites
North easetern most city - 1S
Northernmost city - 1S
Sourthernmost city - 1NW

Elephants city - Maybe built as a late filler
Not sure what i'd do about the other 2 right now

For your first city in particular, you should be looking for a site with food in the inner ring so you can get working it immediately.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Move the NE city 1 tile SE. This will give you the elephant, well worth the loss of the one forest, and will put the corn in the inner ring for immediate food production and growth.

Move the NW city 1 tile. As in the NE city, this gives you the food producer (cow) in the inner ring and adds one more land tile to the BFC.

Move the Southern tip city 1 tile NW. This will again put food (fish) in the inner ring and add one land tile on the small island to the west.

Move your elephant city 1 tile SW. This will give you access to three otherwise unused land tiles, two of which are riverside, as well as making the elephant available for production. I would settle this city last, as a fill in city. By then you should be able to take advantage of the riverside cities for farms to supply the needed food.

I would settle the city with the two gold and corn as my first city. Once you get the corn online, the gold can be developed which will give you the needed income for a more rapid settling of the other cities.

Don't worry if there is overlap. You are not going to be able to use all the tiles in any of the cities for a long time. Once the cities are big enough, you can decide which city uses which tile in the overlap and swap which city is using it as needed.

 

[psparky]

Thanks for the feedback Ghpstage

All your suggestions bring food into in first ring, which I'm assuming is the primary reason for doing it. And the squares lost are just sea, of marginal value. Wait, they are actually ocean, not even coast!

Elephant city would be badly lacking food, and I felt it needed the corn to be viable. I'm reluctant to waste that river commerce. But I guess you would use the corn for the NE city.

 

[psparky]

Thanks for the feedback s.bernbaum.

Regarding elephant city, moving it SW would give it just one grassland farm, so it can work the ivory, probably the (mined) grassland hill and one other (cottaged riverside plain?). It could work some farmed riverside plains for 1H1C, but I'm not sure if that is a good thing to do. Also, ivory is not a great tile to work compared to most other resources. Overall, I'm not sure it's worth the cost of a settler. In any case, this would probably be the last city to build. Of course when Biology looms, it's a different story.

I am also very tempted by the desert/gold city as an early choice, but that's the only city without food in it's inner ring! Without a religion or free culture, it would probably be better to go elsewhere. Maybe. It's this sort of problem that makes this game such fun.

Between playing a little, thinking a lot and posting a bit, I seem to have spent nearly all day on this. At least I've learned something.

Thanks again

 

[Ghpstage]

All your suggestions bring food into in first ring, which I'm assuming is the primary reason for doing it. And the squares lost are just sea, of marginal value. Wait, they are actually ocean, not even coast!

Indeed inner ring food allows faster set up of new cities, the difference this can make to your early game is huge and if all it costs are some awful tiles theres no reason not to.
Sharing tiles helps the set up speed too. On other maps sharing cottage tiles to allow sattelite cities to grow cottages for your soon-to-be-Bureacracy capital is nice.

The available tiles on your island favour more overlap on this map too. You have a decent number of food resources and tonnes and tonnes of crap tiles. This favours using more specialists than usual and they don't take tiles at all.

But I guess you would use the corn for the NE city.

I am also very tempted by the desert/gold city as an early choice, but that's the only city without food in it's inner ring! Without a religion or free culture, it would probably be better to go elsewhere. Maybe. It's this sort of problem that makes this game such fun.

There are other solutions to both these problems. The corn tile in the fish/corn city could be shared with the ivory city, while only one city can use it at a time it can be swapped around.

A similar effect helps with the gold city. To work a tile a city does not itself need to have a border pop to cover it, another cities culture can do it for you.
In this case if you settled the hill city to the north of the desert to claim the corn first, then the desert city could have access to the corn without a border pop as your culture would already cover it!

Theres a lot of little subtleties in selecting city spots, so many in fact that you often won't find universal agreement even among high level players.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I agree with Ghpstage. I was in the process of editing my last entry to consider the same thing that he said regarding the gold city, when my ISP went down. It only now came back up.

As for the elephant city, my intent was that it be the last city built, and then only after Biology, as an infill city. You can also build windmills on the hills at first, adding food that way and after biology, change them to mines.

 

[psparky]

I think I knew all the specific points raised, but seeing it all brought together as a coherent solution is a real eye opener. For example, I've taken advantage of the culture from an existing city when placing a new one, but never planned on building a city to facilitate a later one.

This exercise has been really worthwhile for me. Thanks a lot to both for your time and insights.