Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[6K Man]

It all depends on what kind of game you like to play. I’ve played out games where I had no strategic resources (or started offshore or in Tundra or with just a plains Cow for food and some Silk) and persevered, even winning some of them. But these days, when I see a bad starting location, more often than not I worldbuild it to a better one, or start over. My skill level is such that if I get off to a bad start, I’ll get steamrolled in the middle game on Emperor+ and oversized maps, or just squeak by with no hope of a dom/conquest victory.

You’ll learn more if you play through the hard starts and adapt to them, instead of playing the easy starts in your preferred way. But if that’s not fun for you, why force yourself? For me, the goal of playing Civ is to have fun, without necessarily getting better. So I’ve stopped forcing myself to play games that aren’t fun for me.

 

[Randy Random]

Anyone have a link to the vassal mechanics? I was playing a game where I was pounding on one of my neighbors and he wouldn't cap, but the next turn he vassaled to someone else and I'd like to know what I can do to stop that sort of nonsense without turning off vassal states.

 

[elitetroops]

Anyone have a link to the vassal mechanics? I was playing a game where I was pounding on one of my neighbors and he wouldn't cap, but the next turn he vassaled to someone else and I'd like to know what I can do to stop that sort of nonsense without turning off vassal states.

The mechanics are explained here, together with some analysis of another situation where the AI wouldn't cap.

 

[elmurcis]

Question that stopped me in current game (NC Club) - is there any other way to get info about certain landmass size outside counting tiles?

 

[Major Tom]

Question that stopped me in current game (NC Club) - is there any other way to get info about certain landmass size outside counting tiles?

Good question I like to know about too. The demoscreen says how many sq.km you have and that is number of tiles*1000. Screen also says average for AI and you can easily calculate number of tiles they own on aggregate. However, it does not say anything about tiles outside any culture boundries. So is there a trick to find out that? Assume everything above is refering to land tiles. Coast and ocean not included.

 

[salty mud]

Is it possible to play games posted on this site, such as the Noble's Club and so on, with modifications I use? I use the Legends of Revolution mod and I'm not sure if it would be compatible.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Is it possible to play games posted on this site, such as the Noble's Club and so on, with modifications I use? I use the Legends of Revolution mod and I'm not sure if it would be compatible.

Have you tried it yourself? I never participated in those Noble's Club games, do they provide regular savegames or Worldbuilder Scenarios or both? If it's the latter I think you should be able to open it with most mods no problem as long as they aren't some total conversion mods that explicitly removed base game civs and terrain and what have you, but LoR should be okay in that regard.

If the provided savefile is a regular one, the game will give you a pop-up saying that this can't be opened with the mod you are currently running and it had to be unloaded if you try to open it while having a mod loaded.
In that case open the file without mods, then open Worldbuilder and save it as a Worldbuilder scenario save and use that to run with LoR.

Ugh, never mind all that, I took a look at the most recent NC and it turns out they actually do provide instructions for just your stiuation:

The WB-saves are attached (zipped; they are bigger than standard saves). To play, simply download and unzip it into your BTS/Saves/WorldBuilder folder. Start the game, and load your favorite MOD (if you use one, if not, check out the BUG MOD), select "Play Scenario", and look for "NC 191 Frederick Noble" (or Monarch, etc., for higher levels). You can play with your favorite MOD at the Level and Speed of your choice.

So yeah, go ahead and do that. I have played and modded enough Legends of Revolution to be 94% sure it should present no problem. The only remotely likely cause of friction might be the renaming of the Native Americans to Sioux, but IIRC they are still referred to with their original name in the game files themselves.

Mods are only incompatible with scenario files of the base game if they actively and explicitly remove features that are present in that scenario file. E.g. if you played a sci fi or fantasy mod that removed historic civs and instead added all new sci fi and fantasy civs the game would throw a fit when you try to open a scenario that refers to the presence of Americans or Russians or Egyptians as the mod doesn't recognize any of these civs.

 

[salty mud]

That's great, I should have spotted that myself. Thanks for finding that for me.

 

[6K Man]

This may not be a newbie question, and I won't argue if anyone directs me to the modding forums.

Still. Does anyone happen to know how to edit the in-game name of a leader in a save file? For example, to change the name the AI leaders call me?

 

[lymond]

6K - if I’m hearing you right, just pull up the in-game menu. Not in the game at present and tne button name escapes me, biut thereis a menu option towards the bottom that allows you to change your name. It also will change the filename the games are saved too.

 

[6K Man]

Can't believe I missed that! I'll give it a try.

Thanks.

 

[Achim]

Hi everyone,

first off, it's great to see that Civ4 has such a great community, i'm really (pleasantly) surprised!

I've played a lot Civ2/3 back then, never got into later Civs. Now i want to give Civ4 a serious try. So, I am a total noob. Few questions:

1. Whats the consensus on upgrading obsolete units vs. building new ones? I have a game going, me playing as Boudicca (fractal map , all settings at standard, noble). After the initial rush i secured my island (rip monetzuma) and have a stack of highly promoted gallic warriors sitting in my capital (probably drinking mead all day long and generally causing mischief ) That guys are promoted up to CRIII and GueIII, one is medicIII. Keep them or disband?

2. Another game, turn 1:

Civ4ScreenShot0003

• Achim
• Dec 18, 2017

Where to settle?

Where to settle? I would settle right on the spot, reasons being river, hill, and good production, not loosing one turn. Second possibility 2n1w on the plains forest tile, reasons being coastal. What do you guys think?

TIA,

Cheers, Achim

PS: I hope i made no mistake attaching the image, been a while i used forums.

 

[lymond]

Hey Achim! Welcome to Civ IV ..the best game ever!

Looks like you found the BUG mod which is great.

What difficulty/other settings are you using at present?

1) Generally, upgrading units is advised to be used in moderation, but it depends a great deal on the type of units, experience, and just how much early fighting you have been doing. If you have some very experienced Horse Archers (Keshiks, Numids too), they'll make nice Curs later. Same with War Elies. Gallics with GIII and CRIII are excellent upgrades to Mace and Rifles later. Upgrading takes money though - with the exception of attached Great General (the Medic III guy is obviously a GG, so will upgrade for free, but you usually want your medics to remain safe - just keep that in mind), so you need to balance that with other goals. If game strictly about war (conquest/domination), then really not much of an issue as long as your tech needs are satisfied in meantime. You can focus on producing Great Merchants at some point to run trade missions for upgrade gold, as well as trade old techs and stuff of chunks of gold. (Note: GM trade missions to Temple of Artemis city nets more gold usually..as well as large overseas cities)

2) SIP is not bad. The fish can still be settled. However, I'm inclined here to move to the plains hill (PH) one south. You will still have two corns, one of which is wet (plenty of food). A PH provides a bonus hammer to the city center tile for increased early production, so it is worth the loss of 1 turn. (worker will actually get out faster) Less important, but settling 1S also sets up ability to settle a city where the warrior currently stands. That city can share corns with capital without even worrying about early fishing or even a monument. Capital border will not take long for second pop to allow the fish city to use the 3rd corn as well.

Note: I see you have huts on. I don't use huts (or events) and advise the same, but if on, note that I would wait 5 turns before selecting a tech (select tech then deselect each turn), as you may pop a free tech from nearby huts (1 city must be settled). Game stores beakers for the first 5 turns, so you don't lose the beakers, but after 5 turns you will, so select a tech on the 5th turn.

By the way, the Strategy & Tips forum is a great place for all your learning needs:

https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ4-strategy-tips.155/

Friendly bunch of fanatics always willing to help new players. You can try the Noble Club games too. Also, see my sig for links to the Game of the Month and Hall of Fame sections for more fun.

 

[Achim]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer, lymond. Very helpful and appreciated!

What difficulty/other settings are you using at present?

Noble, usually fractal map, all settings standard, random leaders for now - until i find my prefered combination. Really just 'getting wet' and trying different things. I'm usually not much of a builder, more the 'warmonger' kind of player. But Civ4 may change that attitude... Got a round of strike already because broke after the initial conquest. Should have razed more improvements i guess. And of course reading the handbook helps also, didn't realize you can not raze or abandon cities once they are settled or conquered for more than one turn. But I'm learning, haha.

1. Guess I'll leave my best Gallics in the tavern then (for the time being). Regarding the medic, should I have used a scout with the GG? I think i had a woodsman 2 guy somewhere.

2. Great advice about the settling spot, i didn't really think about the second city on turn 1. Also the bit about the research, very interesting.

The huts and events can certainly unbalance the game, in MP i would turn them off. But for now they are just a fun addition.

So far Civ4 seems a lot more complex than the older ones, including SMAC/X (my fav). I like it! Just missing my jaguar warriors, god i loved the little guys in Civ3...
Oh, one last question (for now ) I was reading a few strategy articles and stumbled over the term 'elepult' I searched the civilopedia, but found only elephants or catapult. Is that a special unit? Or a 50:50 stack of elephants and siege weapons?

Again, thank you very much!

Cheers, Achim

 

[lymond]

hey hey my pleasure

1) I like Gallics ..they are underrated, though their efficacy lessens with increased difficulty. The GIII really makes them rock and great later for advanced units. I generally prefer mounted warfare, so I usually use a chariot as a medic. Scout is okay though since at least you will never be attempted to attack with it, nor will it likely defend either. Also, if I have an initial warrior that I can promote up the Woody line (from barb kills), I will use him as a medic. (Woody III stacks with the normal medic promo health bonus) So, when I attach a GG to him I will promote to WIII (if he doesn't have it) and then Morale, then later Combat1 > Medic line. (or add Leadership for faster XP) Only use in certain wins. You can upgrade him free,ofc.

Now, Gallics are different story as one of the key things here is the whole Guerrilla line which melee units can't get normally. G2 allows for faster movement on hills which helps not only speed your army to the front, but provides possibly tactical advantages (like mounted units). So I might GG medic a Gallic so the medic can keep pace. Ofc, you will have to use the G2 promo for the movement. (Celtic leaders are both Char so this helps with promos) A mounted unit or scout would be slowed by hills - although scout can get the G line you probably don't want to waste XP on that promo and scouts are very limited on the XP they can get anyway other than the initial XP the may get from defending early against animals. A Woody warrior guy with Morale may be able to keep up. (warrior can't promote to Gallics though..only axe or spears) In short though, I would most likely use a GW for medic in most Celtic cases.

2) Again, to emphasizes, the decision was much less about the second city spot, although sometimes when in close proximity to the coast with visible seafood, you may make decisions regarding the killing of said seafood, i.e., preventing the ability to settle it later. Huts/Events really are not great for learning but have fun with them. Huts especially lose value on higher levels due to the bonus starting units for the AI.

Yes, Civ IV is a gloriously complex game the will provide you ample room for learning for a long time. Civ went in a different more simplistic direction afterwards, but enough on that.....

Elepult simply is short of the combination use of War Elephants and catapults in warfare. A very strong early combo even on the highest difficulty that can even work against longbows. On Noble it will tear up a map. Yes, and 50/50 is about the right mix. Pults are generally deemed disposable while you'd generally like most of your Elies to survive and learn. Much slower than mounted warfare though.

 

[s.bernbaum]

"Eleputs" is almost always plural because it refers to a stack of catapults and elephants, which, if used at the right point in the game, can overrun your neighbors, making their cities your cities!


(Lymond beat me to it!)

 

[6K Man]

1. It’s generally cheaper to build new ones as opposed to upgrading. However…

a. if you have a large stack of obsolete units, it can pay to hoard cash to insta-upgrade them when you develop a new tech, and immediately attack with them. The classic example is insta-upgrade of Horse Archers or Knights to Cuirassiers. Trebs to Cannon is another example of this trick
b. Upgrading melee units with City Raider III to gunpowder (Grenadiers/Rifles) can be helpful, but this might be overrated.
c. Upgrading very highly promoted units (e.g. that Blitz Privateer to Destroyer, or any 26xp units with Commando) can be powerful, too.

2. I’d settle in place and consider putting city #2 either 3N from capital or 2N3W- either of those spots let you share food with the capital. Settling on the 2N1W forest eliminates fresh water and gives you 1 less forest to chop, plus it makes it harder to share food. And it’s kind of production weak.

 

[Achim]

"Eleputs" is almost always plural because it refers to a stack of catapults and elephants, which, if used at the right point in the game, can overrun your neighbors, making their cities your cities!

I especially like the last part, hehe Thanks for the answer!

1. It’s generally cheaper to build new ones as opposed to upgrading. However…

That gave me some more insight, thanks! So (if upgraded) units generally keep all promotions, even if those are not possible normally for the upgraded unit. Hmm, interesting possibilities here.

I do have another question regarding the combat log:



How do i read that thing? The displayed combat odds are always for the attacker i guess. But how is it possible my guy survived that? I mean, he hit that barb 6 times in a row and that barb did nothing? Was that just incredible luck or do i miss something here?

Cheers, Achim

 

[Fippy]

Looks like you won a 0.6% fight lol
Happens, combat is done in rounds so lucky (or unlucky) streaks are possible.
With it's higher strength, the Spear did double damage (27) on succesful rounds while your warrior did only 14 damage.

But he got lucky and hit 4x as often, each unit starts with 100 hitpoints minus the missing health if wounded.
8x14 = over 100 = dead spear.
Only 2x27 = super lucky warrior.

Are those odds correct?
No idea, let's wait for maths guys

 

[Achim]

Ahh, ok, so only hits are displayed in the log. Makes sense now. I named the guy 'Lucky Luke' and got him safely back to a city. May he enjoy his retirement And thanks for the math, Fippy!