Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[user330977]

Hello folks,

I have a purely aesthetic question. I really dislike the minimap in Civ IV. It's not much use and very ugly because it shows cultural colours over water; not many world maps I've ever seen are like this! Is there a mod or way to remove cultural colours shown on the minimap?

Kind regards,
Ita Bear

 

[Seraiel]

I've never played a game like this, but what you ask for will work. All that is required is one espionage spread culture mission, and Buffy will see it as an 'espionage' game. You can in effect play a totally normal culture game, but spread culture once in a random city, and it should count. At least that is my understanding from reading some of the posts on the topic here and there.

Maybe she needs to have some culture in there of her own? From the culture overview, it looks like the two other cities were captured from her (mixed checkboard pattern). I'm simply not sure exactly how that stuff works. Or maybe she will accept the third one once the other two are gifted away -- though that looks a little unlikely here, since the third is closer to her core, if I read that image correctly.

Thank you @Pangaea for the Mechanic with the one Spread Culture Mission.

The other two cities were also gifted, but it took me about 15 turns to get enough Espionage-Spread-Culture in them, and that' s why Hatty has Culture in them. First it was possible to gift every city, but it seems the AI is aware of Espionage-Victory. More Clarification from Experts would be nice .

I don' t want to write about what I believe, I need exact knowledge.

 

[lymond]

I'm not all that erudite on the Espionage victory myself, but Pangaea is correct in that the victory is triggered by single culture mission. That makes it an Espionage victory, so technically you could do it only once, but then the idea is to make the most advantage of the ep culture mission to optimize your victory.

@WastinTime and @Kaitzilla are probably the best chaps to answer specific questions about espionage victories. I think something was written up somewhere about it, but you'd have to search for it. I think @Dhoomstriker did a bit with it too, but haven't seen her around in a while.

Pretty sure AI is not "aware" of Espionage victory at all. Things like being able to gift cities is strictly tied to some game mechanics that I'm not sure of myself.

 

[Kaitzilla]

I have a Question towards the experienced Espionage Victory Players here. I' m currently playing a Quattromaster Huge Quick Game and everything went as planned, but now I cannot gift the 3rd city that I want to spy to legendary. Why is that so, Legendary City#1 and Legendary City#2 were absolutely no problem. Is it maybe because I culture-bombed that city three times and the city has too much ? The Difficulty is Settler, so AI imho should be happy about every city it can get. I cannot believe the AI is aware of Espionage Victory and tries to prevent it. If @lymond reads this, is it allowed to call a game Espionage-Game with two cities espionaged towards Legendary and am I allowed to keep my Espionage Victory even if I bring the 3rd city to legendary with regular ? Or which working approach do you have, build another Gift-city directly at Hattys Border?

Here are some screens that should help you judge the situation. I excuse myself for being so dumb to not know this and having to ask here.





If someone can help, Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Seraiel.

Hatshepsut has more than 3 cities.
That means she will not take a gift city that is 10 (or more) tiles away.

Legendary City 1 and 2 must have been owned by her in the past.
The AI will always accept a gift city they owned in the past. (except in certain vassal situations)

Once the distance problem is solved, Hatty might still refuse a city gift if her economy is in trouble.
In that case, a bribe in per turn might fix things.

 

[Seraiel]

Hatshepsut has more than 3 cities.
That means she will not take a gift city that is 10 (or more) tiles away.

Legendary City 1 and 2 must have been owned by her in the past.
The AI will always accept a gift city they owned in the past. (except in certain vassal situations)

Once the distance problem is solved, Hatty might still refuse a city gift if her economy is in trouble.
In that case, a bribe in per turn might fix things.

Thank you for solving this, it was with the three cities. When I gifted the First two cities Hatty had only two cities.

Thank you @Pangaea , @lymond and @Kaitzilla .

Sincerely, Seraiel.

 

[ArchGhost]

2) What makes AI switch from Friendly to Pleased without change in +XX (+10 and +11 towards Saladin and Monty) value? Is is "1st impression" thing (that I don't see as run some old-ish BUG)?

Off the top of my head, the reason you may see some AIs fluctuate attitudes can be influenced by land target status, even though the mod increment doesn't change. Only thought of that because you mentioned Monty, which it happens a lot with.

 

[Seraiel]

@elmurcis

AIs have hidden modifiers, get BUFFY or BULL.

 

[Pangaea]

Off the top of my head, the reason you may see some AIs fluctuate attitudes can be influenced by land target status, even though the mod increment doesn't change. Only thought of that because you mentioned Monty, which it happens a lot with.

A common one could also be changes in the scoreboard, particularly when there are many civs with similar scores. With small changes in score, it's therefore possible to gain/lose "developing nations" / "small empires" type of bonuses.

This can actually impact tech trades too. IIRC, if both you and the civ you want to trade with is in the lower half of the scoreboard, but that civ has crept above the "We fear you are too advanced" limit, you can still trade. Then you carry out the trade, that civ increases slightly in score and climbs into the top half of the scoreboard, and suddenly you can no longer trade.

I've seen this happen several times, going back and forth between turns, so it can't be due to randomly forgetting a tech trade and therefore being allowed to trade again (this can happen too, altho rarely).

In very narrow cases, it's actually possible to gain tech trading possibilities by whipping your cities down a little bit.

 

[Seraiel]

I need the pre-Requisuites for Achieving Religious Victory in Civilization IV in order to play a Religious Victory.

Please help with the easiest and fastest possible approach (so choice of Start, Map etc. ) .

Kind Regards, Philip Christopher Plöger.

 

[lymond]

I need the pre-Requisuites for Achieving Religious Victory in Civilization IV in order to play a Religious Victory.

Please help with the easiest and fastest possible approach (so choice of Start, Map etc. ) .

Kind Regards, Philip Christopher Plöger.

This wiki gives a nice overview:

AP

For fastest any pangaea-like map would be ideal. Probably high seas Pangaea.

Oracle Theo. Chop out AP. IND leader would be best. Ramses is good with Spiritual for reli/civic changes.

You need to be in desired AP religion when AP is finished. (You need to be in reli to build it at all). But you don't need to be in AP religion to win DV, as long as you own it.

All civs must have at least 1 city with AP religion in order to enable diplomatic vote.

You will need at least one civ to vote for you, so pick some leaders that are easy to boost diplo fast early on.
(Creating a colony is one possibility, but note that a vassal IN the AP religion could be your DV foe, so make sure they have another majority religion to adopt first before giving them AP reli). You would need an island for two cities though to do that...some Pangaea maps do have that. Really though that should not be necessary)

Key: You cannot have 75% of the votes

One way to spread AP quickly to AIs, especially the ones far away, is to gift crap cities nearby.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I need the pre-Requisuites for Achieving Religious Victory in Civilization IV in order to play a Religious Victory.

My latest attempt.

The plan:-

• Tiny Map.
• Pangea.
• Opponents: Hatty and Zara.
• Either have one of them found a religion and spread to you or vice versa. run that as your state religion.
• If Hatty and you are sharing religion run OR (for shared civics bonus).
• Build Stonehenge and a temple, run a priest specialist.
• Before you get the Great Prophet make sure you have researched Mysticism, Meditation, Priesthood, Polytheism, Monotheism and Writing.
• Bulb Theology with the GP.
• Build the Apostolic Palace, 4 turns before it is built switch to Christianity as your State Religion. 1 turn after it is built switch back to your shared religion.
• If Zara is sharing your state religion gift him Theology (for shared civics bonus).
• Build 2 Settlers and 3 Christian Missionaries.
• Place one of the missionaries in a large city of the AI you are sharing religions with.
• Monitor the turns till next vote and 2 turns before the vote found a city next to each of your two opponents (their culture must be touching yours), spread Christianity in them and then liberate them (all on the same turn).
• Check the vote totals - use the 3rd missionary if needed (i.e. if you have >= 75% of the required votes).
• When the vote comes up you should be the only candidate, choose yourself, hit end turn and win!

I'm thinking of making some YouTube videos on these esoteric parts of the Hall of Fame, anyone interested?

EDIT: cross posted with @lymond

 

[Seraiel]

This wiki gives a nice overview:

AP

For fastest any pangaea-like map would be ideal. Probably high seas Pangaea.

Oracle Theo. Chop out AP. IND leader would be best. Ramses is good with Spiritual for reli/civic changes.

You need to be in desired AP religion when AP is finished. (You need to be in reli to build it at all). But you don't need to be in AP religion to win DV, as long as you own it.

All civs must have at least 1 city with AP religion in order to enable diplomatic vote.

You will need at least one civ to vote for you, so pick some leaders that are easy to boost diplo fast early on.
(Creating a colony is one possibility, but note that a vassal IN the AP religion could be your DV foe, so make sure they have another majority religion to adopt first before giving them AP reli). You would need an island for two cities though to do that...some Pangaea maps do have that. Really though that should not be necessary)

Key: You cannot have 75% of the votes

One way to spread AP quickly to AIs, especially the ones far away, is to gift crap cities nearby.

I marked in red what I needed, TY @lymond . I' m still need help with a second AP-Victory.

My latest attempt.

The plan:-

• Tiny Map.
• Pangea.
• Opponents: Hatty and Zara.
• Either have one of them found a religion and spread to you or vice versa. run that as your state religion.
• If Hatty and you are sharing religion run OR (for shared civics bonus).
• Build Stonehenge and a temple, run a priest specialist.
• Before you get the Great Prophet make sure you have researched Mysticism, Meditation, Priesthood, Polytheism, Monotheism and Writing.
• Bulb Theology with the GP.
• Build the Apostolic Palace, 4 turns before it is built switch to Christianity as your State Religion. 1 turn after it is built switch back to your shared religion.
• If Zara is sharing your state religion gift him Theology (for shared civics bonus).
• Build 2 Settlers and 3 Christian Missionaries.
• Place one of the missionaries in a large city of the AI you are sharing religions with.
• Monitor the turns till next vote and 2 turns before the vote found a city next to each of your two opponents (their culture must be touching yours), spread Christianity in them and then liberate them (all on the same turn).
• Check the vote totals - use the 3rd missionary if needed (i.e. if you have >= 75% of the required votes).
• When the vote comes up you should be the only candidate, choose yourself, hit end turn and win!

I'm thinking of making some YouTube videos on these esoteric parts of the Hall of Fame, anyone interested?

EDIT: cross posted with @lymond

Yesterday, for Quattromasters I tried out De Gaulle Monarch Large Quick Apostolic Palace. I tried Oracling Theo, and Oracling Theology is faster.

I need to write though, that I failed with AP victory on Monarch, because I cannot understand how changing the Religion works. Am I true with building the AP in a minor Religion and then the AP stays in that Religion? I am true, right? Found a minor Religion in CIV.

Kind regards, Philip Christopher Plöger.

 

[AcaMetis]

Am I true with building the AP in a minor Religion and then the AP stays in that Religion? I am true, right?

You can only build AP when you're running a state religion, regardless of how well spread that religion is, who founded it, where it was founded, and what have you. Once the AP is build the state religion of whoever build it when it was build will be the AP religion, and it'll stay that way for the rest of the game.

 

[Seraiel]

I need to ask this again, so I can have 75% of the Votes in the Apostolic Palace when building it in a minor Religion? True, right?

Seraiel.

 

[AcaMetis]

You can, but in order for a diplo victory to count you cannot control 75% or more of the total votes, and at least one AI must vote for you. Any other point in time it doesn't matter, but diplo victories will not go through if you control 75% or more of the votes.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I tried Oracling Theo, and Oracling Theology is faster.

That's a fair point and with an IND leader and/or Marble building Oracle and AP is probably feasible.

 

[Dunadd]

Why do combat unit's strength ratings never go up when you give them a +20% strength experience upgrade, even when their starting strength is 5 or more?

Also do you need a work boat to work each sea tile to get any resource benefit from them? Or do you get the bonuses whether or not there's a work boat in the tile?

And what can you do to reduce unhappiness caused by citizens of a town saying "it's too crowded"? Does building cottages help? If not, what can you do to reduce "it's too crowded" unhappiness? Or is that just a placeholder text to cover all kinds of other causes of unhappiness?

Also does building a settler reduce a city's number of citizens by 1?

 

[lymond]

Why do combat unit's strength ratings never go up when you give them a +20% strength experience upgrade, even when their starting strength is 5 or more?

A unit's base strength always remains the same. Bonuses are factored into combat.

Also do you need a work boat to work each sea tile to get any resource benefit from them? Or do you get the bonuses whether or not there's a work boat in the tile?

Work boats improve resources like fish, clam, crab and whales. Later for oil platforms on oil.

And what can you do to reduce unhappiness caused by citizens of a town saying "it's too crowded"? Does building cottages help? If not, what can you do to reduce "it's too crowded" unhappiness? Or is that just a placeholder text to cover all kinds of other causes of unhappiness?

"It's too crowded" is a modifier impacted by city growth. You can't really do anything about it other than to increase happiness to offset it.

Also does building a settler reduce a city's number of citizens by 1?

No. Building a settler, or a worker, just stagnates city growth while building them.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Lymond answered all but I have the impression that you are just beginning with CIV and a little clarification may be in order.

Why do combat unit's strength ratings never go up when you give them a +20% strength experience upgrade, even when their starting strength is 5 or more?

The strength that you see for the unit is the base strength. If you point to the unit you will see a box appear to the left of the screen showing all of the bonuses that the unit has. These will be added to the unit strength when it is in combat. (Actually some of them decrease the strength of the opponent but it is simpler to just figure that they increase your unit's strength.)

Also do you need a work boat to work each sea tile to get any resource benefit from them? Or do you get the bonuses whether or not there's a work boat in the tile?

Yes. You need to use the work boat to get the resource benefit.

And what can you do to reduce unhappiness caused by citizens of a town saying "it's too crowded"? Does building cottages help? If not, what can you do to reduce "it's too crowded" unhappiness? Or is that just a placeholder text to cover all kinds of other causes of unhappiness?

You almost never decrease unhappiness. What you do is balance off unhappiness with happiness resources. The goal is to have more happiness than unhappiness, so the net result is a happy city. However, if you use slavery to build something, the decrease in population will decrease the "it's too crowded" unhappiness by the number of population points used, although using slavery adds a slavery unhappiness point. So, in that case you usually want to use more than one population point for the slavery build to end up with less unhappiness (also consider that using the slavery build will make your city smaller, until it grows back).

 

[Dunadd]

Lymond answered all but I have the impression that you are just beginning with CIV and a little clarification may be in order.



The strength that you see for the unit is the base strength. If you point to the unit you will see a box appear to the left of the screen showing all of the bonuses that the unit has. These will be added to the unit strength when it is in combat. (Actually some of them decrease the strength of the opponent but it is simpler to just figure that they increase your unit's strength.)



Yes. You need to use the work boat to get the resource benefit.



You almost never decrease unhappiness. What you do is balance off unhappiness with happiness resources. The goal is to have more happiness than unhappiness, so the net result is a happy city. However, if you use slavery to build something, the decrease in population will decrease the "it's too crowded" unhappiness by the number of population points used, although using slavery adds a slavery unhappiness point. So, in that case you usually want to use more than one population point for the slavery build to end up with less unhappiness (also consider that using the slavery build will make your city smaller, until it grows back).

Thanks for the reply - i appreciate it, but from playing more, it seems work boats have no effect, except for being able to build fishing boats. Once you have the Fishing technology, you can assign citizens to work sea or lake tiles - they look the same as fishing boats do once assigned..