Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[lost_civantares]

Yes, you will keep your bonus, and you will have the option of cancilling the treaty after 20 turns with out penalty. This is the same for any resource.

 

[cabert]

In a normal combat round each side has a chance to do damage the other based on their respective strengths, the stronger unit has a higher chance to do damage. Damage is around 20 points (out of a total of 100 hitpoints for healthy units), the stronger side does more damage, the weaker less.

In a first strike round only one side can do damage. If the rolls of the dice indicate that the side without the first strike would deal damage, then this roll is ignored.

If you have 3-6 first strikes, then the number of these first strike rounds that occur is between 3 and 6. Probably something like 25% chance of 3 first strike rounds, 25 % chance of 4 first strike rounds, 25% chance of 5 first strike rounds, 25% chance of 6 first strike round. But I'm not sure of these chances and have not read anything definite about them.

about the first strike chance, i think for each chance you have 50% odds to actually get a "first strike round", meaning if you have 3-6 first strikes you have :
12,5% odds to have 3 rounds,
37,5% odds to have 4,
37,5 odds to have 5,
12,5% odds to have 6 rounds.

And it's 50-50 whether each 1st strike is successful right?

no, the odds for each round are determined by relative strength, as usual.

So for example, chances are a samurai is going to win one round of combat before normal battle ensues. Roland, do you use the first strike promo. I can kinda see how drill 3 would make some sense. But I never use drill promo and am still not really convinced.

for your example, chances are a samourais will win against a weaker unit without a scratch.
Drills (like other promotion lines) are becoming more powerful when you "climb the ladder" : drill I is so-so (1 extra first strike chance)
, drill II is good (1 extra first strike), drill III is better (+2 first strike chances), drill IV is overkill (+2 first strikes, +10% vs. mounted units)

If your samurai gets drill (which he shouldn't drills are not for melee units), take them!
With drill 4, you have 50% vs melee, 10% vs mounted, 4 sure first strikes, +3 first strikes chances (giving an average 1,5 first strikes). Since samurais already are the strongest of their time, you have really high odds to storm through enemy lines.
Of course in order to take cities, you'll need CR!

 

[Matty R]

Yes, you will keep your bonus, and you will have the option of cancilling the treaty after 20 turns with out penalty. This is the same for any resource.

Brilliant. Thanks.

 

[MrFixxiT]

Not sure what you mean by C P and D, but this sounds right.

I meant C, P and F for Commerce, Production and Food.

You get it in all cities conected to the tile. Cities and tiles can be conected by roads, rivers and coast (once you have sailing).

But these resource tiles should be in your cultural borders right?


Thanks for answering

 

[pixiejmcc]

Some people expand their empires (at the expense of other empires) and then the workers often have work to do in the conquered area damaged by the war.

It is also useful to keep a few workers around to repair some war damage in case you might get into a war. And if railroads are about to be discovered, then you might want to keep your workers around for the building of the railroads.

If all of the above don't apply, then you should disband (most of) them. They only cost you money.

Wow Roland, ur so knowledgable. I am learning so much skimming through this thread. I didnt realise all(?) units contribute toward maintenance. I thought it was just military units. Perhaps you could expand on this point.

 

[Samson]

I meant C, P and F for Commerce, Production and Food.


But these resource tiles should be in your cultural borders right?


Thanks for answering

Right. And you are welcome.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Can someone tell me exactly how line of sight works? This is what I think i know:

If you are on a hill, u can see 2 tiles in any direction and you can see a hill that is three tiles away. When you are on a hill you can't see a tile two tiles away that is between you and a forest.

On water you can see 2 tiles in any direction (including on land?) And it seems that you can see 2 tiles beyond your cultural borders, but sometimes it is only 1. I can't quite work this out. I wonder if you can only see those tiles over which you have 'any' (e.g. 1%) cultural influence over.

I didn't know how it worked exactly myself so I did a few minor tests in the world builder.

First I'll have to explain what are the tiles that are 'behind' another tile:

If you're standing in position A, then the Tiles marked B are 'behind' the tile marked W that you can watch. Note that a tile can be 'behind' more than one tile as is the case with the tile marked with a red B in the example below. If it is visible from one of the two W positions, then it is visible (not needed to be visible from both positions).


AWB
AWB
AWB

AB B
AWB
A

Normal units have a viewing distance of 1. All adjacent tiles to the one you're standing in can be seen. Some tiles just beyond the adjacent tiles can also be seen.
-If you are standing on a flatland tile, then you can look behind water tiles. You cannot look behind other flatland tiles, forest, hills or peaks.
-If you are standing on a hill then you can look behind flatland tiles and water tiles. You cannot look behind forests, hills or peaks.
-If you are standing on a peak tile, then you can look behind flatland, water, forest and hill tiles. You cannot look behind forested hills or peaks. (note that you cannot normally be positioned on a peak tile, however this is important to understand the units with viewing distance 2 and 3 explained further on).
-If flatlands, forests, hills or peaks are behind water tiles, then you can see them.
-If hills or peaks are behind an unforested flatland tile and you are positioned on flatlands, hills or peaks (forested or not) then you can see them.
-If peaks are behind forest or unforested hills tile and you are positioned on a hill or a peak (forested or not) then you can see them.

A unit with the sentry promotion can see tiles as if units with viewing distance 1 are standing on its tile and the 8 adjacent tiles (which can be peak tiles!).

After optics, sea units can see one sea tile further than normal (only sea tiles!). A sea unit after optics with the sentry promotion can see tiles as if sea units with optics are placed in all the 8 adjacent tiles.

Your empire has a viewing range of its own without any units present. This range is the same area that you could see if one unit (without the sentry promotion) were present in every tile that has your cultural dominance. After the invention of optics, you can see water tiles as if sea units with optics were present in all water tiles in your cultural area.

That's about it, I think.

Oh and...i'm pretty sure it doesnt but i'll ask anyway, does march apply to all units on the same tile, i.e. will they all heal whilst on the move. And does anyone find the double medic useful? cos i dont .

March only works for the unit that has the promotion.

The medic 2 promotion is not great. But if you attack a city and capture it, then you often have units standing inside the just captured city and units outside the just captured city. A medic 2 unit in one of those position would cover them both with its healing ability.

And how bout the 1st strike promos, are they better than combat promos?

No, they are different.

I posted this earlier:

Drill 1 gives 1 first strike chance: 0-1 first strikes.
Drill 2 adds 1 first strike: 1-2 first strikes
Drill 3 adds 2 first strike chances: 1-4 first strikes
Drill 4 adds 2 first strikes: 3-6 first strikes

Any first strikes that a unit has of its own are just added to the first strikes from the promotions (a drill 4 modern armor had 4-7 first strikes).

Drill is a pretty poor promotion in the beginning, but if you can get to Drill 3 and 4, then it is a good promotion. It is especially good for units that are stronger than the unit that they are fighting because the first strike shots have a higher chance of hitting the opposing unit and do more damage per hit when you have a higher strength. Lots of first strikes and a high strength cause the first strike unit to almost kill the opponent before any real fighting ensues. It will take very little damage from the opposing unit and can defeat multiple units before being seriously wounded.

For this reason city defenders promoted with Drill promotions can be good. However Drill 2 is weak compared to City Garrison 2. The Drill promotions become strong only when Drill 3 and Drill 4 are added. The defensive bonuses given by a city ensure a higher strength than the attacker.

Another case where Drill can be good is when you're using tanks or modern armor against weaker units (bombed strong units or a technologically inferior opponent). Again the higher strength combined with a Drill 4 promotion can cause your units to roll through opposition without taking a lot of damage. At this point of the game, it is also possible to produce units with 3 promotions, so you can start with Drill 3 tanks/modern armor and the promotion to Drill 4 tanks/modern armor is not far away.

 

[Ed92]

When I click instal my epson scanner utility opens as if it wants to do a scan, anyone one got any ideas?
Thanks, Ed

 

[a4phantom]

ask anyway, does march apply to all units on the same tile, i.e. will they all heal whilst on the move.[/QUOTE]

Nope, just the marcher itself.

And does anyone find the double medic useful? cos i dont .

In theory it should be because it can heal both the units that occupied a captured city and those that spent their turn bashing defenders and thus are wounded and outside. In practical terms it's usually better to move those units into the city on the next turn.

And how bout the 1st strike promos, are they better than combat promos?

No, usually worse. A unit with combat has a huge advantage over another unit of the same type with 1st strike. RJ says that first strikes improve with number, which makes sense, and also that very powerful units (tanks) fighting a swarm of much weaker units can use first strikes to win lots of easy battles without taking even a small ammount of damage in each one (and thus weakening for the next one and eventually being overwhelmed.

I would also suggest that they improve when a unit is receiving large bonuses (crossbow vs. melee, archer defending a city on a hill) because city defender, shock, etc. add 20%, 25% or whatever to the base strength, whereas first strike enhances the entire attack. However that's just an untested theory.

 

[pixiejmcc]

omg. u get phenomenal quick answers here. it's fantastic. i play only civIV MP on the ladder (myleague.com/civ4players). I am pretty good over there yet there is much i dont know. Our forum is totally dead. It's a real shame. It would be great if some of u SP masters came over to the Mp community. It is really fun and I know of a couple of SP vets who have been incredible in Mp cos of their knowledge of the game. Some of these ladder guys don't no jack. Anyways now to read these replies.

 

[pixiejmcc]

Roland, how knowledgable you are. This information about line of sight is exactly what i was looking for. There is a lot to take in there, but once i have learnt it all i am sure it will be useful to me. I especially had no idea that the sentry promotion worked like this. TBH before it seemed to me that line of sight was pretty random, I was starting to see some patterns. E.g. Seeing beyond a water tile (though i dismissed this because it didn't seem to make a lot of sense). I knew I could use worldbuilder to work it all out, but I am lazy. And I also knew that there would be someone out there who had already done it.

Thank you so much Roland.

 

[Roland Johansen]

On the subject of micromanagement, someone explained to me that if (for example) ur aggressive and u chop a barracks just as it is about to finish, all those xtra (doubled) hammers will go towards ur next building project, which is super useful. Is this a well known exploit?

This does not work (with the latest patch at least). The hammers will flow over to the next project, but will get the hammer bonus of the next project and not of the old project (barracks).

If you have a barracks finished 80/60 through any means (including chopping forests) and producing 10 hammers per turn (5 base, doubled for the barracks bonus) and the next project is a settler, then the 30 hammers overflow is only 15 base hammers.

about the first strike chance, i think for each chance you have 50% odds to actually get a "first strike round", meaning if you have 3-6 first strikes you have :
12,5% odds to have 3 rounds,
37,5% odds to have 4,
37,5 odds to have 5,
12,5% odds to have 6 rounds.

That could very well be true. I don't know and as far as I know it is not known how this works. It's not that important anyway, both ways end up in 4.5 first strikes on average.

Wow Roland, ur so knowledgable. I am learning so much skimming through this thread. I didnt realise all(?) units contribute toward maintenance. I thought it was just military units. Perhaps you could expand on this point.

Thank you for the compliment.

I wrote an article about unit upkeep costs a while back. Probably the most interesting part is about the fact that the free unit upkeep is based on the total size of your population.

 

[bad-aries]

Say Buddist is not found in my Civ, is there any Bad if I construct a Buddist temple?

What Bad is it if I convert to a religion that is found by another Civ?

thanks.

 

[Matty R]

Are there any settings to guarantee that other civilizations will be put on continents other than mine? Every game I've started has had the other 9 leaders on the same continent as me. In the game I'm playing at the moment, I've discovered all of my continent, but it takes up less than a quarter of the whole map and every civilization is on it. Its starting to get crowded. I've just gone to war with the Aztecs because our culture zones have been overlapping. The way things are going, I'll have to fight the English aswell. I wanted to do some intercontinental pillaging.

 

[BCLG100]

Say Buddist is not found in my Civ, is there any Bad if I construct a Buddist temple?

What Bad is it if I convert to a religion that is found by another Civ?

thanks.

erm whoever has founded buddhism-the AI can see into your city, nothing bad about building the temple but it only has an affect if you convert to Buddhism.

Are there any settings to guarantee that other civilizations will be put on continents other than mine? Every game I've started has had the other 9 leaders on the same continent as me. In the game I'm playing at the moment, I've discovered all of my continent, but it takes up less than a quarter of the whole map and every civilization is on it. Its starting to get crowded. I've just gone to war with the Aztecs because our culture zones have been overlapping. The way things are going, I'll have to fight the English aswell. I wanted to do some intercontinental pillaging.

what are the settings when you create the map? try varying the setting's slightly, normally if continents are selected with a regular amount of civs there are 2 continents on standard taking up a good fair portion of the map.

 

[Truronian]

What Bad is it if I convert to a religion that is found by another Civ?

AIs of the same religion like you. AIs of different religions generally don't (and often go to war with you). The pros of religion (happiness, culture, civics) generally outway the cons though (especially on lower difficulties).

 

[Winston Khan]

Just bought Civ4! Wow.
can't see any terrain tiles apart from on the mini map, the bits I can see are units, citys, jungle, rivers. The rest of the terrain is black, solid black. Would the patch fix all, or is something else wrong?

 

[bad-aries]

erm whoever has founded buddhism-the AI can see into your city, nothing bad about building the temple but it only has an affect if you convert to Buddhism.

What does see actually mean? They could see what unit, buildings, current production is in the city?

 

[Matty R]

what are the settings when you create the map? try varying the setting's slightly, normally if continents are selected with a regular amount of civs there are 2 continents on standard taking up a good fair portion of the map.

I chose a huge map, temperate climate and Continents, which generates 2 or more continents.

 

[Roland Johansen]

When I click instal my epson scanner utility opens as if it wants to do a scan, anyone one got any ideas?
Thanks, Ed

Sorry to say so, but that is a funny problem.

Of course, you don't think it's funny. I can't see any reason why this would happen.

It sounds like a problem for the technical support section of this forum. I hope that they can help you further.

Welcome to Civilization Fanatics Center by the way!

Say Buddist is not found in my Civ, is there any Bad if I construct a Buddist temple?

What Bad is it if I convert to a religion that is found by another Civ?

thanks.

There is no reason not to build the temple in your city. It will give 1 happiness independent of your state religion.

There are also a lot of positives connected to converting to someone else's state religion. For one, they will like you a lot more. Also, it will give you a state religion that you can spread around all your cities and get the bonuses of the religion civics. The only negative is that if you spread their religion to all of your cities, then the nation that founded the religion can see the units and surroundings of all of your cities. And if they have build the holy shrine of the religion, then they get one gold for each city with that religion. This is not bad for you directly, but it is good for your opponent.

Still it is often better to have a strong neighbour that likes you because of your state religion, than to have a strong neighbour that hates you because of a different state religion.

Are there any settings to guarantee that other civilizations will be put on continents other than mine? Every game I've started has had the other 9 leaders on the same continent as me. In the game I'm playing at the moment, I've discovered all of my continent, but it takes up less than a quarter of the whole map and every civilization is on it. Its starting to get crowded. I've just gone to war with the Aztecs because our culture zones have been overlapping. The way things are going, I'll have to fight the English aswell. I wanted to do some intercontinental pillaging.

There are many options if you start a custom game. Ever tried it? If you are looking for a very fair map, then you could try the wheel map. It is mainly made for the multi-player game and is very fair. However that also makes it pretty boring and artificial. But if that is what you're looking for, then you might want to try it.
Also the custom continents options might help you create a map that is more to your liking. It's not as fair as the wheel map, but also a lot less artificial. Still, it doesn't have a completely natural feel like the normal continents maps. Natural looks and fair for game-play are two qualities that are not easily unitable in one map.

I would open a few of these maps and take a look at them in the world builder. Then you can get an immediate feel for how they tend to look and if they will produce something to your liking.

The creator of the map scripts and employee of Firaxis, Sirian, also wrote an excellent Map Script Guide. You can take a look at that to get a feeling of what certain maps might look like.

Just bought Civ4! Wow.
can't see any terrain tiles apart from on the mini map, the bits I can see are units, citys, jungle, rivers. The rest of the terrain is black, solid black. Would the patch fix all, or is something else wrong?

Congratulations with your excellent purchase and welcome to CFC (hmm, 23 posts and have only now bought civ4?).

I can see that it must be a bit frustrating to buy a game and not being able to play it. A lot of us had those problems that you are talking about when the game had just arrived. However, by now, 3 patches have been released and those should remove this bug. You could also download the latest drivers of your video card. That might help, but first install the patches.

The patches can be installed by going into the game clicking advanced and then 'check for updates'. Note that your firewall might have a conflict with the auto-update feature of the game, so allow free access to civilization.exe to the Internet in your firewall.
Another way to install the latest patch is by downloading the patch from this site and then install it. It can be found here.