Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[pixiejmcc]

This is because (as you will notice by playing through a few games as a warmonger) even at very high odds such as 99+%, you can still sustain significant damage... half hit points or even worse.

I'd noticed this too. Taking none or a negligible amount of damage seems very rare in these high% battles. I would have thought taking a lot of damage would be the exception to the rule. Wonder why that is.

 

[pixiejmcc]

The maximum distance at which you can culturally control sea/ocean tiles is 2 tiles from the coastline (the land tiles). This can be 2 diagonal, 1 horizontal + 1 diagonal or 2 vertical tiles or any other combination of 2 movement points of distance.

But not 2 horizontal?

I don't fully understand this.

 

[Zophos]

But not 2 horizontal?

I don't fully understand this.

I believe this falls under "any other combination of 2 movement points of distance."

 

[Lord Parkin]

I'd noticed this too. Taking none or a negligible amount of damage seems very rare in these high% battles. I would have thought taking a lot of damage would be the exception to the rule. Wonder why that is.

Could be because they wanted to balance out the game or something, so that (for instance) a single Cavalry couldn't just steamroll an entire stack of Macemen by itself.

 

[Samson]

But not 2 horizontal?

I don't fully understand this.

I THINK he means horizontal rather than diagonal. I do not think you can control an ocean tile than is 2 diagonal from the nearest land. Basically those tiles that you could work if you could put a city on every land tile.

 

[Maxemililian]

I am having trouble obtaining iron. I have researched iron working, but I still am unable to build swordsmen and the like.

Any ideas?

 

[Samson]

I am having trouble obtaining iron. I have researched iron working, but I still am unable to build swordsmen and the like.

Any ideas?

Do you have iron in your teritory?
Do you have a mine on that iron?
Is it connected (ie. have a road on it that is connected to your cities, or on a river that is conected to your cities?

Other than that, perhaps you are trading away your only source?
If you have iron in a city it will show up in the resorces box (top right of city view).

 

[Roland Johansen]

I THINK he means horizontal rather than diagonal. I do not think you can control an ocean tile than is 2 diagonal from the nearest land. Basically those tiles that you could work if you could put a city on every land tile.

Ah, sorry for the confusion.

Ok, you can culturally control a tile that is at most at distance 2 from the coast. That means 2 horizontal, 2 vertical, 1 horizontal + 1 diagonal or 1 vertical + 1 diagonal step from the coastline. Not 2 diagonal as I first mistakenly said.
Or to say it differently, any tile that could be worked by a city (is in the workable area of a city) if it were placed on the right coastal square.

I'd noticed this too. Taking none or a negligible amount of damage seems very rare in these high% battles. I would have thought taking a lot of damage would be the exception to the rule. Wonder why that is.

Could be because they wanted to balance out the game or something, so that (for instance) a single Cavalry couldn't just steamroll an entire stack of Macemen by itself.

The way combat works is of course linked to the combat system. I could explain how it works, but that is probably not what you're looking for. However, remember that in most games, the weaker unit damages the stronger before it dies.

Take for example a Real Time Strategy game where two tanks fight eachother. One represents the mighty King Tiger tank (German heavy tank, late WWII), the other the Sherman tank (US medium tank). The game probably gives the stronger tank more hitpoints, more firepower and maybe better accuracy and range. If those two meet inside the game, then the stronger tank will virtually always win (close to 100% victory chance), but it will still be damaged to some extent because the weaker tank scored some hits before it died.
Civ combat works in a similar way. There are hitpoints, rounds of combat and damage values. The stronger unit has a better chance to score a hit and does more damage per hit. So this will result in a very high chance to win the battle, but still it takes damage if the other side scores a hit before it dies.

I must say that the average amount of damage that you take in a 99% chance battle is not that high. If you take for instance a combat between a combat 1 maceman and a combat 1 pikeman. The game says 99.2% chance for the maceman. If the maceman wins, then on average it will have 73.5 hitpoints left (out of 100). That is not that bad.

I am having trouble obtaining iron. I have researched iron working, but I still am unable to build swordsmen and the like.

Any ideas?

Welcome to Civfanatics!

The game requires some resources for a number of units. For instance swordsman need iron. You need to build a mine on a iron resource (within your cultural influence sphere) and connect it with roads, rivers and coastal squares to your cities. The cities connected with the resource can then build swordsman.
Iron might not be near any of your cities. If every resource was available in your empire, then the programmers could have just left out the strategic resource system as it would be meaningless. So some resources are not available to you. You could try to trade for them, but they tend to be expensive. A short term (10 turns) trade to build or upgrade some units can maybe be affordable. After you've build your army, you cancel the trade. You could also try to make do with the units that you can still build. It would be an awfull start if you don't have copper, iron and horses available in one of your first cities.
If you are succesful in your wars, then your empire might become so big that you have every strategic resources available in your empire.

 

[Codex]

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I'm curious about holy cities & their shrines.

Here's the situation: Civ x founds a religion far, far away. When I first encounter civ x, I think she's the founder. Things get crowded, so it's time. My problem:

1. How can I figure out which is the Holy City? (Assume that it doesn't yet have a shrine, and that when it was founded I didn't yet know of the existence of civ x.)
2. What happens if I raze the Holy City? Is the religion gone forever-- or at least its shrine? Does its "holiness" jump to another city, like a palace?
3. If I take the city, and keep it, does it remain Holy? Can I, as a foreign civ, build a shrine there?

I think my more general problem is that I'm finding it difficult to determine what a foreign city contains, which makes intelligent planning about razing/capturing difficult. (I know other people have also complained about being forced to decide without having the chance to review the city's contents; given the elimination of Civ3's option to abandon unwanted cities, this makes the razing decision even more important.) Any suggestions that you folks might have for getting such military intelligence would certainly raise my civ intelligence!

- Codex

 

[Samson]

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I'm curious about holy cities & their shrines.

Here's the situation: Civ x founds a religion far, far away. When I first encounter civ x, I think she's the founder. Things get crowded, so it's time. My problem:

1. How can I figure out which is the Holy City? (Assume that it doesn't yet have a shrine, and that when it was founded I didn't yet know of the existence of civ x.)
2. What happens if I raze the Holy City? Is the religion gone forever-- or at least its shrine? Does its "holiness" jump to another city, like a palace?
3. If I take the city, and keep it, does it remain Holy? Can I, as a foreign civ, build a shrine there?

I think my more general problem is that I'm finding it difficult to determine what a foreign city contains, which makes intelligent planning about razing/capturing difficult. (I know other people have also complained about being forced to decide without having the chance to review the city's contents; given the elimination of Civ3's option to abandon unwanted cities, this makes the razing decision even more important.) Any suggestions that you folks might have for getting such military intelligence would certainly raise my civ intelligence!

- Codex

1. Each religion in a city is reprasented by that religions icon on the map. The holy city has a star on that logo.
2. I have never done it, but I would guess that you loose the holy city for ever, but if there are other cities with that religion they will keep it.
3. Yes you can build the shrine and get all benifits as if you founded it.

Before you get spys the only way is to zoom right in and look at the city graphic. This really gets me, as sometimes I spend ages eyeballing all the cities to see which has the wonder I want, and do not fiond it so have to keep all of them.

With spys you can put the spy in that city and examine the city screen to find out all about it.

 

[Codex]

1. Each religion in a city is reprasented by that religions icon on the map. The holy city has a star on that logo.

Never even looked for this -- d'oh! I guess that's why they call this the newbie question thread... Thanks, Samson! (I assume from your handle that you know a thing or two about razing cities... )

Now that I can identify the holy city, and

3. Yes you can build the shrine and get all benifits as if you founded it.

it's hard to see why I'd raze the holy city. But I retain a perverse curiosity about what this would do to a game. Maybe I could play a "jihad" variant, in which holy cities could never be captured?

Before you get spys the only way is to zoom right in and look at the city graphic. This really gets me, as sometimes I spend ages eyeballing all the cities to see which has the wonder I want, and do not fiond it so have to keep all of them.

With spys you can put the spy in that city and examine the city screen to find out all about it.

I'll have to get me some spies! I share your frustration about getting information from the city graphic, and I'm wondering if others have found useful ways to read the various information screens that I haven't, or if there are helpful mods available that would list visible city attributes?

- Codex

 

[Roland Johansen]

If you raze the holy city, then there will be no place left to build the shrine of that religion. So no gold from a shrine and no increased speed in natural religion spread for that religion. There will also be no civilization that can get a view into foreign cities with that specific religion.

In the Info Screen (F9), there is a subsection called Top 5 Cities/Wonders. In this section, there is a list with all of the world wonders and the nations that have build them (if you know the nation at the moment that you look at the info screen, otherwise it lists the nation as Unknown). If you click on the wonder in this list, then you get additional information, namely when it was build and how it looks like. If it has been build by a city that you knew when the wonder was finished, then the event is stored in the event log (CTRL TAB) and you can look it up (you have the date) and click on the entry of the event log. That will take you directly to the city.
If you didn't know the city when the wonder was build, then the information in the event log does not contain the location of the city, so it's useless. You can still take a look at the top 5 cities and see if it was build in one of those 5 cities. If not, try to memorize the picture of the wonder and look closely at all the cities of the nation that has build the wonder. If you have found the city, place a sign (ALT s) on the city square that tells you that that city contains the wonder. The sign will be stored in your save files.

 

[Samson]

If it has been build by a city that you knew when the wonder was finished, then the event is stored in the event log (CTRL TAB) and you can look it up (you have the date) and click on the entry of the event log. That will take you directly to the city.

That is really good to know, thanks.

 

[Codex]

If you raze the holy city, then there will be no place left to build the shrine of that religion. So no gold from a shrine and no increased speed in natural religion spread for that religion. There will also be no civilization that can get a view into foreign cities with that specific religion.

Good to know. So, razing a holy city would make sense if your only goal was to cripple another civ.

In the Info Screen (F9), there is a subsection called Top 5 Cities/Wonders. In this section, there is a list with all of the world wonders and the nations that have build them (if you know the nation at the moment that you look at the info screen, otherwise it lists the nation as Unknown). If you click on the wonder in this list, then you get additional information, namely when it was build and how it looks like. If it has been build by a city that you knew when the wonder was finished, then the event is stored in the event log (CTRL TAB) and you can look it up (you have the date) and click on the entry of the event log. That will take you directly to the city.
If you didn't know the city when the wonder was build, then the information in the event log does not contain the location of the city, so it's useless. You can still take a look at the top 5 cities and see if it was build in one of those 5 cities. If not, try to memorize the picture of the wonder and look closely at all the cities of the nation that has build the wonder. If you have found the city, place a sign (ALT s) on the city square that tells you that that city contains the wonder. The sign will be stored in your save files.

This is helpful -- at least I'll have some idea of what to look for! Unfortunately, it doesn't get around the need to conduct a lot of visual inspection of individual cities.

I realize that the designers deliberately chose to make all of a city's builds always visible -- they celebrated this as an improvement for gameplay, and I imagine that it is for skilled players who can use all of the information in their tactical decisions. One side effect, though, is that some of the handy information screens (like the wonder screen) have been eliminated, or at least much reduced in the detail that they provide.

I guess I really grasp textual information much more easily than I do visual graphics. Maybe I just need to play more! But, iss there any way to call up a textual list of foreign city builds rather than conducting visual inspection? Or did the designers just not imagine a user lazy enough to need one?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Good to know. So, razing a holy city would make sense if your only goal was to cripple another civ.

I'd rather capture it. It cripples them and helps yourself a lot. It might be a good target for a nuke if you like nukes. A nuke won't stop the shrine income, but might destroy the buildings that multiply that gold income (like banks).

This is helpful -- at least I'll have some idea of what to look for! Unfortunately, it doesn't get around the need to conduct a lot of visual inspection of individual cities.

I realize that the designers deliberately chose to make all of a city's builds always visible -- they celebrated this as an improvement for gameplay, and I imagine that it is for skilled players who can use all of the information in their tactical decisions. One side effect, though, is that some of the handy information screens (like the wonder screen) have been eliminated, or at least much reduced in the detail that they provide.

I guess I really grasp textual information much more easily than I do visual graphics. Maybe I just need to play more! But, iss there any way to call up a textual list of foreign city builds rather than conducting visual inspection? Or did the designers just not imagine a user lazy enough to need one?

I gave you every trick that I could think of. I normally don't have a problem finding the wonders with all these tricks, but I'm also sometimes scanning a number of cities for a wonder.
I think it's a design decision that is less than perfect. They did something similar with the civilopedia in vanilla civilization IV version 1.00. Some items were only presented with a small picture and no name. This was later 'fixed' by adding the names. They won't do that by creating another world wonder screen, I guess. If I were in charge, then I would make the present World Wonder screen update the information of the city of creation when it became visible. Now the screen only presents the nation that has build the wonder, while both the nation and the city of creation are interesting facts.

There are also other information screens that are less than perfect in my opinion. There are some mods out there that improve on some of these information screens (none for the World Wonder screen as far as I know). I'm presently using the Hall of Fame mod for this purpose as it combines some of these modded information screens.

 

[Codex]

I gave you every trick that I could think of. I normally don't have a problem finding the wonders with all these tricks, but I'm also sometimes scanning a number of cities for a wonder.

There are also other information screens that are less than perfect in my opinion. There are some mods out there that improve on some of these information screens (none for the World Wonder screen as far as I know). I'm presently using the Hall of Fame mod for this purpose as it combines some of these modded information screens.

I do appreciate the tricks, and methinks it's time to download the HOF mod.

 

[eggrock]

Apologies in advance; I've read the manual but not quite thoroughly and I may have missed this info. I've never played a TBS game before, other than Panzer General way back when. I have some very simple questions.

1) If a tile has 1 food, 2 hammers and I build a cottage (and road), will my city be able to access everything or just the +1 gold from the cottage?

Maybe that's it, the tips thread in another section here has been useful, if a little spoiler-ish. Great game and it's nice to be able to run something at native res without my computer blowing completely apart.

[edit] Oh yeah, someone mentioned something like 'learn about GOTM' earlier on this thread. What is GOTM?

[edit 2] One more - Is it wise to have a city not produce anything at all, or should city points (or whatever they're called) always be invested in building something?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Apologies in advance; I've read the manual but not quite thoroughly and I may have missed this info. I've never played a TBS game before, other than Panzer General way back when. I have some very simple questions.

1) If a tile has 1 food, 2 hammers and I build a cottage (and road), will my city be able to access everything or just the +1 gold from the cottage?

First of all, Welcome to civfanatics!

This thread is perfect for simple questions and I can imagine that this game is a bit complicated when you have only limited experience with TBS games.

The city gets all of the various resources (food, production, commerce) from a tile that it is using. You can see which tiles are being used by a city by entering the city and looking at the white circles in the city screen. The white circles indicate the tiles that are being used. You can activate as many white circles as there is population in the city and get a white circle in the center tile for free. Sometimes there are specialists asigned in a city (you can control that yourself) and then each specialist replaces one of the white circles.

Cottages are a special case as they grow in size and productivity as they are being actively used by cities. As long as the white circle of a city is active on a cottage then it will grow (cottage -> hamlet -> village -> town).

You can also see that various tiles are being used by a city without entering the city if you know what to look for. Mines get a bit of smoke and a rail car that is moving up and down, the light in farmhouses lights up and the cottages get a counter on top of them (when you move the mouse over the cottage) that indicates how many turns it takes until they will grow again.

Maybe that's it, the tips thread in another section here has been useful, if a little spoiler-ish. Great game and it's nice to be able to run something at native res without my computer blowing completely apart.

I can't quite see what can be spoiler-ish about tips as each game of civ is completely different than the previous one.

[edit] Oh yeah, someone mentioned something like 'learn about GOTM' earlier on this thread. What is GOTM?

Game of the Month. A monthly friendly competition. Someone makes a map (usually an interesting one) and everyone tries to compete with the AI on the map and get a very high score or just survive if it is difficult. After the competition, the various people completing the map can discuss their strategies. This can be a learning experience as you can learn tricks about what to do with a starting position or how to fight a war with you neighbour or how to become friendly with someone who has some resources that you'd like to trade for. (I've never played one, so I have no personal experience.)

[edit 2] One more - Is it wise to have a city not produce anything at all, or should city points (or whatever they're called) always be invested in building something?

I never have cities that have nothing to produce. But I'm not going to say that you should never do it. Every strategy has its place in civ. Don't ever believe in a perfect strategy for everything.

So, why would you want to produce nothing in a city? I guess this is before the 'build science' and 'build gold' options have been invented and for some reason you don't want to expand, correct?

 

[eggrock]

First of all, Welcome to civfanatics!

Thank you for the response.

You can also see that various tiles are being used by a city without entering the city if you know what to look for. Mines get a bit of smoke and a rail car that is moving up and down, the light in farmhouses lights up and the cottages get a counter on top of them (when you move the mouse over the cottage) that indicates how many turns it takes until they will grow again.

Attention to detail. Outstanding, and one of the things I noticed shortly after starting the game. (Not the lights/smoke, just all the little 'extras' in this game.)

I can't quite see what can be spoiler-ish about tips as each game of civ is completely different than the previous one.

Basically things that I should learn on my own instead of following in someone else's footsteps; eg, Nationalism is a possible free technology from the Oracle if you're quick (and lucky) enough on tech tree advances.

I never have cities that have nothing to produce. But I'm not going to say that you should never do it. Every strategy has its place in civ. Don't ever believe in a perfect strategy for everything.

So, why would you want to produce nothing in a city? I guess this is before the 'build science' and 'build gold' options have been invented and for some reason you don't want to expand, correct?

The manual keeps saying things like, "Your city is not growing/advancing while you're building __________ unit." So *something* isn't happening; I'm just not sure what that something is.

 

[MrCynical]

The manual keeps saying things like, "Your city is not growing/advancing while you're building __________ unit." So *something* isn't happening; I'm just not sure what that something is.

While building a worker or a settler your city won't grow, but nothing else you build has this restriction. At the very least you can always build military units rather than just waste the production, without inhibiting city growth. Once the build gold, research or culture options are available (and you'll probably get at least one of them quite early), then obviously it is always better to build those than nothing.