Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[a4phantom]

Just a historical note to Raisin Bran's sig, France fought WWI for 4 horrible years and ultimately 'won' without surrendering. Yes the French forces were quickly overwhelmed in WWII*, mostly due to superior tanks, aircraft and mobile war tactics (blitzkrieg), but in that short time half as many French soldiers gave their lives as American soldiers did in our four years. As for the Vichy collaborator filth, if the Nazis had crossed the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean is there any doubt they would have found eager collaborators willing to run London and Washington under them? We had our share of fascist sympathizers, and there are always opportunists. I'm sorry for lecturing and I'm certainly no francophile, but let's be fair.


*The first British and Soviet forces to engage the Germans, in France and Poland, were also routed.

 

[tcc_dc]

How do you declare war on a CIV that refuses to speak with you? I used to remember how to do it, but in Warlords I have seem to have forgotten.

Thanks.

tcc

 

[Roland Johansen]

How do you declare war on a CIV that refuses to speak with you? I used to remember how to do it, but in Warlords I have seem to have forgotten.

Thanks.

tcc

First of all, welcome to civfanatics!

Just alt-click its name and you should declare war. Good luck!

 

[Ben E Gas]

A question I know has been asked a 1000 times but I can't find it by searching the forums. How do I modify my civs name. I've done it before but can't remember how. Is it in world builder? I think you can modify the adjective of your civ also. I remember it was very simple to do.

Thanks for the help,
Ben E Gas

 

[Raisin Bran]

A question I know has been asked a 1000 times but I can't find it by searching the forums. How do I modify my civs name. I've done it before but can't remember how. Is it in world builder? I think you can modify the adjective of your civ also. I remember it was very simple to do.

Thanks for the help,
Ben E Gas

When you are in-game press esc. (escape) and go to "your details" option

there you can change your civs name and adjectives!

 

[Calapine]

Well, to start with...Hello! *waves* I have been lurking here for a few weeks already, but this is the first I time to post. (And starting off with a question right away too...)


OCN

I am still familar with the concept of 'Optimal City Number' back from Civ 3, but I haven't been able to find the actual numbers. Does anyone know the OCN for small, standard, large, etc.. maps. Also, do game speed or difficulty setting have any influence on that?

Best Regards

 

[Roland Johansen]

Well, to start with...Hello! *waves* I have been lurking here for a few weeks already, but this is the first I time to post. (And starting off with a question right away too...)

Hello and welcome to civfanatics!

OCN

I am still familar with the concept of 'Optimal City Number' back from Civ 3, but I haven't been able to find the actual numbers. Does anyone know the OCN for small, standard, large, etc.. maps. Also, do game speed or difficulty setting have any influence on that?

Best Regards

OCN is a concept that was invented for Civ 3. If you had built significantly more cities than the OCN, then every further city would be 95% corrupt and thus be virtually useless. Corruption doesn't exist anymore in civ4, thus the OCN doesn't exist anymore (or at least is radically changed in appearance). We now have city upkeep costs which increase with the size of your empire (number of cities, distance of cities, size of cities) and thus limit your rate of expansion by making additional cities very costly at some point. To get a feeling for this new concept, I would advise you to take a look at the following War Academy article. The graphic can be very enlighning. The reason why upkeep rises that quickly at some point is that as you place more cities, the number of cities upkeep goes up for each and every of your cities (yes also for those that you have built earlier). However, there is a maximum to the number of cities upkeep, so at some point you will reach a plateau. There are formulas in post 89 of the original strategy article (there is a link at the bottom of the War Academy article to the original article). I would only advice you to look at the formulas if you are mathematically inclined.
(By the way, I disagree with the concept of OCN silently introduced in the article. It was written when civ4 was just out and is clearly influenced by the concept in civ3. You should look at each game on itself, this is only confusing people.)
If you want to get an idea how much the last city cost you, then take a look at the income per turn just before and just after settlement of the city.
You can also take a look at the financial advisor (F2) just before and just after settlement and see how the new city influenced city and civic upkeep costs). Remember that the next city will probably cost you more and you have a way to judge if further expansion is prudent at this point. Note that cities that help you control new resources are worth some costs.

At some point in the game the costs of a city are negligible compared to the income of a city (if you build a decent number of cottages). But before income increasing technologies as currency, cost reducing technologies as code of laws and technologies that allow you to grow your cities are available, it might be difficult to make a large empire prosperous. Especially at the higher difficulty levels, expansion can be expensive in the early game.

Next to city upkeep costs, there are civic upkeep costs and unit maintenance costs. However, those usually rise linearly with the size of your empire and should thus not be a severely limiting factor to your expansion. You can read more about those costs in the War Academy (game mechanics section).

 

[Emberghost]

Hey guys, I have a quick question. Family and I have played Civ 2 for years and I just got civ 4 and have a few questions. In civ 2 you could buy production to finish something quick if you needed. You need universal suffrage to be able to do this in civ 4 I guess but I still can't figure out how you speed up the production with money?

Also, in civ 2 you could look at your city and see the actual things you built in physical form which was kinda neat. Can you do this at all in civ 4? thanks

 

[Zophos]

Hey guys, I have a quick question. Family and I have played Civ 2 for years and I just got civ 4 and have a few questions. In civ 2 you could buy production to finish something quick if you needed. You need universal suffrage to be able to do this in civ 4 I guess but I still can't figure out how you speed up the production with money?

In the city-management screen, down near where all the governor buttons are, you will find two red arrows. The leftmost is for pop-rushing under slavery, the rightmost is for cash-rushing under Universal Suffrage. Hover your mouse over them to see the cost, and press (if it's lit up) to actually rush the build.

Also, in civ 2 you could look at your city and see the actual things you built in physical form which was kinda neat. Can you do this at all in civ 4? thanks

Yep...but there's no special screen. Just zoom in on the main map view (using the mousewheel or the page up/down buttons) to see what's been built. Wonders and city improvements all show up.

 

[andybrown65]

I've noticed in some games in order to build an improvement on a tile that has trees on it I need bronze or iron working - but recently I could build camps on beavers in a forest before BW (in Warlords not tried in normal), is there a rule to what needs chopping and what does not?

 

[Raisin Bran]

I've noticed in some games in order to build an improvement on a tile that has trees on it I need bronze or iron working - but recently I could build camps on beavers in a forest before BW (in Warlords not tried in normal), is there a rule to what needs chopping and what does not?

Camps are the only improvements that don't need bronze working (chopping forests)
you need to take the trees down for any other improvement exept fortifications and lumbermills.

 

[ArghLuiz]

ok now, i started playing this a few days ago, and i'm loving it. BUT i got a problem with micro management that is really annoying me... how do i found an unit (any kind) once i put it to sleep? is there a shortkey for that?

the only one i now only cycle between the active units. because of that, i have quite a few military units, priests, great people and workers "lost" on my map

the same thing goes for when you put them in "auto" mode or "exploration" mode (in the case of boats or scouts)...

 

[rainmaker]

There are 3 ways to initiate a GA: Taj Mahal, UU killing an ai uit, and combining Great People. My question is, if the first GA is initiated by any of these can you only get a second (or more) GAs by combining 3(or more)GP? Thus if I get my first GA by combining 2 GP will I get a second by building the Taj Mahal or using my UU to kill an AI unit?

I've been away for civ4 for several months and think I remember using a UU to get a GA but I may be wrong.

 

[Herse]

I was wondering about units earning experience. How does one optimize earning experience? Do units get more experience for winning low probability combats? Do units that withdraw earn any experience? If so I would appreciate it if anyone could explain (or point me to an explanation) of how the numbers work. Thanks.

 

[Sisiutil]

I was wondering about units earning experience. How does one optimize earning experience? Do units get more experience for winning low probability combats? Do units that withdraw earn any experience? If so I would appreciate it if anyone could explain (or point me to an explanation) of how the numbers work. Thanks.

I can't help with the exact numbers, but yes, more XPs are gained if a unit wins a battle against unlikely odds. The highest I think I've ever seen is 3 XPs from 22% or so odds, IIRC. Of course, the chances of the unit dying are much higher, so it's not a reliable way of earning XPs.

And yes, if a unit has withdrawal capability, it still earns XPs for that battle.

Ideally you want to lose as few units as possible, so the best way to earn XPs is to have the units engage in battles they're likely to win. Even with 100% odds, the unit still earns 1 XP. It may take longer, but you'll keep more units (and, by extension, have less war weariness).

 

[Herse]

I can't help with the exact numbers, but yes, more XPs are gained if a unit wins a battle against unlikely odds. The highest I think I've ever seen is 3 XPs from 22% or so odds, IIRC. Of course, the chances of the unit dying are much higher, so it's not a reliable way of earning XPs.

And yes, if a unit has withdrawal capability, it still earns XPs for that battle.

Ideally you want to lose as few units as possible, so the best way to earn XPs is to have the units engage in battles they're likely to win. Even with 100% odds, the unit still earns 1 XP. It may take longer, but you'll keep more units (and, by extension, have less war weariness).

Thanks Sisiutil. That is very helpful.
Best regards,

Herse

 

[Herse]

Thanks Sisiutil. That is very helpful.
Best regards,

Herse

Just as a follow up I did manage to find an explanation in the War Academy in an article by Arathorn called "Combat Explained." Half way through or so there is a section on Experience Points where he gives us the formula for earning experience. Combat Explained

 

[Ben E Gas]

Trade Routes:

I did a search and didn't find the answer I was looking for. Can someone give me the basic description of how trade routes work in civ4 (a dumbed-down non-technical version)? I have a worker, I tell him to build trade route while standing next to a city. He disapears and I never see him again or his trade route.

1. How does the trade route option help me?
2. How do I check on the worker's trade route?
3. How do I tell him to stop building a trade route to get him back?
4. Once I build one trade route with one worker, do I need to or does it benefit me to creat multiple trade routes with other workers?
5. Where is the best place on the map to build a trade route or does it even matter where the worker is standing?

Thanks for the help,
Ben E. Gas

 

[Zophos]

Trade Routes:

I did a search and didn't find the answer I was looking for. Can someone give me the basic description of how trade routes work in civ4 (a dumbed-down non-technical version)? I have a worker, I tell him to build trade route while standing next to a city. He disapears and I never see him again or his trade route.

1. How does the trade route option help me?
2. How do I check on the worker's trade route?
3. How do I tell him to stop building a trade route to get him back?
4. Once I build one trade route with one worker, do I need to or does it benefit me to creat multiple trade routes with other workers?
5. Where is the best place on the map to build a trade route or does it even matter where the worker is standing?

Thanks for the help,
Ben E. Gas

Yeah...this is probably bad terminology in the game.

Automating workers to 'build trade routes' makes 'em build roads (later railroads) between all your cities and resources, rivers, etc. The existence of such roads ALLOWS trade routes to exist between your cities, but the worker is not building the trade route, just the road.

An automated worker will keep doing his automated task FOREVER, until you make him stop (by giving other orders). So they 'vanish' because they wander off somewhere, happily building roads over everything in sight.

I never automate workers, BTW, so I don't know if an automated worker will ever make roads to your neighbors' cities. I would THINK that they would stay inside your cultural boundaries, but I don't know for sure.

So...what IS a trade route? Basically, each of your cities can have a trade route with up to N other cities (N is determined by technology, civics, etc.), but only with cities that it is connected to through roads, rivers, coastline (with Sailing) or ocean (with Astronomy). Each one brings in a certain amount of commerce/turn (see this thread for details). The trade routes for a city are shown in the city-management screen, on the left side, below the slider controls.

 

[a4phantom]

There are 3 ways to initiate a GA: Taj Mahal, UU killing an ai uit, and combining Great People. My question is, if the first GA is initiated by any of these can you only get a second (or more) GAs by combining 3(or more)GP? Thus if I get my first GA by combining 2 GP will I get a second by building the Taj Mahal or using my UU to kill an AI unit?

I've been away for civ4 for several months and think I remember using a UU to get a GA but I may be wrong.

UU victories only caused Golden Ages in Civ3, not anymore. If you use 2 GPs to cause a golden age (most people seem to consider this a waste) then you can cause another with 3 GPs, and another with 4 GPs. The Golden Age you get from the Taj Mahal is independent of this curve.