Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Roland Johansen]

How do I get above Dan Quayle in the ratings. That is hysterical to me BTW. I don't understand how I win the game, time trial, space race but never rank hugher than Dan Quayle. ok well maybe once. Suggestions?

The rating at the end of the game is heavily dependant on the time that you win the game. If you win the game in 1800 AD the score will be much higher than if you win in 2050AD. Another important factor in the score is the amount of territory and the amount of population that is in your empire.

Both of these factors contribute to a higher score for aggressively played games than for builder type game. So if you're a builder type player, then I wouldn't worry too much about the score. Just enjoy the game and enjoy the empire that you create.

Welcome to civfanatics by the way!

 

[merma8d]

Thanks for the info and the welcome. I feel like I only know how to use a fraction of everything in this game. It also seems that I always end of playing it the same way. Is there something I can do differently in the beginning to say...get ocean going boats faster so that I can take over more land?

 

[a4phantom]

Thanks for the info and the welcome. I feel like I only know how to use a fraction of everything in this game. It also seems that I always end of playing it the same way. Is there something I can do differently in the beginning to say...get ocean going boats faster so that I can take over more land?

Play the Vikings, their lighthouse replacement, Trading Post, gives ships +1 movement, and they start out with fishing I think. Other than that, just try to prioritize Astronomy in your research queue.

 

[Sisiutil]

Thanks for the info and the welcome. I feel like I only know how to use a fraction of everything in this game. It also seems that I always end of playing it the same way. Is there something I can do differently in the beginning to say...get ocean going boats faster so that I can take over more land?

Check out the articles in the Civ IV War Academy here on the site. Including my own friendly beginners' guide! (Insert sound of me blowing my own horn here)

 

[Rycheman]

Thanks for the info and the welcome. I feel like I only know how to use a fraction of everything in this game. It also seems that I always end of playing it the same way. Is there something I can do differently in the beginning to say...get ocean going boats faster so that I can take over more land?

Your right this is a massive game but then so is the history of civilization.Iwas new to civ about six months ago and it took a while for me to really get into it.Although i'm no expert,the more you play the game the better it gets.It's now by far my fav pc game of all time and i'd never played any civ game before civ4.You just learn more every time you play and it 's never the same.the only way to get ships is to get to astronomy asap which is essential on maps like continents,archipel etc.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Thanks for the info and the welcome. I feel like I only know how to use a fraction of everything in this game. It also seems that I always end of playing it the same way. Is there something I can do differently in the beginning to say...get ocean going boats faster so that I can take over more land?

To get to astronomy faster, you'll have to research faster (and then of course beeline to astronomy). To research faster, you'll need a lot of land improved with cottages and in your cities you need libraries and courthouses (and marketplaces and groceries if you're playing at a high difficulty level). You also need to develop these cottages so that they become hamlets, villages and finally towns which give you large amounts of commerce. You also need some friends with open borders so that your cities get foreign trade routes (using a road-river-sea connection). These bring in much more commerce than the domestic trade routes.

However, I don't quite see why you want to expand over the ocean. Have you already captured all the cities on your own continent? Or is your own continent fairly small?

If you're only playing at archipellago type maps, then the importance of astronomy is quite high and I can see that you'd want to research it soon.

If you want to learn more about the game, then the War Academy is a good place. Some articles might be too specialised is you're a starting player. Just pick some and read a bit. However, no article can replace ingame experience. You'll have to play the game for a while to see which things work and which don't. Also come back here and ask some questions about elements of the game which aren't clear to you. Or start a discussion thread of your own if you want to discuss an element of the game.

 

[HUSch]

There are different conditions for trade routes and in SP you must fulfil them, if you want to trade with another civ.
One condition is known coast and sailing.

My question is now:
Who have to fulfil the condition in MP, both players or 1 or both together?

 

[Rycheman]

How do i save my game settings?
Each time i play a new game or load an existing game i'm having to change the game settings like screen resolution on the options menu.It never keeps the settings from game to game.Please help.

 

[Roland Johansen]

How do i save my game settings?
Each time i play a new game or load an existing game i'm having to change the game settings like screen resolution on the options menu.It never keeps the settings from game to game.Please help.

You can save your options in that menu. It's called your profile.

 

[Rycheman]

Thanks Roland i'll give it a try.

 

[Zenon_pt]

Yes. But I have yet to see Bob Dylan.

U said BOB DYLAN!?!

what? No Bob Marley?!?

 

[a4phantom]

U said BOB DYLAN!?!

what? No Bob Marley?!?

I think Bob Marley already is a Great Artist. I think I've seen him.

 

[koala0101]

what does a nuclear meltdown cause

 

[Sisiutil]

what does a nuclear meltdown cause

It will cause some of the tiles around the city where this occurred to be marked with "FALLOUT". Tile improvements will be destroyed and the tile will be unworkable until you have workers clean up the fallout, which requires the Ecology tech, IIRC.

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

sorry for the newbie question but how many times I must post to change my avatar ?
I never suffered a nuclear meltdown : is it frequent ?

 

[a4phantom]

It's very rare. Still not worth the risk if you can get Three Gorges Dam, in my view.

 

[Raisin Bran]

How many times I must post to change my avatar ?

You need to have 30 posts AND been here for 1 month (30 days).



Welcome to CFC

 

[a4phantom]

1. What factors influence whether a SAM infantry intercepts an airstrike, and if it does what determines the damage or whether they shoot the plane down?


2. If I have an open borders agreement with Spain and units in Madrid, I assume they will they defend Madrid against an enemy we're both at war with. Will they receive Madrid's cultural defense bonus?

 

[Roland Johansen]

1. What factors influence whether a SAM infantry intercepts an airstrike, and if it does what determines the damage or whether they shoot the plane down?

The interception chance of the SAM infantry and whether or not the attack on ground forces or defence works occurs within one tile of the location of the SAM infantry. The stealth bomber also has a chance to evade interception. If another unit intercepts the airplane, then the SAM infantry cannot intercept. The damage is random. I once did a test between airplanes and noticed that the damage was based of their interception chance NOT their strength value. Weird huh. But that was in an early version of vanilla civ4 (1.52 or so). It could have changed (didn't see it in the changelogs of the patches however). Actually, I consider the chance to kill an airplane as bugged as it almost never happens to healthy airplanes.

2. If I have an open borders agreement with Spain and units in Madrid, I assume they will they defend Madrid against an enemy we're both at war with. Will they receive Madrid's cultural defense bonus?

Yes, they will defend and I guess they will get the cultural defence bonus. You could watch the combat log (CTRL TAB) and see if they got it after the combat has occured and then we know for sure.

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

@Raisin - thank you for the answer (are you speaking french ?)
@A4Phantom - I know it's very rare but have you experienced it on your own
@Roland - I've allways thought that a air interception promotion for ground and sea units should be implemented in the game.

Aurevoir