Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[a4phantom]

Yes thanks a lot for the info 'dude', I'm a girlie btw

Sure but I'm a feminist and treat men and women equally, so I call everyone dude. It gets me in trouble but less trouble than calling both "hon" or "babe".

You misunderstood, sorry I if I haven't been clear; I LOVE ELLA!!!
That's why I'd like to have your mod that adds her to the game as great artist!! (failed to find it on these forums..)

Ok that makes a lot more sense than not being able to find her on Google. Sorry, I'm pretty drugged up these days. It's not really a mod, I just used a xml file editor* to add Great People names (Ella, Bob, Tito Puente as Great Artists, Joab, Gideon, Mazer Rackham and Ender Wiggin as Great Generals, my highschool industrial tech teacher as a Great Engineer, Elijah as a Great Prophet and Charles R. Drew as Great Scientist) in place of the generic Great Prophet, Great General, etc. that come on the lists after the named GP are exhausted. I will try to upload my file and link to it, and describe where you should put it.


*This free and easy one: notepad-plus.sourceforge.net

Update, it won't let me upload the file because xml uploads are prohibited. But what you do is go here "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Warlords\Assets\XML\Units" and copy the CIV4UnitInfos file. Paste the copy here: "C:\Documents and Settings\Me\My Documents\My Games\Warlords\CustomAssets\xml\units", and then go to work on it with the editor. It will affect your normal games, so it's not a mod and you don't have to load the game twice to play, but because you copied it to "custom assets" first if something goes wrong you can just delete the file and your game isn't damaged. Once you've opened it with notepad++ what you have to do to add names is pretty self explanatary, it's a big confusing file but Great People names are near the bottom.


My example:
<UnitInfo>
<Class>UNITCLASS_ARTIST</Class>
<Type>UNIT_ARTIST</Type>
<UniqueNames>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_HOMER</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_THESPIS</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_LING_LUN</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_WANG_XIZHI</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_VALMIKI</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_VIRGIL</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_KALIDAS</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_LI_PO</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_DU_FU</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JALAL_ALDIN_RUMI</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_DANTE_ALIGHIERI</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_YUNUS_EMRE</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_AMIR_KHUSRO</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_IBN_MUQLAH</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_MICHAELANGELO</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_RAPHAEL</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_WILLIAM_SHAKESPEARE</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_MIGUEL_DE_CERVANTES</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_REMBRANDT</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JOHANNES_VERMEER</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JS_BACH</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_WOLFGANG_MOZART</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JOHANN_GOETHE</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_LUDWIG_VAN_BEETHOVEN</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_VICTOR_HUGO</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_VINCENT_VAN_GOGH</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JOHANNES_BRAHMS</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_DVORAK</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_MARK_TWAIN</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_CLAUDE_MONET</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JOSEPH_CONRAD</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_FRANK_KAFKA</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_LOUIS_ARMSTRONG</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_DUKE_ELLINGTON</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_PABLO_PICASSO</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_BOB_DYLAN</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_JAMES_BROWN</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_ANN_RAGSDALE</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_PABLO_NERUDA</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_ELLA_FITZGERALD</UniqueName>
<UniqueName>TXT_KEY_GREAT_PERSON_TITO_PUENTE</UniqueName>

 

[a4phantom]

simple question, didn't have much luck searching (236 page thread) but it sounds like a stupid question.

I just built a cottage, and it says it wont grow until it works. Can somebody please explain this, and help me fix it?

It's not a stupid question, as cottages are unique in that they grow (become hamlets, villages and towns, each of which are more productive) as the tiles they're on are worked by a city. So if you're not working that tile, the cottage will never become a hamlet.

 

[robjones890]

It's not a stupid question, as cottages are unique in that they grow (become hamlets, villages and towns, each of which are more productive) as the tiles they're on are worked by a city. So if you're not working that tile, the cottage will never become a hamlet.

in that case, how do I work the tile?

 

[ArghLuiz]

is there a way to know which buildings an enemy city have, so you can plan which are more interesting of keeping or razing?

 

[a4phantom]

in that case, how do I work the tile?

Usually your governor decides which tiles are being worked, but if you want to choose for yourself you go to the city screen and click on that tile on the city map. A white circle will pop up on it, showing that one point of your city's population is working it.

 

[BlueSoxSWJ]

in that case, how do I work the tile?

About halfway down page 234, Sisiutil gives a good explanation of the city screen.

It's not really a mod, I just used a xml file editor* to add Great People names (Ella, Bob, Tito Puente as Great Artists, Joab, Gideon, Mazer Rackham and Ender Wiggan as Great Generals, my highschool industrial tech teacher as a Great Engineer, Elijah as a Great Prophet and Charles R. Drew as Great Scientist)

Wiggin!

 

[bgast1]

I have been playing at the settler level, and have won few times but only with a time victory with several different leaders. I am thinking about moving up to the next level. The reason being is I think it would help with the learning curve. My question has to do with war, usually when I go to war I get my butt kicked. What is a good level of defense to have in your cities, and is war ever really advantageous? I enjoy kicking butt, it just never seems to work well for me. General comments please.

 

[Sisiutil]

I have been playing at the settler level, and have won few times but only with a time victory with several different leaders. I am thinking about moving up to the next level. The reason being is I think it would help with the learning curve. My question has to do with war, usually when I go to war I get my butt kicked. What is a good level of defense to have in your cities, and is war ever really advantageous? I enjoy kicking butt, it just never seems to work well for me. General comments please.

Most players (including me) swear by wars as a way to gain a huge advantage--in territory, resources, and population, and by weakening an opponent. One of the main reasons that warring is such an effective strategy is that the human player is much more skilled than the AI when it comes to war. Specifically, I find that the AI tends to focus too much on pillaging and not enough on capturing cities, and also does not know how to use siege units effectively. The AI also tends to go for the "low hanging fruit"--targeting the cities that are closest to its own and weakly defended, making it easy to predict where you will be attacked, and therefore where you need to focus your defense.

For defense, then, you mainly need to focus units in cities along your "perimeter"--coastal cities and border cities. Inland cities away from any potential front are fine with a single, obsolete defender. Because the AI is so fond of pillaging (and using mounted units to do it), ensure you have some counter units to take out the pillagers--Spearmen, Pikemen, and Riflemen are each era's anti-mounted unit, so make sure you have them available.

The AI may send a stack of units at you, so leave some siege units (Catpults, Cannons, Artillery, Fighters, Bombers) in the border cities to inflict collateral damage on them, making your counter units' job easier. I've seen stacks turn around and run home after getting a spanking from a few Cats. Collateral damage also evens the playing field for your units. You may not have a Knight available, which is the counter to a Crossbow, for example. But if you weaken the enemy Crossbowman enough with a Catapult or two, almost any other unit can take it out.

DO NOT rely heavily on defensive units like Archers and Longbowmen. The AI will run circles around them, pillaging all your improvements, while your archery units watch helplessly from behind the city walls. In my opinion, Archery units (and the City Garrison promotion) are only useful for defending a newly-taken city which is highly likely to come under a direct counter-attack. (Another easy thing to predict: when you take one of the AI's cities, it tends to really, really, REALLY try hard to get it back).

That's for defense. On offense, the stack o' doom still rules. You'll need a mix of siege units, melee (later promoted to gunpowder) units with city raider promotions, a couple of units to defend the stack from counterattack, at least one medic unit, and some units to leave behind and defend any cities you take. Remember that a city you take becomes your new border city, so you may be able to shift some units from a city that has now become further from the front to the new acquisition.

For further information, refer to this site's War Academy.

 

[ggganz]

help! how do you reinstall civ 4 ?!? my NEW computer (grrrrrr...) froze when i put in the second cd!

That happened to me too. So, uninstall via Control panel>Add or remove programs. Then, when you go to install it again, first you should go to the task manager (Ctrl,alt,delete), go to the processes tab, and end all of the processes with you user name BESIDES explorer.exe and tskmgr.exe. If you accidentally end explorer.exe, you need to shut down the computer via the ask manager's menu bar at the top. If you end tskmgr.exe, no big problem, it just ends the task manager, so press Ctrl,alt,delete again.

 

[frankcor]

And you know what? I don't think anyone besides her immediate family, ever saw Ella Fitzgerald's belly button. Meanwhile, Britney is showing the world her ... geeze, I'm starting to sound like my grandfather.

 

[ggganz]

This is the very first time I have seen any spam in this thread.

 

[a4phantom]

is there a way to know which buildings an enemy city have, so you can plan which are more interesting of keeping or razing?

Late in the game parking a spy there will do it. But honestly it doesn't matter much, because those buildings may be destroyed in your capture of the city and buildings aren't hard to replace. Think location, size, Wonders of the World, strategic location, and whether you can defend it.

 

[ggganz]

Not the city screen. Just what the city sees.

 

[a4phantom]

Most players (including me) swear by wars as a way to gain a huge advantage--in territory, resources, and population, and by weakening an opponent. One of the main reasons that warring is such an effective strategy is that the human player is much more skilled than the AI when it comes to war.

Also, the AI goes to war for stupid reasons (religion, personality conflicts, etc) while you are free to go to war when and with whom will grant you the most advantage. Essentially the computer loves or fights according to an algorithim and you do it according to your best interests. Yes, the computer is sentimental and you are logical. Obviously all other things being equal, it's better to choose fights with civs that are of different religions and already dislike you than to destroy your friends, but all other things are almost never equal. I'm a mediocre Prince player who struggles to keep up with the AIs until I start warring with them. From the time of my second war, I'm comfortably in the driver's seat for the rest of the game.

DO NOT rely heavily on defensive units like Archers and Longbowmen.

I think you often don't need archers at all. Axemen are better city defenders, and they're a little more expensive but you probably have a few warriors left over to garrison your unassailable cities, or you can use chariots. Axes can't get City Garrison promotions, but they can get Guerrilla to defend hilltop cities, and they already have +50&#37; against swordsmen and a much higher base strength. I don't usually research Archery at all, I don't need it until it's time for crossbowmen, and by that time I've taken it in a peace negotiation.

 

[Jezz]

Hi,

Long time Civ2 and Civ3 player, just got the Civilization Chronicles box set. But I don't see a manual for Civ 4 in here ... ? Or am I blind? It came with 2 cds(not dvd). Installed fine, plays fine. Explorered contents of both cds, BUT NO EFFING MANUAL. (there was a tech tree foldout/map, but nothing else)

How am I supposed to know what all these new features do if I don't have a manual? I know there are lots of guides and walkthroughs here, etc. But I don't need strategies, I like to find out those on my own. I just need a simple manual detailing what does what. The in game tutorial was useless. And the Civilopedia is very lacking in terms of interface etc.

Help? Anywhere I can find this as a .pdf somewhere?

Thx

 

[a4phantom]

And you know what? I don't think anyone besides her immediate family, ever saw Ella Fitzgerald's belly button.

Ella didn't have a glaring lack of talent and personality to distract from, so she didn't have to be that creative.

Meanwhile, Britney is showing the world her ... geeze,

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

 

[a4phantom]

Hi,

Long time Civ2 and Civ3 player, just got the Civilization Chronicles box set. But I don't see a manual for Civ 4 in here ... ? Or am I blind? It came with 2 cds(not dvd). Installed fine, plays fine. Explorered contents of both cds, BUT NO EFFING MANUAL. (there was a tech tree foldout/map, but nothing else)

How am I supposed to know what all these new features do if I don't have a manual? I know there are lots of guides and walkthroughs here, etc. But I don't need strategies, I like to find out those on my own. I just need a simple manual detailing what does what. The in game tutorial was useless. And the Civilopedia is very lacking in terms of interface etc.

Help? Anywhere I can find this as a .pdf somewhere?

Thx

This site, which I am not familiar with, claims to have it: http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3428673 . I'd scan that file before opening it, just in case. Honestly you don't need the manual, especially if you've played Civ3.

 

[Jezz]

This site, which I am not familiar with, claims to have it: http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3428673 . I'd scan that file before opening it, just in case. Honestly you don't need the manual, especially if you've played Civ3.

Thats a torrent site. I don't do torrent ... I just want a simple .pdf will do, something I can print out and read while i'm sitting on the toilet. And after 5 hours, I realize I want a manual. There's just too much new gameplay/features that I'm not getting because I don't even know it exists.

Anyone? Pls?

 

[Jezz]

I found on google, messageboards mentioning some (canadian?) versions came with a 3rd dvd with just the manual in pdf form. Anyone got that? I'll even point you to a ftp where you can upload it to if its too big to email/post at rapidshare ...

 

[s.bernbaum]

Thats a torrent site. I don't do torrent ... I just want a simple .pdf will do, something I can print out and read while i'm sitting on the toilet. And after 5 hours, I realize I want a manual. There's just too much new gameplay/features that I'm not getting because I don't even know it exists.

Anyone? Pls?

After installing CIV on my computer, I found a folder called "Manual" inside the folder called "Civilization IV". It contained three pdf manual files, one each in English, French, and German. This is the Mac version of CIV. I don't know if the Windows version includes these files or not.