Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Tenshai]

Thanks.

But I thought I remembered being able to change it numerically in the settings. That might be a memory from Civ3 though. Is it possible in Civ4?

 

[KinesongPayaso]

what determines which city get's the first religion spread, when you first research a technology?
like, if you had 3 cities, and gotten Code of Laws, what determines which city Confucianism gets to first?

I wanted to know, so that I could "force" the holy city to my commerce city, and not just my GP or production city

the only time I receive confucianism, is when I complete the oracle for CoL
to which city would confucianism spread first? on the city I built the CoL on?
on the city other than my capital, and the city I built CoL on?



----2 different question
one is for just researching a tech
one is by building the oracle

 

[cabert]

what determines which city get's the first religion spread, when you first research a technology?
like, if you had 3 cities, and gotten Code of Laws, what determines which city Confucianism gets to first?

it's random
with a large penalty for the capital
and a penalty for cities with a religion in them

I wanted to know, so that I could "force" the holy city to my commerce city, and not just my GP or production city

really? I like to have a religion in a production city, able to build Wall Street when the time has come, able to build market, grocer, bank before that, and able to receive settled Great Prophets.
Commerce = beakers if you have a good shrine, so there is no point in having holy city in a commerce city.

the only time I receive confucianism, is when I complete the oracle for CoL
to which city would confucianism spread first? on the city I built the CoL on?
on the city other than my capital, and the city I built CoL on?

I don't even understand the question.
If you have a capital and one other city, it will be the one other.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

----2 different question
one is for just researching a tech
one is by building the oracle

This accomplishes the same thing - researching code of laws first results in a religion. It doesn't matter if the oracle researches COL or you do it "manually."

 

[enchant]

This seems like the sort of thing that had to have been asked before, but I've searched on several terms and can't find it. Also, I simply don't have the energy to read through all 260 pages of this thread.

Basically, my question is this: Is there someplace that give suggestions on the various decisions that must be made in the game - city improvements, buildings, research advances, etc., etc., etc...

I've read Sulla's walkthru, but it seems to simply be a blow-by-blow of that one specific game. I'm looking for something more general, such as "If your city is below 'x' financially, you should build the 'y' improvement". Or, "The 'railroad' advancement is critical, so research whatever it takes to get there".

I played the original Civ when it first came out and skipped 2 and 3. Now I don't have the several hours a day to invest in the game, and I'm hoping I can take some shortcuts past the learning curve.

Thanks for any help.

 

[cabert]

This seems like the sort of thing that had to have been asked before, but I've searched on several terms and can't find it. Also, I simply don't have the energy to read through all 260 pages of this thread.

Basically, my question is this: Is there someplace that give suggestions on the various decisions that must be made in the game - city improvements, buildings, research advances, etc., etc., etc...

I've read Sulla's walkthru, but it seems to simply be a blow-by-blow of that one specific game. I'm looking for something more general, such as "If your city is below 'x' financially, you should build the 'y' improvement". Or, "The 'railroad' advancement is critical, so research whatever it takes to get there".

This would be playing like the AI .
cIV is more a strategy game.
The triggers are victory condition related, not city related.
I suggest reading a few articles in the strategy section, like Sisiutil's beginner's guide.

I played the original Civ when it first came out and skipped 2 and 3. Now I don't have the several hours a day to invest in the game, and I'm hoping I can take some shortcuts past the learning curve.

that won't happen if you don't want a "walkthrough".
The game is simply too deep :
- diplomacy
- war
- tech tree and slingshots
- MMing tricks

 

[enchant]

Thanks cabert - I understand and appreciate what you're saying, and I haven't ruled out the concept that Civ 4 might not be a good fit for me. I was HEAVILY addicted to Civ 1, and I think much of the draw for me might be nothing beyond fond reminiscing.

I'll check out the references you mentioned.

 

[KinesongPayaso]

it's random
with a large penalty for the capital
and a penalty for cities with a religion in them

what penalty is this? you get penalties for having a holy city?

really? I like to have a religion in a production city, able to build Wall Street when the time has come, able to build market, grocer, bank before that, and able to receive settled Great Prophets.
Commerce = beakers if you have a good shrine, so there is no point in having holy city in a commerce city.

well, this is still at the start of the game. so I wanted IMMEDIATE benefits from the religion. and since my production city will be busy producing military
and my commerce city REQUIRING bank, market etc, it would've benefitted from my early spreading
I was already at some +11 coins, because of my religion spread

I don't even understand the question.
If you have a capital and one other city, it will be the one other.

what determines which city get's the first religion spread, when you first research a technology?
like, if you had 3 cities,...[/quote

 

[cabert]

what penalty is this? you get penalties for having a holy city?

I meant the randomly selected city is unlikely to be the capital.
It's not a game penalty, it's a penalty "biasing" the odds for the different cities:
- capital is unlikely (if you have other cities)
- the more religions there are in a city, the less likely it is to get there

well, this is still at the start of the game. so I wanted IMMEDIATE benefits from the religion. and since my production city will be busy producing military
and my commerce city REQUIRING bank, market etc, it would've benefitted from my early spreading

Early game, you don't have banks markets and such.
And I was implying that you don't need to build those things (not now and not later) in your commerce cities if you have a strong shrine in a production city.

I was already at some +11 coins, because of my religion spread

What?
A new religion cannot be spread before it is founded. So either the holy city is already selected (and then it's too late) or not (and then it's not spread).

what determines which city get's the first religion spread, when you first research a technology?
like, if you had 3 cities,...

if you have 3 cities, without any religion there, the holy city will probably be your oldest city except your capital.

 

[KinesongPayaso]

now, I know you're a regular contributor to these forums
but jesus! has anyone told you to not be so critical?
no offense man .. but really.. even in your other posts to other people, it's the same

anyway, back to the topic
first, I say that this game is still early, since I just got CoL, and spread my religion

then you mention about WALL STREET, which is VERY far from this era. then banks and market, which is closer

then now, you go back and say I dont have banks and markets, even though you already mentioned that, even Wall street

What?
A new religion cannot be spread before it is founded. So either the holy city is already selected (and then it's too late) or not (and then it's not spread).

now you're saying im lying? or are you assuming that I was just stuck in one part of the game, and my previous questions are still at the same turn/age?

come on ...





sorry for backfiring, but this is just getting ridiculous

 

[cabert]

sorry for backfiring, but this is just getting ridiculous

really?
I don't understand your question, so I'm unable to answer.
If you have 11 gold from the shrine, then it's too late to worry about where the holy city will be, isn't it?

And I'm not critical at all, I say that a commerce city won't need markets and banks if you have a good shrine.
Maybe you should take the advice you get, don't you think?

 

[_alphaBeta_]

I believe cabert was just mentioning reasons why you wouldn't necessarily want the holy city to be your commerce city. If you want it that way, then that's your strategy.

To answer your original question - you cannot choose which city becomes the holy city. If you have more than two, I've never seen the capital get it. Aside from that, it seems completely random to me.

Religion spreads automatically (and a lot more frequently with a built shrine) to any city in the world connected to your trade route that doesn't already have a religion. If it does already have a religion, you must spread it there manually with missionaries.

 

[bardolph]

A side-effect of the holy city formula is that holy cities tend to be newly-founded cities on the edge of your empire (since these cities are most likely to have the fewest number of religions). That is usually a GOOD thing, since the huge cultural bonus you get for your holy city will push your borders out.

 

[bardolph]

Question regarding combat:

So my understanding is that situational bonuses are not added to the attacker, but rather subtracted from the defender. Is that correct?

So if an unpromoted spearman (STR 4, +100% vs Mounted) attacks an unpromoted Chariot (STR 4), then the spearman's bonus is applied as a -100% to the chariot, right?

Does this mean that the battle is resolved as STR 4 vs STR 0, with the spearman automatically winning and having no chance to take any damage?

That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Question regarding combat:

So my understanding is that situational bonuses are not added to the attacker, but rather subtracted from the defender. Is that correct?

So if an unpromoted spearman (STR 4, +100% vs Mounted) attacks an unpromoted Chariot (STR 4), then the spearman's bonus is applied as a -100% to the chariot, right?

Does this mean that the battle is resolved as STR 4 vs STR 0, with the spearman automatically winning and having no chance to take any damage?

That doesn't make sense to me.

A 10 strength unit versus a 10 strength unit where the defender has a net 100% bonus is a 10 vs 20 (10 *(1+1)) battle. A 10 strength unit versus a 10 strength unit where the defender has a net 100% penalty is a 10 vs 5 (10 /(1+1)) battle.

See the Combat explained article in the War Academy for more details about combat.

 

[bardolph]

Ugh. What a crazy system. Wouldn't it have been so much simpler to just ADD the relevant bonuses to each side (just like it says in the manuals), and calculate it that way?

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Just a quick point on the Holy City / Wall St issue raised earlier, as I think some confusion has developed.....

If you have the shrine in holy city, and have spread said religion widely, then almost always (I can't even think of a way this wouldn't occur), then your Holy City will be your best gold producing city. The shrine income is 1 GOLD (not commerce) per turn, per city, and therefore it isn't even a decision that takes a moments thought. You build Wall Street there, along with every possible financial development building.

In my current game, huge map, my Cuzco gets 84 Gold per turn from the shrine income (yes that's 84 cities I've managed to spread Buddhism to). At 100% Tax Rate, it generates 512 Gold per turn (that's with Wall Street et al, I haven't got Airports yet so it will get more )

So if you have a widely spread relligion, with the shrine built, then Wall St is a no-brainer in your Holy City.........(though there are probably exceptions to the rule)..

 

[Roland Johansen]

Ugh. What a crazy system. Wouldn't it have been so much simpler to just ADD the relevant bonuses to each side (just like it says in the manuals), and calculate it that way?

My guess (as a mathematician) is that they did this to make all percentage bonusses have an equal effect (combat promotion still works on the attacker by the way).

Example macemen (Strength 8) with 50% city attack bonus attacks longbowmen (Strength 6) with 100% defence bonus.

Normal system 12 vs 12. Civ4 system 8 vs 9.
The difference is that in the civ4 system the percentages are all applied to the defenders strength and thus are all equal.

I don't know why the combat promotions don't work the same though. That's a bit weird.

 

[ggganz]

It DOES add to each side. The only time I can think of any subtractions is when attacking from water. The attacker gets -50% unless it has Amphibious.

 

[a4phantom]

It DOES add to each side. The only time I can think of any subtractions is when attacking from water. The attacker gets -50% unless it has Amphibious.

Also -25% when attacking across a river without amphibious.