Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Raggamuffin]

I think I read somewhere that the graphics in Beyond the Sword will be improved somewhat, can anyone confirm this or have I been dreaming?

 

[Roland Johansen]

I think I read somewhere that the graphics in Beyond the Sword will be improved somewhat, can anyone confirm this or have I been dreaming?

If you go to the main page/news of this site, then there is a news section of 7 may that says:

The graphics will be more polished and the look of the game has been completely transformed for some of the scenarios.

 

[mice]

That would have been nice, but I don't think so. The real problem with drawing on the map is that the grid lines become less visible when you zoom out (at least that is my opinion).

Thanks Roland. Back to the drawing board ...

 

[Raggamuffin]

If you go to the main page/news of this site, then there is a news section of 7 may that says:

The graphics will be more polished and the look of the game has been completely transformed for some of the scenarios.

Thanks! I wonder what they meant with that.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Thanks! I wonder what they meant with that.

That's the trick with advertisement: it can promise you great things while staying vague enough so that they can claim they really didn't promise anything.

There are several threads discussing the new expansion pack. You could join one of them and see all of the speculation. I haven't seen any speculation about the graphics so you could also start your own thread.

 

[beefcake99]

This is probably a really stupid question, but does anyone know how to get a city view in civ 4? I know that you could do it in civ 3, and there is a picture on the box which is of a city, but i can't figure out how to do it. I'm not talking about the city control map with production and wealth and all that, but an actual picture of what that individual city looks like. Thanks

 

[Roland Johansen]

This is probably a really stupid question, but does anyone know how to get a city view in civ 4? I know that you could do it in civ 3, and there is a picture on the box which is of a city, but i can't figure out how to do it. I'm not talking about the city control map with production and wealth and all that, but an actual picture of what that individual city looks like. Thanks

Welcome to CFC!

That is not possible in this version of civilization, or maybe more correctly, it is implemented in the main map view. If you zoom really close to your city, then you can see the individual buildings and every building that you build in a city will be added to this main map view.

 

[beefcake99]

thanks for the reply. Kinda disappointing, i loved getting the city view and checking out my palace.

 

[ggganz]

You can check out your palace. Think of it like this, you are ALWAYS in city view.

 

[Grille]

quick MP game question:

(How) is it possible to make diplo with the AI?

It say control-click, but no trade table appears...
(human diplo works)

 

[ggganz]

Just click on the name and then click "We would like to make a trade proposal". This is the primary way. Control click and click are the same for human diplo, because click brings up the trade table anyway, right?

 

[Grille]

Just click on the name and then click "We would like to make a trade proposal". This is the primary way. Control click and click are the same for human diplo, because click brings up the trade table anyway, right?

Well, yes & thanks for replying.
None of us didn't even get to that diplo screen with the leader pic showing up (>"We would like..."). Clicking a leader name just had no result of any kind except when it was a human player. Also, meeting some certain AI for the first time didn't get us the 'introductory' diplo screen nor did any known AI try to contact us. Now we guess the prob could be related to switching from PBEM- to Internet-MP mode (which we did). Another strange thing was that auto-unit cycling stopped working at some point although it was allowed in the game options (on my comp anyway).

Whatever, we started a new game and AI-Montezuma's attendances seem to be as annoying as usual.

 

[Civ-Lawyer]

hey, ive played civ 3 for a bit, and switched to civ a few months ago, but havent been able to play it due to time restrictions but, um, ive got some spare time now and have been browsing forums and i jsut wanna know how you "vassalise" its seems to me that the only way to "conquer/control" another civ is perm. alliance, destroying them, capturing their cities?

thanks in advance - yeah i know i have a stupid name, someone took my usual one

 

[McNabb]

Hey guys, got a question - not essentially a component of gameplay. But, hopefully someone knows how I could do this.

I'd been searching earth maps around, here and downloaded several. However, none are the way I like them. Well, the maps are perfect, but the civilizations on offer are never exactly what I want.

What I want to be able to do is;
- Have an Earth Map
- Be able to alter the number and select the Civilizations that will participate
- They all have correct starting positions

Basically, my goal is to have all the modern civilizations start from ancient in their correct geographical positions. But, I also want Australia, plus maybe a few other non-standard civilizations... Israel etc. to possibly be added... I have downloaded Civ Gold 3.0 for Warlords, which allows these civs, but has no map that goes with it, very fustrating.

I'm not sure what to do, or how to go about it. Do I use the WorldBuilder; and is that the program everyone chiefly uses? and in there, can I set start locations for the civilizations on an earth map? or do I have to make a scenario somehow and add all the civs that I want to play in that scenario seperately, then if i want to change them, have to change the scenario?

I guess, I just want to get to the point where I can 'play now' on an earth map, with Australia or any civilisation, be in standard 18, or any of the 43 extended civs in civ gold, in their right locations. So, sorry for the many numerous questions.. if you could help point me in the right direction, and answer most, if not all q's, it'd be very, much appreciated Thanks in advance.

 

[Samson]

hey, ive played civ 3 for a bit, and switched to civ a few months ago, but havent been able to play it due to time restrictions but, um, ive got some spare time now and have been browsing forums and i jsut wanna know how you "vassalise" its seems to me that the only way to "conquer/control" another civ is perm. alliance, destroying them, capturing their cities?

thanks in advance - yeah i know i have a stupid name, someone took my usual one

First, welcome to cfc

To vassalise a civ you have to have warlords. Then you normally need to conquer a good amount of their cities, and they will offer capitulation as one of the things they will give you to call off your war. It is possible to get them to become a vassal of you peacefully, but you need to be much more powerfull than them and very freindly.

Enjoy your spare time, hope it did not come at too much of a cost

 

[Roland Johansen]

Hey guys, got a question - not essentially a component of gameplay. But, hopefully someone knows how I could do this.

I'd been searching earth maps around, here and downloaded several. However, none are the way I like them. Well, the maps are perfect, but the civilizations on offer are never exactly what I want.

What I want to be able to do is;
- Have an Earth Map
- Be able to alter the number and select the Civilizations that will participate
- They all have correct starting positions

Basically, my goal is to have all the modern civilizations start from ancient in their correct geographical positions. But, I also want Australia, plus maybe a few other non-standard civilizations... Israel etc. to possibly be added... I have downloaded Civ Gold 3.0 for Warlords, which allows these civs, but has no map that goes with it, very fustrating.

I'm not sure what to do, or how to go about it. Do I use the WorldBuilder; and is that the program everyone chiefly uses? and in there, can I set start locations for the civilizations on an earth map? or do I have to make a scenario somehow and add all the civs that I want to play in that scenario seperately, then if i want to change them, have to change the scenario?

I guess, I just want to get to the point where I can 'play now' on an earth map, with Australia or any civilisation, be in standard 18, or any of the 43 extended civs in civ gold, in their right locations. So, sorry for the many numerous questions.. if you could help point me in the right direction, and answer most, if not all q's, it'd be very, much appreciated Thanks in advance.

This thread is for newbie questions, so it's not the best spot to ask about modding. There is a whole subforum dedicated to modding and it is called Creation and Customization.

I haven't done any mapmaking and so I don't know how to actually do it, but this is how I would try to do it:
1) Open the C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Name]\My Documents\My Games\Civilization 4\civilizationIV.ini or the C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Name]\My Documents\My Games\Warlords\civilizationIV.ini (depending on whether you use vanilla Civ4 or the expansion pack Warlords)

and change the line:
; Move along
CheatCode = 0

to
; Move along
CheatCode = Chipotle

I've read somewhere that this opens up more options in the world builder. Maybe those options are needed to make a map with starting positions and all.

2) Download a good worldmap that you want to use as a starting position and start a game on that map.

3) Open that map with the worldbuilder ingame and make the changes that you want. It should allow you to set starting positions and such. If you can't find out how to do it, then go to the modding forum. There is a guide there that explains how to make maps. If you want to combine the map with another mod that adds civilizations, then you should add a PublicMaps directory to the directory of that mod (see the Rise of Rome mod for an example of the directory structure) and place the map in that directory. Play the map using while using that mod (start that mod and choose the map). If the mod that added civilizations didn't change the types or resources on the map then this should combine the mods.

4) Save the map. You probably need to place it in
D:\Games\Civilization 4\Warlords\Mods\[Name of your mod]\PublicMaps
If you use civilizations that aren't in the original game, then you should add the needed files in the same way as the mod that introduced them did. You can also just add your map in the PublicMaps directory of that mod.

5) You can probably now play the worldmap in the same way as you can play the Rise of Rome scenario. [Name of your mod] is now one of the options to choose from.

This is not a perfect guide as I've never done any mapmaking myself and haven't combined a rule-changing mod and a map before. It could be that some stuff doesn't work exactly as I think. Go to the modding forum for better help.

Edit: Here is a link to the Civ IV in-game World Builder Manual as it can be found in the Creation and Customization subforum.

 

[Ben E Gas]

How do I upgrade my units all at once so that they upgrade all across the board?

How do I turn on Auto Upgrade?


Thanks.

 

[Roland Johansen]

How do I upgrade my units all at once so that they upgrade all across the board?

How do I turn on Auto Upgrade?


Thanks.

Once you hold your mouse over the upgrade button of a unit, then you can see its upgrade cost. If you also hold the ALT key while you do this, you'll see the upgrade cost of all of the units of that type. That can be expensive. If you click the upgrade button anyway while holding the ALT key, you'll upgrade as many of the units as you can pay for. If you have enough money, then that will be all of them, but if you don't, then some of the units will be selected at random and they will get the upgrade until you run out of money.

 

[frankcor]

If you have enough money, then that will be all of them, but if you don't, then some of the units will be selected at random and they will get the upgrade until you run out of money.

Roland, is it certain the order of upgrading is random? I have observed that there is a pattern but I can't identify the pattern exactly. It appears to be in the order in which the units were created (newest units first).

It may even be in the same order that units are displayed or listed when a stack of units is selected or when you hover the cursor over a stack. For example, all grenadiers at the same experience level are grouped together in order of their age.

When doing mass upgrades in situations where it will take two or more turns at reduced research to earn enough gold to complete the upgrades, I select what I believe to be the oldest unit of that type that will be upgraded. (using Ruff's Mod Pack or something similar that adds numbers to unit names makes this easier; 1st Infantry of Madrid, for example). As that unit becomes active each turn, I use the Alt key when selecting Upgrade and then select Skip if the unit is still un-upgraded. I repeat until the unit finally gets upgraded. If he was indeed the oldest of the units, he is also the last to be upgraded and I know it is time to notch the research slider back up to complete the process. (hmm, maybe this should be in the hints and tips topic instead).

Thanks Roland, as always, for another complete and thoughtful answer to questions here in this topic.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Roland, is it certain the order of upgrading is random? I have observed that there is a pattern but I can't identify the pattern exactly. It appears to be in the order in which the units were created (newest units first).

It may even be in the same order that units are displayed or listed when a stack of units is selected or when you hover the cursor over a stack. For example, all grenadiers at the same experience level are grouped together in order of their age.

When doing mass upgrades in situations where it will take two or more turns at reduced research to earn enough gold to complete the upgrades, I select what I believe to be the oldest unit of that type that will be upgraded. (using Ruff's Mod Pack or something similar that adds numbers to unit names makes this easier; 1st Infantry of Madrid, for example). As that unit becomes active each turn, I use the Alt key when selecting Upgrade and then select Skip if the unit is still un-upgraded. I repeat until the unit finally gets upgraded. If he was indeed the oldest of the units, he is also the last to be upgraded and I know it is time to notch the research slider back up to complete the process. (hmm, maybe this should be in the hints and tips topic instead).

Thanks Roland, as always, for another complete and thoughtful answer to questions here in this topic.

When I start to upgrade units, I want to have good units at certain spots first and so I want to choose which units I upgrade first. I have rarely used the mass upgrade method with the ALT button, allthough I know how it works.
There could be some pattern in the order in which the units are upgraded, I just never observed it. It's unlikely to be the order in which one would like the units to be upgraded.