Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[obliterate]

How do you subsribe to threads?

 

[Roland Johansen]

How do you subsribe to threads?

It's one of the options in the Thread Tools at the top of the page.

 

[colinato]

Is there not a way to actually view your cities. Not the overview map screen, but to actually see the city and the buildings within it.

 

[Sisiutil]

Is there not a way to actually view your cities. Not the overview map screen, but to actually see the city and the buildings within it.

Like the city view Civ II had? It wasn't very functional, but it was kind of pretty. That's gone in Civ IV--what you can do that kind of comes close is do an intense zoom-in on the city to see its features. Wonders and buildings do show up when you do that.

 

[dannyusmc78]

also...the score of every leader..what exactly is that signify? I was voted "most cultural out of all 8 civ's" yet i was dead last in scores....

 

[obliterate]

How do you take a screenshot in game?

 

[Giovanni Caboto]

How do you take a screenshot in game?

That's pretty easy! Press <ALT>+<Print> like you do in normal Windows mode to get a screenshot in the clipboard. But CIV IV is smarter; it produces a graphics file in your MyGames\..\Screenshots folder.

 

[KinesongPayaso]

also...the score of every leader..what exactly is that signify? I was voted "most cultural out of all 8 civ's" yet i was dead last in scores....

it just means that given enough time, and other AI's don't win any other category, you have the closest chance of winning the game, by cultural victory

highlight your name on the score rankings(lower right)
it shows you scores on different stuff, wonders, culture, soldiers, wealth, whatever

 

[dannyusmc78]

thanks king!

 

[dannyusmc78]

my only shot here is cultural victory....i still only got cannon and the french have modern armor....how do they do it?

 

[Michael Alan]

In the Civ 4 Prototype movie the game designer said that Civ 4 was designed in its early phase as a Multiplayer Game. The Single Player ability was added second because that order of development made it easier to create the Multiplayer possibility. He repeatedly said that using the AI to play Single Player Civ 4 made the Multiplayer "message loop" feature " trivial. He seemed to imply that playing Civ 4 in Single Player mode was trivial like maybe it was not so good as Civ 3 for Single Player use though he never said exactly that. When they designed Civ 4 they started from scratch, like it was totally new compared to Civ 3. So my question is, if I do not use an internet connection and I'm likely to only play Single Player Civ then is Civ 4 worse? Should I just save some cash AND get a better Single Player game by getting the old Civ 3?

 

[ori]

In the Civ 4 Prototype movie the game designer said that Civ 4 was designed in its early phase as a Multiplayer Game. The Single Player ability was added second because that order of development made it easier to create the Multiplayer possibility. He repeatedly said that using the AI to play Single Player Civ 4 made the Multiplayer "message loop" feature " trivial. He seemed to imply that playing Civ 4 in Single Player mode was trivial like maybe it was not so good as Civ 3 for Single Player use though he never said exactly that. When they designed Civ 4 they started from scratch, like it was totally new compared to Civ 3. So my question is, if I do not use an internet connection and I'm likely to only play Single Player Civ then is Civ 4 worse? Should I just save some cash AND get a better Single Player game by getting the old Civ 3?

I never heard that civ4 was mainly a MP game. In any case if that were the case they failed miserably.
Civ4 is a very good game for SP I like it better than Civ3 though there are some people that would argue the opposite. It is definitely not a trivial game and if you look at the way it works (and the AI code) it probably has been more polished for SP than for MP...
And: Welcome to CFC

 

[Michael Alan]

Ori
Thanks for the quick reply. I'll take your word for it seeing as you have "Posts: 1,322" and I'm sure you have been around the block with the game. I just wasn't sure and wanted to avoid being disappointed. As you can tell I'm a real beginner, only played the Civ 4 tutorial so far. I'll give Civ 4 a whirl. It looks like it's going to be fun in Single Player or any player.
And thanks for the big band welcome

 

[djtool]

howdy

i'm somewhat new to CIV4 but very new to these message boards.

I was reading through a helpful thread in the stategies and tips area and came across a number of acronyms that were not in the article prestented in the warcollege area of the site.

Some I can figure out, others i'd like to make sure. Definitions are appreciated for the following:

WFYABTA
ToA
SE
CE
UB

Thanks in advance

eric

 

[ori]

howdy

i'm somewhat new to CIV4 but very new to these message boards.

I was reading through a helpful thread in the stategies and tips area and came across a number of acronyms that were not in the article prestented in the warcollege area of the site.

Some I can figure out, others i'd like to make sure. Definitions are appreciated for the following:

WFYABTA
ToA
SE
CE
UB

Thanks in advance

eric

Welcome to CFC (hah another Acronym )
WFYABTA - We Fear You Are Becoming Too Advanced, the reason an AI will give you if it does not want to trade a tech with you because you have exceeded the trade limit.
ToA - never seen that Edit: this could be Temple of Artemis one of the World Wonders
SE - Specialist Economy - you basically do most of you research and income from running specialists in your cities
CE - cottage economy - you basically do most of your research and income from cottage tile improvements
UB - Unique Building - newly introduced feature in Warlords/BtS every Civilization now has a unique building in addition to its unique unit

 

[r_rolo1]

ToA - never seen that Edit: this could be Temple of Artemis one of the World Wonders

Exactly ToA stands for Temple of Artemis

 

[PhilippK]

Another acronym I came across in a discussion about Joao II is REX, which he is apparently well suited for. I imagine it means rapid expansion, and my naive approach to it would be to just produce Settlers, Workers and Warriors (possibly using hammers from chopped forests) and found one city after another. Is there more to it than that?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Another acronym I came across in a discussion about Joao II is REX, which he is apparently well suited for. I imagine it means rapid expansion, and my naive approach to it would be to just produce Settlers, Workers and Warriors (possibly using hammers from chopped forests) and found one city after another. Is there more to it than that?

Not a whole lot more. But going for a rapid expansion strategy means that you'll have to somehow pay for all those cities. So you'll need a lot of cottages or merchants. Since merchants aren't available yet during the early stages of a rapid expansion strategy (or it wouldn't be very rapid), you'll have to build many cottages.

An unbalanced rapid expansion strategy can bankrupt your civilisation.

 

[Sisiutil]

Another acronym I came across in a discussion about Joao II is REX, which he is apparently well suited for. I imagine it means rapid expansion, and my naive approach to it would be to just produce Settlers, Workers and Warriors (possibly using hammers from chopped forests) and found one city after another. Is there more to it than that?

REX was originally devised as the winning strategy for Civ III: expand rapidly, claiming as much land as possible until none was left. Then start building towards victory.

Civ IV's city maintenance costs were introduced to seriously hinder the REX strategy, which it certainly does. Now REX refers to expanding rapidly, but more carefully.

First of all, you don't necessarily want to claim all the land available with cities right away. You should instead focus on claiming the best sites that will be able to quickly contribute to your nascent civ. These would be sites that claim an early strategic resource (copper, iron, horses), as well as ones that give you access to a resource that is financially lucrative and/or will raise your happiness cap (silver, gold, gems, ivory, furs). The precious metals are especially attractive since those cities will be able to "pay for themselves" early on--that is, working the silver, gem, or gold mine should offset the city's maintenance costs.

As Roland Johansen said, cottages are also important, so founding a city to claim good tiles for cottaging (my favourites are flood plains and riverside grassland) would also be a priority, especially if that city also claims one of the other resources I listed.

Second, you will also want to look for an opportunity to block the AI from expanding into territory you want to settle but will not be able to afford to until later. Founding a city at a choke-point, if one exists, then refusing Open Borders agreements until your desired area is backfilled with your own cities.

Focusing on cultural border expansion can also help. Borders expanded to their 3rd and 4th rings can prevent the AI from settling in territory that becomes closed to them but still open to you.

 

[GillsMan]

Hi there, what's the remedy for when one of my cities is unhappy due to overpopulation? Thanks!