Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[ori]

You would have figured this one out yourself if you had continued to play. You assumed that the remaining 65 turns would all take 1 year, which isn't true.

It's now 2015AD, and there are 5 more turns of 1 year and then 60 turns of 1/2 year which results in a game that ends in 2050AD.

It seems that all you have to do to win is click 65 times on next turn. I can't see you losing this game.

that is one of the pitfalls of Beyond the Sword - in Vanilla/Warlords the last turns are one year per turn in BtS depending on speed you can have 1 Month per turn...

 

[JTMacc99]

Okay, follow up to my question about game lengths longer than Normal.

If I choose Epic next time, in addition to all that has been perfectly explained so far, does Epic also lend itself to a better chance of a culture victory (or loss)? For example, I understand that buildings that produce culture like a temple will take longer to build. However, once that temple is up and running, wouldn't that then generate a lot more culture over the long run? (I'm assuming that culture isn't scaled.)

I'm also assuming that if buildings cost more hammers, and technologies cost more flasks (almost said lightbulbs, betraying my Civ II background), then things you get for Gold also cost more coins. Is that true?

 

[Mknn]

* What determines aerial visibility during war? I am conducting bombing runs with stealth bombers from city A to city B. B is 4 tiles away, maybe 5. Once every few turns, I have to conduct a recon run to make B visible again and resume the annhialation. Other bombing campaigns seem never to require a recon mission.

* There are only three opponents listed on my power graphs, and this does not include the closest rival. Can I fix this so they are shown as well?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Okay, follow up to my question about game lengths longer than Normal.

If I choose Epic next time, in addition to all that has been perfectly explained so far, does Epic also lend itself to a better chance of a culture victory (or loss)? For example, I understand that buildings that produce culture like a temple will take longer to build. However, once that temple is up and running, wouldn't that then generate a lot more culture over the long run? (I'm assuming that culture isn't scaled.)

Culture is scaled.

I'm also assuming that if buildings cost more hammers, and technologies cost more flasks (almost said lightbulbs, betraying my Civ II background), then things you get for Gold also cost more coins. Is that true?

Yes.

For instance, you can get production for gold with the universal suffrage civic. However, the amount of gold is directly related to the amount of hammers still needed to finish the construction. Since the amount of hammers are scaled, the amount gold is automatically scaled.
Buying technologies with gold is also automatically scaled since the amount of gold is directly related to the amount of research flasks needed to research the technology and those research flasks have scaled.

I don't know if bribing civilizations into war is scaled. But then again, they will also stay at war for the same number of turns, so that probably shouldn't scale. I also don't think that buying maps has scaled, but that's not a big factor in the game anyway.

 

[BrantleyL1]

BtS includes all the Warlords content except the Scenarios that come with Warlords. I am not sure that you need those

This reminded me of a question I had... What if I want to play a WARLORDS save game?? Do I have to have Warlords for that??

 

[Fiz]

I downloaded your file - but won't be able to look at it before tonight

Much thanks, Ori.

 

[ori]

This reminded me of a question I had... What if I want to play a WARLORDS save game?? Do I have to have Warlords for that??

you need warlords for that

Much thanks, Ori.

just to make sure you noticed: Roland already gave you the reason

 

[Fiz]

You would have figured this one out yourself if you had continued to play. You assumed that the remaining 65 turns would all take 1 year, which isn't true.

It's now 2015AD, and there are 5 more turns of 1 year and then 60 turns of 1/2 year which results in a game that ends in 2050AD.

Ah! Thanks Roland. You're correct (of course) but I can't remember ever playing a game wherein it's progressed in ½-year increments, but then I've just started BTS. Is this unique to BTS, or some other factor?

 

[ori]

Ah! Thanks Roland. You're correct (of course) but I can't remember ever playing a game wherein it's progressed in ½-year increments, but then I've just started BTS. Is this unique to BTS, or some other factor?

that is one of the pitfalls of Beyond the Sword - in Vanilla/Warlords the last turns are one year per turn in BtS depending on speed you can have 1 Month per turn...

 

[Roland Johansen]

Ah! Thanks Roland. You're correct (of course) but I can't remember ever playing a game wherein it's progressed in ½-year increments, but then I've just started BTS. Is this unique to BTS, or some other factor?

You might want to do something about your reading skills before you drive ori crazy...

 

[JujuLautre]

If I just get Beyond the Sword, will it include the Warlords stuff, too?

yes; except the scenarios

 

[Fiz]

You might want to do something about your reading skills before you drive ori crazy...

Yikes! Sorry... this thread does challenge me sometimes.

 

[ggganz]

This reminded me of a question I had... What if I want to play a WARLORDS save game?? Do I have to have Warlords for that??

If you didn't, you could just start a Save Farming thread: post what options you prefer, then they send you the save and you play it!

 

[Mknn]

* What determines aerial visibility during war? I am conducting bombing runs with stealth bombers from city A to city B. B is 4 tiles away, maybe 5. Once every few turns, I have to conduct a recon run to make B visible again and resume the annhialation. Other bombing campaigns seem never to require a recon mission.

* There are only three opponents listed on my power graphs, and this does not include the closest rival. Can I fix this so they are shown as well?

Bumping, cuz' it got lost in the above exchanges.

 

[JujuLautre]

There are only three opponents listed on my power graphs, and this does not include the closest rival. Can I fix this so they are shown as well?

You are playing BTS. Then, you need espionnage points against a civ in order to see the graphs. You can check the number required in the espionnage screen, "see demographics".

As for the other question, I don't know.

 

[Stapel]

Does anyone know what happens when you chop a forrest next to a resisting city? The log file simply says: X production added to city. But the city screen shows nothing. Will it eventually collect the extra production, when the resistance is over? Or will it be long forgotten?

 

[cabert]

Does anyone know what happens when you chop a forrest next to a resisting city? The log file simply says: X production added to city. But the city screen shows nothing. Will it eventually collect the extra production, when the resistance is over? Or will it be long forgotten?

you'll get the hammers (+ modifiers, if any) when the city comes out of revolt

 

[Roland Johansen]

* What determines aerial visibility during war? I am conducting bombing runs with stealth bombers from city A to city B. B is 4 tiles away, maybe 5. Once every few turns, I have to conduct a recon run to make B visible again and resume the annhialation. Other bombing campaigns seem never to require a recon mission.

I can't be sure, but I don't think what you're experiencing has anything to do with visibility. I don't know why you assume it does. But maybe it has to do with the following game element. You can only do limited damage with bombers. You can completely remove the defence bonus of a city (which will only restore itself by 5% of the original defence bonus per turn) and you can weaken units to 50% of their hitpoints, but you can't kill them with bombers alone. So you might be in a situation where you've applied maximum damage to enemy units and defences and can't attack before they've healed a bit again.

It's only useful to damage units to the maximum just before a normal land-based attack as without that, all damage will just slowly heal back when you stop bombing. However, in combination with a land based attack, it can be devastating. Units at only 50% of their normal hitpoints cannot successfully resist a land invasion. A unit at 50% hitpoints is only at about 20% of its normal ability to resist as its hitpoints, damage per combat round and chance to hit per combat round all decrease with the drop in hitpoints. And the removal of the city defence bonus by bombing means that it doesn't even have a bonus when defending cities. Conquest can become really easy when you control the skies.

Does anyone know what happens when you chop a forrest next to a resisting city? The log file simply says: X production added to city. But the city screen shows nothing. Will it eventually collect the extra production, when the resistance is over? Or will it be long forgotten?

You will get those hammers when the resistance is over. You can even see them during the resistance by moving you mouse over the value of the hammers just before the production bar.

Note however that chopping forests outside of your own cultural area carries a penalty in production of 1/3-th. If you would get 30 hammers for the same forest if it were inside your cultural area, then you'll only get 20 hammers when its outside your cultural area. Since during conquest culture is lost, you might not have chopped a forest inside your cultural borders.

 

[cabert]

^^ It does have somthing to do with visibility.
In BtS, you need to see the units to be allowed to bomb them.

 

[Mknn]

I can't be sure, but I don't think what you're experiencing has anything to do with visibility. I don't know why you assume it does.

Because it clearly does. Let me be clearer:

* Turn 1: The city is dimmed. I can't see the units in the city, and I can neither bomb nor unit strike it. I can, though press R for a recon mission. The plane flies over, and, voila! Now I can see the units. Now other planes from that same city can bomb and/or unit strike, for exactly the reasons you list.

* Turn 2: The city is clear, I can see what's there, I can bomb and/or unit strike away.

* Turn 3: The city is dimmed again. I can't even see the units in the city. In order to see them again, I have to spend another recon mission.

Note, this is NOT the situation you describe--where I can see the city, but the strike graphic never turns green, either because it has no defenses left, or there are no units left to strike.