Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Clamps]

OK, FRIST day civ4 player here, but I guess that's what this thread is for so here are some real noob questions that the tutorial wasn't clear about and haven't found in the docs (the docs quite expansive, maybe it's in there, I just haven't found the answers yet).

I've built about 1 billion cottages and none of them are turning into hamlets. The tutorial said they will turn after a few turns but they don't the tooltip over them says they will turn if you're city is working or something like. I can't figure out hot to get the city working on them so they all stay cottages turn after turn after turn.

Also I'm having trouble wrapping my head around a few cocepts.
Production: seems important and everything says +this and -that production but I don't see a measure of production like I do gold on screen. I can research at a cost of 50% production, but what's that mean? I have no idea how much production I have and how much I need.

Food: I know what food is, I know it's important, but again I can't see it's impact in any obvious way. Am I making enough? too much? How does food effect my civ that's not obvious to a brand new player like me.

Commerce: Same for commerce, I saw one help entry that said commerce was different from gold, OK, I got that, but it didn't explain what it is or how it effects my civ.

I've got this feeling that there are a whole bunch of screens I just havn't tripped over yet. This game is colossal.

I'll probably have 100 more questions soon enough, but that's enough to get me going.

 

[Cinnabar]

OK, FRIST day civ4 player here, but I guess that's what this thread is for so here are some real noob questions that the tutorial wasn't clear about and haven't found in the docs (the docs quite expansive, maybe it's in there, I just haven't found the answers yet).

I've built about 1 billion cottages and none of them are turning into hamlets. The tutorial said they will turn after a few turns but they don't the tooltip over them says they will turn if you're city is working or something like. I can't figure out hot to get the city working on them so they all stay cottages turn after turn after turn.

Also I'm having trouble wrapping my head around a few cocepts.
Production: seems important and everything says +this and -that production but I don't see a measure of production like I do gold on screen. I can research at a cost of 50% production, but what's that mean? I have no idea how much production I have and how much I need.

Food: I know what food is, I know it's important, but again I can't see it's impact in any obvious way. Am I making enough? too much? How does food effect my civ that's not obvious to a brand new player like me.

Commerce: Same for commerce, I saw one help entry that said commerce was different from gold, OK, I got that, but it didn't explain what it is or how it effects my civ.

I've got this feeling that there are a whole bunch of screens I just havn't tripped over yet. This game is colossal.

I'll probably have 100 more questions soon enough, but that's enough to get me going.

As we know, I'm newish too, but have you looked at the city screens? (Double click on the city name on the map screen, or click the first icon on the upper right row.) That'll show you how much food you're producing/using, how many hammers each city produces, etc.

As the city grows, the new population should start working new tiles (the white circles in the city screen display. You can move them around by clicking a white circle -- it goes away -- and then clicking another square to get it worked instead). Make sure you're not starving your people or something when you do it!

 

[Roland Johansen]

This might be too complicated for a "quick answer." I started playing civ IV (BTS) recently, and I'm working up through the levels... I've just begin to play at noble level, and suddenly everyone hates me. (On points, I'm -- just barely -- ahead of everyone I can see.) Is there some strategy that will keep them neutral, at least?

I guess, this small article might be useful for you:

Triangle Diplomacy

OK, FRIST day civ4 player here, but I guess that's what this thread is for so here are some real noob questions that the tutorial wasn't clear about and haven't found in the docs (the docs quite expansive, maybe it's in there, I just haven't found the answers yet).

I've built about 1 billion cottages and none of them are turning into hamlets. The tutorial said they will turn after a few turns but they don't the tooltip over them says they will turn if you're city is working or something like. I can't figure out hot to get the city working on them so they all stay cottages turn after turn after turn.

Also I'm having trouble wrapping my head around a few cocepts.
Production: seems important and everything says +this and -that production but I don't see a measure of production like I do gold on screen. I can research at a cost of 50% production, but what's that mean? I have no idea how much production I have and how much I need.

Food: I know what food is, I know it's important, but again I can't see it's impact in any obvious way. Am I making enough? too much? How does food effect my civ that's not obvious to a brand new player like me.

Commerce: Same for commerce, I saw one help entry that said commerce was different from gold, OK, I got that, but it didn't explain what it is or how it effects my civ.

I've got this feeling that there are a whole bunch of screens I just havn't tripped over yet. This game is colossal.

I'll probably have 100 more questions soon enough, but that's enough to get me going.

And this walkthrough can be a good learning experience for starting players:

Sulla's Civilization IV Walkthrough

Welcome to civfanatics, gvd12 and Clamps.

 

[Cinnabar]

Thanks, Roland. In this game, I've been trying and failing to find any alliance pattern among the (four) civs on the same continent with me, so I've been trying to be friendly to all of them pending developments. Then the weakest and farthest away one (Alex) rang me up and declared war. After a game century or so (this was about 600BC, so it took a loong time for his troops to get to me), I bought him off -- I have other things to do than fight a war at the moment -- and now I'm building up a force to take him out if this situation arises again.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Thanks, Roland. In this game, I've been trying and failing to find any alliance pattern among the (four) civs on the same continent with me, so I've been trying to be friendly to all of them pending developments. Then the weakest and farthest away one (Alex) rang me up and declared war. After a game century or so (this was about 600BC, so it took a loong time for his troops to get to me), I bought him off -- I have other things to do than fight a war at the moment -- and now I'm building up a force to take him out if this situation arises again.

There are two elements that need to be true before a civilisation declares war on you:
1) They need to be relatively strong or not very much weaker than you (see F9 graph for power ratings of various civilsations).
2) A civilisation needs to be non-friendly towards you (and most civilisation will not even declare war when pleased).

The triangle diplomacy article explains that it's often almost impossible to have friendly or pleased relations with everyone, so if 2 civilisations dislike eachother, then you better pick one of them to be friends with or they'll both dislike you after a while.

It's also useful to have a situation that every civilisation has at least one civilisation that they dislike more than you.

But some wars are unavoidable because you don't want to invest everything in your power rating and some civilisations will dislike you. Just minimise the enemies. Be friends with many and know the few that might become hostile and have enough troops on the relevant borders.

One of the basic choices is your religion choice. It's very important to pick the same religion as a large group of neighbouring civilisations. It will be almost impossible to get good relations with a significant group of civilisations if you don't choose your religion wisely.

 

[DMOC]

How does setting up a PBEM game work? Does the host do it himself? I'm particularly asking about civs/leaders. Do the players have to agree on who they'll play beforehand so that the host can set it up, or is there some feature for everyone connecting and choosing their own civ?

1. Several players decide that they want to play a game together.
2. A host is decided (usually one of the players, but it doesn't have to be).
3. The host creates the game once the players involved have all decided their leaders as well as the game settings.
4. When the game is started, players go to their game, go "MULTIPLAYER," then click "DIRECT IP" and type in the IP that is provided for them by the game host.
5. Play your turn
6. MAKE SURE YOU EXIT VIA THE MAIN MENU NOT TO DESKTOP!
7. Wait until the turn timer is up and then play your turn again (maybe tomorrow).

 

[PieceOfMind]

6. MAKE SURE YOU EXIT VIA THE MAIN MENU NOT TO DESKTOP!
7. Wait until the turn timer is up and then play your turn again (maybe tomorrow).

If I may hijack these questions/answers...

Where is the turn timer you speak of? Is that an application separate to the game?

 

[Lord Parkin]

How does setting up a PBEM game work? Does the host do it himself? I'm particularly asking about civs/leaders. Do the players have to agree on who they'll play beforehand so that the host can set it up, or is there some feature for everyone connecting and choosing their own civ?

DMOC's slightly confused - he's correct, but he's answering for the wrong type of game (Pitboss instead of PBEM).

For a PBEM (Play By Email) game, all that you need to do as host is to go into the "PBEM" menu inside the multiplayer menu, and set up the game as you and your friends want. Choose map settings and game options as normal. Remember to change the civ slots to either Human or AI as required. Remember to change the difficulty of ALL human players - otherwise only Player 1 will be on a higher (or lower) difficulty level, and everyone else will get it easier (or harder) in terms of tech costs and the like.

All of the players have to decide and let you know what civs/leaders they want BEFORE you start the game (unless they want a random leader, in which case you select a random leader for them).

 

[Lord Parkin]

If I may hijack these questions/answers...

Where is the turn timer you speak of? Is that an application separate to the game?

The turn timer is a feature of online (or Pitboss hosted) games. It is NEVER present in PBEM games.

There are two types of turn timer: one for games played in quick sessions (eg most online/Gamespy games), others for games played over a long period of time (eg most Pitboss games). For the online/Gamespy games, turn timers will vary between 10 seconds and a few minutes. For Pitboss games, typically the timer will be 24 hours, so that you (usually) play 1 turn each day.

Hope that clarifies things. Remember, PBEM is completely different to Pitboss and online play.

 

[PieceOfMind]

The turn timer is a feature of online (or Pitboss hosted) games. It is NEVER present in PBEM games.

There are two types of turn timer: one for games played in quick sessions (eg most online/Gamespy games), others for games played over a long period of time (eg most Pitboss games). For the online/Gamespy games, turn timers will vary between half a minute and a few minutes. For Pitboss games, typically the timer will be 24 hours, so that you play 1 turn each day.

Hope that clarifies things. Remember, PBEM is completely different to Pitboss and online play.

Ok, assuming I'm talking about Pitboss (I'm already familiar with gamespy multiplayer thanks), I understand there may be a time limit of 1 day but is there anywhere you see this limit or counting down? I'm curious because if you do not have the game open what is telling you to have your turn?

 

[Lord Parkin]

Ok, assuming I'm talking about Pitboss (I'm already familiar with gamespy multiplayer thanks), I understand there may be a time limit of 1 day but is there anywhere you see this limit or counting down? I'm curious because if you do not have the game open what is telling you to have your turn?

Civstats.

It's an awesome website, built to fill a niche. Tells you exactly how long left before the next turn, and even sends you an email reminder with each new turn. (You can also get email reminders sent from within the game, but it's trickier to set up and isn't quite as reliable.) For example, this is the Civstats page for an 18 player game I'm in (my alias is Emperor).

I highly recommend it for anyone starting up or currently playing a Pitboss game.

 

[Supr49er]

Welcome to the Forums gvd12.

Welcome to the Forums Clamps.

 

[6K Man]

OK, FRIST day civ4 player here, but I guess that's what this thread is for so here are some real noob questions that the tutorial wasn't clear about and haven't found in the docs (the docs quite expansive, maybe it's in there, I just haven't found the answers yet).

I've built about 1 billion cottages and none of them are turning into hamlets. The tutorial said they will turn after a few turns but they don't the tooltip over them says they will turn if you're city is working or something like. I can't figure out hot to get the city working on them so they all stay cottages turn after turn after turn.

Also I'm having trouble wrapping my head around a few cocepts.
Production: seems important and everything says +this and -that production but I don't see a measure of production like I do gold on screen. I can research at a cost of 50% production, but what's that mean? I have no idea how much production I have and how much I need.

Food: I know what food is, I know it's important, but again I can't see it's impact in any obvious way. Am I making enough? too much? How does food effect my civ that's not obvious to a brand new player like me.

Commerce: Same for commerce, I saw one help entry that said commerce was different from gold, OK, I got that, but it didn't explain what it is or how it effects my civ.

I've got this feeling that there are a whole bunch of screens I just havn't tripped over yet. This game is colossal.

I'll probably have 100 more questions soon enough, but that's enough to get me going.

As noted, the walkthrough will help you in detail, but here are some quick answers (as advertised):

Cottages don't grow unless they are worked by the city. A size 1 city can work 1 tile (plus the city square), size 2 can work 2 tiles and so on. Reassign workers to cottage tiles in the city manager to work the tiles. Naturally, if you build 6 cottages around a size 2 city, you can work 2 of them at most until the city grows.

Production is hammers and are displayed as such on the map. Some tiles produce hammers naturally (forests, plains, hills). Improvements such as mines and watermills can add hammers to a tile. More is generally better, but some cities are better suited to be production cities and others, commerce cities.

Food lets your cities grow faster. Bigger cities (up to the and limits) are better, mainly because they can work more tiles.

Commerce is converted via the sliders in the top left of your screen into science/culture/espionage. Each one provides benefits, but most of the time you're best advised to focus on science, even to the point of running deficits.

 

[BTSFanRandy]

It is a good idea to build a road on about every tile you worked on/are in your main cultural borders?

How can you axe-rush effectively? Normally when I rush with axemen, my soldiers are tired/wounded and the enemy has set up about 1-2 extra cities with adequate defenses.

 

[6K Man]

It is a good idea to build a road on about every tile you worked on/are in your main cultural borders?

Not necessarily. You want roads only to connect your resources to your trade network, connect your cities, and to facilitate easy movement of your units. So not every tile needs a road.

I believe that if you road over an unforested tile that is adjacent to forest, the chance of the forest spreading to the roaded tile is lessened, as well.

 

[Lord Parkin]

How can you axe-rush effectively? Normally when I rush with axemen, my soldiers are tired/wounded and the enemy has set up about 1-2 extra cities with adequate defenses.

It sounds like you're not rushing early enough and quickly enough, then. Successful Axe-rushes usually need to be as early as possible: tech directly to Bronze Working, build a city to hook up the nearest source of Copper as soon as possible if you don't have some already by your capital, build Axemen nonstop for several turns. You also need to rush quickly, to prevent your opponent from spamming units like Archers in defence: travel to your opponent's borders with your Axemen, ONLY DECLARE WAR when you have a stack of ~4+ on their border (more is better), move all Axemen at once and attack all on the same turn.

Hope that helps a bit. There is a lot to learn in getting the "feel" for when it's right to Axe-rush and when it's not (for instance, if your opponents are too far or a source of copper is too far, it's usually not a good idea). But the main thing is to gather a stack of Axemen (not just one or two), to attack all at once (so that even if some Axes die, you'll still damage the defenders enough to kill them with the next Axes), and to eliminate the opponent as soon as possible (to prevent more defenders from being built).

 

[BTSFanRandy]

What does DOW mean?

If I remember correctly it means declaring war, but what about the "O"?

 

[PieceOfMind]

DoW is meant to stand for "Declaration of War".

But people use it like it's a verb in these forums. I'll DoW you! I know... it doesn't make any sense.

 

[henrebotha]

Is there anywhere I can see the Earth 18 map? Like, one huge collage screenshot or something. I want to check some things out and I'm at work so I can't very well start up Civ right now.

(I was specifically wondering whether there is a wine resource at the very Southern tip of Africa, and where it is.)

 

[henrebotha]

It is a good idea to build a road on about every tile you worked on/are in your main cultural borders?

It is definitely a good idea, but that doesn't mean it's a high priority. Initially, you only really want roads where they are needed to hook up a trade network, and to facilitate your defense force's mobility. If you are engaging in some early military conquest, then a few roads in the direction of the enemy will also help.

However, aside from the aforementioned situations, leave off building roads until you have built more crucial improvements, such as resource improvements and cottages.

What I generally do when I begin to see I have too many workers is I set one or more of them to "Build Trade Network (Automated)". This gets rid of the micro while making sure your troops and other units can traverse your empire speedily. (Handily, it also means you will obtain newly-revealed resources shortly after discovering them.)

Railroads, on the other hand, are far more important than roads, and the moment you have access to them you should make it a priority to build railroads underneath your mines and lumbermills.