Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Lord Parkin]

You play Vanilla, and in Vanilla you don't need Sailing for river trade; it's automatic. Both cities are adjacent to connected rivers, hence they act as trade conduits to all cities on those rivers.

As I recall, you have to have a city located such that the connection between the two rivers is inside your borders for this to work. For instance, founding a city further down the river in the screenshot would result (I think) in the cities not being connected. Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, it could be anything. As long as he has some unit which can be anywhere on the map, then he'll live. That's the disadvantage of the option.

Indeed. And if that one unit is a Spy, then you can't do a thing against him and have to simply hope that he gets caught soon. I find that Require Complete Kills is really only an option that works in the multiplayer environment, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because human players could feasibly have decent stacks which could capture back a city even if they've lost their last one; and secondly, if it's something like just a Spy or Caravel remaining, the human player can choose to delete their units if it's futile and save the other player having to hunt them down for ages.

 

[PieceOfMind]

I'm guessing the reason is that there is a tile that is adjacent to both rivers. That tile would be common to each "river group" so it connects the two rivers, somehow. Seems weird but that's all I can think of. i.e. Call it tile A, then the city is connected to tile A via a river, than tile A is connected to the other river, then the other river is connected to the other city.

 

[WickershamB]

Yeah, I have wiped out all of his cities, and I assume it's just a random settler/scout or something on the loose.

Well lame. That'll take forever to find on a Huge map.

 

[Lord Parkin]

I'm guessing the reason is that there is a tile that is adjacent to both rivers. That tile would be common to each "river group" so it connects the two rivers, somehow. Seems weird but that's all I can think of. i.e. Call it tile A, then the city is connected to tile A via a river, than tile A is connected to the other river, then the other river is connected to the other city.

Yeah, that's definitely what happens. If you use one of the buttons above the minimap (it might only be available when you zoom right out, I can't remember), you can make it show "trade groups". Looking at that screen seems to imply that the game views a river as producing "invisible roads" on either side of it for trade purposes. So if two rivers are positioned such as in the screenshot, then the "invisible roads" produced by the two rivers will have the effect of connecting the two rivers for all trade purposes.

Like I said though, I think this only happens when the tile that's between the two rivers is inside your borders. It'd be easy enough to check, though.

 

[Roland Johansen]

Yeah, I have wiped out all of his cities, and I assume it's just a random settler/scout or something on the loose.

Well lame. That'll take forever to find on a Huge map.

But that's precisely the change that the setting 'complete kills' makes. Why did you enable it in the first place. Were you looking for something different than the normal rules and different than 'complete kills'? What was your goal when you enabled the setting 'complete kills'?

Like I said though, I think this only happens when the tile that's between the two rivers is inside your borders. It'd be easy enough to check, though.

(As said before in some earlier posts) In vanilla civ4, rivers always allow trading, in Civ4 BTS, rivers always allow trading within your cultural borders and allow trading outside your borders after sailing.

Apparently henrebotha is playing vanilla civ4.

 

[Lord Parkin]

(As said before in some earlier posts) In vanilla civ4, rivers always allow trading, in Civ4 BTS, rivers always allow trading within your cultural borders and allow trading outside your borders after sailing.

Apparently henrebotha is playing vanilla civ4.

Okay - sorry, I must have missed that.

 

[henrebotha]

Apparently henrebotha is playing vanilla civ4.

It says so in my sig.

 

[Roland Johansen]

It says so in my sig.

Of course it does, now that I read it, but it also says:

...An airplane, a puppet, an orange, a spoon,
A window, and outside: stars, and the moon.

which for instance is less relevant for your original post.

 

[henrebotha]

Of course it does, now that I read it, but it also says:



which for instance is less relevant for your original post.

Haha, go listen to Kayo Dot.

 

[Yonez]

I'm sure that a palace doesn't count. I'm also sure that there isn't a BUG-version or similar for vanilla Civ IV.

Thanks for the answer, shame there's nothing like that for the basic version, the extra info seems really helpful.

One question, though. I've been asked to join a war with a civilization who are going to be wiped out soon. The other two civilizations on the map are both 'pleased' at the nation about to be destroyed. Will I get negative diplomacy with those two nations if I do declare, or is it just for 'friendly'?

 

[Roland Johansen]

Thanks for the answer, shame there's nothing like that for the basic version, the extra info seems really helpful.

One question, though. I've been asked to join a war with a civilization who are going to be wiped out soon. The other two civilizations on the map are both 'pleased' at the nation about to be destroyed. Will I get negative diplomacy with those two nations if I do declare, or is it just for 'friendly'?

Yes, you will get negative diplomacy points for declaring war on a civilisation with the civilisations that are pleased or friendly with the victim. The civilisation that asks you to declare war will slowly begin to like you more if you accept and you will get a diplomatic penalty with them if you reject. So you're going to have to make a choice.

It's usually not that easy to stay friendly with everyone.

 

[mariocerame]

I am playing a multiplayer game with a friend. I figured we play Monarch because last time we stomped too much face together. Unfortunately my friend isn't super great at the game and happened to start on another continent, so I can't yet help him. I think he's having a hard time. I am wondering if there is a way I can edit the game and give him a little boost until I can get to him in the game.

I know that there probably isn't a way to do this, but I figured I'd ask.

 

[Arakhor]

It is possible to play a game at different difficulty levels, I believe. In the start-up options, I don't think it's required to choose the same difficulties in the multi-player "lobby".

 

[mariocerame]

Oh we did that, but I wasn't sure if it worked or how it worked. But he's having a rough go.

 

[Lord Parkin]

I still haven't checked, but it's possible that when you select two different difficulty levels, the AI goes for an in-between difficulty (or the highest difficulty) rather than the lowest one. That could explain why your friend is having such a rough time.

 

[mariocerame]

Yeah I imagine so. It is probably like a vote, not some weird hybridization. But no way to edit I guess--which is generally a good thing. We may start over since he's having such a rough time.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Right, but if there's only two people and they both have different difficulties, it can't be a "vote". Maybe it goes with what player 1 has, that's another possibility. I'll have to check it sometime.

Anyway, have fun in your next game.

 

[The Turk]

When playing Hotseat is it possible to change computer difficulty from Noble to an easier diffuculty?

 

[Lord Parkin]

When playing Hotseat is it possible to change computer difficulty from Noble to an easier diffuculty?

Just like in single player, changing your difficulty affects the difficulty of the AI's. It's a common mistake to try to set the AI's to a difficulty other than Noble. By setting both of your difficulties to (say) Warlord in a Hotseat game, you'll make all the AI's easier. Alternatively, by setting both of your difficulties to (say) Monarch, you'll make all the AI's harder.

I agree that it's a bit counter-intuitive to have the AI's difficulty displayed though - I think that column should have been left blank for any AI civs to avoid confusion. Ah well.

 

[Jesper Portus]

I have three great persons. (spy, merchant and scientist)

I need two of them to start an ga.

How can i manage it, that my great spy will not be used?