Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[MT9]

Not in my experience, no. The differences between the difficulty levels have to do, mostly, with bonuses the AI civs get compared to you.

What do you mean by bonuses? and the difficult level doesn't also mean more aggressive AI?

 

[bestbrian]

What do you mean by bonuses? and the difficult level doesn't also mean more aggressive AI?

At the levels below Noble, the Human receives adantages, vis a vis the AI, in research and production, as well as in starting units. At Noble, both are even in this regard, and at the higher levels the AI receives advantages. None of these have anything to do with AI aggressivensess or UnitBuildProbs.

 

[WorldWarIV]

Is there a thread where I can ask for someone to mod the game for me? Do I have a good chance someone will say yes?

I'll ask my question differently. Is there any mod that could let me choose and play in just one era? Is there any mod that lets you choose at which era you want the civs to stop evolving? If that doesn't exist, can anyone mod this for me, or point me to someone who could? Do you think it would be hard to do it by myself?

I just don't like industrial and modern era, I'm not fond of the marathon and epic (or odyssey?) speed, and I don't like modding. Anyone can help me?

 

[Arakhor]

I believe there is a mod on this site called "Mediaeval Mod" or something similar. All technological progress halts before the Renaissance, I think.

 

[Aeiouv]

nvm figured it out =] On another note... I decided to do the old hall of fame games and found it a nice change of pace from the usually settings I play (huge/fractal/normal).

 

[CharlieM]

I am using Cannons to "Bombard" and I had upgraded them to do increased Collateral Damage.

I also have been marching a stack around the enemy city, pillaging roads and resources.

Now I see that their armies are greatly weakened.... Rifleman, etc. have lost half or more of their strength in the cities (which has no defense bonus anymore).

Question: Was it the Collateral Damage that took out the strength of these units? Wow, that's powerful stuff!

 

[Arakhor]

I have 4 GB of RAM and I'm running XP. Can someone direct me towards a fairly simple way to activate the fabled 3 GB switch?

 

[CharlieM]

1) I was attacking an enemy city with Airships for several turns. All of the sudden, I try to make the same attack and I'm not allowed to do it. Huh? (EDIT-- two turns later, I could attack again; whatever!).

2) I want to build Heroic Epic. I can't in any city. Even though I have Literature, Barracks, and (I think you need this, too), a level 4 unit stationed in the city. What gives?

 

[jUmpSt0p]

Not in my experience, no. The differences between the difficulty levels have to do, mostly, with bonuses the AI civs get compared to you.

hmmm, weird.

the last few days I've been starting new games, but I just can't find an empire I want to stick with..

I moved from Prince to Monarch, and it really seems like there are fewer resources on the last few maps.

suppose it's just bad luck. =\

 

[Sisiutil]

1) I was attacking an enemy city with Airships for several turns. All of the sudden, I try to make the same attack and I'm not allowed to do it. Huh? (EDIT-- two turns later, I could attack again; whatever!).

2) I want to build Heroic Epic. I can't in any city. Even though I have Literature, Barracks, and (I think you need this, too), a level 4 unit stationed in the city. What gives?

1. There are limits to the damage that air units can mete out, so if the units you're attacking are at or below this limit, the attack option will be unavailable.
2. Hmm, sounds strange. You don't need the L4 unit to be in the city, or even to exist anymore, so long as you had one once. Are you sure you're playing with the latest patches? There was a while there where HE needed a level five unit. I think it was a long time ago in Warlords.

 

[Baldyr]

I am using Cannons to "Bombard" and I had upgraded them to do increased Collateral Damage.

I also have been marching a stack around the enemy city, pillaging roads and resources.

Now I see that their armies are greatly weakened.... Rifleman, etc. have lost half or more of their strength in the cities (which has no defense bonus anymore).

Question: Was it the Collateral Damage that took out the strength of these units? Wow, that's powerful stuff!

You make it sound as if the enemy units in the city got damage from you pillaging around the city. This is of course not the case.

If you did attack the city defenders with your Cannons and caused collateral damage however, you did a poor job of finishing them off! You only attack with siege units immediately before your melee/gunpowder units make their charge! Because otherwise the defenders will have time to heal/repair. You could of course attack again with your (now probably damaged) siege units, but there will always be a chance you loose some of them each time you attack. So it only makes sense to attack once and finish the job once and for all.

There's also a difference between "bombard" and "collateral damage", even though both actions are available to your siege units. Bombardment is merely bringing down any defensive measures the defenders have put up - represented by the defensive bonus listed under the city name. Collateral damage is a side effect of actually attacking with your siege units, causing damage to other units than the actual unit that is defending against your attack. (I always keep siege units in my border cities to deal collateral damage on any enemy stack trying to bombard/attack the city. Often this blow is enough to discourage the attackers from charging my defenses. It also helps to counter attack with mounted units, as these will cause flanking damage on the enemy siege units.)

You did get the whole pillaging exercise correct, by the way! Since it can take a few turns to bombard the city defenses before the actual attack, than time can be used to pillage the city's surroundings. Unless you plan on keeping the city and would want to capture it "intact", that is.

The best tip for capturing cities is really basic: Bring more siege units! (This is what they are for, after all.)

 

[Baldyr]

Is there any mod that could let me choose and play in just one era? Is there any mod that lets you choose at which era you want the civs to stop evolving? If that doesn't exist, can anyone mod this for me, or point me to someone who could?

This seems to be a fairly frequent request, actually. How could one reply to all these requests to only play in the Middle-Ages? Because Civilization is a game about the entire history of human civilization.

There are historical scenarios though, and I'd suggest people play these in order to contain the game in a certain era. As for medieval scenarios I can think of Genghis Khan (Warlords expansion), The Age of Vikings (also Warlords) , Charlemagne (Beyond the Sword) and Crossroads of the World (BTS). I've never played any of these myself (I prefer the grand historical scenario that is Rhye's and Fall of Civilization) but I do believe they are contained in the desired era.

The problem I have with a medieval only mod is that the Middle Ages was somewhat of a Dark Age of Western Civilization. Many of the discoveries and technologies of the Classical era was forgotten and societies fell into barbary. What people actually suggest is that a game of Civilization starts after the Roman era (when Western Civilization was at its peak) and end at the Renaissance era (when many things lost to civilization was rediscovered). Nothing wrong with preferring the Middle Ages, but Civilization as a game doesn't really deal with the subject of Dark Ages. It would pretty much be a game without any technological progress at all, so it really wouldn't be Civilization any more. As the narrative of the game revolves entirely around the progression along the Tech tree.

Maybe there's some fantasy type mod out there that is forever lost in a Tolkienesque universe with knights and fair maidens? Because, you wouldn't want any gunpowder units in your game either, right? (It's actually a medieval invention, but fantasy fans try real hard to forget this fact.)

Another approach to playing only in an desired era is to use the advanced start option and skip everything from the Stone Age to Classical Age. It would pretty much require that you play on Marathon speed to be able to actually win the game before the Industrial age (or thereabouts). But you're up for a challenge, right?

 

[Baldyr]

1) I was attacking an enemy city with Airships for several turns. All of the sudden, I try to make the same attack and I'm not allowed to do it. Huh? (EDIT-- two turns later, I could attack again; whatever!).

Yeah, air units are a bit like siege units - they actually can't finish surface units off. So when the enemy unit is severely damaged you can't damage it further - until it has healed some of the damage. I believe this is to make the use of soldier type units obligatory in conquering your enemies. But the same also applies to naval units - air units can't finish them off completely.

2) I want to build Heroic Epic. I can't in any city. Even though I have Literature, Barracks, and (I think you need this, too), a level 4 unit stationed in the city. What gives?

These things pop up from time to time, and there is usually some kind of explanation. I've seen some strange things myself and heard of even stranger stuff. This might just be a bug of some sort, but are you absolutely certain your unit is "level" 4 and not merely having 4 XP (experience points)? Because, a level 4 unit requires much more XP than that! (Anyone who can tell how much off the top of their head?)

 

[Arakhor]

You appear to conflating the Dark Ages with the Middle Ages. That popular view is still incorrect - many, many things were first introduced in the time between, say, the Battle of Hastings (1066) and The Art of Poesy (first punctuation guide, 1597). The stirrup, Magna Carta, feudalism, castles, surnames, gunpowder (at least in the West) and so on, just to name a few.

 

[Baldyr]

You appear to conflating the Dark Ages with the Middle Ages. That popular view is still incorrect - many, many things were first introduced in the time between, say, the Battle of Hastings (1066) and The Art of Poesy (first punctuation guide, 1597). The stirrup, Magna Carta, feudalism, castles, surnames, gunpowder (at least in the West) and so on, just to name a few.

Sure, I'm generalizing but the Middle Ages as a historical period is poorly represented in the game as is. To make the whole game medieval wouldn't fix that, at least. The game wouldn't be as progress oriented in any case, and the discoveries that were to be represented in the Tech tree would be far and between, making it fairly pointless to funnel funds into research. (Those resources could be used to conquer the known world in the time your rivals would get the benefit of more modern troops.)

Now, I myself am kinda fed up with the research obsession of Civilization as a whole, and would in fact welcome a change of pace. But this isn't the same as to contain the entire game into one single era. This wouldn't be Civilization - to me.

I do however hope that everyone who only likes to play in the medieval period can find something worthwhile to play. There really should be a mod for these folks, or so I believe. Maybe develop a random map game out of the medieval scenarios that ships with the game? Even I could end up playing something like that, as long as it offers more in-depth focus on the period in question.

I've also recommended the mod Rhye's and Fall of Civilization: Europe that is undergoing beta-testing as we speak (or so I believe). This modmod might just be the thing for someone interested in a game confined to the middle ages.

 

[Sleeping King]

I finally bought BTS and before I add it I wanted to ask if most people use the BUG mod? Is it something I should install from the get go?

 

[Arakhor]

It's an extremely useful resource. I try to play with it activated as much as possible.

 

[Sisiutil]

I concur. I can't imagine playing the game without it now.

 

[DMOC]

I finally bought BTS and before I add it I wanted to ask if most people use the BUG mod? Is it something I should install from the get go?

I recommed it. The only issue is that you can't play certain mods like Giant Earth Map by Genghis Kai unless you install BUG as a mod rather than in Custom Assets. When you do that, others usually can't open your save if you post it on the forums.

 

[Veedlebee]

How can I edit the Hall of Fame screen in BTS to remove old scores or games?

Thanks!