Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[StarEye]

Sisiutil: Ok, guess there's time for plenty of gaming before there's decision time then.

 

[Mirv Sheelon]

Probably a total noob question but its the first time I really got to end game and was surprised when it appeared. I cannot quite phrase the question appropriately for the search function either, so please bear with me (then imagine trying to phrase it yourself!!)

I recently built the Hoover Dam and was expecting no "Hydro plant" option to be available in those cities thereafter. Do I need to build Hydro plants in those cities on that continent which has the Hoover Dam? Likewise - once I have the Hydro Plant or Hoover Dam built - do I further need to install Nuclear or Coal power plants in those cities? Is there any point putting more than one power plant into ANY city? This is not clear from any source that I have seen so far, and to be honest I'm surprised the option is not "greyed out" or unavailable.

Thanks in advance for any advice in this regard.

 

[georgjorge]

How can I see the total number of units in an enemy stack? When I mouse over it, it only shows the first twenty or so units. I've had a number of defeats because I put defenses in threatened cities that could easily handle what I thought was a twenty-unit stack, then watched in horror as after winning the first twenty or thirty battles, THE UNITS JUST KEPT COMING, and when after losing the city I looked at the enemy stack, it still had more than twenty unharmed units...The only way I've found is to put a spy on the same tile as the enemy stack and count the unit symbols that appear, but that's not always viable.

 

[duckstab]

How can I see the total number of units in an enemy stack? When I mouse over it, it only shows the first twenty or so units. I've had a number of defeats because I put defenses in threatened cities that could easily handle what I thought was a twenty-unit stack, then watched in horror as after winning the first twenty or thirty battles, THE UNITS JUST KEPT COMING, and when after losing the city I looked at the enemy stack, it still had more than twenty unharmed units...The only way I've found is to put a spy on the same tile as the enemy stack and count the unit symbols that appear, but that's not always viable.

I believe it lists all the units, but beyond a certain point it puts the number of units of the same type in parens, e.g.:

Machine Gun (20)

You have to add all those up :-(

 

[batman562]

I am trying to download the patch for online gaming, but my computer tells me after I download the patch that I need a version of the game to install the wizard. I have the game!! What can I do? Has anyone run into this problem? Please let me know. Batman562

 

[henrebotha]

Probably a total noob question but its the first time I really got to end game and was surprised when it appeared. I cannot quite phrase the question appropriately for the search function either, so please bear with me (then imagine trying to phrase it yourself!!)

I recently built the Hoover Dam and was expecting no "Hydro plant" option to be available in those cities thereafter. Do I need to build Hydro plants in those cities on that continent which has the Hoover Dam? Likewise - once I have the Hydro Plant or Hoover Dam built - do I further need to install Nuclear or Coal power plants in those cities? Is there any point putting more than one power plant into ANY city? This is not clear from any source that I have seen so far, and to be honest I'm surprised the option is not "greyed out" or unavailable.

Thanks in advance for any advice in this regard.

Uh... The Hoover Dam? You sure you don't mean Three Gorges?

In any case, once a city has power (regardless of the source), you'll see a lightning bolt at the top of the city screen. Power is power; once a city has it, it cannot have more. If a city already has a coal plant, building a hydro plant will not take the health penalty away.

The only reason I can think of to use multiple power sources is as a backup in case of destruction due to sabotage, capture, or random event.

 

[Yxklyx]

How many beakers does a GP give towards a technology?

 

[henrebotha]

How is one supposed to counter cuirassiers in their own era?

 

[Silu]

How many beakers does a GP give towards a technology?

I believe the base amount is 1500 + 3 * POPULATION for GSs, and 1000 + 2 * POPULATION for other bulbable GPs.

How is one supposed to counter cuirassiers in their own era?

Sufficient amounts of Pikes or War Elephants do just fine, to . Muskets with a defensive position / promotions can work too.

 

[henrebotha]

Does the beaker count from bulbing change at all with game speed?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It should.

 

[Yxklyx]

I believe the base amount is 1500 + 3 * POPULATION for GSs, and 1000 + 2 * POPULATION for other bulbable GPs.



Sufficient amounts of Pikes or War Elephants do just fine, to . Muskets with a defensive position / promotions can work too.

POPULATION at which point in time? When the GP is generated or when he's used?

So bulbing Meditation (80) with your first Prophet is a ridiculous thing to do.

 

[r_rolo1]

When used. And yes, bulbing meditation is not the smartest move of them all, only comparable with bulbing Fishing with a Great Scientist

 

[Verarde]

So you want to bulb techs that are middle/late in the game, i.e. save you GPs, not use them immediately?

 

[r_rolo1]

It depends

In pure beaker count you are definitely right, but the bulbing of a tech also gives you acess to the tech far earlier than you could have by settling the GP or making a GA and that alone might outweight the disavantage of losing a lot of the potential beakers. A eariler tech means earlier benefits from that tech and earlier acess to the buildings it unlocks ( wonders, but not only ) or to new units. it might also mean founding a religion. Barring that, and if you can trade techs, this might allow you to have a tech that no one has, a good trading chip for other techs...

In the end it is a matter of weighting the pros and cons . But normally the balance is very against bulbing very early techs: they are easy to tech by yourself But bulbing techs like currency, alphabet, metal casting ... might easily pay up, in spite of throwing a lot of the potential beakers out of the window.

 

[Silu]

Does the beaker count from bulbing change at all with game speed?

Yes, it's scaled with the standard game speed multipliers of 0.66 / 1 / 1.5 / 3 .

What it's not scaled for is team size though. In team games bulbing is pretty crap since techs cost much more but bulbing still gives the same amount of beakers.

 

[Yxklyx]

So you want to bulb techs that are middle/late in the game, i.e. save you GPs, not use them immediately?

I think I'd rather settle an early GP if I don't bulb him.

 

[6K Man]

Drafting is available only when you run the Nationalism civic. You sacrifice one population and in return you get one of your best gunpowder units (Musketmen, Rifles, Infantry, etc., IIRC; it's possible to draft Macemen, I think, if you have Nationalism before Gunpowder, but I've never gone that route).

Doesn't it cost 2 pop to draft Infantry, and 3 to draft Mech Infantry?

 

[Sisiutil]

Doesn't it cost 2 pop to draft Infantry, and 3 to draft Mech Infantry?

Yes, RJ already called me out for that one. I never draft Infantry or MIs--that's my excuse.

I've got one: do Privateers count toward your power rating?

 

[Monumental]

Can someone please answer how to attach a Warlord to a unit or multiple units?

I found this great thread on some strategy to use, but the first time I tried attaching a Warlord to a unit I attached him to a lame-o Longbowman unit and don't want to make that mistake again. Thanks!