Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Takhisis]

What I mean is that a forest tile is 1 food, 2 shields. A mined, RR'ed grass tile is 2 food 2 shields (one food more than forest) and a mined, RR'ed plains tile is 1 food 3 shields (one production more than forest). The advantage of forest is that a 2 move unit will only be able to invade at 1 tile per turn, giving you extra turns to get your mobile defence to the area.

And also remember that not all scenarios allow for railroads to be built.

 

[tjs282]

Can't decide whether to go Scientific-Industrious (Persians, Ottomans) or Scientific-Commercial (Greece, Koreans). Any thoughts? It seems both would have about equal advantages, but I'm leaning toward Industrious for the worker efficiency in getting everything roaded & mined as quickly as possible.

Given your general preference for playing as a defensive builder, I would rather recommend using the Greeks. IND Workers are nice, but may also reinforce your tendency to under-build them. COMM gives you a few more low-corruption towns to play with, so you'll (eventually) be able to build more stuff and get more beakers out of them; and you can also potentially get a cheaper Wonder-GA using a SCI+COMM tribe, than you can with a SCI+IND tribe.

Spoiler The best time for a GA is... :

...after you've already switched to Republic, and have most/all of your 1st-ring core-towns near or at Pop6+, so that the GA-shields can get your commerce/ research/ happiness infrastructure built ASAP (i.e. Libs, 'Ducts + Courthouses where necessary, Markets if you have 3+ Luxes to reduce LUX%-spending, your FP if >10 towns total), and thus maximise the potential number of turns you can benefit from it. If you can also trigger a GA just after you get into the Medieval (ignore Monarchy!), you can use the GA-commerce to speed you through the Mono —> Theo —> Edu beeline needed for a fast Science-race, and get started on (pre)building some Unis in your best Lib-towns before the GA ends.

So if you're going SCI+COMM, then the choice is easy: unlike the Greek Hoplite (buildable right from 4000 BC), the Korean Hwach'a requires you to follow the Feud+Eng —> Metallurgy branch during the Middle Ages, rather than the Mono —> Edu branch; and to add insult, it's kind of underwhelming/pointless to use at Warlord-level.

(Regarding the SCI+IND UUs, the Ottomans' Sipahi is great for conquering, but also comes very late, and while the Persian Immortals are pretty awesome early units — if you have Iron! — the Greeks can still build Swords instead, for early-game conquest and expansion, without triggering a Despotic/Ancient GA.

Since you're playing at Warlord, triggering a Wonder-GA at this point, by (pre)building 2 (Ancient) GWs yourself, should also be relatively feasible, if you want to try it:

Spoiler :

• SCI-GWs = MoM (200s), GLib (400s)
• COMM-GWs = Colossus (200s), GLight (300s)

For SCI+COMM, the cheapest possible GW-combo would therefore be MoM + Col, but that latter would only be possible/worth it if you started relatively near the coast (minimising your Colossus-town's corruption). So you'd need to choose a 70% Cont- or Archi-map, explore, and get a Settler out to an appropriate coastal site (preferably also on a river!) early on. If you have to go further afield to get a coastal town, then GLight might be a better option (will also help with getting overseas contacts): but either way, the GW-town should get some Curraghs/Galleys out before it starts on a GW.

(At higher levels, you can also aim to 'collect' those Wonders from an AI-Civ(s) and then build any GW of your own to trigger a GA.)

...but if all else fails, you can still let the AI bounce a unit off one of your Hoplites. Speaking of which, if you do go with the Greeks, 1 caveat:

To avoid getting your GA triggered too early, I would strongly recommend refraining from stationing a Hoplite in any of your front-line towns, where an incoming Horseman could hit it without warning. Even better (if you can muster such self-restraint ), try to avoid building any Hoplites until just before you're ready to start your GA. This would mean going a little way out of your usual comfort-zone, building (initially) Warrior-explorers/defenders and Archer-attackers, later on Horses and/or Swords (if possible), and using active rather than passive defence if anyone DoWs you. But it shold also be noted that suffering DoWs is less likely if you have an military composed mainly of A=2-3 Archers/ Horses/ Swords, rather than A=1 Hoplites.

Spoiler And, as always... :

...build mostly units during the initial stages: first Warriors to explore, then Settlers/Workers, then Archers. To keep (town) maintenance-costs down, don't start putting up any buildings before you've filled your (Despotic) free-[military-]unit allowance, nor any buildings which would need, say, >10 turns to complete at +2 FPT and current SPT (and don't build Barracks before you can build/upgrade Iron- or Horse-units). As an additional restraint, before Republic, no more than 1 (cheap) building per town, either — choose your building wisely!

While you're still building primarily units, remember also to do regular F3 checks of your military strength vs. your neighbours. If/when an easily accessible neighbour who's got something you want shows up as 'Weak/Average' against you — and even if Archers are still only the best unit you can build at that point — don't be afraid to threaten them for it, and/or DoW them (after any active deals have expired, of course!). At Warlord, you might even be able to Archer-rush 2 neighbours simultaneously.

As your borders expand, any leftover Warriors can act as cheap military police in new/ captured towns. But if you find Horses and/or Iron during your exploration/ expansion, to stay within your (Despotic) free-unit allowance, start replacing those Warriors accordingly, and use Archers as MP instead. (Since your commerce should be going mostly to SCI% + LUX% rather than TAX%-GPT, don't bother upgrading Warriors during the early game unless you've somehow suddenly managed to amass a substantial Treasury e.g. from barb-hunting/ tech-trades)

What I mean is that a forest tile is 1 food, 2 shields. A mined, RR'ed grass tile is 2 food 2 shields (one food more than forest) and a mined, RR'ed plains tile is 1 food 3 shields (one production more than forest).

Ah. Right. Sorry for misunderstanding.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Given your general preference for playing as a defensive builder, I would rather recommend using the Greeks. IND Workers are nice, but may also reinforce your tendency to under-build them.

If you mean my penchant for overbuilding defenders, I've stopped doing that as being a waste, and instead - if necessary - building offensive units. Or more workers, which I think I've stopped underbuilding. (Yes, both because of our conversations. ) In fact, last game I had so many workers going that pollution never posed a serious problem because it only lasted 2 turns max, and usually just 1. And it's helped tremendously.

COMM gives you a few more low-corruption towns to play with, so you'll (eventually) be able to build more stuff and get more beakers out of them; and you can also potentially get a cheaper Wonder-GA using a SCI+COMM tribe, than you can with a SCI+IND tribe.

Hm. I was ready to go with the Ottomans, but am now rethinking.

The best time for a GA is...

That's actually something I was wondering about ... I never liked getting a GA too early, and I've almost always gotten them in Ancient Times.

So if you're going SCI+COMM, then the choice is easy: unlike the Greek Hoplite (buildable right from 4000 BC), the Korean Hwach'a requires you to follow the Feud+Eng —> Metallurgy branch during the Middle Ages, rather than the Mono —> Edu branch; and to add insult, it's kind of underwhelming/pointless to use at Warlord-level.

Yeah, I've tried the Koreans twice, and it went so badly I was effectively forced into Retirement both times. Greeks are much better.

Speaking of which, if you do go with the Greeks, 1 caveat:

To avoid getting your GA triggered too early, I would strongly recommend refraining from stationing a Hoplite in any of your front-line towns, where an incoming Horseman could hit it without warning.

I've always wondered, and cannot find it in the manuals ... what triggers a GA?

And, as always...build mostly units during the initial stages: first Warriors to explore, then Settlers/Workers, then Archers. To keep (town) maintenance-costs down, don't start putting up any buildings before you've filled your (Despotic) free-[military-]unit allowance, nor any buildings which would need, say, >10 turns to complete at +2 FPT and current SPT (and don't build Barracks before you can build/upgrade Iron- or Horse-units). As an additional restraint, before Republic, no more than 1 (cheap) building per town, either — choose your building wisely!

That's probably why I've had financial issues early in the game ... too many buildings. I imagine, going for a SS, Libraries should be first?

 

[tjs282]

I've always wondered, and cannot find it in the manuals ... what triggers a GA?

EITHER
Winning a fight with your Unique Unit (for Civs with offensive-UUs, this is probably the easiest GA-trigger; defensive UUs can be trickier; and UUs like the Hwach'a, the Conquistadore, the Carrack, and the F-15 can be a royal pain)
OR
Controlling 1 (or more) GW(s) which alone or collectively matches your tribe's Civ-traits (and which you may or may not have built yourself), during the same interturn when you complete a self-built GW.

Each GW matches one or more Civ-traits, and thus each will be useful to at least 6 Civs, and possibly more. The traits that match each GW are listed in their individual Civilopedia entries, e.g. "The Pyramids may trigger a Golden Age for IND, AGRI or REL Civs" *

That means that for the Celts (REL+AGRI), Egyptians (IND+REL) or Mayans (IND+AGRI), Pyramids would be the only GW needed for their GA. But for any Civ with only 1 of those 3 traits (e.g. the Persians!), building/ controlling only the Pyramids would not be sufficient: Xerxes would also need to build a SCI-GW -- or capture a SCI-GW, then build any 3rd GW -- to trigger his GA.

*I also have all the GW-traits listed on a multi-page PDF I DL'd from CFC (but I'm not sure if that resource is still available). The GWs are assigned their trait(s) in the .biq, so if you're interested, you can also look them up (or modify them!) via the Conquests Editor.

That's probably why I've had financial issues early in the game ... too many buildings. I imagine, going for a SS, Libraries should be first?

Not a bad plan, especially if SCI! But don't build them all at once. Stagger the builds, starting with your highest-commerce town(s) first. And remember that Libs only multiply SCI%-spending, so you need to keep that as high as possible to obtain the greatest benefit from them.

 

[CKS]

To avoid getting your GA triggered too early, I would strongly recommend refraining from stationing a Hoplite in any of your front-line towns, where an incoming Horseman could hit it without warning. Even better (if you can muster such self-restraint ), try to avoid building any Hoplites until just before you're ready to start your GA.

If you end up at war early, though, the AI will usually avoid attacking hoplites outside of towns if you give them other targets. This can allow you to send hoplites on pillaging missions. I once had a numidian mercenary that wandered all through enemy territory for an entire war, pillaging resources all over the place, and it was never attacked. If you really can't risk a golden age, I wouldn't recommend it, but it isn't likely to cause problems.

Interestingly, I hate playing the Greeks and would much rather play Korea. I don't trigger a GA with the Hwach'a very often (I'll trigger the GA with wonders instead), but I like its lethal bombardment. I don't beeline metallurgy, though, since I'm looking for a culture or science win.

 

[Takhisis]

The problem with civs like the Greeks or Persia is that being having such strong early units is as much of a prop as getting a head start in wonders.

I've always wondered, and cannot find it in the manuals ... what triggers a GA?

EITHER
Winning a fight with your Unique Unit (for Civs with offensive-UUs, this is probably the easiest GA-trigger; defensive UUs can be trickier; and UUs like the Hwach'a, the Conquistadore, the Carrack, and the F-15 can be a royal pain)
OR
Controlling 1 (or more) GW(s) which alone or collectively matches your tribe's Civ-traits (and which you may or may not have built yourself), during the same interturn when you complete a self-built GW.

If a civ has no traits, then completing construction of any Great Wonder will trigger a Golden Age.

 

[tjs282]

I also have all the GW-traits listed on a multi-page PDF I DL'd from CFC (but I'm not sure if that resource is still available).

Further to the above, I just had a rummage, and you should be able to DL this PDF from the Civilization III Resources page here at CFC.

The one I'm referring to is the Civ3C3CData.zip assembled by @LoneWolf5050. IIRC, it's self-extracting.

 

[wrathofme]

Hi!

Don't know if it's been asked before, but is there any way to get back the exact same map seed you played the last time? I played a map for 20 minutes, but then there was a powerout so my computer shut down. It was an awesome map though, so I'd like to get a new chance at it.

 

[CKS]

Do you want the same seed, or the same game? You should be able to load up an autosave and continue on or load the 4000 BC autosave and start over with exactly the same situation.

If you want the map seed, I think you can extract it from one of the saves - CivAssist2 probably gives it, though I've never paid attention to the seed number so I don't know for sure.

 

[wrathofme]

I would like the same game, yes. Didn't really understand the second part of the reply. I mean, when I fin dthe autosave file from the game folder (probably?), how do I open it in the game?

 

[Samson]

I would like the same game, yes. Didn't really understand the second part of the reply. I mean, when I fin dthe autosave file from the game folder (probably?), how do I open it in the game?

You should be able to find the autosave by selecting load game from the main menu, go to the top of the list and click on the "Auto" directory. This will bring up the autosaves, and you should be able to select the autosave, including the initial if that is what you want.

This may do you, but if you really want the seed you can return to the main menu from this game (Ctrl-Alt Esc I think) and then select "Start New Game". The seed will be in the top right corner. It will only start the same map if you select identical options.

 

[wrathofme]

Cool, thanks, I'll try that.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Iroquois are 4 turns ahead of me on Magellan's, and I cannot figure out a way to speed mine up. I'm at max shields-per-turn for the town at pop 12, and it's the fastest town I can get it done in. Disbanding units does not seem to work to reduce time on Wonders. Should I abandon the project (which probably won't hurt me - going for Cultural victory anyway), or is there something I haven't thought of that would work?

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Iroquois are 4 turns ahead of me on Magellan's, and I cannot figure out a way to speed mine up. I'm at max shields-per-turn for the town at pop 12, and it's the fastest town I can get it done in. Disbanding units does not seem to work to reduce time on Wonders. Should I abandon the project (which probably won't hurt me - going for Cultural victory anyway), or is there something I haven't thought of that would work?

I found the last remaining option - railroading all the shield-producing squares. The turns are now even - we'll both have it in 17 turns. (That should mean - at least at Warlord - that I get it. I assume this does not happen at higher levels?)

 

[CKS]

If it finishes the same turn, you get it on every difficulty level.

If the Iroquois are nearby, you can also go and irrigate their mined tiles to slow them down. This does not seem to anger them.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

If the Iroquois are nearby, you can also go and irrigate their mined tiles to slow them down. This does not seem to anger them.

Different continents ... I have a whole continent to myself, except for two Hittite towns I don't care about. Being on a Small map, I could probably do it (assuming they don't throw me out of their territory), but since I'm getting it anyway (and RR all my squares is on the agenda anyway) it's not worth the effort.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Aargh!! As it turned out, I got Magellan's; but despite having started out several turns out, they got JSBach's when I still had 8 turns left on it ... and that's a bigger deal (for a Cultural victory) than Magellan's. Obviously, I wasn't paying attention...

 

[CKS]

Bach's is really easy to lose, in my experience. If the AI research music theory early-ish, or at least not late, I usually lose it while I'm building Shakespeare's Theater, Copernicus's Observatory, and Newton's University. Occasionally they'll learn it in time for me to build Bach's before ST, but usually not (unless I'm playing on a high level, where I'm lucky to get more than one of the four).

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Bach's is really easy to lose, in my experience. If the AI research music theory early-ish, or at least not late, I usually lose it while I'm building Shakespeare's Theater, Copernicus's Observatory, and Newton's University. Occasionally they'll learn it in time for me to build Bach's before ST, but usually not (unless I'm playing on a high level, where I'm lucky to get more than one of the four).

Yeah, I did get the others. I was building it at the same time as Shakespeare's, but they sped up and I didn't notice.

 

[Lanzelot]

Another way to slow them down: if you have a technology with a government (e.g. Monarchy, Feudalism, Democracy, Communism, Fascism) that they don't know yet, gift it to them... They'll revolt immediately and lose a few turns in anarchy...
However, the Iroquois are religious, so they would have lost only 2 turns that way...