Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[md4]

I'm assuming here that the MA you had with CivA was not against CivB? Because the only way (I can think of) to prevent that MPP from being signed would have been to be proactive, and sign a 2nd MA with CivA, against CivB, to get them on your side before CivB gets them on theirs.

You are correct, my MA was against the villainous CivC.

Not 100% sure, but I get the impression that if you're already at war with CivB, and have units already in their territory over the interturn that Civs A + B sign the MPP, that's enough on its own to immediately trigger it.

I could accept that, but to the best of my knowledge, I don't. I am fighting a purely defensive war at this case, and I even have most of my navy docked because of the sheer volume of bombers and battleships in play.

 

[CKS]

Did you have any units with zone of control that could have dinged a unit on their side of the border? Or maybe defensive bombard? I'm convinced that ZoC attacks count, but it might be that defensive bombardments also count.

 

[md4]

Did you have any units with zone of control that could have dinged a unit on their side of the border?

I don't think so. It really is a bit of a mystery. That said, a few turns later another MPP involving a civ I was at war with happened, but on that occasion no instant declaration of war, so it's not an automatic thing.

 

[tjs282]

That said, a few turns later another MPP involving a civ I was at war with happened, but on that occasion no instant declaration of war, so it's not an automatic thing.

Might be something to do with the play-order, then...?

i.e. if Civ_N initiates an MPP with Civ_N+x during Civ_N's trade/diplo-round, then when Civ_N+x's trade/diplo-round arrives, Civ_N+x will declare on all Civ_N's currently active enemies during that same interturn.

But if Civ_N instead initiates an MPP with Civ_N–x, then Civ_N–x won't DoW on that interturn, unless someone further down the play-order (Civ_N+x?) then attacks Civ_N's territory...?

 

[Takhisis]

I do remember that there are a couple of boxed checked at the beginning of each AI!civ's turn that determine whether that civ in particular declares war on somebody else, such as the aforementioned ‘MPP in force + military action’, and there is a thread somewhere.

 

[waarzawa]

Hi all
I've created a map, with the setting "no barbarian". Though there are no barbarian camps on the map in the civ editor, I got lots of roaming horsemen when I use the same map in a game. How is this possible ?

 

[Vuldacon]

waarzawa... In the Biq under General Settings, Set Basic Barbarians, Advanced Barbarians and Barbarian Sea Unit to None. In Scenario Properties in the Select barbarian activity: box, Set No Barbarians.

You will still get Barbarian Camps on Terrain that is not occupied or influenced. Terrain not within any CIVs Borders or does not have Units on the terrain will get Barbarian Camps but there should not be any Barbarians, Only Barbarian Camps. That is a Hard Coded setting.
I use the Barbarian Camps as "Stray Supply Drops" in EFZI2 Elite. I changed the Barbarian Camp Graphic to look like a Collapsed Parachute and named the Barbarian Camp as Stray Supply Drop. When Picked up, they provide extra Supplies. You can change the Name and Graphic as you like and Rather than Supplies, you can set Gold.

I will also add that if you start setting up a New Normal Civ Game and Set Barbarians as Raging and start a Game.... then immediately get out and Play your Game, you will get more Barbarian Camps. You can also set No Barbarians then play your Game but you will still get some Barbarian Camps.

 

[waarzawa]

Thanks Vuldacon for the detailed answer
It makes sense now
Using camps as Stray Supply Drops... really nice stuff

 

[Vuldacon]

waarzawa... it is rather fun to make changes to the Game and especially things that are not wanted at all such as the Barbarian Camps. Any good Graphics Program will allow you to make desired changes to the Graphics and you can rename things as wanted.

 

[waarzawa]

Talking about making changes, is it possible to earn gold from victory point location instead of points ?
I searched for a way to do it without any luck

 

[Vuldacon]

Talking about making changes, is it possible to earn gold from victory point location instead of points ?
I searched for a way to do it without any luck

Not that I am aware of. That is just for points to Win the Game, not Gold.

 

[Takhisis]

You could just add a graphicless bonus resource that gives you an extra 50 gold per tile or something.

 

[waarzawa]

Clever. It works beautifully.
I noticed AI civs seem to not fight that much to control VP locations. Is there a way to stimulate them a bit ?
If I make the VP locations a luxury or strategic resource, will that change their aggressiveness ?

 

[Takhisis]

I remember the trick used by Plotinus in The Rood and the Dragon: he placed resources that playable civs couldn't see but the AI-controlled Norse and Danes could. Those resources would enable production of a technically unobtainable building. The resources would be scattered around the rest of the map and the AI civs would attack in order to secure them because the AI can always ‘see’ any resources that are already placed, regardless of whether they've discovered them with the appropriate tech, while human players cannot.
That gave the AIs a target. Next Plotinus gave the two Viking civs powerful attacking amphibious units and a long stretch of water separating Britain and Ireland from Scandinavia which could only be realistically crossed by the latter's ships, to make attacks one-way.
To make the AI be aggressive enough to try and conquer the ghost resources Plotinus gave them a bunch of unmovable 999/999 land units stationed in their homeland cities. This ensured 1) that the AI would always feel confident in its military enough to attack even the strong Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (and often win) and 2) that no attack on their homelands would be viable.

Thus he mimicked the one-way flow of invaders westwards from Scandinavia.

 

[waarzawa]

Very interesting.... Thanks for sharing
So much science behind the scenes. Impressive !

 

[MadMac]

I'm trying to go for a culture victory on Regnant. I don't really know a good strategy though. My problem is I can't build cities fast enough early on anytime I try to build a wonder quickly. When my civ is too small I just don't tech well and all the AI get all the wonders before I do. I tried this with the Celts and it failed miserablely even though my overall culture was best in the game thanks to a lot of my temples and cathedrals. I think giving Eygpt a go (since they are religious and industrious) would be a good start but what should I do to increase my chance of winning by culture? Help!

 

[Takhisis]

Let them get the great wonders early on. You can conquer them off them later.
Let's see. A 300-shield wonder is 10 Swordsmen. Or 15 War Chariots in Egypt's case.

Is it even a question?

 

[CKS]

Captured wonders don't give you any culture.

If you want a 20k culture win (as opposed to 100k), these are some basic things to keep in mind.
0. Temples and Cathedrals in other towns don't help you win. Don't build them. Spend the shields on something useful, and you'll have money to research with instead of paying maintenance on the religious buildings.
1. If your first town is your 20k town, you cannot use a palace prebuild. If you have trouble keeping up in tech, being able to prebuild with the palace will let you sneak in ahead of the AI to snag wonders. You should be able to keep up in tech on Regent by planning research and trading appropriately, but if this is a problem, do 20k in your second town.
2. Make sure your 20k town has fresh water. You don't want to have to invest a bunch of shields into an aquaduct, but also you don't want to get stuck at size 6 until construction, which otherwise will probably be one of the last techs of the ancient age.
3. Your 20k town also needs food and shields. It doesn't need lots of extra food, just enough to let you work all the shield tiles. If it doesn't have lots of food, you'll want to add workers from faster-growing towns to build its population up quickly. If possible, you'll want to add workers to get it from size 6 to size 12 even if it has lots of food, as you want it to grow really fast.
4. Research toward the Republic slingshot (assuming you are playing Conquests), deviating only enough to make sure your 20k town has something to build. Ceremonial Burial, Bronze Working, and Masonry are important, so if you don't start with one of these, research one before heading to the Republic. Try to find opponents to trade with to get the others. Don't trade away writing, but trade starting techs whenever you can.
5. Upon learning philosophy, building the MoM can be really helpful. This will let you drop your lux rate, which has probably been quite high, trying to keep your very large 20k town happy. This, in turn, will let you up your research rate.
6. Make sure that one of your early non-20k towns is pumping out settlers to build you an empire to support your 20k town. Make sure another is pumping out military units to keep you safe.
7. Make sure you have lots of workers. You need your 20k town to be working fully-improved tiles, you need your other towns to be improved, and you need workers to add to the 20k town. Make sure everything is roaded so you have some money to research with.
8. Build cheap culture buildings before expensive ones. Don't build improvements if you can buy them, though. Sometimes you'll want to build a particular wonder first to make sure you get it, and sometimes you'll want a wonder for reasons other than culture (Knights Templar if you have no iron or saltpeter, for example), but generally make sure you are focused on the highest culture per shield improvements and wonders.
9. Later on, Shakespeare's Theater is important to build early, because it lets you grow past size 12. Beeline Free Artistry. Then you need railroads and factories to bump up your shield output.
10. Only build wonders in your 20k town. Use the other towns to support it. Don't worry about getting all the wonders. If you get 2 or 3 wonders in the ancient age, that will be fine.

 

[Takhisis]

Captured wonders don't give you any culture.

I meant for getting effects such as free buildings or extra speed for your ships.

 

[CKS]

I meant for getting effects such as free buildings or extra speed for your ships.

That is very true. MadMac wants a 20k win, so wonders for culture should be built in the 20k town. Other wonders can be taken from the AI, but on Regent I don't find that the AI will build wonders for me very speedily, especially not in convenient locations. Usually I just do without rather than going to war with someone far away, but that is just me.