Quick Questions and Answers

[Heerlo]

They will always TRY and steal tech, if a tech is available. It's easy enough to get the scout report and send them on somewhere else though, well before the steal goes through.

I didn't figure there was any way to make them stop without moving them out of the city.Thanks anyway.

I don't always want to steal technology, and sometimes it can be easy to forget you've got a spy stealing from somewhere.

 

[Crafty Bison]

I didn't figure there was any way to make them stop without moving them out of the city.Thanks anyway.

I don't always want to steal technology, and sometimes it can be easy to forget you've got a spy stealing from somewhere.

One very round about way would be to ecplise them in science, then the spy can stay spying without trying to steal. Otherwise, yeah they gonna steal unless you move them.

 

[InDubioProReo]

As of late I have been trying out other civs that I have not played in Vanilla, and recently I have been wanting to pick up Germany, due to having wild fantasies of a modern army with many Panzers which just wreck everything stands before them. What should my basic strategy be to make this fantasy a reality?

 

[mrjacksplat]

Thanks in advance!
Rome and a city state declared war on me. I then defeated the city state, Rome then offered peace and I accepted. Shortly thereafter most of the Nations denounced ME. Was this because I defeated the city state? Hey I was only defending myself.
Also if someone denounces you, do all current deals with them end?

 

[Browd]

Taking a city state will get you denounced. "I was just defending myself" doesn't play with the AI.

Denunciations will cancel embassies, but will not cancel other deals (e.g., lux trades).

 

[Jaybe]

Thanks in advance!
Rome and a city state declared war on me. I then defeated the city state, Rome then offered peace and I accepted. Shortly thereafter most of the Nations denounced ME. Was this because I defeated the city state? Hey I was only defending myself.
Also if someone denounces you, do all current deals with them end?

It may have been because Rome denounced you after peace was accepted and the other civs joined them (especially if they were friendly with Rome).

Since a peace treaty often leads to denouncement, I'm leaning towards letting the state of war perpetuate. Peace is often not worth the subsequent denouncements.

I haven't conquered any CSs since the Fall patch (been playing too much Continents Plus maps), but previously it hadn't provoked denouncements.

 

[mrjacksplat]

It may have been because Rome denounced you after peace was accepted and the other civs joined them (especially if they were friendly with Rome).

Since a peace treaty often leads to denouncement, I'm leaning towards letting the state of war perpetuate. Peace is often not worth the subsequent denouncements.

I haven't conquered any CSs since the Fall patch (been playing too much Continents Plus maps), but previously it hadn't provoked denouncements.

Wow, didn't know that about peace treaties...also I didn't get any patches yet...Where do I get them? (Just bought civ 5 two weeks ago)

 

[gigaagig]

Hi guys, sorry if it's been asked before but I didn't see it.

In Civ 4 you could hotkey build orders for your cities, like pressing 1 tells your city to build a granary > lighthouse > library > etc. You could also tell your city to keep building a unit. Is there a way to do things like that in Civ 5 instead of manually clicking each time?

Thanks.

 

[clearbeard]

It may have been because Rome denounced you after peace was accepted and the other civs joined them (especially if they were friendly with Rome).

Since a peace treaty often leads to denouncement, I'm leaning towards letting the state of war perpetuate. Peace is often not worth the subsequent denouncements.

I haven't conquered any CSs since the Fall patch (been playing too much Continents Plus maps), but previously it hadn't provoked denouncements.

I never sign peace treaties without a mighty compelling reason. If it's an all-out war, those last couple of neutered and undesirable cities are nice XP farms for your newer troops to get up to speed for your next war. They will almost without exception be snatched up by someone else in an opportunistic land grab eventually, keeping you from taking the "genocide" diplomacy hit as well. Unless I'm not ready to absorb them entirely, peace is usually not worth it at all and even then requires a hefty bribe.

I find that CS conquest triggers denouncements if another civ is protecting, allied with, friends with, or just plain wants the CS. The last two states are not something you are generally aware of. If they are playing diplomatically and buying up loads of other CS, then likely any CS in the world falls in the "wants" category so will trigger the diplomatic hit. As far as I can tell, if a civ has a positive relationship with a CS, even well below "friends" they won't like your conquest. Plus, CS troops and bombardments are fantastic XP farms. Not usually worth conquering at all, IMO.

Wow, didn't know that about peace treaties...also I didn't get any patches yet...Where do I get them? (Just bought civ 5 two weeks ago)

Patches are downloaded and installed automatically through Steam, as long as Steam is told to keep your game up to date (the default setting) and your internet connection is active. There are no separate, official sources for patches with its Steam-only support.

Hi guys, sorry if it's been asked before but I didn't see it.

In Civ 4 you could hotkey build orders for your cities, like pressing 1 tells your city to build a granary > lighthouse > library > etc. You could also tell your city to keep building a unit. Is there a way to do things like that in Civ 5 instead of manually clicking each time?

Thanks.

Wow, I didn't know you could hotkey whole queues in Civ 4. Many of the Civ 4 functions are actually still in Civ 5, only hidden or undocumented (like alt-wake to wake up all of a given type of unit). Fiddle around with the hotkeys you used and they might work, but I don't know. Repeat builds are out though, and a same too with the 6 slot max on the queue. On the other hand, armies are much smaller, so it's not as huge of an issue as it might be.

 

[InDubioProReo]

Okay I need some help. I'm playing an Immortal, Epic speed, Continents game with Bismarck, and I have Alex and Babylon with me in the same continent. I conquered Babylon with 6-7 Landsknechts, 4 Crossbowman and 2 Trebuchet. However, Alex had Longswordsman shortly after and pushed. I just cannot hold it with Landsknecht and due to happiness my production is terrible, and I can't produce longswordsman fast.

So I rolled back the save, and decided to attack Greece instead. This time, I'm thinking to go on them first, seeing how weak Nebby was. The reason my happiness sucked so much was because Nebu asked me whether I'm going to attack him or not and I said no, then attacked. How is the best way to attack so I don't get the penalty? If I can't trade stuff my happiness will be terrible and I just can't fight.

 

[clearbeard]

Okay I need some help. I'm playing an Immortal, Epic speed, Continents game with Bismarck, and I have Alex and Babylon with me in the same continent. I conquered Babylon with 6-7 Landsknechts, 4 Crossbowman and 2 Trebuchet. However, Alex had Longswordsman shortly after and pushed. I just cannot hold it with Landsknecht and due to happiness my production is terrible, and I can't produce longswordsman fast.

So I rolled back the save, and decided to attack Greece instead. This time, I'm thinking to go on them first, seeing how weak Nebby was. The reason my happiness sucked so much was because Nebu asked me whether I'm going to attack him or not and I said no, then attacked. How is the best way to attack so I don't get the penalty? If I can't trade stuff my happiness will be terrible and I just can't fight.

Defensive wars are the way to go, unless you're massively dominant and can just roll over their army. The AI is rubbish when it comes to invading. Set up on your side of the border on hilltops and forests (or even forts if you've got a couple workers with nothing to do for several turns prior) and then declare war either directly or by saying "now it's time to die" when he asks what your forces are doing nearby. Use the lay of the terrain to your advantage to keep from getting too badly flanked and slaughter his armies as they wander into your territory. A couple turns to heal, and then you sweep in for his cities.

As another tip, landsknecht (and really all of the spear/pike line) are pretty much rubbish. Having a couple to hit enemy horsemen are useful, but the heavy infantry line is much better as the backbone of your army. That gives you the added advantage of being able to simply upgrade your swords to longswords instead of having to build all new units. My force mix at that point would look more like 3-4 swordsmen, 1-2 landsknecht, 5-6 crossbowmen, and 2 trebuchets. Melee units are much better fortified in hills with all/most of the offensive damage done by your back line.

I'm not sure what you mean about the happiness penalty for backstabbing. Your people don't care, it's the rest of the world's leaders that won't like you for breaking your word. That could be why Alex pushed in after you'd hit Babylon, though he is a bloodthirsty bastard and was likely looking for an excuse. Your post-invasion unhappiness is more from puppet/annexed population. Consider razing 1-2 enemy cities if they're small or poorly situated to get that under control.

Hope that helps, and good luck. Bismarck is one of the weaker civs, but the fun of blitzing the world can make it worth the extra effort.

 

[mrjacksplat]

Thanks Clearbeard!

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

I have several questions...

1.Is there a science/research and gold slider or adjustee any ever like there was in past civs? Is there anyway to control it if you need some more gold streamlining?

2.What are diplomatic penalties? Any quick tips on how to win diplomatic victory?

3.What effect does conquering city states have on diplomacy? Do other civs care?


Thank you everyone!

 

[Browd]

In the spirit of quick answers to quick questions:

1. No sliders in CiV. If you want more science, grow your population, build science buildings and populate scientist slots (and unpopulate them to reprioritize away from science). The closest thing to spending gold on science in CiV is the research agreement. For more gold, assign citizens to work tiles that yield gold and build gold-multiplying building (markets, banks, etc.). You can also sell spare strategic and luxury resources for lump-sum gold or gold-per-turn.

2. Diplomatic penalties are legion, and most last 30-50 turns, although some are permanent. They manifest themselves in AI opinions of you, and can be observed by mouse hovering over the "Friendly, Neutral, Hostile," etc. labels in the diplomatic screen. Big no-nos are denouncing or DOWing civs you have a DOF with and breaking other promises you made (promise not to nearby expand, "just passing though" challenges to units near AI borders, continue spying when you promise not to, etc.) and some for just pursuing your strategy (covet your lands, warmonger penalty if you eliminate a rival ("hey, he started it, and I ended it, by exterminating him. What's the big deal?", etc.). Bunch of threads complaining about how touchy and unreasonable the AI can be (I find diplo generally logical, but I suspect I'm in the minority). On diplo victory, beeline to Globalization, build the UN, and have a stack of gold to ally every CS you can find.

3. Big no-no. Unpopular with pretty much every civ (except maybe the Mongols, whose UA gives them a bonus for doing the same).

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

Thank you, Browd! One more question... Can you nudge a neighbor city's border over if you have much stronger culture? Just like you could in Civilization 4?

 

[Browd]

No. Borders can only expand into no-man's land. You can deploy a culture bomb to steal territory (Great General in G&K and Great Artist in vanilla), but that is an extremely aggressive act.

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

Exactly what I needed to know. Thank you!

Last question: What are the benefits and risks embassies/

 

[Streams]

If the AI has an embassy in your capital, it sees faster what you have and may decide to attack quicker.

You can give it away in the beginning for a quick 25 gold/AI.

There are some CS quests which ask for discovery of another nations's lands. If you have already met units, getting an embassy over there will do the trick if you want the quest done faster.

 

[Marvin86]

Hey guys stupid question.. I see that on the screenshots in the forum people have little icons pointing to the luxury or strategic resources on their map. I think this would be useful but I couldn't find it in the options, how can i do this?

 

[Browd]

In the lower right, next to the mini-map, there is a clickable icon that gives you some choices. One choice is display resource icons. (Another is display hex grid. I forget the others.)