Some questions from a new player

[helizi]

I hope you guys don't mind some questions on things a great deal more basic than you usually get asked! I've finally started playing Civ III after meaning to for ages and it is fully as addictive as I knew it would be tragically, family commitments are dragging me away from it this weekend, but I still have the internet so I figure I'll ask about some of the things that have been puzzling me

- the beginning world map is random, yes? Within the parameters you set for it? Is the distribution of resources and luxuries also entirely random or are they scattered more-or-less evenly across the map? When you build a road and give yourself access to a resource, do all your cities automatically have access to it too, or do they need a road link, as with luxuries? My Egyptians have just found coal but it's on a tiny spit of an island, just space enough for a single city. I have no way of connecting it to the rest. At least not yet.

- What causes cities to expand? Population? Buildings built? A combination of factors? When different cities' borders merge, is there a bonus or penalty to production? Is it the size of the city that dictates how fast buildings and wonders will be built? You can 'hurry production', can you not? I assume this has some undesirable side-effect?

- I've only played a few games, against two or three opponents and at the easiest level, so perhaps that's it, but I've noticed that my scientific progress seems much faster than theirs. I go into the industrial age first and its quite some time before they follow suit. Why is this? I also seem to accumulate three/four-figure gold surpluses while the computer's treasury sits at 40 gold. I don't build many combat units, is that it? (I suck mightily at combat in all games and in this case I'm focusing on other types of victory, for now.)

- Though speaking of combat, why can the enemy capture my cities in one move when I've got to defeat half a dozen fighters to get at theirs?

- What's better, disbanding a worker for shields or having him join a city? And why can workers sometimes not join small cities?

- Is it just a low-level thing, or is the AI a bit stupid? I've seen it plunk down a settler on bare tundra and ignore the grassy cow-field a few squares away. Also, why are they hypocrites? Their workers and soldiers run willy-nilly through my territories but the second I put a toe over their borders they shriek about sovereignty!

- Mines. What do they do, exactly? I can see people working them in the city-screen but what are they doing/producing? Can you have too many?

Also, a random question about barbarian villages - sometimes they'll grant you a skill, like pottery. Handy in the beginning of the game. But is it random and is there a limit? If you somehow manages to miss a village until the Modern ages? Could they theoretically give you Combustion or something?

Hope these questions aren't too ignorant...with this game it feels like every time I learn something I realise how complicated the game is and feel even more clueless :O

 

[bigFRANK]

Welcome

On a random map the resources are going to allocated randomly, obviously only certain types of terrain have certain resources so your less likely to find dyes and silks in the far north and south of the map (unless you pick a hot map). If you road a resource you don’t necessarily get that resource unless it’s inside a cities boundary or you have used a worker/slave to build a colony. To connect your coal on a small island your going to need to build a harbour on your new island and make sure you have a harbour that is connected by road on your mainland, assuming you have navigation sorted you should then have the resource.

Citys boundaries expand with culture; certain types of building in a city generate culture. Other building are required to allow the population to expand beyond 6 (and then 12).

If your playing at the lower levels the AI’s don’t tend to put much money into research it’s not uncommon to be an age ahead of your opponent.

Combat, if you do leave your cities open (undefended) then the AI will try to capture them.

Workers it’s seldom a good idea to have workers join cities or cash them in they continue to very useful until such time as you have completely improved all tiles in your empire.

Yes they are stupid at all levels. And will get very upset with you about incursions into territory whilst blindly ignoring yours.

Mines make a square produce more shield therefore boosting city production.

Goody huts have a formula whereby what they give out is preset, in theory you could get a late tech off a goody hut though.

 

[Cyc]

Welcome

If you road a resource you don’t necessarily get that resource unless it’s inside a cities boundary or you have used a worker/slave to build a colony. To connect your coal on a small island your going to need to build a harbour on your new island and make sure you have a harbour that is connected by road on your mainland, assuming you have navigation sorted you should then have the resource.

If the road from the resource can be traced all the way to your capital, then every city/town connected to your capital gets the resource. In bigFRANK's example above, if no cities were connected to the city with the Harbour, then only the city with the Harbour would get the resource. Or if there was a 2nd city with a Harbour, then that city would also get the resource. If you want all your cities to get the resource supplied by a Harbour, make sure they are connected to the capital, or to the city with the Harbour.

Citys boundaries expand with culture; certain types of building in a city generate culture.

Well, culture boundries expand with culture. City borders never get past the 21 tile limit. I know that's what bigFRANK meant, I just wanted to make sure you knew what he meant.

 

[Buttercup]

Is the world map random?... Yes.

In the main menu alongside New Game, Load Game, Save Game, is an option to 'Play Last world', this will give you the same map you played last time, though you can alter it before playing via the usual world options process.

Is the distribution of resources and luxuries also entirely random?... Yes.

Although the harder the difficulty setting, the more unlikely you are to start near more than one. If you start a game on Cheiftan difficulty level then Play Last World and change the difficulty setting to Sid then the resources will appear in the same place they did at Cheiftan level.

Do resources need a road link, as with luxuries?... Yes.

Any city which is connected by road to a luxury or resource will have access to it. Overseas Cities require a Harbour to gain access to luxuries and resources or to 'send home' luxuries and resources - so you would need two Harbours, one at each end. The sea is divided into three categories - Coastal, Sea, Ocean and these must also connect your two Harbours (Coastal at an early stage of the game, Sea at a later stage and finally Ocean later still, depending which technologies permit which advancement in naval exploration) so it's quite possible to have the two harbours and not be able to gain access at the early stage of the game because the two Harbours are not connected by Coastal waters.

What causes cities to expand?... Food supply.

Each turn your citizens harvest food. A surplus of food will build up in each city's city screen until it overflows, at which point a new citizen is created. At 6 citizens the city is titled as a Town but as soon as it achieves 7 citizens it becomes a City and it's image on the map changes to a larger settlement. This happens again at size 12 when the City becomes a Metropolis.

What causes cities to expand?... Culture.

Great and Small Wonders generate Culture in the town they are built in. Some buildings also generate Culture. This is observable by looking in the city's City screen and looking at the list of buildings present there. Those that produce Culture have a musical note beside them. This Culture accumulates every turn and when it reaches a specific milestone, such as 10 points, 100 points, 1000 points, etc, the borders of that city expand.

When different cities' borders merge, is there a bonus or penalty to production?... No.

Is it the size of the city that dictates how fast buildings and wonders will be built?... Yes and no.

Buildings and Wonders are built using Shields which are farmed by your citizens the same way Food is. You select which item you wish to 'build' and the Shields accumulate in the city's City screen until the required amount are accumulated. Ergo, the more citizens you have farming Shields, the quicker you build, but if none of your citizens are farming Shields then there is no difference in production between a small or a large city.

You can 'hurry production', can you not? I assume this has some undesirable side-effect?... Yes and Possibly.

Just to the left of the Shield accumulation box in the city's City screen is a small box entitled Hurry Production. This will enable you to hurry buildings and Units. How this button operates depends on what form of Government your civilisation is run by. Some Government types require you to 'sacrifice' citizens to hurry production (shrinking the size of your city, but not it's borders) but this can only be achieved if you have lots of citizens. Other forms of Government permit you to 'buy' buildings by using Gold to Hurry Production.

You can also add bonus Shields to your city's Shield accumulation box by disbanding Units in that city. You can also add bonus Shields to your city's shield accumulation box by chopping down trees near the city.

The only way to Hurry Production of a Small or Great Wonder is by telling a Great Leader to Hurry Production. These Great Leaders only spawn on a random basis on a very small percent chance every time you learn a new Technology no-one else has learned or if an Elite Unit wins a fight. In some versions of the game the Military Great Leader cannot hurry Great Wonders and it's best to use them to create Armies. Scientific Great Leaders can hurry the production of anything.

I've noticed that my scientific progress seems much faster than theirs. I also seem to accumulate more Gold than them. Why is this?... Differing budget allocation.

You can choose to spend your National Income in three ways - Tax, Science, Luxury.

If you dedicate all your income to Tax then you will accumulate lots of Gold. If you allocate all your income to Science then you will have lots of Technologies. If you dedicate all your income to Luxuries then you will have very happy citizens. You can mix and match so that you have some of each as well. The computer players are allocating their income differently to you and may have a smaller or larger income than you with which to allocate.

Though speaking of combat, why can the enemy capture my cities in one move when I've got to defeat half a dozen fighters to get at theirs?... Tactics.

It's best to defend your cities from attack by placing Military Units in the cities when it looks like you are about to be attacked. The computer player never has a city with less than two defenders even if it's not at war, it's how it prioritises it's use of Shield production.

What's better, disbanding a worker for shields or having him join a city?... Up to you.

Most players never disband Workers, but if you find you do have too many then the choice is yours, but joining a City is certainly 'better' in 99% of cases. Once you have experimented with this it will become obvious why this is the case.

why can workers sometimes not join small cities?... City size limits.

As mentioned previously, all cities have 3 stages - Town, City, Metropolis based on their citizen size of 1-6, 7-11, 12+ respectively. In order for a Town to become a City you must first build an Aqueduct. In order for a City to become a Metropolis you must first build Sewerage Works. Without these buildings the city will refuse to grow larger and therefore cannot accept any new citizens.

The exception is cities which are founded next to a Fresh Water square, either a River or a Lake. If this is the case then the Aqueduct building is not required and the city can advance all the way to size 12 without being hindered.

is the AI a bit stupid?... Yes.

This is what enables you to win the game.

why are they hypocrites?... Because they're stupid.

You'll get used to this aspect the quickest.

Mines. What do they do, exactly?... They increase Shield production.

Some squares which produce Shields without being improved by Workers will increase their Shield production if a Worker adds a Mine to the square. Simples.

what are they doing/producing?... Heaven only knows.

Cracking Rocks?

Can you have too many?... Possibly.

If you Mined every square around a city that it's possible to Mine then it's likely there would not be enough Food to produce enough citizens to work them all, which is a bit of a waste, but you can do that if you like, there's no actual penalty other than you feeling a bit silly.

barbarian villages - sometimes they'll grant you a skill, like pottery. Is it random?... Yes.

There are many things that can happen when you find a Hut. What bonus you receive is pot luck.

If you somehow manages to miss a village until the Modern ages could they theoretically give you Combustion or something?... No.

The limit is any Technology from the Ancient Age.

 

[MysteryX]

- Though speaking of combat, why can the enemy capture my cities in one move when I've got to defeat half a dozen fighters to get at theirs?

Keep in mind that when you look at or click on an enemy settlement, you cannot see how many units are stationed there, only the best one. This is different from what you can click on enemy units out in the open and inspect how many and what types of units are on that square.

It it possible to use espionage to see how many units are in a settlement before attacking it, but espionage is usually too expensive to be worth it. After playing a few games, you will get a feel for how many defenders to expect in enemy cities, based on size and situation.

Is it just a low-level thing, or is the AI a bit stupid? I've seen it plunk down a settler on bare tundra and ignore the grassy cow-field a few squares away. Also, why are they hypocrites? Their workers and soldiers run willy-nilly through my territories but the second I put a toe over their borders they shriek about sovereignty!

The AI is limited but not completely stupid. The AI seems to prioritize strategic resources when making settlements. The AI also has a bit of an advantage in that it knows where resources are before it has the technology that you would need to see the resources on the map. So that tundra may have oil or aluminum or uranium that you have not yet uncovered. On the other hand, prioritizing strategic resources over food may not be that smart ultimately.

You have the option of using diplomacy to tell them to get their forces out of your territory. Depending on circumstances, they will comply, or they will declare war on you. Often they comply. But if their units are on an important goal (for example, moving to a military target when the only path is through your territory), they may declare war rather than comply. Or if the AI just calculates that it is militarily stronger than you, it will bully you and declare war rather than respect your borders.

Sometimes when using diplomacy to tell AI units to leave, you have to tell them several turns in a row before you finally get the "leave or declare war" option.

 

[MysteryX]

When you build a road and give yourself access to a resource, do all your cities automatically have access to it too, or do they need a road link, as with luxuries? My Egyptians have just found coal but it's on a tiny spit of an island, just space enough for a single city. I have no way of connecting it to the rest. At least not yet.

In addition to roads and harbors as previously mentioned, airports act as connectors too for purposes of distributing resources to your empire.

- I've only played a few games, against two or three opponents and at the easiest level, so perhaps that's it, but I've noticed that my scientific progress seems much faster than theirs. I go into the industrial age first and its quite some time before they follow suit. Why is this? I also seem to accumulate three/four-figure gold surpluses while the computer's treasury sits at 40 gold. I don't build many combat units, is that it? (I suck mightily at combat in all games and in this case I'm focusing on other types of victory, for now.)

One of the things that affect research speed is actually how many opponents you have. AI opponents will trade technology aggressively with each other. The more opponents you have, the more options those opponents have to trade. Of course, that also means you have more options to trade, as well.

As you move from easier to harder difficulties, AI opponents will move from penalties to bonuses when it comes to research. On the easier levels, you can easily outpace your opponents without trading. On the harder levels, you will need to do more trading, especially early on, to avoid falling hopelessly behind.

 

[Cyc]

Buttercup stated above that in order to let your city grow beyond size 12 and become a Metropolis you must first build Sewerage Works. No. You must first build a Hospital.

 

[Buttercup]

Ah yes! I'm thinking of Civ 2 aren't I, lol.

With civ 3, ever since I discovered going beyond size 12 automatically starts the generation of pollution I refuse to take any town beyond size 12 so I haven't had Hospitals drummed into my memory yet, especially as the Hospitals Technology is completely optional.

 

[timerover51]

Ah yes! I'm thinking of Civ 2 aren't I, lol.

With civ 3, ever since I discovered going beyond size 12 automatically starts the generation of pollution I refuse to take any town beyond size 12 so I haven't had Hospitals drummed into my memory yet, especially as the Hospitals Technology is completely optional.

If you mod the game, you can change the setting for Town and City so as to get good populations without having the Pollution problem. I normally use a setting of 9 for the Town limit and 21 for the City Limit. That allows me to work every tile and have one citizen left over to cope with potential disease or allow me to build workers without leaving a tile unworked.

Is the distribution of resources and luxuries also entirely random or are they scattered more-or-less evenly across the map?

The distribution of strategic resources is entirely random, however, I have run a fair number of tests, and the number of strategic resources available is typically the number of civilizations in the game, with the possibility of plus or minus 1. What this means is that if you have yourself and 4 AI civilizations in a game, for a total of 5 civilizations, you can expect to have between 4 and 6 of each strategic resource on the map. The AI can see all of the resources, so if you see an AI settler heading for what appears to be a vacant area of Tundra or Desert, it very well could be that a strategic resource such as Oil, Saltpeter, or Aluminum is going to appear there.

Luxuries tend to be clustered in groups of the same resource, so one city might have 5 to 8 of the same luxury resource within its boundaries. The purely bonus resources tend to be distributed fairly evenly over the map, but you can also encounter clusters of those as well.