[NFP] The mystery of the vampire's castle

[ShallowSeas]

So I was playing as Japan today, trying to get the most out of the Sanguine Pact, when I noticed that this castle had strange yields.



Where, I wondered is it getting the 3 science from? If it grabs tile yields only, it should give 1 science. If it grabs the adjacency bonus of the campus (1 mountain and a geothermal vent=3) in addition to the tile yields than it should be 4.

For a moment I thought it might be grabbing the yields of the district's buildings, but then when I bought a university the yields stayed the same disproving that theory.

Since I can propose no theory that will explain this behavior, I have to ask, does anyone actually know how these castles work?

If we can figure it out, we may discover interesting possibilities.

 

[tedhebert]

Two things to take into account;

1) Castles set their yields at the moment of creation, and those yields are not dynamically updated afterwards. If you've upgraded surrounding tiles, you must use a vampire's action to raze it and then re-construct it.
2) the center tile's yield is also included in the total yield calculated.

in this case, my guess would be that the center tile's yields were 2 food, 0 prod and 2 science ? Is that possible ?

 

[Future Tech]

2) the center tile's yield is also included in the total yield calculated.

This surprised me, because I thought only adjacent tiles were included in the calculation.

I just checked the patch notes: Vampire Castles grant yields to their owner's capital equal to the yields of all adjacent tiles

I guess it depends how you define adjacent?

Edit: Or maybe the local tile yields are still provided to the local city, and the adjacent yields are provided only to the capital? So the amounts displayed include both local city and capital city yields?

 

[Equilin]

was there a disaster that reduce the volcanic soil tile yield?

 

[Kibikus]

Interesting situation indeed, my guess would be something related to the volcano to the east. Eruptions can sometimes add science to tiles. Or a resource (tea, mercury, iron) that was later destroyed by the volcano.

Perhaps you can try removing the castle and building it again to see what happens.

Btw, the volcano and ancient ruins national park gives me some real Pompeii vibes.

This surprised me, because I thought only adjacent tiles were included in the calculation.

I can't check in-game, but this is from the wiki: Duplicates yields from adjacent tiles and adds them to its own.

 

[shaky]

I'm guessing that adjacent building yields are counted towards the castle yield at the time it was built, so the +2 is from the library.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

Sounds like a Hardy Boys book

 

[cain3456]

Sounds like a Hardy Boys book

More like a Scooby-Doo episode.

 

[ShallowSeas]

Ok, so after some testing I can confirm that the yields of the castle do not update and also that the castle receives the yields of it's own tile.

I have also discovered the rule for district yields. Basically, whenever you place a castle next to a specialty district you get +2 of that district's yield. The commercial hub and encampment are exceptions. The commercial hub gives you +4 gold and the encampment gives you +1 production and +2 gold.

When you finish the tier three building, the district will now provide newly placed castles an extra +1 yield, except for commercial hubs which now give an extra +2 gold.

To be honest, I am a little disappointed. The rules are so arbitrary, they defy all common sense, though perhaps I am disappointed because I was hoping to discover some super powerful niche strat, but ended up discovering that placing castles next to districts is almost always sub optimal. I mean, an industrial zone with a workshop, factory and coal power plant will provide a castle fewer yields than an ordinary mine.

Oh well, I guess the lesson is that mysteries are often better left unsolved.

 

[tedhebert]

I have also discovered the rule for district yields. Basically, whenever you place a castle next to a specialty district you get +2 of that district's yield. The commercial hub and encampment are exceptions. The commercial hub gives you +4 gold and the encampment gives you +1 production and +2 gold.

When you finish the tier three building, the district will now provide newly placed castles an extra +1 yield, except for commercial hubs which now give an extra +2 gold.

Wow...fascinating... and very unexpected for me. I assumed 0 yields from districts, honestly, so I've been avoiding spots where I intend to build some !!! Thx for the info. I agree that it's not much, bu it IS better than nothing ;-)