The tech race for oil

[TruePurple]

Im in a game where I fell behind the tech tree, am now catching up but every inch of land is claimed. The nation with the oil said it wouldn't sell at all but with a little testing I found out it would sell 20 turns worth for like 2.5k, most of my money.

What settings are good to prevent this situation? (everyone owning every inch of land) What size=quantity of nations ratio? Otherwise it all becomes a tech race to oil random luck as to where the oil shows up.

One cool idea for civ 4 is a tech of fuel alternatives, diesel fuel converter city improvement that turns food into fuel. Or Algea tank city improvement that creates hydrogen fuel but is expensive.

 

[gmaharriet]

I think the idea of fuel alternatives is a great idea, just as you can manage without saltpeter after awhile. Let's hope they implement something of the sort in Civ IV.

 

[vmxa]

Well up to Demi level you can with without every going that far in the game. Even an AW at Monarch level can be won on a pangea map about the time you get to Refinery. I only mention this because I do not see any race for oil.

Anyway if you go with Dry you will get more deserts and that should give more chances for Oil.

You should not have to have any special size or limit the number of Civs to get your fair share of land at most levels. I would say that maybe Demi and certainly above it that level, it will require a good start to get enough land.

You will not be so much of an issue of gettign the land as it willbe to keep it at those levels. You have to be careful above expanding to not get over extended.

So if you are talking about Emperor and down, you should get your share of land with a reasonable start. Resources and luxs are another story.

If you don't get the land, then you have to use a stick and when you can do so changes from level and civs.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Good points there, vxma. But still, as far as a civs : world size ratio goes, I would recommend NOT going above the default averages for sure (ie 4 civs Tiny, 8 Standard, etc). And personally, I find sticking with 8 civs max, no matter what the size of the map (well, maybe up to about 200x200), is a good rule to go by. (It also considerably speeds up turn times, and makes the Foreign Advisor screen one heck of a lot simpler!)

 

[Gato Loco]

The situation you describe isn't a disaster. Before tanks come along, cavalry and artillery are more than enough to win a war, and you can usually make do without the latest ships if need be. Just have your army ready as soon as you discover refining, then set out to liberate the citizens of a weak oil-producing nation from their oppressive dictator.

 

[TruePurple]

Well in my case just about all the civs had tanks. (out of the 7 or 8 starters there was 4 left including me) I really fell behind in the tech tree. I abandoned that game, even though I'm sure I could have managed or at least tried if I only had had oil on my land.

BTW my settings were average (size etc) and difficulty was emperor.(which seems to be average with hard leanings difficulty setting)

Does the AI start out with any more towns or techs at that setting? Seems to me the first momentum part of the game is the hardest, as in trying to overcome the AI's scary early momentum but after you manage to pull up even its fine.(if you manage)

 

[Stylesjl]

set out to liberate the citizens of a weak oil-producing nation from their oppressive dictator.

Hmmm sounds like a certain country i know of

 

[Lord Parkin]

Does the AI start out with any more towns or techs at that setting? Seems to me the first momentum part of the game is the hardest, as in trying to overcome the AI's scary early momentum but after you manage to pull up even its fine.(if you manage)

The AI doesn't start with extra towns... extra Settlers and Workers maybe, and perhaps extra military. Not exactly sure of the specifics. But you hit the nail on the head with your comment - on the higher difficulties, the AI get a COLOSSAL boost in the ancient era (which carries through part way into the medieval era)... but once the industrial age is reached (or even before that), the AI just seem to fizz out - and no matter what the difficulty level, the human can easily wipe the floor with them if they've survived to this point!!! Just a sad fact of life in civ3... but hopefully civ4 will do something to combat this.

 

[Tomoyo]

AIs on Emperor start with an extra worker and I think eight military units...

 

[Lord Parkin]

Wow, more than I thought...

Is that more than vanilla civ3, less, or the same?

 

[vmxa]

They start with 4 defensive units and 2 offensive units and one worker. What that means is a civ like Germany that knows WC and BW starts with 4 spears and 2 archers.

You do not want to warrior rush them unless you are very lucky. IIRC that is the same in all versions. The cost factor is a bit better at emperor, so they can produce units cheaper than you are use to seeing. They get an improved support bonus and can afford more units.

The AI gets an extra settler at Demi and above.

 

[Theoden]

One cool idea for civ 4 is a tech of fuel alternatives, diesel fuel converter city improvement that turns food into fuel. Or Algea tank city improvement that creates hydrogen fuel but is expensive.

They have already promised a system like that. For example, you will be able to produce oil in an alternate way once you get a certain tech. The general picture is that they are making sure that resources are less restricting in civ4.

 

[NP300]

What settings are good to prevent this situation? (everyone owning every inch of land) What size=quantity of nations ratio? Otherwise it all becomes a tech race to oil random luck as to where the oil shows up.

You could increase the appearance ratio for oil. I think the default is 120. If you increase it to 160 it would be as common as iron. I wouldn't recommend 160 because at 160 almost every civ has the resource in the later game and it is just boring. I personally think 120 is fine. But you may want to try increasing it to 140.