Use of the world builder.

[axlrose]

What are your feelings on using the world builder? I personally don't like the fact that you can go in, and add anything you want at any time with no consequences(unless there are that I don't know about). I prefer to play with what the game gives you.

How do you guys feel.

 

[mystikmind2005]

Well i think the world builder is fantastic!

It allows me to experiment with whatever different strategies and tacktics my imagination can come up with.

As for people who simply use it for cheating, well all i can say is that it is their loss.

 

[alvinthegreat]

Eh...I can't help pressing ctrl+w whenever I'm losing and adding a few units or great people or even resources.

TAKE IT OUT or make it a separate program imo

 

[Onagan]

I love it, and I use it every game, for renameing my colonies cities. I can't stand having Elizabeth control over Maastricht & Dorestad. It have to be London & York.

So when I know which leader it is, I change the names

 

[Kal'thzar]

Generally when I start a game, moving a unit onto another different civs units tile whilst exploring, choice of war or not, I just press enter -> you declared war. Nuts.

 

[el toro loco]

i think it is a good tool but can become an addiction like anything else.

for good: it is a great practice tool. especially to see how computer plays. or you can add farms or cotttages and look at the addvantges or disadvantages w/ library or specialist. maximum beakers w/ out math skills.

for bad: crutch that lets you dominate games.

also it is good if you are in between levels. you dominate prince or monarch but have trouble winning consistently at next level. start game w/ a single great leader and it kind of makes the game more fun and gives you a little advantage to offset ai advantage.

 

[CivLuvah]

Meh. It's a great cheat especially if your computer is SO DARN SLOW.

 

[NintendoTogepi]

I love it, and I use it every game, for renameing my colonies cities. I can't stand having Elizabeth control over Maastricht & Dorestad. It have to be London & York.

So when I know which leader it is, I change the names

That's not really cheating, I do the same thing.

 

[Crowqueen]

I use it sparingly and I'm trying to reduce my dependence on it to start off with (though I use the debug tools to add units because I don't like seeing more than the map I can see in game because I also like to guess my opponents as I explore and find them. I can usually "feel" whether Justinian is out there with 100% accuracy...). I usually start with two settlers, two workers and two spearmen (in addition to the things you start off with anyway), and I'm now down to one settler, one worker and one spearman and wondering which to eliminate next so I can begin to play properly.

I used to go in and add horses/copper outside the BFCs of any cities if I didn't get them when I researched AH or BW, but it is now making the game a bit samey to do that so I'm trying to wean myself off my "starting package" gradually.

Once I get momentum going I find that I don't have to do anything with debug tools or Worldbuilder...I'm afraid on a lot of games I cheat like crazy because for me a game is something to explore rather than try and beat the hard way, but the really impressive moments come when you win despite the odds (like on Icewind Dale when my mage ran out of spells, all the other characters were magically asleep or held, and she killed the last wight between her and complete game-death with a +1 dagger going toe-to-toe with it...classic moment where the entire game hung in the balance and I didn't even bother to cheat because things were going so close...).

In Civ I am regularly beating Warlord but think I ought to reduce my dependence on starting with a huge advantage to see whether it is me being cheaty at first that gives me such a huge edge or whether my strategy based on that starting package (essentially (Mysticism->Meditation (found Buddhism)->...)Warrior->Stonehenge->Great Wall in first cities and Warrior->Barracks->... elsewhere is sound without the bonuses I give myself initially.

 

[Onagan]

That's not really cheating, I do the same thing.

I never said it was cheating . The better way tough,
Form a colony, look which Civilization* you get, and reload.
Then rename your cities, and then form the colony.

This way prevents you from using the World Builder.


* I removed the favorite colony from the Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml file.
I got bored of seeing America every time, now you get Random Vassals.

 

[Iranon]

Even if the statement costs me a lot of geek cred... it's nice for testing out theories and refining one's strategies in cases where simply doing the math becomes tedious.

Example: Maintenance and trade totals.
Corporation yields themselves are easy; comparing how having every city ~6 citizens larger under Cereal Mills running scientists compared to simply going for Standard Ethanol affects your balance would be a bugger to calculate though.

 

[axlrose]

Eh...I can't help pressing ctrl+w whenever I'm losing and adding a few units or great people or even resources.

TAKE IT OUT or make it a separate program imo

I agree. Like in Warcraft 2. You could make any map you wanted, but you had to use a special program, and then specifically load the map you made.

I'm actually pretty suprised about how many of you use it in a game. Maybe that's why I hear so many people talking about winning on the more difficult levels. Because they, in mind, cheat.

 

[axlrose]

Eh...I can't help pressing ctrl+w whenever I'm losing and adding a few units or great people or even resources.

TAKE IT OUT or make it a separate program imo

I agree. Like in Warcraft 2. You could make any map you wanted, but you had to use a special program, and then specifically load the map you made.

I'm actually pretty suprised about how many of you use it in a game. Maybe that's why I hear so many people talking about winning on the more difficult levels. Because they, in mind, cheat.

 

[Balderstrom]

I use it sparingly. Usually to change recently applied promotions that I f'd up, after I have done a huge amount of Micro within the last few turns, and my last save is the 4turn ago autoSave.
Or to give my level 3/4 Warrior - recently upgraded to Axeman, but he didn't get the +Shock promotion+ that all new built units are getting from one of the Random Events.

I used it more in the past to rectify bad unit movements, that would of required going back 3-4+ turns and trying to remember all the micro+management I did between then and now.

Actually whenever I opened it, would place a blocker in front of the minimap so I couldn't see it ;-) And would have the map scrolled in close to the area I'm in.

Now the worldBuilder is mostly a testCase and I rarely open it during an actual game.
If you want to get rid of the "temptation" just play a multiplayer game with 1 player.
The only thing I dislike about that is I don't get to see the in-game wonder movies.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

It is essential. You need it to convert ordinary saves into worldbuilder files for series games like the LHC, noble's club, and immortal university. You can also text edit it to flip game speeds and which civs are playable.

Other than that I almost never use it. Occasionally when I'm going up a difficulty level and have already lost the game, I worldbuilder in some super units and nuke/tank the world just due to frustration. I don't count it as a win, but it can be fun to watch my enemies die anyway. Yes, computer, you get your stupid bonuses. Usually I can overcome them...but when I can't...I GET A BONUS NOW! PWN. Suck radiation.

Very few people who say that they win on difficult levels employ the worldbuilder at all. I know I sure as hell don't. I'd need it to win on Deity still, but then I don't claim that difficulty level is within my current abilities.

 

[buffalo6542]

the only times i would use world builder is to eliminate AI access to uranium.

 

[Endure]

Wow some people use the world builder far more then I even dreamed of doing for a "normal" game.

I feel really bad when I give and use the world builder just to see the whole map revealed so i can see where the AI's cities are, etc. I try not to do that and most games I don't but thats the only way I ever consider cheating in a "real" game.

Now just setting up different scenarios with the WB and seeing what happens is sometimes quite abit of fun.

 

[Tibur753]

I agree. Like in Warcraft 2. You could make any map you wanted, but you had to use a special program, and then specifically load the map you made.

Civ3 has it as a seperate program too, as does Warcraft III. Those are more relevant examples. Warcraft III's Worldbuilder is better though.

 

[eewallace]

If you don't like it, or if you find yourself becoming addicted to it, simply choose the "lock modified assets" selection from the custom game menu and it won't be accessible.

I personally have been using it for months now to try to design a well-balanced scenario--which is much harder than I thought it would be!

Oh, I also used it when I first got Civ 4 and figured out I needed to totally rethink how I handled warfare. I opened worldbuilder and tried various kinds of stacks against cities, against opponent stacks, against archers on hills, etc., to get a feel for combat and combat odds.

 

[Balderstrom]

IIRC "Lock Modified Assets" will prevent Mods from working. Which for many would not be even close to acceptable. I use Varietas Delectat along w/ the odd tweak, and BUG Mod in custom assets.