What gives you Civ4 gamer rage?

[s.bernbaum]

The AP, hands down. I would go with the Barb uprising event, but I stopped playing with events long ago. The AP on the other hand can't be turned off without also shutting the door on a valid UN win condition, is either poorly thought out and poorly implemented or buggy as all get out and makes absolutely zero sense.

If you REALLY want to kill just the AP, go into the file "CIV4BuildingClassInfos.xml" and find these lines:
<Type>BUILDINGCLASS_APOSTOLIC_PALACE</Type>
<Description>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_APOSTOLIC_PALACE</Description>
<iMaxGlobalInstances>1</iMaxGlobalInstances>
Change the "1" in the third line to a "0" and it will be impossible to build the AP.

Of course, don't do this to the file in your game folder. Copy the file, along with all enclosing folders (just the folders not the contents, except the folder chain to the XML file in question) to the same named location in CustomAssets and make the change there.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

@MeInTeam and Rah, try the kmod, he fixed a lot of those things, particularly the queued orders get executed at end of the turn

I have it and consider it to be the greatest mod in civ IV, but the problem is I play mostly forum-based games, and those saves aren't compatible. Kmod fixes much of what is broken in civ IV.

As for the rest, a lot of these things in the poll are 100% or at least partially controllable:

But...I was building that..(losing a wonder race) - Other than early tech wonders, controlling the tech picture = controlling wonder victory. Starts being true around literature.

Mr. Burnside you let me down(Losing a battle you are almost certain to win) - Nothing, but fighting later in the game reduces its impact to nearly meaningless.

Anywhere but there!!!(Losing a key city spot) - From being captured, or AI bonuses beating you to the site?

A massive barabian uprising is occuring......(oh dear) - Try not to play with garbage skill-equalizing settings.

You sucker punched me!(Losing a key city to barbs) - Nothing you can do if they hit you with really improbable odds, though on most standard maps you can spawnbust the barbs entirely before they enter borders.

no..no.no don't call your momma(weak civ your at war with vassalizes to strong civ) - Takes a careful understanding of the mechanics but you can manipulate around it with dispositions/peace treaties.

Darn Liberals(Losing a bonus tech i.e. Liberalism, Music, Economics) - Tech picture/manipulation

But I had faith!(Not founding a religion) - Founding early religions is poor play in BTS. Founding later religions is usually from bulbing.

I guess I'm uncompetative(Not founding a corporation) - Unless you're playing for a hall-of-fame space finish date, just use SP then. If you ARE playing for early space, you'll have good corps ridiculously early, long before AI can possibly get them.

So this is suffering the wrath of God...(Having the AP do something you really dont want) - NEVER! Or spread it enough to control it.

Cathy I thought we had something..(Being backstabbed by pleased AI) - Peace treaties, bribe them on other people, understanding how/why AI DoW.

Run for your lives!!!(Surprise attack by a large stack of doom) - If AI can declare, position something in its borders to see stack buildup, then have enough to defend it.

Nananana you cant catch me...(Runaway civ) - I hate these too.

Wanna mess with me now...?(AI gets longbows too soon) - Hit early and hard or hit with a tech lead.

Penniless(Not having Copper, Iron, Horse, Oil, or Uranium) - Yesterday was rifles...today it is rifles...I'm I'm I'm so excited. I'm so excited, I'm going to mass rifles all day. Tomorrow is rifles, and rifles come afterwards. I DON'T WANT THESE RIFLES TO EEEEEEEEENNNNNNNND!

They all stink equally - Definitely not, some are controllable while others are improbable screw-jobs.

 

[Gwynnja]

>Losing a battle you are almost certain to win

Everything else is either a minor nuisance, an (often easily) avoidable situation, or not applicable with events turned off.

 

[Terrance888]

I dunno whether or not to feel dumb that I'm the only one to hate sudden Stack of Dooms. I just returned to Civ and am playing Noble/Prince levels.

I really hate when I declare war with a tech advantage and a (hard-won) parity in power, then get my rifles overwhelmed by sheer numbers of AI catapults/elephants/knights/warriors round one, cue counter attack.

I really hate when I declare war and take a few cities, and then the enemy stack appear from behind me in my ally's territory, and my ally refuses to cancel deals or declare war.

I really hate when I land an intercontinental force and manage to beat back the enemy, then my mech infantry and mobile artillery get worn down by artillery and infantry gloop, and then I get counter attacked by old galleons with Rifle/Cannon, whose collateral lets them take one of my big cities and razes it.

 

[plasmacannon]

1) Mr. Burnside you let me down(Losing a battle you are almost certain to win)
There's nothing worse than losing battles you expected to easily win. Such as those 97% or better or having your chariot lose to a barb warrior that was barely scratched.

2) Penniless(Not having Copper, Iron, Horse, Oil, or Uranium) gets a close 2nd, however I'll play those sometimes to test my catapult or LB rush skills, otherwise they could deserve to be regenerated, depending on whether I specifically chose a leader/empire combo that required one of these resourses, or didn't want to tech up rifles. This doesn't make me angry though, it's just how the entire map got rolled this time.

3) I don't use timers, but have occasionally encountered the control errors TMIT speaks of, so that just got included here.

 

[happyturtle]

Those control issues are a serious pain in the ass, but I voted for AP trolling as the worst. For a while, I tried to always build the AP. Now I just give away Theology to the other AIs who have the same state religion as me and count on one of them to build it then elect me pope.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I dunno whether or not to feel dumb that I'm the only one to hate sudden Stack of Dooms. I just returned to Civ and am playing Noble/Prince levels.

I really hate when I declare war with a tech advantage and a (hard-won) parity in power, then get my rifles overwhelmed by sheer numbers of AI catapults/elephants/knights/warriors round one, cue counter attack.

I really hate when I declare war and take a few cities, and then the enemy stack appear from behind me in my ally's territory, and my ally refuses to cancel deals or declare war.

I really hate when I land an intercontinental force and manage to beat back the enemy, then my mech infantry and mobile artillery get worn down by artillery and infantry gloop, and then I get counter attacked by old galleons with Rifle/Cannon, whose collateral lets them take one of my big cities and razes it.

It's pretty fun being the guy who has the infantry/arty gloop though . I'm test-recording a new setup and might post it as an LP if I can fix the audio crackling...I was literally fighting grenadiers with rifles and later invaded infantry/machine guns/artillery with rifles, cannons, and airships (and I only got airships because of my vassals trading physics to me after putting a bulb in it). Even on high difficulties (IMM +) collateral initiative wins if you have the #'s.

You'd be surprised what some heroic epic + settled GG to make CR III cannons out of the gate can do however, especially with 12 airships beating on the top defenders. There were a couple non-hill cities vs the infantry where my first ground battle was >60% odds even though I was an era behind ^_^.

Speaking of your issue with getting stack-wiped with a tech lead; scout the AI. If you declare on it the cpu will always attack you with its offensive stack, to the point of entering your borders with it. Take advantage of your roads + territory instead of letting it do so, and you can easily flatten its stack (if you have cannons, all the better, soften it with collateral first...but even without that rifles vs medieval = huge victory if you have initiative). Also make sure to draft up a good 50+ rifles. It might SEEM like overkil, but even 200+ rifles isn't overkill .

 

[capnvonbaron]

Anywhere but there!!!(Losing a key city spot) - From being captured, or AI bonuses beating you to the site?

I think he means like when you are just about to march a settler out to that primo gems/rice commerce goldmine, then Shaka -- who has no place putting a settler out that far from his core cities -- plops a settler down in the worst possible site on a hill, missing the rice but blocking the gems, and gaining a crapload of jungle.

That or a barb city popping up on a hill just out of sight of a spawnblocker about one tile away from a city you dot-mapped to be awesome.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I think he means like when you are just about to march a settler out to that primo gems/rice commerce goldmine, then Shaka -- who has no place putting a settler out that far from his core cities -- plops a settler down in the worst possible site on a hill, missing the rice but blocking the gems, and gaining a crapload of jungle.

That or a barb city popping up on a hill just out of sight of a spawnblocker about one tile away from a city you dot-mapped to be awesome.

Barb cities are easier to control than AI ones .

With experience you can semi-predict what you can/can't get on a given difficulty, but it's never set in stone. This is indeed an annoying thing but not nearly so rage inducing or game breaking as others!

 

[Mistro]

I hate the nukes! In one of my sessions, my capitol was filled with at least 32-40 units including mostly modern armor tanks and various other units. The enemy nuked numerous locations in one turn. I had to sit there and watch the screen shake not knowing what was going on. After about a minute or maybe more when I finally got to take my turn, every single unit in my capitol was gone. Not only that I went through the trouble of sending 32 units over seas to invade their main land. I already had them on dry land approaching a city. After discovering my capitol wiped out out I figured no big deal since I have a 32 deep company ready to take out a few cities but to my shock, that entire company was gone too. I actually saw one of my missile cruiser stacks of 20 units get nuked but they did not disappear, just needed healing. This all happened in one turn. But what really gets me is that 95% of my nukes always gets shot down while 95% of the AI nukes explodes! Am I missing something here about the nuke game or does the AI automatically get some kind of advantage?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I hate the nukes! In one of my sessions, my capitol was filled with at least 32-40 units including mostly modern armor tanks and various other units. The enemy nuked numerous locations in one turn. I had to sit there and watch the screen shake not knowing what was going on. After about a minute or maybe more when I finally got to take my turn, every single unit in my capitol was gone. Not only that I went through the trouble of sending 32 units over seas to invade their main land. I already had them on dry land approaching a city. After discovering my capitol wiped out out I figured no big deal since I have a 32 deep company ready to take out a few cities but to my shock, that entire company was gone too. I actually saw one of my missile cruiser stacks of 20 units get nuked but they did not disappear, just needed healing. This all happened in one turn. But what really gets me is that 95% of my nukes always gets shot down while 95% of the AI nukes explodes! Am I missing something here about the nuke game or does the AI automatically get some kind of advantage?

Tactical nukes evade 50% of interceptions, which happen at a 75% rate.

In other words a tac nuke (which is mostly what the AI uses and mostly what you should use) will get through SDI over 60% of the time.

The nice thing about nuking AI is that you can scout them, find their nukes, nuke them first, and take the cities/ships with them out, allowing you to avoid a counter-nuking and crush THEIR stack.

 

[Mistro]

Tactical nukes evade 50% of interceptions, which happen at a 75% rate.

In other words a tac nuke (which is mostly what the AI uses and mostly what you should use) will get through SDI over 60% of the time.

The nice thing about nuking AI is that you can scout them, find their nukes, nuke them first, and take the cities/ships with them out, allowing you to avoid a counter-nuking and crush THEIR stack.

I didn't know that (still new to this). I was avoiding tacticlal nukes because I thought they have to be launched from close range. Never tried to load one on a ship. I was using the other type that can be launched from anywhere. But my capitol was way inland and the AI was no where near it. The only explanation I could think of was they were not using tactical nukes.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I didn't know that (still new to this). I was avoiding tacticlal nukes because I thought they have to be launched from close range. Never tried to load one on a ship. I was using the other type that can be launched from anywhere. But my capitol was way inland and the AI was no where near it. The only explanation I could think of was they were not using tactical nukes.

If you have SDI you will shoot down 75% of ICBM just like the AI, but their tac nukes will also get through >60% of the time.

Tactical nukes can be loaded onto both submarines and missile cruisers (I usually use subs; they're earlier in the tech tree). While the AI won't do it, they can also be based in ANY city belonging to an AI you have opened borders with. In fact, they can even be *gifted* to AI that you don't want losing a war or a city to a large runaway, at no discernable diplo penalty (though the AI in question will get a penalty for launching it ).

Most likely, the AI had a sub near you, though it *does* tend to hit the capitol with ICBMs too it rarely builds those while it *will* prioritize hitting big stacks with nukes from what I've seen...at least if they're within possible range.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

Losing a city spot is particularly frustrating. It has something to do with seeing a good plan go up in smoke but it is more than that. It has to do with the physically uncomfortable feeling of being crowded. Then there is the visual reminder each turn that you lost the race to that spot. If you lose a wonder or tech race it can be very irritating (plan going up in smoke again), but there is little or no visual marking afterwards of your failure. But seeing that city sitting there, growing, producing culture and units, expanding borders and generally being a pain in the neck (and points south) compounds the pain.

I suspect that the fact that it happens so early in the game multiplies the effect. "You are stealing my candy and eating right in front of me ALREADY!!!??!!!"

 

[Gwynnja]

Losing a city spot is particularly frustrating. It has something to do with seeing a good plan go up in smoke but it is more than that. It has to do with the physically uncomfortable feeling of being crowded. Then there is the visual reminder each turn that you lost the race to that spot. If you lose a wonder or tech race it can be very irritating (plan going up in smoke again), but there is little or no visual marking afterwards of your failure. But seeing that city sitting there, growing, producing culture and units, expanding borders and generally being a pain in the neck (and points south) compounds the pain.

I suspect that the fact that it happens so early in the game multiplies the effect. "You are stealing my candy and eating right in front of me ALREADY!!!??!!!"

That's something you get used to once you start playing on emperor. It wouldn't be as bad if the AI could settle their cities in better spot. If I conquer a city settled on a gold, I'll take the diplo hit and raze the damn thing.

 

[Terrance888]

This has become a rehab thread.

 

[Mec AntiKythera]

That's something you get used to once you start playing on emperor. It wouldn't be as bad if the AI could settle their cities in better spot. If I conquer a city settled on a gold, I'll take the diplo hit and raze the damn thing.

I'm transitioning to Emperor at the moment, so I'm not used to it yet.


Another Rage moment: when you become the Worst Enemy due to trading with the Worst Enemy of a Civ. This just doesn't make sense. Or the incessant demands of some leaders, yes I'm looking at you Izzy. Or when a particular Civ DoWs you for the third time in one game. I kicked your butt twice already, do we really need to do this again Mehmed?

 

[rah]

And for me, it's even more humorous after you do kick their butt for the third time and you know it's only a matter of time before he declares one you for the fourth time, but here he comes asking you to join him in a war with someone else. It just makes no sense.

 

[6K Man]

And for me, it's even more humorous after you do kick their butt for the third time and you know it's only a matter of time before he declares one you for the fourth time, but here he comes asking you to join him in a war with someone else. It just makes no sense.

The best, however, is when you say &#8220;yes&#8221; to joining him in a war, only to watch him make peace with the enemy... and a few turns later, he joins his 'enemy' to make war on you. I&#8217;d swear that&#8217;s happened to me at least 3 or 4 times.

At this point I hardly ever join in any real wars, anymore.

 

[Linux0s]

It's almost impossible not to agree with this:

TMIT: Alt-click. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit. Okay, I've selected the whole stack. Shift click to unselect a unit.

But I'd have to say probably the biggest rage moment for me is (other): Early game barb galleys vs. fishing boats.

Yeah it probably sounds minor enough but it always seems to happen in those critial first 100 turns when hammers are precious and there's still lots of fog around. You know the scenario: 1 or 2 seafood start is the only food you have in your fledgling capitol. So you invest those early hammers into a workboat or two out of necessity for food. But then your city is finally off to a decent start, growing, starting to think about other early game necessities such workers, settlers, basic military protection, granary.

Then here it comes... a barb galley smells that fishing boat half a map away. Mind you, at this point triremes and caravels seem about half a game away. You see it coming turns ahead and for such an insignificant little unit you find yourself powerless to prevent it's horrendous wrath. "Quick, build some defensive galleys!" you say with the crack of the whip. "No wait, we're going to need about 3:1... we don't have time!"

*Smash!* goes the fishing boat which takes with it about 12 turns of critical early production. *Smash!* goes next one for a similar loss. Damage done the barb galley happily sails on it's merry little way. And that grannery you were really hoping to get in before the next population increase has been set back to 54 turns and your capitol is now on the verge of starvation. You have little choice but to build workboats again. After another 12-24 critial early turns you're finally back where you were. But soon as that workboat hits the water the barb galley smells it...

It doesn't happen every game, but when it does...