Notes:
1. I posted it here, rather than in articles as its a work in progress and am very open to further help, information, and corrections.
2. If this is completely redundant to an existing article that I've missed, please let me know.
Purpose
*The intent of this thread is to understand the underlying mechanics of goody huts.
What is a goody hut?
*They are the little village icons that you see on unsettled squares early in the game.
What does it mean to "pop" them?
*You pop them either with a unit or if your culture expands to encompass them in your border.
*Scouts/Explorers generate better results for popping, so there are 3 distinct outcome tables: Scout/Explorer, Non-Sc/Ex, and Cultural.
Next, I'll give some info on the probabilities of getting each result with some caveats and over-riding rules.
First off, we'll just examine the mid level difficulty level, noble. The chart has 3 values: chances for the effect listed/overall chances/% chance
Non-scout/exp unit (typically warrior)
*Probably the most common pop, since most civs do not start w/ scouts. Also the most risky.
High Gold: 3/21=14.29%
Low Gold: 4/21=19.05%
Map: 2/21=9.52%
Warrior: 2/21=9.52%
Scout: 1/21=4.76%
Experience: 2/21=9.52%
Healing: 1/21=4.76%
Tech: 2/21=9.52%
Weak Barbs: 2/21=9.52%
Strong Barbs: 2/21=9.52%
Scout/Explorer unit
*The advantage of this unit is that it cannot pop barbarians. This has a 2-fold effect. 1. Nothing bad can happen. 2. All positive outcomes are more likely.
High Gold: 3/17=17.65%
Low Gold: 4/17=23.53%
Map: 2/17=11.76%
Warrior: 2/17=11.76%
Scout: 1/17=5.88%
Experience: 2/17=11.76%
Healing: 1/17=5.88%
Tech: 2/17=11.76%
Cultural
*This is the rarest pop, as it most likely will only happen once, at your founding city, if at all. Why? Because by the time additional cities are founded, almost all huts are popped. Secondly, for this to even work w/ your first city you need a hut w/in your Fatcross (FC). ]
*It also has a slight risk. The longer you wait to pop it via a cultural expansion, the more likely a rival will pop it.
*That said, I think its the best value pop as, like the scout/explorer, there are no barbarians. But, it also eliminates a couple of the weaker goodies. Since a cultural pop is not done by a unit, healing and experience are impossible.
High Gold: 3/14=21.43%
Low Gold: 4/14=28.57
Map: 2/14=14.29
Warrior: 2/14=14.29
Scout: 1/14=7.14
Tech: 2/14=14.29
Additional Notes
*The values for Scout/Exp. pop and culture pop are not 100% accurate, in that what really happens is if a value is returned that is not valid (ie healing for a full unit) the result is re-rolled. If this happens 10 times w/out a legitimate result, then you get nothing. The chance of an invalid goody occuring on 10 successive attempts is very low. IE: the worst-case is a diety culture pop under 20 turns, or in a MP game. About 1 in 400 chance of getting nothing. When time allows I'll extrapolate these into the % chances.
*If you have no cities you will never get barbs.
*If you have one city and the hut is within 7 tiles (taking diagonals as 1.5, rounded down).
*If you have barbs turned off, you will never get barbs. (duh!)
*You cannot get a warrior within the first 20 turns, or a multiplayer game. Presumably this is because a warrior this early could potentially unbalance the game, but I've not corroborated this.
*I've not mentioned settler in this thread, but it is an outcome on the lower skill levels and will be included, eventually. However, you can't get a settler in one-city challenge.
*For healing you need to be at at least 60% damage (40% health). A warrior, for example, would have to be at 0.8 strength or lower to get a healing hut. It'll always heal you up to full health.
*Experience is always 5 points
Maps:
*First a plot is selected within a radius of 4 (same formula as for barb spawn above) of the plot. The higher the value of this range the more likely the plot is to be selected. It cannot be the plot the hut was on.
*Every plot within a radius of 4 (same forumla) of this new plot has an 80% chance of being revealed.
Gold:
*Low gold = 20 gold + random number 0-20 + random number 0-20
*High gold = 20 gold + random number 0-50 + random number 0-50
Barbarians:
*Weak barbs: Minimum of 1 barb will be placed. Each plot surrounding the goody has a 20% chance of spawning a barb warrior. Plot must be passable to the barb (no water/mountains etc)
*Strong barbs: Minimum of 2 barbs will be placed. Each plot surrounding the goody has a 40% chance of spawning a barb warrior. Plot must be passable to the barb (no water/mountains etc)
*If min barb number not met after two cycles through the plots no more barbs are spawned. This overrides the minimum.
Source CFC thread that inspired me to put this together.
List of future tasks
*Index for the 3 outcomes for all skill levels.
*Have "webified" (volunteers?).
*If and when it passes muster, submit for consideration in the War Academy.
Credits:
The Great Apple: Primary author and researcher
.Shane.: Secondary author and editor
1. I posted it here, rather than in articles as its a work in progress and am very open to further help, information, and corrections.
2. If this is completely redundant to an existing article that I've missed, please let me know.
Purpose
*The intent of this thread is to understand the underlying mechanics of goody huts.
What is a goody hut?
*They are the little village icons that you see on unsettled squares early in the game.
What does it mean to "pop" them?
*You pop them either with a unit or if your culture expands to encompass them in your border.
*Scouts/Explorers generate better results for popping, so there are 3 distinct outcome tables: Scout/Explorer, Non-Sc/Ex, and Cultural.
Next, I'll give some info on the probabilities of getting each result with some caveats and over-riding rules.
First off, we'll just examine the mid level difficulty level, noble. The chart has 3 values: chances for the effect listed/overall chances/% chance
Non-scout/exp unit (typically warrior)
*Probably the most common pop, since most civs do not start w/ scouts. Also the most risky.
High Gold: 3/21=14.29%
Low Gold: 4/21=19.05%
Map: 2/21=9.52%
Warrior: 2/21=9.52%
Scout: 1/21=4.76%
Experience: 2/21=9.52%
Healing: 1/21=4.76%
Tech: 2/21=9.52%
Weak Barbs: 2/21=9.52%
Strong Barbs: 2/21=9.52%
Scout/Explorer unit
*The advantage of this unit is that it cannot pop barbarians. This has a 2-fold effect. 1. Nothing bad can happen. 2. All positive outcomes are more likely.
High Gold: 3/17=17.65%
Low Gold: 4/17=23.53%
Map: 2/17=11.76%
Warrior: 2/17=11.76%
Scout: 1/17=5.88%
Experience: 2/17=11.76%
Healing: 1/17=5.88%
Tech: 2/17=11.76%
Cultural
*This is the rarest pop, as it most likely will only happen once, at your founding city, if at all. Why? Because by the time additional cities are founded, almost all huts are popped. Secondly, for this to even work w/ your first city you need a hut w/in your Fatcross (FC). ]
*It also has a slight risk. The longer you wait to pop it via a cultural expansion, the more likely a rival will pop it.
*That said, I think its the best value pop as, like the scout/explorer, there are no barbarians. But, it also eliminates a couple of the weaker goodies. Since a cultural pop is not done by a unit, healing and experience are impossible.
High Gold: 3/14=21.43%
Low Gold: 4/14=28.57
Map: 2/14=14.29
Warrior: 2/14=14.29
Scout: 1/14=7.14
Tech: 2/14=14.29
Additional Notes
*The values for Scout/Exp. pop and culture pop are not 100% accurate, in that what really happens is if a value is returned that is not valid (ie healing for a full unit) the result is re-rolled. If this happens 10 times w/out a legitimate result, then you get nothing. The chance of an invalid goody occuring on 10 successive attempts is very low. IE: the worst-case is a diety culture pop under 20 turns, or in a MP game. About 1 in 400 chance of getting nothing. When time allows I'll extrapolate these into the % chances.
*If you have no cities you will never get barbs.
*If you have one city and the hut is within 7 tiles (taking diagonals as 1.5, rounded down).
*If you have barbs turned off, you will never get barbs. (duh!)
*You cannot get a warrior within the first 20 turns, or a multiplayer game. Presumably this is because a warrior this early could potentially unbalance the game, but I've not corroborated this.
*I've not mentioned settler in this thread, but it is an outcome on the lower skill levels and will be included, eventually. However, you can't get a settler in one-city challenge.
*For healing you need to be at at least 60% damage (40% health). A warrior, for example, would have to be at 0.8 strength or lower to get a healing hut. It'll always heal you up to full health.
*Experience is always 5 points
Maps:
*First a plot is selected within a radius of 4 (same formula as for barb spawn above) of the plot. The higher the value of this range the more likely the plot is to be selected. It cannot be the plot the hut was on.
*Every plot within a radius of 4 (same forumla) of this new plot has an 80% chance of being revealed.
Gold:
*Low gold = 20 gold + random number 0-20 + random number 0-20
*High gold = 20 gold + random number 0-50 + random number 0-50
Barbarians:
*Weak barbs: Minimum of 1 barb will be placed. Each plot surrounding the goody has a 20% chance of spawning a barb warrior. Plot must be passable to the barb (no water/mountains etc)
*Strong barbs: Minimum of 2 barbs will be placed. Each plot surrounding the goody has a 40% chance of spawning a barb warrior. Plot must be passable to the barb (no water/mountains etc)
*If min barb number not met after two cycles through the plots no more barbs are spawned. This overrides the minimum.
Source CFC thread that inspired me to put this together.
List of future tasks
*Index for the 3 outcomes for all skill levels.
*Have "webified" (volunteers?).
*If and when it passes muster, submit for consideration in the War Academy.
Credits:
The Great Apple: Primary author and researcher
.Shane.: Secondary author and editor