Sid Meier's Civilization Series (Main Titles)

Sweden + Maya would be a neat combo. If you don't end up needing the Great Person from your b'ak'tun, just give it to a city-state and get an instant ally. Everything else doesn't really mesh well together though (though Pyramids and Caroleans are always nice).

Ooh, Atilla fused with Ashurbanipal would be a living nightmare. Free techs accumulate at hyper speed, and just as Battering Rams start their decline, the Siege Tower rolls in to take their place

So I finished a game recently. I love how XCOM squads are a unit, lol. So instead of fighting aliens, I subjugated the world under my military might with XCOM.

Does someone here know how the Mayan UA works?

I read that you were supposed to get a GP every 400 years or so, but instead of starting with Theology, you got one every time you reached some specific turns in standard speed. Some of those turns are 86 and 105.

So I was really happy to manage to get Theology at turn 85 during a game, thinking "great, Great Prophet next turn to improve my religion already". Except I got no long count bonus on turn 86, and I felt quite a bit robbed.

Any idea as to why those a-holes mayan astrologists refused me my gift?

The years you get a GP on aren't set; the b'ak'tun starts at 0.0.0.0.0 when you get Theology, and for every 394 years from then on, you'll get the free GP.

I don't think you're correct; the B'ak'tun follows the real world cycle. You will always get a great person on fixed points of the calender, for instance, 2012 will always be the last year for a GP in the game's time frame.

• 1: 2720 BC (Turn 33 in normal speed games)
• 2: 2325 BC (42)
• 3: 1931 BC (52)
• 4: 1537 BC (62)
• 5: 1143 BC (72)
• 6: 748 BC (86)
• 7: 354 BC (101)
• 8: 41 AD (117)
• 9: 435 AD (133)
• 10: 830 AD (152)
• 11: 1224 AD (183)
• 12: 1618 AD (234)
• 13: 2012 AD (432)

edited 21st Nov '15 8:45:13 PM by Fauxlosophe

Bringing this thread back for some questions and observations brought up from my last game.

First the question. Montezuma was up to his old tricks again, acting all friendly, asking to open borders and then declaring war while he's got an army mustered on my borders. Being that's he's done this to me before and that I've got a couple of ages on him (I'm mid industrial to his early medieval), I just produce some rifelmen and handily wipe out his forces. Once that's done and he's sued for peace, I notice some of my worker units start acting surly and have to constantly have their order reconfirmed. I'm familiar with this phenomonon, it usually happens when I get my conqueror hat on and start annexing territory, but it usually doesn't happen in my own territory.

So the question is: does anyone know the exact mechanics behind the behaviour, what triggers it, how long does it last and are there anyways to get around it, or at least mitigate it.

Secondly the observation and it's about Monty again. Specifically at some point he picks a fight with one of the city states, specifically Dublin. Nothing unusual about that. If he's not fighting with me or one of the other players, I usually get calls for help from city-states to deal with him. This time though was something different. Not only did Dublin not issue a general call from help but at one point I notice what appears to be a second city-state in the same area. So I look over and find out that not only did Dublin drive of the Aztecs they actually managed to conquer one of their cities and puppet it. I didn't even think that was possible for a city-state to do that!

I figured that when Rameses asked me to go war with Montezuma it was time to put him out of his misery and wipe his empire from the map.

I can answer both of your inquiries.

First, workers and other non-combat units will cancel their current order when they enter visibility range of a hostile unit. This is so you can move them out of danger.

Second, city-states can indeed capture and puppet cities, although as you noted it's fairly rare. Usually they raze a city if they should capture it. Specifically, city-states have a radius, based on difficulty level, at which they will pursue hostilities. If a civ that's at war with them has a city within that radius, the city-state will attempt to capture it.

edited 24th Dec '15 6:02:18 PM by Fighteer

The thing is that, for me at least, this effect seems to last a long time, well after the unit has moved on or been killed.

So I got this game recently.

My only previous experience with Civ was Civ II which was somewhat easier to grasp. Still, fun times. I find myself playing them older civs like Egypt or Romans more often than not.

Also having moral dilemmas regarding dominating my neighbors, most of the time. >.>

You're not dominating your neigbours, you're free the citizens of neighbouring civilisations from the corrupt rule of tyrannical despots.

Even if you are playing Autocracy or Order.

You take one city and everyone hates you even if they attacked you first.

Well, I suppose I could prance as I please on smaller maps, but here, where I've just met a third opponent out of seven, it's probably best to keep my wits about.

Playing Poland because I want into space, on 3rd difficulty level because I'm a square, Continents map. After Incas tried to pull a fast one on me with Terracotta Army we had some tenuous peace, then I decided that they're probably taking too much of my space and beat them down from four cities to two.

As it turns out, suddenly getting a hold of a new, big city does little to appease your people. >.> Good thing that Circus Maximus is gonna be finished soon.

Down on the continent Japanese are poking around, but keeping to themselves and I've just met the English's caravel. Trying to settle on other continents will be kind of tough, I imagine.

So, uh, this Venice game.

World map, small. Playing on Warlord because I'm a bad schmuck. The beginning was pretty tough, with Suleiman trying to pull a fast one on me, but thanks to fairly defensive positions I had - a narrow chokepoint full of hills - and probably AI's poor thinking, I've managed to whittle down his impressive force to nothing. Next to me pokes Casimir, but I've managed to win his favor. Pocatello poked around further in Asia, but he didn't do anything curious for the most part.

Me and Casimir became a couple of buddies, going to war with both Turks and Shoshones. On the other side of the globe sat Washington in South America, mostly closed off and Askia in North America, clearly shooting for Cultural Victory.

Recently we've wiped out both Suleiman and Pocatello, but then, perhaps not surprisingly, Casimir turned from Friendly to Guarded. We are the last two contenders on that landmass (and he had the gall to take Order rather than Freedom!), not counting various city states. Bonus brownie points go to Vilnius who grabbed Moson Kahni.

I'm trying for Diplomatic Victory, rolling in money and ahead of tech - can field Subs and Infantry opposed to their Frigates and Riflemen/Winged Hussars - but I fear I might not be able to make it before 2050 to reach Info Era. Same applies to Culture and Science. Currently tempted to help Washington and bomb Askia's fleet before he grabs the whole South America, but that's an inevitable denouncement from Casimir waiting to happen and I'd rather not have 'em poke around everywhere.

Wrong tread doyp

edited 24th Jan '16 3:29:41 AM by mrsunshinesprinkles

Well, trying Science Victory this time.

Babylon, one of them "only islands" map, the biggest possible. Met a first rival civ by Turn 240+ or something, though I've quickly met five more. Currently not doing much other than sending missionaries to try and give me some science boost. Austria and Mongols are in a war - Maria Theresa tried to goad me into war, but I'd rather keep to myself with my barely-an-army.

The other three neighbors are Hiawatha, Monty and Chaka. Thankfully neither seems to be too close to me, so I can just put a number of shooties, grab a couple of Frigates once they are available and hopefully reach that glorious Infoage to start putting my spaceship together.

I tried all types of victories, but Science and Diplomatic are just too passive for my tastes, and Cultural often ends up being the same - 90% of the time when I tried it, it took forever to get the last influence because there is always one civilization with stupid culture growth.

So nowadays I just go for "Domination-only" games. It is especially nice because even "quieter" civs tend to be quite agressive. I'm currently trying to win as Rome, and while the Aztecs, China and England are now irrelevant or dead, the Inca, Egypt, Korea (!) and Morocco (!!!) are extremely expansionnist.

I mean, Ahmad is usually the sweetest guy there is on any given map. He always asks for friendship as long as you aren't a bloodthirsty psycho.

Science victory, especially in this game, has always felt like the Victory type you get if you've actively decided not to get any of the others. You get the parts so late in the game that it's a miracle if you've avoided a war for the fate of the planet (even if you're not the aggressor), a huge cultural revolution by somebody, or even a diplomatic upheaval of some kind.

Getting Cultural victory, especially, comes so naturally - at least to my style of playing - that I have to be trying not to get it. And if you tech so fast and can allocate enough resources that you can get the spaceship parts before anybody else, then you're typically powerful enough to win by any other means anyway.

Then again, I always play games from the Ancient Era, so spaceship tech is always the end of thousands of in-game years of development. I'd bet the Scientific Win is way more fun in games that start from the Information or Atomic eras.

I also have the issue of the "natural" Cultural Victory (and even the diplomatic one if you play certain civilizations such as Greece, or if you are powerful enough and get Gunboat Diplomacy), but it's actually quite hard to rush a Cultural Victory, especially on large maps - you have to go for Piety instead of Aesthetics. The fastest one I got was as Boudicca, with Desert Folklore, Church Property, Mosques, Pagodas, Itinerant Preachers and Sacred Sites. Actually, I was looking for the Celt challenge in this game (which I succeeded in doing - create the city of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll).

As a note, rushing for Hwachas is not the way to go. >.>

At the very least everybody seems busy with Attila who nabbed someone's capital. Haile Sellasie and Wave-Motion Gun guy from Polynesia seem in cahoots to take him down; Casimir set up shop between them and me, Rome sits down south, Harald pokes around and there's another guy to be found still.

So.

Earlier on in the thread people were posting in their ideas for various civs, fictional or otherwise.

So.

Here comes... The Estate.

• Leader: The Ancestor - mostly peaceful and focusing on science and culture, but will stab someone in the back if he sees weakness.
• Capital: The Darkest Estate - hard to come up with city names. >.>
• Language Spoken: English
  • UA: Unearthed Antediluvian Evil - enemy military units provide unhappiness to their respective civilization for every turn spent on Estate's lands when at war.
  • UU: Stagecoach (replaces Caravan) - it has a Strength rating unlike the Caravan, allowing it to withstand pillaging for a bit. It starts at Strength 5 in Ancient Era and grows appropriately with each consecutive one to not provide challenge, but to survive the journey.
  • UU: The Heir (replaces Great Writer) - cannot provide a Great Work. Provides more Culture with a Political Treatise. Has a unique ability to summon a random military ground unit, appropriate to your current Era as long as you have the right tech to normally produce it. The ability can be used again if the summoned unit has been destroyed.

edited 30th Jan '16 11:35:42 AM by FergardStratoavis

Sometimes I wish Firaxis had a website dedicated to giving sources or historical/cultural examples of the various things in the series. Especially in regards to the musics that aren't direct covers of known songs, since I'm always wondering what they're drawing on with those.

Like, Askia's music is one of my favorite tracks and is credited as being a "Gambian folk song." But when I played his Peace theme for someone who would know such things I was informed that Gambian music doesn't sound like that. Which wouldn't be the only time Civ V arranged a song in a way so differently than usual that it's almost unrecognizable (Pedro's Peace theme or Haile's, for instance).

But still, I've always wanted to hear what they adapted it from.

On the other hand, Pocatello's music sounds exactly like Shoshone music set to orchestra, and is all the more awesome for it, so despite it's vague name it at least is probably based on something specific.

edited 2nd Feb '16 10:01:36 AM by KnownUnknown

I know that there are bits and parts of Dvorak's New World Symphony used in the game, but I think it is one of the generic themes.

edited 2nd Feb '16 11:29:30 AM by Julep

So I don't have this game but I've been looking at stuff about it and it seems pretty interesting. I played II as a kid and really liked it, though I didn't really understand at the time that there were other ways to win beyond "CONQUER EVERYTHING!"

I like how there seems to be a relatively balanced amount of male and female leaders in this one. Actually taught me about some historical queens I'd never heard of before.

edited 6th Feb '16 6:02:38 PM by HamburgerTime

You can definitely get the Cliff Notes version of history from the Civilopedia entries. If you haven't played in a while, you will probably find the new interface a bit daunting at first, but you get used to it very quickly.

I like the selection of Wu Zetian for China's leader. I'd never heard of her before but it sounds like she was very Creepy Awesome. Plus it gets rid of some of the more... uncomfortable aspects of using Mao.