Compiled Firaxian Comments on Undocumented Game Features

Adm.Naismith · July 8, 2002, 11:58

Thanks Ignorance, it's exactly the thread that I vaguely remembered

Arrian · July 8, 2002, 13:29

Good stuff, Catt.

I wonder if one should always switch your production to non-settlers in the early game on the turn you are about to pop a hut, in order to increase you chances of getting a settler. Then switch back to settler(s) after popping the hut.

Theseus,

This is why blitz units are fantastic for leader creation. Modern Armor (or Panzers) in particular. 3 attacks per turn... a vet unit could get promoted to elite (attacks 1 and 2) and then generate a leader (attack 3) in the same turn. Yeehaw! Of course, by that stage in the game, leaders are usually not very important.

-Arrian

alexman · July 8, 2002, 14:20

Thanks Catt!

One small point though:

Settler:
--Player must not have a settler (active or in production) or any unit with the Settle AI strategy.
--Player must have less cities than (TotalCities / NumActivePlayers).

I think the second item should read "no more cities" and not "less cities"

People get settlers from huts in 3950 B.C. after they build their initial city. It happens all the time. But in 3950 B.C. each AI civ has one city so TotalCities/NumActivePlayers=1. Obviously the player's cities are not less than that.

Catt · July 8, 2002, 16:48

Originally posted by alexman
Thanks Catt!

One small point though:

I think the second item should read "no more cities" and not "less cities"

People get settlers from huts in 3950 B.C. after they build their initial city. It happens all the time. But in 3950 B.C. each AI civ has one city so TotalCities/NumActivePlayers=1. Obviously the player's cities are not less than that.

Sounds to me like you're correct (for I too have heard magical tales of the 3950 BC settler, though never experienced it). However, the above was a direct quote from a Firaxian (Mike B., I think).

I suspect that it is less than precise language on the poster's part.

Meldor · July 15, 2002, 10:37

Originally posted by Zanzin
thanks Catt, very informative!!

Btw, a question, hopefully someone can answer - if i put workers (both mind and captured ones) in my capital cit, I should be able to trade them with other civs, right? Because when I tried to in my last game, I couldn't!

(Keep in mind, this was in the modern age, so there's plenty of trade routs (land, sea and air) happening between the capitals.

You have to have a city on the same land mass. We found this out in an SG game over at CivFanatics. If you have cleared all unwanted people from your land mass it doesn't matter what else you have (embassies, etc.).

Purple · July 15, 2002, 18:38

You might want to add the revelation in another thread about the trigger for barbarian uprisings.

IIRC, they may occur a maximum of three times a game, once for each new age (not the Ancient Age). They are triggered when two players enter a new age.

Of course, they only occur when there is sufficient unclaimed terrritory (I don't know what size the unclaimed bit must be for a barb hut to appear). This means that the later eras often do not witness an uprising, since the land grab phase has already concluded.

Good thread idea, Catt! Thanks.

Coracle · July 15, 2002, 22:01

Originally posted by Ignorance
Culture-Flipping Exposed - Dan Magaha FIRAXIS

The only thing I want to hear from Dan is "Culture Flipping ENDED".

Hurricane · July 16, 2002, 01:25

Very good thread, Catt!

I somehow managed to miss all the threads you picked the info from, so this was all new good stuff for me.

I agree with Arrian that you should build something else than settlers in the early game (say, a granary) and only switch over just before it finishes to maximise the chance of gaining settlers from goody huts.

JohnM2433 · October 20, 2002, 23:08

(bump)

Catt, I've seen those statistics for unit promotion before, and I distinctly remember that it said the odds are halved for defenders. If I'm right on that, you should probably edit it in. But then again, they could have changed that in a patch. I dunno.

Also, the odds for GL generation are 1/16 without the Heroic Epic and 1/12 with it for attackers, half that for defenders, IIRC.

Tiberius · October 21, 2002, 03:51

Originally posted by Zanzin
thanks Catt, very informative!!

Btw, a question, hopefully someone can answer - if i put workers (both mind and captured ones) in my capital cit, I should be able to trade them with other civs, right? Because when I tried to in my last game, I couldn't!

(Keep in mind, this was in the modern age, so there's plenty of trade routs (land, sea and air) happening between the capitals.

I think the civs that are exchanging the workers must be on the same continent, or at least must have some cities on a common continent (to put in another way, they must be connected by roads).
Why is that is beyond me. Maybe those poor workers are too poor to take a ship or a flight and they can only walk

Edited: Oh, I've just realized that this is old thread. Why did you dig it out? Anyway, my answer is a little late

Demerzel · October 21, 2002, 04:55

hehe caught out by the old thread topped prank eh?

re. workers, one of the wackiest things about the unmodded games is you can't airlift them. what's up with that?? mebbe it is as you say and Civ3 has special rules to make sure they all go 3rd class shipping.

Arrian · October 21, 2002, 10:31

An old thread maybe, but a goodie. In fact, if this isn't linked in Theseus' "must read" thread, it should be.

You also can't airlift settlers, leaders or armies (even empty ones). *shrug*

-Arrian

Catt · October 21, 2002, 13:47

Originally posted by JohnM2433
(bump)

Catt, I've seen those statistics for unit promotion before, and I distinctly remember that it said the odds are halved for defenders. If I'm right on that, you should probably edit it in. But then again, they could have changed that in a patch. I dunno.

Also, the odds for GL generation are 1/16 without the Heroic Epic and 1/12 with it for attackers, half that for defenders, IIRC.

JohnM- I think that the "halved for defenders" only applies to GL generation, not simple unit promotions. And you're correct on the GL 1/16 but with HE 1/12 -- just a slightly different point.

Originally posted by Arrian
An old thread maybe, but a goodie. In fact, if this isn't linked in Theseus' "must read" thread, it should be.

A nice old thread . . . how I miss you

.

If someone wanted to take the initiative (I don't), I've always wanted a "topped thread" that provides specific game information as shared by Firaxis team members, with appropriate links to the chat log / post. In other words, no player testing (that has value, too), no hypotheses, no speculation, etc. -- only coomentary from Firaxis regarding the game rules / mechanics that have been revealed online but don't appear in the editor, the civilopedia, the manual etc. Kind of an "insider's manual."

Would be a great service that wouldn't take a huge amount of time (I think) -- a review of the chat logs and a search of the forums for Firaxian posts.

Catt

kring · October 21, 2002, 20:25

Firaxis Soren's Barbarian Uprising Link

Definitely a thread worthy of being bumped.

ok, enough with the suspense!

barbarian uprisings are triggered the second time a civ enters a new age. (once for the middle ages, once for the industrial age, once for the modern age...) The intention was to basically simulate the barbarian hordes that knocked out Rome and (to a lesser degree) the Mongols. This made a little more sense back when barbarians were more destructive, but having half your civ knocked out for seemingly random reasons was deemed not much fun. Instead, we flipped the concept around and gave a temporal bonus (the Golden Age) instead of a temporal penalty.

Theseus · October 22, 2002, 00:03

"Soren's Barbarian Uprising Link "

Well EXCUUSE ME!!

Harrumph. Friggin' threadjacker.

JohnM2433 · October 22, 2002, 01:15

Hm, I searched for the info on unit promotions on Civ Fanatics, and I only saw what you presented, with nothing on the odds being halved for defenders. So I guess I was mistaken and that that only applies to GL generation, not simple unit promotion.

Heck, you can see how I would make a mistake like that. The odds for non-militaristic and vs. barbarians are halved from otherwise, so I remembered seeing the odds halved, and since they were halved for defenders elsewhere (GL generation), I unconsciously generalized. Sorry about that.

Also, just to make myself clear, when I say "defenders", I'm refering to when any elite is defending, not just to "defensive" units like spearmen, pikemen, etc. One more thing: The odds of generating a Great Leader from a given elite victory are the same for militaristic and non-militaristic civs, right? (Obviously, militaristic civs will tend to have more elites, and thus more elite victories, though.)

alva · October 22, 2002, 06:15

Originally posted by Theseus
"Soren's Barbarian Uprising Link "

Well EXCUUSE ME!!

Harrumph. Friggin' threadjacker.

didn't even get a warning for that

. grmmbll double*""é stand@##ards## mmblgrrr

Catt · October 22, 2002, 13:57

Originally posted by JohnM2433
Also, just to make myself clear, when I say "defenders", I'm refering to when any elite is defending, not just to "defensive" units like spearmen, pikemen, etc. One more thing: The odds of generating a Great Leader from a given elite victory are the same for militaristic and non-militaristic civs, right? (Obviously, militaristic civs will tend to have more elites, and thus more elite victories, though.)

Yup - "defender" just means being attacked versus attacking - any elite unit can be a "defender" for the 1/32 GL generation chance. And also correct that the GL odds are the same for militaristic and non-militaristic civs -- this last point is widely misunderstood and if you visit the forums regularly, you'll see someone proclaim that militaristic civs have a better chance of generating GLs about every few weeks. Just won't seem to die, that one.

Catt