Nuclear winter is not so bad...

[diemex]

I had CIV4 sitting on my desk for some time. But unable to play it as my PC did not meet the min reqs. I finally (last week) purchased a new PC that goes far beyond the recomended requirements so I'm good to go.

Having a blast, but I have to ask about nuclear war. Has something changed in how its dealt with by the AI ?

In civ 3 launching a single nuke pretty much meant you had to be ready to go to war with the entire world as opinion would drop and everyone would be declaring war on me.

In civ 4 I have started a nuclear campaign against an enemy civ and so far no one seems to care ?? My ally is still as happy as can be, and relations with other civs do not seem to have been impacted at all. Now after a few years of war I have dropped at least 20 nukes on my enemy.... his country is all but conquered and I'm sending out workers to start scrubbing the fallout !

Is this a change, bizarre circumstance/luck or a mechanic of selecting a lower game difficulty setting ?

[Tattila the Hun]

Well, hower your mouse on top of a rival civ's leaders name on the bottom right corner. If you look at the civ you're at war with, it should have a red text with -4 "You nuked us!", or some other - number. Now, check someone else, if there's something like "You nuked our friend!" there. Might also see, if any of the other civs actually like the nuked party, from the relation window.

If you've had good relations with a civ for few millenia, few nukes, even when launched at them, might not be enough to make them furious... Sometimes a civ reduced, by warfare, to one city, is still pleased after a peace is brokered...

[Jaybe]

I've only used nukes once, and it had a large affect on everyone who was a friend of that civ: about a -4 in their regard for me, and soon it was no more open borders. Another civ who was NOT a friend of the victim didn't give a hoot about nuke use. That was at Noble difficulty.

All sorts of things are different in civ4! Exploring the game and finding out is half the fun ... both the pleasant and unpleasant surprises.

[Solver]

If you launch nukes, there's a small probability that others will immediately declare war, but you WILL piss off everyone that's a friend of the civ you just nuked. Moreover, if you use additional nukes, the effect increases. Use three nukes and you'll have made some very bad enemies...

[Prussia]

I just think it's sad that the nuke's power was diminished...

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Prussia
I just think it's sad that the nuke's power was diminished...

I haven't read those threads lately. I found that 2 nukes on a city without a bomb shelter was quite effective, destroying all the units in it.

Then I got the impression that global warming/nuc winter stopped once the fallout got cleaned up, but it only paused.

[diemex]

I dont think the Nuke has been reduced all that much.

SDI causes problems yes.... but you can make a custom game rule set easily enough that would not allow SDI to ever be built.

Bomb shelters do reduce damage a lot. But nukes can be used in many other situations. Heres how I use nukes (or did in civ3.... no reason civ4 will be different)


1. I do constant recon flights over my coasts along with sub sentries to spot incoming invasion fleets. If I am prepared for nuclear war then I'll not hesitate to use them at sea. No bomb shelters there to protect those tanks in the transports ! Also no fallout to scrub.

2. Nukes are great for securing beachheads. Blow up the coast line... then move in and unload your ships.

3. Nukes are great for disrupting infrastructure and resource denials. Drop a nuke on empty land to destroy roads, improvements and such. Cutting off cities from the capitol, taking resources out of play and generally wreaking economic havok on enemy land. Its a pain to clean up afterwards though if you intend to Occupy that land after.

[Yosho]

The biggest difference was that in civ 3, every empire was completly dependent on a small number of key "core" cities; in civ 3, if you nuked the capital, nuke the other core cities, then nuke the capital again (in order to kill all the workers trying to detox and rebuild the land around it ) then the guy would be effectivly out of the game, economically speaking. In civ IV, I imagine it'd be harder.

[Datajack Franit]

Diemex

The ability to NUKE/BULLDOZE a coastline is the funniest strategy for the invasion of another continent

[Tattila the Hun]

Though, you'd better expect the "baby boomer" generation to have few extra heads and such...

[Prussia]

Maybe you're right about the diminishment...

[Virtual Alex]

Hey Tatilla the Hun, is that Seres Victoria from hellsing as your avatar?