Civ4 questions from a Civ oldtimer

[Roman]

I still don't have Civilization 4, chiefly due to the fact that it came out at a time, when I was in a country where non-pirated software is virtually impossible to find. In any case, I am planning to get it when BtS comes out.

Having read a lot of previews and reviews, I think I have the general gist about the workings of the game. Nonetheless, I have some questions. For starters:

1) There seem to be a huge number of tile improvements ranging from cottages, through windmills, to the more 'classic' improvements such as roads and mines. My question is - can these improvements be stacked for added effects or is that not the case?

2) Large cities on some screenshots seem to take up a much larger area than a single tile. I know that some cottages/hamlets/villages/towns seem like parts of the city although they are actually improvements and that the game now tries to show everything on the outside map, but is this just eye candy, or do cities really take up more than one tile? If it is the latter, what are the rules for movement for units within the cities themselves?

3) Do cottages cost a worker or settler or nothing at all to build? Do they add to the population of the civilization on the demographics screen and if so how much?

4) Does population of cities still follow the traditional formula of 10 thousand, 30 thousand, 60 thousand, 100 thousand, etc. for city sizes 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on respectively or is a new formula used?

5) Do one's units suffer any penalties if they are in enemy territory? If so, what are they?

6) Can trade routes be blocaded by stationing units on roads and railroads? If so, does every possible path have to be blocked to block the trade route?

7) There were indications that building maintenance was going to be removed, but reviews don't say anything about it. Is there building maintenance? Are there any other limitations, such as a limited number of building slots, that prevent building all buildings in each city?

8) It seems that some form of civilization maintenance has been introduced based on the civics (high, medium, low,...). What are the exact/numerical mechanics behind this?

9) Can workeable city radius now eventually extend beyond the traditional fixed 21 square tiles or change shape?

10) How far at most can civilization's borders extend from a frontier city?

Thanks!

[Solver]

1. One improvement on a tile only. There's more strategy to choosing improvements now, thogh.

2. Cities always take up one tile, as previously. What you're seeing are either late-game cities (which can appear to expand into nearby tiles) or Towns, which also look like part of the city.

3. Cottages don't cost anything to build. They do not add to population AFAIK, they do increase your GNP good, though.

4. Don't remember the formula, but it was something exponential. At any rate, thousands/millions don't really matter, it's the city size that matters.

5. Units in enemy territory heal considerably slower and do not gain movement bonuses from roads/rails (although a promotion overcomes that).

6. No, but you could pillage the roads to cut trade connections - yes, all possible routes. BtS has naval trade blockades.

7. There's no building maintenance, there is city maintenance. Each city costs gold to maintain, so that kicks in as soon as the city is founded. No building restrictions per se, but with optimum strategies, you won't have the need or the opportunity to build every building. A high-production, low-commerce city won't benefit much from a University and will be better off pumping out units.

8. Yes, civics cost money to maintain. The exact numbers depend on the civics you're running, your traits and your empire size - as your empire gets larger, civic maintenance increases.

9. No, it's the traditional 21-tile cross.

10. Depends on culture. Borders never extend more than 2 tiles into the water, though. A city with the maximum culture level exerts control over a considerable territory - 6 tiles maybe? 3 and 4 tiles will be the usual radius of influence for a city, although if you border another civ, their influence will also push against yours.

[Thedrin]

Roman:
1) There seem to be a huge number of tile improvements ranging from cottages, through windmills, to the more 'classic' improvements such as roads and mines. My question is - can these improvements be stacked for added effects or is that not the case?

No. You have to choose between the possible benefits offered by the different tile improvements.

2) Large cities on some screenshots seem to take up a much larger area than a single tile. I know that some cottages/hamlets/villages/towns seem like parts of the city although they are actually improvements and that the game now tries to show everything on the outside map, but is this just eye candy, or do cities really take up more than one tile? If it is the latter, what are the rules for movement for units within the cities themselves?

It's jus the graphics and has no bearing on the game's mechanics.

3) Do cottages cost a worker or settler or nothing at all to build? Do they add to the population of the civilization on the demographics screen and if so how much?

Cottages are a tile improvement so they require a worker to build them but that worker is not consumed in the process.

I don't know how they affect the demographics screen but I suspect that they don't at all.

4) Does population of cities still follow the traditional formula of 10 thousand, 30 thousand, 60 thousand, 100 thousand, etc. for city sizes 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on respectively or is a new formula used?

I don't know much about the old formula but I believe the current one is different with population increasing at a greater than linear rate - 1 size 20 city has a greater population than 2 size 10 cities.

5) Do one's units suffer any penalties if they are in enemy territory? If so, what are they?

Units in enemy territory cannot use local roads and railways unless they have the commando promotion. They also take twice as long to heal than if they were in neutral territory.

6) Can trade routes be blocaded by stationing units on roads and railroads? If so, does every possible path have to be blocked to block the trade route?

As far as i'm aware every path has to be blocked but I'm not completely certain. BtS may change this.

7) There were indications that building maintenance was going to be removed, but reviews don't say anything about it. Is there building maintenance? Are there any other limitations, such as a limited number of building slots, that prevent building all buildings in each city?

Buildings don't cost maintenance. Maintenance is as a result of distance from the capital, population, and civic choices.

Some buildings require prerequisites;
- a city must contain a buddhist community to be able to build buddhist buildings,
- a university requires a library,
- the Forbidden Palace requires a civ to have built a certain number of courthouses in its cities,
but these are dependent on the building type - not the city.

8) It seems that some form of civilization maintenance has been introduced based on the civics (high, medium, low,...). What are the exact/numerical mechanics behind this?

Yes, high, medium, low, no upkeep. No idea how it works precisely.

9) Can workeable city radius now eventually extend beyond the traditional fixed 21 square tiles or change shape?

Workable tiles are no different.

10) How far at most can civilization's borders extend from a frontier city?

There are 6 levels of cultural influence (city borders) from none to legendary. Presumably 6 tiles out from the city (along the main grid axes) but I've never bothered to check the exact degree of influence caused by a legendary culture city.

[meriadoc]

Re: Civ4 questions from a Civ oldtimer

Originally posted by Roman
1) There seem to be a huge number of tile improvements ranging from cottages, through windmills, to the more 'classic' improvements such as roads and mines. My question is - can these improvements be stacked for added effects or is that not the case?
Thanks!

It's true that you can't stack most improvements onto each other. There's no way to put a windmill on top of a farm, for instance. But you can, as always, put roads and railroads on top of other improvements without losing them.

What's also important, however, when choosing what improvements to build, is remembering that you can't always go back. Once you cut down a forest, you can never replace it, so remember that in your planning.

[Nor Me]

Re: Civ4 questions from a Civ oldtimer

Originally posted by Roman
1) ... My question is - can these improvements be stacked for added effects or is that not the case?

No. As in earlier Civs, only roads and railroads can be stacked with other improvements. It's all about choice

2) Large cities on some screenshots seem to take up a much larger area than a single tile.

Pure eye candy.

3. No and no.

4. I'm not sure but I think it's something similar.

5) Do one's units suffer any penalties if they are in enemy territory? If so, what are they?

Nothing to combat but they cost you a little more gold per turn.

6) Can trade routes be blocaded by stationing units on roads and railroads? If so, does every possible path have to be blocked to block the trade route?

No, at least not on land. I think this works the same as it did in Civ3 so I may be confused. Yes, you have to block every route. With naval unis before astronomy, it's relatively easy.

7) There were indications that building maintenance was going to be removed, but reviews don't say anything about it. Is there building maintenance? Are there any other limitations, such as a limited number of building slots, that prevent building all buildings in each city?

There is no building maintenance nor any other such limitations.

There are a lot of buildings and they tend only to give +25% instead of the +50% that they'd give in earlier games. So the big limitation is time.

To get the highest commerce, you're best off building a lot of cottages. As in 1), this might give you less production which means slower building of buildings in high commerce cities which would gain the most from them.

If you play as a pure builder, there are so many buildings to build that you wouldn't build enough units for defence even late in the game so it's balanced.

8) I'd have to look at the source. Don't forget that there's also city maintenance that behaves numerically in a similar way to corruption in Civ3.

9) No.

10) How far at most can civilization's borders extend from a frontier city?

6 or 7. But having 3 such cities would win the game by Cultural Victory. So that only happens for core cities. You can get the penultimate expansion in likely frontier cities using Great Artists. But it's still generally better to claim territory using cities close to the border, particularly if it's contested. You can only get 1 tile after a sea tile, whatever you're culture.

[rjmatsleepers]

Re: Civ4 questions from a Civ oldtimer

Originally posted by Roman
...
6) Can trade routes be blocaded by stationing units on roads and railroads? If so, does every possible path have to be blocked to block the trade route?

I assume you are thinking of blocking the trade routes between an enemy civ and a third party. The previous answers to this question have given the position as far as blockading with miltary units is concerned. There are other options open to you. You may be able to use diplomacy to get the third party to cancel their resource trade deals with your enemy. In addition you may be able to get the third party to change to a civic which eliminates trade routes with all other civs. Of course, this may do you as much harm as it does to your enemy.

RJM

[Roman]

Thanks everybody!