Getting started on Civ4 for a Civ2 vet

[Heraclitus]

The Pyramids represent a great achievement of centralized government. In RL this was absolutist monarchy in a civ world it could be anything from a early democracy, Roman type republic to the anceint equivalent of a police state.

[Unimatrix11]

Oh, yeah, sure. I also see great importance in the pyramids. I regard them as the turning point, at which was decided that civilized mankind would be a nationbuilding species. Hard to overestimate IMHO.

But if you look at it historically and strip off all esoteric or meta-physical stuff (not sure i use the right term here - read: abstract), the issue remains, that in the game, the pyramids is usually used to have an ancient republic, while in the real world, egypt could have hardly been more distant from that concept and it was the greek, who did not build any pyramids (and thus are almost an exception), were the ones to establish a republic early on...

EDIT: As i have stated somewhere else before: If one was to learn history from civ, one would be inclined to belief, that the pyramids were build somewhere in greece (or that ancient egypt was a republic) and that communism failed, because the kreml only works in a democracy...

[lord of the mark]

actually thats an example of the deftness of civ2.

Pyramids give you a granary in every city, what the hell?

Turns out there were legends that the Pyramids were built by Joseph to store grain for the seven lean years. The legends were totally wrong, totally misunderstood when as well as why they were built, but the legends themselves are an historical fact that Civ made a reference to, for those who know.

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
actually thats an example of the deftness of civ2.

Pyramids give you a granary in every city, what the hell?

Turns out there were legends that the Pyramids were built by Joseph to store grain for the seven lean years. The legends were totally wrong, totally misunderstood when as well as why they were built, but the legends themselves are an historical fact that Civ made a reference to, for those who know.

Actually, the pyramids where built by Egyptian farmers on a semifeudal arrangement. They worked the fields half the year and then they worked on the monuments the other half. To feed them during that time you needed to store all the surplus food made during the rest of the year.

well that's the truth if you play Pharaoh anyway...

[lord of the mark]

You really have to pay attention to the diplo agreements, I see.

I finally figured out you need a city on a river to build Three Gorges. I didnt have city on a river. But the Americans had Washington on a river, right nearby and they were weak. Sure they had a defense pack with Persia and Mali, but those two had no other good reason for war with me.

After watching the Persians take three of my cities, I decided to bag it and restart from my last save before the war.

[Willem]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
After watching the Persians take three of my cities, I decided to bag it and restart from my last save before the war.

Yes, diplomacy is a big factor in Civ 4, much more so than any other version. A civ doesn't even need a defence pact to have his buddies jump in on his side, all it takes a long history of good relations between them. Before you declare war on someone, it's a good idea to check who his friends are since if you get enough, "You declared war on my friend." in your relationship hit list, you could find yourself being ganged up on by three or four civs at once.

[lord of the mark]

replayed that game as I said, won on points. Spies are very helpful when you are behind in an AC race.

[joncnunn]

Hum, perhaps the AI could be taught to build and station a spy in cities it's built parts.

(It already knows how to use spies to destroy opponent's parts and the one sure defense I found was building and stationing the spies in those cities.)

[Jaybe]

How would you determine whether the AI already DOES station a spy in all its cities when building the spaceship? You can destroy spaceship parts in ANY city of that civ.

Perhaps, joncnunn, you had enough espionage points that your security bureaus & spies were sufficient.

[joncnunn]

From what I could tell from the AI spy attack pattern was that space ship parts prior to launch are treated just like buildings ... To destroy Part X manufactored in City Y, you have to go to City Y to destroy it.

My cities that never built a single space ship part are left wide open and my non-space ship cities generally outnumber my space ship ones. (My capital is always on the list of cities that build SS parts)

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by joncnunn
From what I could tell from the AI spy attack pattern was that space ship parts prior to launch are treated just like buildings ... To destroy Part X manufactored in City Y, you have to go to City Y to destroy it.

My cities that never built a single space ship part are left wide open and my non-space ship cities generally outnumber my space ship ones. (My capital is always on the list of cities that build SS parts)

You lucky DOG!!
My experience in a recent game was totally contrary. Stasis Chamber (I think it was) was repeatedly destroyed in the same city, which had never built ANY SS part.

Not that it mattered. I was only building SS parts as a backup plan. The victory I won was not SS.

[joncnunn]

My expereince was with the unoffical patch to 3.03.

[joncnunn]

The most recent time I'd built the space ship (latest version + it's unoffical patch) I'd already vasalized my two closest neighbors before starting it.

[Blaupanzer]

To destroy a part in progress, you must do it in the city building the part. But to destoy a part already built anywhere will do. At least that's how I understand it. Haven't tried for an SS victory in a very long time, so the above is the result of an increasingly faulty memory.

[Unimatrix11]

Destroying existing space ship parts... My understanding is, they are already in orbit... sounds like Moonraker (the worst Bond ever)...