2 newb questions about conquest

[techbota]

1st Is it just me or is there a problem getting saltpeter in conquest. Ive so far played 4 games and none of the times have I gotten saltpeter in my areas. Which left me to trading my scientific advances to build a military.


2nd I usually dont like downloading beta patches. Is the patch for conquest essential or should I wait for the final version????

[Theseus]

Resource distribution is problematic in C3C, and evidently might be a bug related to volcanos. I think it is being looked at for the patch.

[techbota]

Kewl what about my patch question?

[Rhothaerill]

I'd go ahead and download the patch. The original release had two major bugs including broken corruption and a double gpt bug that both unbalance the game. The gpt bug seems to be fixed and the corruption is better, though still being worked on.

[vmxa1]

Yes the 1.12 patch is important. Any final patch will have some form of 1.12 imbeded.

The gpt fix will make the game more playable. At levels above Demi it is so hard with that bug. The FP issue is a mixed bag and who knows how it will endup, but it will be closer to 1.12 than 1.00.

So to me that means continuity with 1.12 more so than 1.00.
I held off of 1.13 as a new patch was due.

[Theseus]

vmxa1, check your PMs.

[techbota]

Well installed it last night. Didnt notice anything major. Although there was a blank spot in the advisor window but it went away.

You know I think it would be nice if there was a way to see what one AI's attititude towards another is. So you might be able to guesstimate when a civ would go to war with a different one.

Also what can I do to get points. I have the second largest land mass owned. The highest poputlation and the top in culture. But Russia has 300 more points than me.

me 1107
Russia 1411

I have been kicking butt and taking names but it doesnt seem to effect my score at all. I took 8 german cities in like 5 turns and I dont think I got one point for it???????

[steven8r]

Originally posted by techbota
Well installed it last night. Didnt notice anything major. Although there was a blank spot in the advisor window but it went away.

You know I think it would be nice if there was a way to see what one AI's attititude towards another is. So you might be able to guesstimate when a civ would go to war with a different one.

Also what can I do to get points. I have the second largest land mass owned. The highest poputlation and the top in culture. But Russia has 300 more points than me.

me 1107
Russia 1411

I have been kicking butt and taking names but it doesnt seem to effect my score at all. I took 8 german cities in like 5 turns and I dont think I got one point for it???????

Re: AI attitudes, They will ALL go to war w/ one another for the right price. You might check the F4 screen and the 'Trades' tab to see if 2 AI's are trading. If one goes to war w/ another, they will lose that trade. I think that affects their 'willingness' to war.

Re: Score, don't worry about maintaining a high score throuout the game (unless you just really really want to or if you have nothing else to do). When you win the game, you will get a 'bonus' that will put you ahead of anyone. I think there is another thread here on Apolyton that asks about score and it has a link to a CFC score chart or something. (I haven't checked it out because I don't wory about score--only bettering my playstyle.)

Steven

[steven8r]

Oh, and yes, there is a noticeable resource scarcity. I think I've only had Saltpeter in 1 or 2 games I've played so far. (I was just amazed that in my most recent game I actually had Coal AND Rubber! Woo Hoo!)

With unpatched C3C, the Corruption thing isn't too bad. But the gpt bug can create AI's w/ more than 10k gold in the bank. They become hard to beat when they're that wealthy.

Steven

[Plotinus]

I believe I'm right in saying that the AIs don't have attitudes to each other - they cannot annoy or please each other. They only have attitudes to the player. This is something I'd like to see changed in the future, to make international diplomacy that much richer.

[vmxa1]

Not sure what it is worth, but the PTW strat guide says that the AI has no special treatment of the human and only detects the other civs for the purpose of trades.
IOW it does not really know you form another AI.

[techbota]

steven8r

What do you mean dont worry about score???
So far this has been the only way I can win!!!


Obviously I suck to too bad to win any other way and im only playing on the next level up from the bottom!!!

Start Of A Rant

My game lasted just under 24 hours!#@$#%

It takes me 4 days to finish the damn thing....god im so pissed at it.

Another thing that is BUGGIN me is that I did better on almost every thing in that game the only thing I came in second place was I had a slightly smaller area of owned land mass. And I still get the loser screen! God that screen pisses me off.

Listen to this. Before I said I was at like
me 1107
Russia 1411
score wise

Well last night the russians asked for a war against the germans. I went over there and captured 10 cities like in 3 turns. THe russians destroyed one and took the last one.

The score barely budged on both sides

Then I got into it with the Ottomans and took out over half there civ. (like 8 cities) shortly after the 2050 mark hits. I lose!!!!! The score being something like
me 1217
Russia 1604

Now if the name of the game is conquest, then when you conquer cities why dont you get points??? This to me is very important because I am not good enough yet to win by other means!!!!

[steven8r]

techbota,

If you're getting to the 2050 point and haven't won by then, I'm not sure that score will matter.

Domination Victory - you need 66% of the landmass. Take-over more land quicker.

Cultural Victory - you need 100k empire-wide Culture or 20k one city Culture AND have to have at least twice the Culture of your nearest rival. Build more Wonders.

Conquest Victory - wipe-out everyone else. Start wars quicker.

Diplomatic Victory - Build the UN first and be REAL nice to everyone else (at least 1/2 of the remaining civs). I think it is possible to not build the UN and still get the votes--but dificult.

Space Race Victory - Build your spaceship quicker.

It seems that just relying on Score at the end of the game is extremely inefficient. If you achieve any of the above Victory conditions, your Score will be higher than any of the AI's in the game. The only time that I even made it to the 2050 deadline was in my very first game. Soon after, I discovered Apolyton and learned from the collective experiences of its members. I've either won or lost much quicker since.

Now, granted, it's very easy to say the above, but MUCH more difficult to achieve the above.

Short answer: Read through the Strat Forum and find ways to enhance your game.

Long answer: Post some early game saves in the Strat Forum and let some Members comment/critique your playstyle and suggest improvements to your game. Get specific, almost turn-by-turn suggestions.

Don't overlook the extreme value of REX. (Rapid Expansion and eXploration--at least I think that's what it means.) Your power in Civ comes from your cities. The more cities you have, the more power you get (production, gold, AND research). Also early knowledge of the map and contact w/ other civs helps you immensely.

It sounds daunting at first, but w/ just a little research and minimal effort, your games will soon be decided long before the year 2050.

'Poly is indispensible to learning the whole 'Civ Experience'. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step--Chinese Proverb" Since you are a member, you've already taken the first step to bettering your game. Just continue to follow along this path and you will soon become the "Evil Warmonger/Builder/Diplomatic Lord of All You Behold (on your computerscreen anyways)

Improve your game. The score will follow.

Steven

[techbota]

This is like my 15th game and I have went to 2050 on all of them or lost early. Im getting alittle better .

I try to follow the forums but alot of times there talking in terms and abreviations and as a newb its pretty hard to follow. Im not sure how much more I can expand. Im building settlers as fast as possible and I had the most land mass up until the end. I just wasnt anywhere's near 66%
(I had to have like 30 cities in my game last night)

As for tech I go for literature right away and then I only go for required techs I usually keep up or just slightly ahead but usually I get muscled out of techs early by more powerful civs bullying me around.

Their always annoyed and if I say no they usually go right to war with me.

even last nights game I was top in population but was only at 90,000 no where near the 130,000 requirement.

I was top at culture still not even close to victory in it.

I mean when almost eveything has a temple,courthouse,library, and coloseum. What more can you do to get a cultural victory????? Only one city from another civ flipped to me. Which was bull because they had all kinds of BS small fries next to my metropolisis and NOTHING.

God its frustrating.

[Rhothaerill]

Hang in there techbota.

If I might suggest it, try posting a save in the strategy forum (or here). There are many people who would be more than willing to deconstruct your saves and give specifically tailored advice (vmxa1 is one of the best )

Also, try reading some of the thread about the early game from here. They are somewhat dated, but still have a lot of good advice for beginning a game.