Big Empires

Blue Dragon · July 27, 2002, 13:18

when my empire got too large (30city) the corruption is so bad that some of the cities on the edge waste all but 1 shield. is there so way it can be helped?

Flight · July 27, 2002, 15:56

all you can do is go into the editor and make other buildings stop corruption - basiaclly meaning u have lots of courthouses that also act as abrracks or libraries

but not for your current game, you need to start anew with an editor-modified map (afaik)

trickey · July 27, 2002, 17:56

One of the biggest things is correct palace and fp placement. This can make or brake a civ. try to place them so they are as central as possible.

Cort Haus · July 27, 2002, 19:19

Unlike other civ games, Civ 3 is designed so that only a core of cities around the palace, and then another core around the forbidden palace are fully productive.

Apart from distance to capital, total number of cities affects corruption. I think at 16 cities on a standard map the 'one-shield' corruption kicks in for distant cities. Since the 1.29 patch, commercial civs are allowed substantially more cities before the heavy corruption, so you might want to try your next game with a commercial civ.

I don't agree with changing the game to make all buildings lower corruption, as it's possible to overcome the problem by playing the game itself, rather than the editor.

The fastest solution is to use a GL (Great Leader) to rush the FP (Forbidden Palace) and for this reason many players advocate early warmongery strats (using a militaristic civ to increase promotions) to get the FP. A good location for this can give you a second core of productive cities - enough to win the game.

You can't rely on GLs though, especially if you're not planning on early war, so often it has to be built. One shield per turn takes forever, and you can't cash-rush it, so ramp up the city to get some more shields as follows, chopping down forests & mining, then cash-rushing the buildings as you go :

1. Build a temple for borders and happiness.
2. Connect to your road network to pump in the luxuries. This may mean a harbor somewhere if it's on an island. and a marketplace if you've less than five or six luxuries. Religious civs, esp with the Sistine can consider a cathedral instead of the market.
3. Grow it to six and get a WLTK day - which lowers waste enough to get at least two shields. Don't grow it above six, as you might lose the WLTK.
4. Add a courthouse.

Depending on many factors, this should give enough shields to make an FP build realistic. With a commercial Civ, and not too many cities you could get 4-5 shields.

These steps can actually get any corrupt cities off the ground, provided they're not your most distant of a huge total, and you don't mind spending a few hundred gold on them.

FrustratedPoet · July 27, 2002, 21:44

Quote:

Originally posted by trickey
One of the biggest things is correct palace and fp placement.

Always consider carefully where FP should be placed to get optimum efficiency.
(I would prefer to be placed in front of the TV with a big bag of chips and a couple of beers please.

)

Flight · July 28, 2002, 06:51

lol forgot about the FP & P

Correct placement allows you to overcome corruption, yes. But if you want a really big empire that is worth having for more than just territory then editing is unfortunately necessary. Though thats hardly ever fun to build

Cort Haus · July 28, 2002, 07:39

You could almost remove corruption from the game , but it would be imbalancing. Tech rates would zoom with every city generating full output, and the AI's would be even more annoying!

Velociryx · July 28, 2002, 10:41

Stoo!

-=Vel=-

Theseus · July 28, 2002, 16:55

LOL @ FP

(although it took me a minute)

Catt · July 28, 2002, 21:45

Don't underestimate the power of palace relocation. I am fairly new to using the strat frequently in each game (had only done it 2 or 3 times in my first 50+ games), but multiple palace relocations after discovering Industrialization can do wonders for an empire (this obviously means you need warfare -> GLs -> rushed palaces. After Industrialization you can build factories, courthouses and (probably) police stations. Rush 'em all as quickly as you can in newly conquered areas where you have relocated your palace. I continue to be amazed with the city sprawl one can construct and still maintain a largely productive empire. WLTKD, courthouses, police stations and factories (and power plants), provide productive cities, even those far away from the current palace and the FP, and even after blowing past the OCN. In MTiii I had sixty+ cities and only a few were totally corrupt (standard map). My original palace core continued to produce 50+ shields from most cities after the first palace relocation.

Catt

OT: FP - excellent commentary and we'll look at the feasibility of that optimum placement whenever you're in town.

HazieDaVampire · July 29, 2002, 07:14

i want a way of telling the game to stop asking me to build a certain thing, like forbidden palaces! (and swordmen, and cavalry!) My forbidden palace was not to far away from my palace cuz i was just getting sick of being asked to build it!

GhengisFarb™ · July 31, 2002, 10:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Blue Dragon
when my empire got too large (30city) the corruption is so bad that some of the cities on the edge waste all but 1 shield. is there so way it can be helped?

A nice addition would be a Regional Capital improvement. Similiar to the Forbidden Palace but you could build more of them.

MrWhereItsAt · July 31, 2002, 11:05

Quote:

Originally posted by HazieDaVampire
i want a way of telling the game to stop asking me to build a certain thing, like forbidden palaces! (and swordmen, and cavalry!) My forbidden palace was not to far away from my palace cuz i was just getting sick of being asked to build it!

Hazie, you can use the Governors in cities (press "g" in the City screen of any city) to stop some, one or ALL of your cities from building offensive units, culture improvements, WoWs, the FP etc. Check it out. I never used it before, but it actually can be vaguely useful, especially in getting your cities to stop automatically starting the FP and WoWs.

GhengisFarb™ · July 31, 2002, 11:09

Quote:

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt

Hazie, you can use the Governors in cities (press "g" in the City screen of any city) to stop some, one or ALL of your cities from building offensive units, culture improvements, WoWs, the FP etc. Check it out. I never used it before, but it actually can be vaguely useful, especially in getting your cities to stop automatically starting the FP and WoWs.

I don't trust them, everytime I've left them in charge they've put stuff in stupid order and built useless things.

IMO, they are an excellent example of corrupt politiciians, building whatever project gives them the most kickbacks.

dawidge · July 31, 2002, 13:03

So don't set them to control production, but do set their build preferences so when they ask you what to build next it might actually be something you want.

Flight · August 2, 2002, 18:29

haize
u could make some units upgradeable like say swordsman to musketeer or longbowman to musketeer. this can be very unbalancing especially cavalry to tank but at least u can remove the thing from the build menu

use the city govenor to stop them building small wonders

Sinapus · August 2, 2002, 18:52

I've modded my game to have four additional Forbidden Palaces at different tech levels. Am considering renaming them "District Capitals" or something since that is what they are essentially..

GhengisFarb™ · August 2, 2002, 19:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Flight
all you can do is go into the editor and make other buildings stop corruption - basiaclly meaning u have lots of courthouses that also act as abrracks or libraries

but not for your current game, you need to start anew with an editor-modified map (afaik)

Do multiple 'courthouses' work together?

GhengisFarb™ · August 2, 2002, 19:39

Quote:

Originally posted by Sinapus
I've modded my game to have four additional Forbidden Palaces at different tech levels. Am considering renaming them "District Capitals" or something since that is what they are essentially..

Great minds think alike, although mine's not all that great....

I called my Provencial Capitals

Sinapus · August 3, 2002, 02:59

Quote:

Originally posted by GhengisFarb

Great minds think alike, although mine's not all that great....

I called my Provencial Capitals

That should work too.

candybo · August 4, 2002, 07:41

I don't like the idea of modding to make those kind of changes. I'd rather work within the constraints of the game. That said, I do think the corruption thing goes a little overboard. Several factors in the game seem to make huge maps pretty useless. None come to mind right now, tho ( its 7:45 a.m. here right now, and I'm at work, so cut me some slack here : ) )!