Section D: Tips and information

Civ1 FAQ: Tips and Info

1) Final score

There are many factors to the end score, but the main bonuses are described below (courtesy Roger Kemp):

There are two different ways that percentages are calculated:

a) If you take over the world, your score is determined SOLELY by the date in which you finish. Wonders, pollution, population etc. have no effect on the score. I believe the exact formula is something like: you get 1000 points for taking over the world by year 2000 and you get an extra 2 points for each turn (not year) in advance of the year 2000 if you finish the game early. Take this score and divide by 10 to get your percentage. This means that the maximum reasonable score you could get (taking over the whole world around 2000BC) is somewhere around 180%. There is also some sort of reduction modifier if you start with less than seven initial civilizations.

Note that if you play on a lower level your final percentage is also multiplied by 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, or 0.8 depending on whether you play chieftain, level, prince level, etc.

b) If you launch into space (I don’t know why anyone would bother playing the game and pursue this course 😎 you can get those 300% scores that people brag about. You’d just have to kill off all but one enemy city and keep peace while you filled the world with people. What a boring game 😎

Finally remember if you can’t be touched, try and develop as many future techs as possible since they add 5 to your score at the end.

2) Lightbulb formula

Here’s the formula from "Rome on 640K a Day":

 LightBulbs = PreviousAdvances * DifficultyModifier * TimeModifier
 DifficultyModifier =
     6, Chief
     8, Warlord
    10, Prince
    12, King
    14, Emperor
 TimeModifier = 1 if Year <= 0AD, or, 2 if Year > 0AD

In addition, the first advance always requires at least 10 lightbulbs regardless of difficulty level.

3) Money-saving tips

a) If you have a city that has built all that it needs, build an unwanted structure such as city walls, temple, SDI defence, etc. Once it is completed, sell it and rebuild.

b) Do not keep improvements that are not necessary. If your population is very happy, sell colosseums and temples. Colosseums alone cost 4 coins a turn. If there is no military threat, sell off barracks and city walls.

c) If you are relocating the palace you should sell off the old one. Otherwise the original one will disappear on completion. Remember that without a palace, corruption will rise.

d) Just before you complete your research of gunpowder and combustion, remember to sell your barracks. Any existing ones will become redundant straight after, so you may as well make a few gold coins.

e) Switching to Nuclear power (after Fusion makes it safe) from hydro or Power Plants, will save 2 gold coins per turn. Also remember to sell off any power sources on the same continent as your Hoover Dam.

f) The purchase cost of Wonders is 4 coins per shield, so if you wish to purchase one quickly, it definately pays to buy something small to start off the shields.

4) Military advice

a) Timing if very important in battles, so use the WAIT command frequently. Always move the fastest, best defending units first to make sure that the coast is clear. This way, knights, for example, will find undiscovered enemy units instead of catapults. (The knights can move back whereas the catapults will be open for attack).

b) Never stack units! Unlike standard wargames, stacked units do not combine their defence points. If one unit is destroyed, all units are destroyed.

There is one exception to this rule: when the units are stacked within a fortress (built by a settler). These units will be destroyed one at a time, so they last a lot longer than normal, especially if you build the fortress on a mountain!

c) Don’t forget to upgrade your defending pieces. There is nothing worse than find one of your cities defended by militia surrounded by enemy armor!

d) Remember that veteran units are 50% stronger on attack/defence. Because of this, it obviously makes more sense to use veteran troops whenever possible. There are two ways to create these troops. First, have an untrained unit survive a battle (in which case it has a 50% chance of being awarded with veteran status). The second is to build one in a city that has a barracks. This is the safer option.

e) Use an overall strategy of fortifying high defence pieces and using high attack pieces as sentries. Remember: in a coastal city, if you build a boat, any sentried pieces will climb aboard as it sails away. This will often leave the city undefended!

f) City walls are useful for many things. Not only do they multiply defence values by 3, they also protect the population of the city (there is no population decrease after enemy attacks).

g) You can use a bomber to protect a vulnerable city by parking it in the air outside the city. It appears that when moving it’s pieces the computer moves them in a set order (probably the order in which they were built). This often means that it moves half of its ground units (which can’t get past your bomber) before finally bringing out a fighter to kill the bomber (if it ever does actually attack the bomber). This can give you time to fortify the city.

h) When you are at advanced technology levels and attacking cities, have two bombers that alternate turns in sitting above your attacking force. The enemy can only attack you with fighters because there is an air unit in the square and attack 4 vs defence 13 for a fortified, veteran mech. inf is a good bet, besides fighters are very expensive.

i) In a sea warfare game, consider using nukes on enemy battleships and carriers at sea because there is no pollution. In addition, computer civilizations usually send out other units with such a major unit and a nuke can usually destroy 2 extra enemy units. With the Magellan’s Expedition, an old sail or submarine has enough movement to be efficiently used as bait to draw the enemy group closer together so more can be destroyed at once.

j) Most units can’t move from the zone of control of an enemy piece into another square in an opposing zone of control, unless you already have a piece in the target square. Planes, diplomats and caravans are exceptions to this, but they DO count as a piece in that square. This allows you to walk around enemy armies: send the diplomat forward one square, move the real troops into the square, advance the diplomat again …

k) Finally, remember that it is quite easy to save the game before a major battle—if you lose, reload !

5) Miscellaneous tricks and tips

Here are few tips and tricks that I have collected from Usenet over the last few months.

a) Structures (temples etc.) are cheaper than units that move (i.e., military, settlers…) If you want to buy a quick rifleman to defend a town it’s much cheaper to select a temple, buy it and then change back to a rifleman. The added cost for military units is based on the following formula (from "Rome on 640k a Day"):

       cost = (ms * 2) + (ms * ms/20)
  
       where ms is "missing shields"

Note: Remember, as stated in the manual; improvements cost two coins per missing shield (OR FOUR if no shields are currently in the Production box) Usually, just wait a turn to get a couple of shields, then buy. If absolutely necessary, buy the cheapest unit/improvement available to get some production, then switch to your final goal and buy it.

b) You can use caravans to build things other than wonders. When you take over an enemy city you usually need a cathedral or walls or something of the sort so I throw a few caravans in the transport with my armors. When I take over the city I switch what it’s building over to a wonder, contribute the caravans to the wonder and switch it back to the cathedral. You can use this on your own cities as well. If you have a fabulous production town and want to kick start the other cities, build caravans and throw them into the other cities wonders and switch them to whatever you want. I build a lot of factories this way. Building caravans is like putting money in the bank.

c) Once you have railroads take a settler into a transport onto one of the fish squares that is being used and activate the settler. Press "r" on the settler for making a road (on water!!) and then "r" again for a railroad. You now have a railroad on the fish which gives you the increased production and trade that railroads normally give. Unfortunately you can’t walk pieces onto the square as if it were a bridge. This trick works for normal sea squares, increasing trade production.

d) I’ve noticed that if you attack a city with 4 defenders, this doesn’t seem to enter after the first three have been defeated. (Does the computer take some sort of morale into account? I’ve not seen it documented anywhere, but once they lose two or three units, the rest seem to loose disproportionately, even if they’re all the same type of unit, and they have barracks [i.e., all are vets]).

e) To get size 40+ cities, play in the Americas: there are two sites which have maximum grasslands production!

f) Build the UN. Then build diplomats and artillery. Change government to Communist. Roll your artillery up to an enemy city. Make peace with your diplomat. (Because of the UN, they have to agree.) Next turn, take the city, roll your artillery up to the next city, and make peace again. This works for a while, but I always find that when I am too much more powerful than the other civilizations, they always break their treaties. This tactic works with the Great wall and catapults as well.

g) When you’re a Repubublic or Democracy and you meet a new civilization that you wish to destroy, don’t talk to their emissaries. If you do, your council will force a treaty.

6) The Canal trick

This is an excellent idea received from Matt Malone.

a) Build a city on an isthmus. Enter ships from one side, leave from the other. Instant canal. Similarly a chain of cities for longer canals. Also good for access to inland seas.

b) Build a walled city on a mountain as the gateway from an inland sea to the ocean (veteran. riflemen defense = 5*1.5*3*3 > 63). It provides a bay that is impervious to enemy ships and several city sites that are "coastal" – i.e., able to build ships – while not being subject to sea attacks until the gateway city falls.

c) Land a settler and build a city between an enemy city that is not coastal and the ocean to create a canal to allow a battleship to pound the enemy city directly. If your canal city is walled the effective defense with a veteran battleship is 12*1.5*3 = 54! Good odds in any attack except against bombers.

7) Railroads at sea

It is perfectly possible to build a railroad on water. To do so, first load a settler into a floating vessel. Then move the vessel to the place you wish to build the railroad. Wake the settler and make him build a road. When this is completed build the railroad. Simple really! The main advantage is the increased trade and food that can be gained from a railroad enhanced square (+1 trade for ocean, +1 trade & food for ocean/fish). It is also possible to use these railroads as a bridge. All that is necessary is that each square also contains a vessel. Should you move the vessel, this has the effect of breaking the bridge. Pieces will only be able to cross where the railroad crosses a vessel. The exception to this is vessels!

8) Interaction with the various civilizations.

There was a discussion recently concerning the pros and cons of the various computer controlled civilizations. Here is a brief summary of some of the points made.

a) Which civilization should I choose to play ?

This depends on your game strategy. If you play Earth and intend to concentrate on technology, then either the Aztecs or the Americans are a good choice. This will usually give you a whole continent to yourself, (once you’ve destroyed the other one) and will leave all of the more militaristic opponents to fight it out between themselves. If you just want to conquer as quick as possible then it pays to remove civilizations such as the Zulus, Greeks, and Russians. One way to remove the Zulus (for example) is to play the Zulus. This works fine except when playing Earth. The Zulus always start in Africa, which doesn’t have much in the way of good building areas. Another way to remove the Zulus is to play the Egyptians. Because they are both "Greens" you will never have both in the same game. Another thing to remember when playing Earth is that, if you play any civilization other than the Americans or Aztecs, the Aztecs will always be the most technically advanced civilization. While you are fighting to stay alive, the Aztecs will remove the Americans and concentrate on technology. To avoid this you can be the Egyptians (Yellow). One other thing to remember is that the Russians tend to start with two settlers. This can be a real help at the start of a game. When starting a game, consider what your strategy is likely to be. Remember what the various civilizations colours are, and remember that on Earth each civilization starts at its historical capital.

b) Should I consider who I trade technologies with ?

Most definitely ! You don’t want to give the wheel to the Zulus now, do you ?

  Another thing to consider early on is whether or not to trade technologies
  with a particular enemy.  I always develop the wheel first and then pursue
  purely "brainy" advances (writing, literacy etc.).  If I meet up with 
  Mongols, Zulus or Russians I don't trade with them unless I have a couple 
  of chariots built and am ready to kill them in the next few turns anyways.  
  At the other end I will quite willingly trade with the Babylonians, 
  Egyptians, Americans, and to a lesser extent Romans and Chinese because 
  they will take developmental technologies like Alphabet, Writing, 
  C-Burial, Code-of-Laws before the wheel.
	---Roger Kemp

9) The pattern of special resource squares.

It appears that there is a pattern to the way resources are placed on the map—those special squares such as fish, gold, oil, etc. Once again I will hand the subject over to Ralph Betza.

  The algorithm used for putting special resources on the map is such
  that wherever you see a special square, there is likely to be
  another one a long-Knight's jump to the northeast -- that's 3
  squares North and one square East -- and to the southwest.

  Fairly often, there are two strings of special squares, a
  long-Knight's move apart, giving:

    .  .  .  S  .  .  .
    .  .  .  .  .  .  S
    .  .  .  .  .  .  .
    .  .  S  .  .  .  .
    .  .  .  .  .  S  .
    .  .  .  C  .  .  .
    .  S  .  .  .  .  .
    .  .  .  .  S  .  .
    .  .  .  .  .  .  .
    S  .  .  .  .  .  .
    .  .  .  S  .  .  .

  If you build a city at C, it can use four special squares at S!

[some deleted]

  According to this analysis, when you see a forest square with game,
  or a plains square with horses, or a swamp with gems, or oil or gold
  or fishies, and the next square in the pattern (a long-Knight's jump
  away) is a grassland square with no resources,
       Mine That Square!
  More than half the time, when the trees grow, you see a little
  orange beastie on the square.

  In order to get a feel for the pattern, look at a screenful of ocean
  and see where the little fishes are. You will see that the pattern
  is imperfect, and that is why mining the grassland square doesn't
  always work.

  So far, I have only made this trick work with grassland squares.
  I would *love* to be able to make gold mines appear this way; or
  even coal.
	---Ralph Betza

10) Defence and attack queries

This collection of tips has been compiled by Mark Steer.

a) How does the computer decide combat results?

The computer "pulls a piece of paper out of a hat" in the sense that there are as many bits of paper marked with "Attacker wins" in the hat as the attackers strength. Also there are as many pieces of paper marked with "Defender Wins" in the hat as the defenders strength. So in theory a trireme can defeat a battleship, but the odds are 12-1 against.

b) How do I work out my attackers strength?

Attacking strength = Attacking force * 1.5(veteran)* road MP’s/3, where Attacking force = 1 for militia, 4 for a knight etc. The strength of attacking Barbarians is reduced on the lower levels.

c) How do I work out my defensive strength?

Defensive strength = Defensive force * 1.5(veteran)* terrain bonus * one of the following, 1.5 (fortified), 2 (fortress sq), 3 (city walls). city wall bonus is disregarded by bombers and artillery, battleships behind city walls do receive *3 bonus.

i.e., So, a veteran battleship, in a city behind walls = 12 * 1.5 * 3 = 54

Remember: a veteran is caused by a unit that has survived one battle, or a unit that was built in a city containing a barracks.

d) What are the terrain bonuses?

  Forrest/Game  50%   Mountains/Gold 200%
  Hills/Coal   100%   River           50%
  Jungle/Gems   50%   Swamp/Oil       50%

i.e., So, a veteran rifleman on a mountain, in a fortress = 5 * 1.5 * 2 * 2 = 30 – enough to see off most invaders

e) Any other defensive hints?

Put a settler on a ship, move it to an inlet you want defended, tell the settler to build a fortress. Each time the ship wants to move press space. Hey Presto a fortress at sea just right for a battleship! Bob O’Bobs stab at a _real_ algorithm:

  A few new terms:
    V : if unit is Veteran, V=1.5; else V=1.0
    M : if unit has at least one full movement point, M=1.0;
        else if unit has 0.2 (2/3), M=2/3; else M=1/3
    T : terrain defense bonus, (in %/100+1)
          50% bonus, T=1.5
         100% bonus, T=2.0
         200% bonus, T=3.0

    F1: if defender is fortified, F1=1.5; else F1=1.0
    F2: if defender is in Fortress, F2=2.0; else F2=1.0
    F3: if defender  is behind City Walls
           and defender is not an Air unit
           and attacker is not Bomber
           and attacker is not Artillery
      then F3=3.0; else F3=1.0

    AS = AF * V * M

    DS = DF * V * T * max(F1, F2, F3)
	---Bob O'Bob

11) Appearance of new civilizations.

  As you have no doubt noted, dead rivals have a way of rising from the 
  ashes.  There are a few important things you should know about these 
  resurrections.  Before 0 AD the "twin cousin" of a vanquished civilization 
  will appear anywhere not in immediate proximity to an existing city. After 
  0 AD these civilizations will only reappear on unsettled continents, and 
  after 1750 no new civilizations will appear at all.  New Civilizations are 
  not "born stupid".  Each technology that the human player possess will have 
  a 50% chance of becoming a starting technology for the reemerging 
  civilization.  They will still be behind in the tech race, but not as badly 
  as if they had to reinvent The Wheel.
	---'Rome on 640k a day'

12) How do you calculate pollution?

The book "Rome on 640K a Day" gives the formula for calculating the probability of pollution around a city each turn. According to the book:

Each city has a "tolerance" for 20 Smokestack Points per turn. Each point 
generated beyond that become a smokestack on the city display, representing 
a 1% chance per turn that a square around the city will become polluted.
  
     Smokestack Points = Industrial Pollution + Pop. Pollution
  
     Industrial Pollution = # of shields generated by city.
     Divide by 2 if city has hydro or nuclear Plant; OR
     Divide by 3 if city has a Recycling Center.
  
     Population Pollution = City Size * Pollution Modifier.

        Pollution Modifiers = 0.25 with Industrialization;
            0.50 with Automobile;
            0.75 with Mass Production;
            1.00 with Plastics;
            0.00 with Mass Transit.
  Note: Mass Transit eliminates Population Pollution.

13) How is the trade route income calculated?

The manual states that the trade income between two cities is affected by the distance between them. This is not true! The distance is only used for calculating the Trade Bonus. The following is from Rome on 640k a day:

  Additional Trade = (Trade Source + Trade Dest + 4) / 8

  Additional Trade = the number of trade arrows added to a city's current 
                     arrow production as the result of a trade route.
  Trade Source = # of Arrows in the Source city.
  Trade Dest = # of Arrows in Destination city
  Additional Trade is halved if both cities are from the same civilization.

14) How is the trade bonus calculated?

  Bonus = (Distance +10) * (TSource + TDest) / 24
   *.5  if both are on same continent.
   *.5  if both are same civilization (player)
   *.66 if you have railroads
   *.66 if you have flight
  (these can *all* be applied, too, if all are true, leaving less than 11%)

15) Any other trade information?

In the lifetime of cities, total trade can go up and down. If one of your cities has a route with a city that’s turned into a loser, sending a fourth caravan somewhere useful will cause the worst of the four to be dropped. Remember, you can "H" a caravan to give it a new home, if your city’s busy building something else.

16) How is global warming calculated?

Eight pollution square are enough to trigger the 1st bout of global warming. After that, each additional bout requires two more polluted squares than the previous.

Note: these are the number of polluted squares visible to the player. Thus, out of sight, out of formula.

    Sun Icon Colour     # of Visible Polluted Squares
    -------------------------------------------------
    Dark Red            0-1
    Light Red           2-3
    Yellow              4-5
    White               6+

17) How is corruption calculated?

  Corruption = (Total Trade * Distance * 3) / (10 * Govt)
    Corruption is halved if a Courthouse or Palace is present.
  
  Distance = City's distance from capital city. Under
    Communism distance is always equal to 10 squares. With no palace, 
    distance is always equal to 32.
  
  Govt = Government modifier; Despotism = 8; Anarchy = 12; Monarchy = 16;
    Communism = 20; Republic = 24; Democracy = 0.