Some things I've noticed

[Varus2319]

That may or may not need a second look...

First of all, I've been playing this game since it came out and I have a pretty well rounded experience with it so far. I love the game and I love this series, so this post is meant to be a friendly critique.

Anyway, i've noticed a few things that strike me as strange, some of which may be intentional and others not. Some of these may even be known bugs, but here goes: (feel free to comment if you know something about any of this!)

1. Why can't I edit several cities at once? We used to do this all the time in Civ IV but now if I want an entire section of my empire to switch production at once, it seems if I have to do each city one at a time. The economic overview page is just that, it's an overview. It sure would be handier if it was a manager too.

2. Where in the world can I gather information about my opponents? I can't see their tech levels, whether they are at war with particular city states, or even how they feel about me! All this information used to be available at a button click, but now it seems to be gone. Any ideas?

3. I can't trade for maps. Is there any reason for this? Tech makes sense, but I should be able to trade maps!

4. Rush completion. We are allowed to buy anything in the game at the click of a button, which makes perfect sense. I actually love the new queue/buy system. However, we should be able to get SOME discount for only being a few turns away from completion on something. Maybe not a full pro-rate, but certainly something?

5. Why can't I tell a city to KEEP building units anymore? I shouldn't need to point out why this was useful.

6. Why is there no improvement that adds hammers to flat tiles? Not every city is blessed with enough hills or forests to have sufficient production.

7. This one is just my own opinion, but for the sake of convenience, I think we should be able to stack workers. Just for movement, because they tend to pile up on each other when I'm overhauling a city's improvements. I understand the logic behind 1 worker working on a tile at a time. I don't think that should change, but I do think that one INACTIVE worker should be able to stand on top of one ACTIVE one, just for the sake of easy movement through my own territory.

8. Also, the handy popup that used to tell me what sort of improvement I could build on a tile BEFORE I sent the worker there is missing! I like to know what my worker can do with terrain before I move him there. Select worker, over over tile, popup telling me what can be built. Please let this one come back!

9. Where are those handy huts and boats that let me know which map tiles are being worked by a city? That was very useful, and I would love to see some sort of indicator come back.

10. There's nothing to do when I am at peace! This game really encourages war, because there are no projects to work on during peacetime. I would love to see something like religions and corporations make a re-appearance, so that I can build and spread my economy with units. I really like peaceful civilian units, and this game is quite lacking in them.

11. Vassal states? The city-state dynamic is really quite interesting, but I should like to see my rival empires also reduced to ally status when I beat the tar out of them. Perhaps the system should be different than it was in civ IV, but I would love to see something that allows my enemies to capitulate.

12. I cannot exit out of the intro movie. I'm not sure what is causing this, but I can't escape to the main menu right away.

13. I'm having a hard time predicting the range that my artillery will have when I set it up. Perhaps a better explanation is warranted?

14. Choppers CAN take enemy cities. Hmm... not sure if you should change this though. Haha

15. Rocket artillery still needs to set up.


Anyway, those are my observations! If anyone has any insight to some of these, let me know!

[neil5280]

That may or may not need a second look...

2. Where in the world can I gather information about my opponents? I can't see their tech levels, whether they are at war with particular city states, or even how they feel about me! All this information used to be available at a button click, but now it seems to be gone. Any ideas?

12. I cannot exit out of the intro movie. I'm not sure what is causing this, but I can't escape to the main menu right away.

13. I'm having a hard time predicting the range that my artillery will have when I set it up. Perhaps a better explanation is warranted?

Anyway, those are my observations! If anyone has any insight to some of these, let me know!

2) One of the diplomacy screens will tell you who's at war with whom. I'm not sure about tech levels.

12) It's loading in the background. Once it's done loading, if you've hit enter at any point during the movie, it will stop playing. You can stop the movie playing and look at a blank black screen if you prefer. Search the forums for the change you need to make to the UserSettings file.

13) Ranged units need line of site, so if there's a hill between you and the target, they can't attack. Some ranged units can attack over a hill, if there is another friendly unit that can see the target.

EDIT: You might benefit from a quick read of the manual. For example, here's a section on indirect fire:
Indirect Fire
Some ranged units are capable of “indirect fire,” which
means that they can shoot at targets they can’t see, as
long as another friendly unit can see them. For example,
an Artillery unit can shoot over a hill at a target it can’t see
if a friendly unit is atop that hill.

[Varus2319]

Ahh, see that is useful. I did look at the manual but I used the search feature instead of actually reading it. It did not direct me to that section.


The cyclopedia is equally un informative. I usually get all my info from there anyway.

Thank you.

[neil5280]

Yeah, searching only works if you know what to search for.

A quick read (10 mins?) over the entire manual will help you know what to search for the next time.

Also, if you read through the civolopedia, you'll unlock an achievement after reading 100 articles.

Good luck.