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This chapter is a guide to ''all'' Civ and Civ-related games. Therefore every guide will include this chapter. | This chapter is a guide to ''all'' Civ and Civ-related games. Therefore every guide will include this chapter. Civilization terminology is used here; see [[Civ:Terminology]]. | ||
==The goal of the game== | ==The goal of the game== | ||
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These are the three kinds of goods that your cities will produce: | These are the three kinds of goods that your cities will produce: | ||
* Food - No civilization can survive without food. Surplus food will accumulate until the food box is full. When it is, another citizen will be added to the city and the food box will | * Food - No civilization can survive without food. Surplus food will accumulate until the food box is full. When it is, another citizen will be added to the city and the food box will empty. (In some Civ games, an improvement, usually called the Granary, will cause the box to be only half-emptied in this case.) Each citizen requires two food per turn to survive. A citizen will never take more or less than this. If the city is not producing enough food to meet demand, this food will be taken from the food box. ''If the food box is empty and a citizen still must eat, a citizen starves and the population count will be reduced by one.'' In some Civ games, Settlers units need support in the form of food from their home city in addition to the shields they need for support. In these cases, if the food box empties and more food is needed, the most distant such unit will be disbanded. If more food is still needed after that, ''then'' a citizen will die. The population count will never be reduced by more than one per turn due to starvation. | ||
* Shields - A city must procure raw materials (shields), which can then be used to build things. Your city will ''always'' be working on one of three kinds of projects: | * Shields - A city must procure raw materials (shields), which can then be used to build things. Your city will ''always'' be working on one of three kinds of projects: | ||
** Unit - Build a | ** Unit - Build a unit, such as a military unit or Settler. | ||
** Improvement - An improvement to benefit the city, or a Wonder to benefit your entire civilization or even the entire world. | ** Improvement - An improvement to benefit the city, or a Wonder to benefit your entire civilization or even the entire world. | ||
** Capitalization - Shields are converted to trade, usually with a heavy penalty (e.g., one trade | ** Capitalization - Shields are converted to trade, usually with a heavy penalty (e.g., four shields is converted to one trade unit). | ||
:Shields are added to the shield box (except in Capitalization). When the shield box is full, production is complete and the unit or improvement is immediately available. In most Civ games, but not Civilization III, cities that control units must expend shields in support of these units (however, in some circumstances a unit is "free"). If more shields are needed by units than are being collected in the city, then in Civ I a unit is disbanded, but in other versions the needed shields are removed from the shield box. If the box empties but more shields are still needed, one unit will randomly be disbanded. | :Shields are added to the shield box (except in Capitalization). When the shield box is full, production is complete and the unit or improvement is immediately available. In most Civ games, but not Civilization III, cities that control units must expend shields in support of these units (however, in some circumstances a unit is "free"). If more shields are needed by units than are being collected in the city, then in Civ I a unit is disbanded, but in other versions the needed shields are removed from the shield box. If the box empties but more shields are still needed, one unit will randomly be disbanded. | ||
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** Tax - The taxed goods become money in your pocket. You can use it to rush-build or use it as part of a trade with another civilization, or even give it as a gift. | ** Tax - The taxed goods become money in your pocket. You can use it to rush-build or use it as part of a trade with another civilization, or even give it as a gift. | ||
** Science - The taxed goods go toward improving scientific research. | ** Science - The taxed goods go toward improving scientific research. | ||
** Luxury - The taxed goods go toward entertaining the populace, keeping them happy or | ** Luxury - The taxed goods go toward entertaining the populace, keeping them happy or content. | ||
===Citizen happiness=== | ===Citizen happiness=== | ||
For your cities to be productive, their citizens must be kept content. If the number of unhappy people exceeds the number of happy people in a city, the city will fall into civil disorder. Content citizens and specialists do not enter the equation. When a city is in civil disorder, ''no'' goods are produced other than food. (In some games, rush-building during disorder is impossible, as well.) Some Civ games have nuclear power plants or other improvements that are dangerous to have in a city under civil disorder. Also, some Civ games have forms of government that cannot handle prolonged civil disorder (usually Democracy). | For your cities to be productive, their citizens must be kept content. If the number of unhappy people exceeds the number of happy people in a city, the city will fall into civil disorder. Content citizens and specialists do not enter the equation. When a city is in civil disorder, ''no'' goods are produced other than food. (In some games, rush-building during disorder is impossible, as well.) Some Civ games have nuclear power plants or other improvements that are dangerous to have in a city under civil disorder. Also, some Civ games have forms of government that cannot handle prolonged civil disorder (usually Democracy). | ||
There are four degrees of happiness, from most happy to least happy: | |||
* Happy | |||
* Content (normal) | |||
* Unhappy | |||
* Angry | |||
Specialists, such as entertainers, are always considered content. Angry citizens usually appear only after capturing an enemy city: they're loyal to their empire, not yours. SMAC does not have angry citizens, having Drones (unhappy citizens) serve both roles. | |||
==Research== | ==Research== | ||
Each turn of the game, you have a chance to accumulate research toward a "tech" (technology). Techs will grant you new capabilities, or at least the chance to acquire them later, and can be used as a trading item. The only circumstances you will not accumulate research are if you have no cities, your research rate is at 0%, or you have cities and a research rate but are not generating sufficient trade in any cities to put taxes into research. The technologies always follow a hierarchy, called the "tech tree". Most Civ games have one huge tech tree, but Civilization III has four tech trees, one for each Age. All the games have | Each turn of the game, you have a chance to accumulate research toward a "tech" (technology). Techs will grant you new capabilities, or at least the chance to acquire them later, and can be used as a trading item. The only circumstances you will not accumulate research are if you have no cities, your research rate is at 0%, or you have cities and a research rate but are not generating sufficient trade in any cities to put taxes into research. The technologies always follow a hierarchy, called the "tech tree". Most Civ games have one huge tech tree, but Civilization III has four tech trees, one for each Age. All the games have extremely different tech trees, but they all share similarities. For instance, many players could not tell you the exact effects of "Electricity" for every single Civ game without looking it up (but good players will certainly know them for their favorite games). This is because the name of the tech may have little to do with its effects. | ||
==Expansion phase== | ==Expansion phase== | ||
The first phase of any Civ game is the expansion phase. Each civilization tries to stake its claim to as much territory as it can, possibly even knocking out a rival with a "rush". The details of this will differ from game to game and from player to player. For instance, in Civilization I and II, many players will place cities as far apart as necessary to avoid overlap, four squares being roughly optimal, while the same player may place cities extremely close together in Civilization III (sometimes even two squares apart, or one square apart in extreme situations). All games share a need to produce colonizing units as fast as practicable in the expansion phase | The first phase of any Civ game is the expansion phase. Each civilization tries to stake its claim to as much territory as it can, possibly even knocking out a rival with a "rush". The details of this will differ from game to game and from player to player. For instance, in Civilization I and II, many players will place cities as far apart as necessary to avoid overlap, four squares being roughly optimal, while the same player may place cities extremely close together in Civilization III (sometimes even two squares apart, or one square apart in extreme situations). All games share a need to produce colonizing units as fast as practicable in the expansion phase. | ||
==Diplomacy and the meta-game== | ==Diplomacy and the meta-game== | ||
The term "meta-game" when applied to Civ diplomacy was possibly first proposed by Velociryx, one of the acknowledged masters of Civilization-style games. It is difficult to define this concept precisely, but it refers to idea that diplomacy is a game in itself, with its own rules and strategies, particulary in the way that three civs can interact with one another. | The term "meta-game" when applied to Civ diplomacy was possibly first proposed by Velociryx, one of the acknowledged masters of Civilization-style games. It is difficult to define this concept precisely, but it refers to idea that diplomacy is a game in itself, with its own rules and strategies, particulary in the way that three civs can interact with one another. | ||