Civilization IV - beyond the sword guide
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*** Civilization IV - beyond the sword - corporations guide & hints ***
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Index:
1 - General description of Corporations
2 - Use for each Corporation
3 - Merging Corporations together
4 - exporting corporations
5 - Other hints
1 - General description of Corporations
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Corporations are the most important news from the third expansion set for
Sid Meyer's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword.
They work in a similar way than religions but - this is the most important
difference - they have both pro and cons, with different effects.
First of all, their use is reccomanded to peacemongers, not warmongers,
because, if you plan to win the game by pillaging or conquering all opponent
cities, then you will be in need of the Civic "State Property".
It has been enhanced from the "vanilla" game (read "basic game") since, in
addition to its basic effect of removing all costs of maintenance due to
distance from palace and providing a bit of extra food, now it even gives a
+10% production in all cities but negates all coroporations effects, no
matter if foreign or national ones.
Corporations, then, may be a huge boost if competing for a cultural victory,
domination one or the space race, since they permanently change the gold that
the player earns into something different.
Using the Civic "Free Marked" is almost a must, since it lowers by 25% their
maintenance cost. Even building courthouses is very important and should
always be done as soon as possible.
The most exceptional thing is that it can be even food, which it was simply
not possible to have before with "capitalization-like" effects, which convert
a city production into gold, science or culture.
But, differenently from religions, the player needs to pay a small sum of
gold for each city where he/she wished a new corporation to spread.
The problems are about the fact that corporations which use the same
resources cannot be expanded in the same city at once and that the benefits
from each coprorations are related to the numbers of available resources.
IE, Civilized Jewelers uses gold, silver and gems.
It gives a +1 gold and +4 culture for each resource consumed, so that, if a
player has a total of 5 (no matter if gold, silver and/or gems), C.J. will
grant a retroactive bonus of 1x5=5 gold and 4x5=20 culture in the city where
it is expanded.
So, even if some corporations are stronger than other ones, there is no any
fixed rule, since the effect of each corporation will change to the number
of resources that you have inisde your edges or that you may get by trading.
You can see it by entering the corporations window, clicking on the icon
in the top-right corner of the screen. You'll see the list of corporations
and all effects together. It may be a bit confusing at first, but if you
move the mouse upon a single corporation, it will show you the benefits
that each city could have from that corporation, considering the resources
that you have in that moment.
So, here you can see which one is better considering the resources that
you have.
Else, the screen shows all effects of all corporations together, only
in the cities where they have been located.
You have even to know that you can build corporations only with a specific
kind of Great Person, but the home base will allow you to earn 4 or 5 gold
for each other city with that same kind of corporation, no matter who owns
it.
This is a short reference table:
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G=Gold P=Production S=Science C=Culture F=Food
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Corporation Required GP Consumes Effects
Aluminum, Inc. Scientist Coal +3 S per resource consumed
Makes aluminum available
Cereal Meals Merchant Corn Rice Wheat +0.75 F per resource consumed
Civilized Jewelers Artist Gems Gold Silver +1 G per resource consumed
+4 C per resource consumed
Creative Con. Engineer Aluminum Copper Iron Marble Stone
+0.50 P per resource consumed
+3 C per resource consumed
Mining Inc. Engineer Coal Copper Iron Gold Silver
+1 P per resource consumed
Sid's Sushi Co. Merchant Crab Clam Fish Rice
+2 C per resource consumed
+1 F per resource consumed
Standard Ethanol Co. Scientist Corn Rice Sugar +2 S per resource consumed
Makes oil available
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2 - Use for each Corporation
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Sid Sushi is the most powerful of all of them, because it may grant you
an outstanding growth, which may do wonders in allowing poor cities to use
ALL squares and creating extra specialists, which are unestimable and the
so-obtained growth will be often able to cover the economical cost of S.Sushi.
Cereal Meals is the second alternative to Sid Sushi. It is cheaper and with
a better cost/benefits ratio but does NOT increase a city culture and simply
provides less food. Even more, fishes are available almost in every map and
in a greater quantity than the resources used by C.M. so use CM only if
another player or tribe got Sid Sushi before or if you are playing into a
map where there are not fishes.
Mining Inc. gives a huge production bonus to cities, depending from the
available resources. It is less expensive than Creative Constructions, but
it does not produce any culture. Still, it can do wonders in speeding up your
wonders-dedicated cities or the youngest ones that are still building
(or rebuilding, if just conquered) their most important improvements.
Sadly, it enters in competition with Creative Jewelers.
Creative Constructions is more expensive than Mining inc but less effective,
but it does provide culture too and may be uset together with Creative
Jewelers.
You may want this one instead than Mining inc. if you plan to win by a cultural
victory, or if you need to boost few, specific cities cultural range.
it may be even a good second choice if another player or tribe already got
Mining Inc.
Standard Ethanol has a very good ratio between its cost and the science that
it produces. Still, it has a terrible disadvantage: it enters in competition
both with Sid Sushi and Cereal Meals, and can't be used together. You may
want this only if you really need oil but you have noone and don't want/can't
declare war to the other tribes. Its science bonus does stack with Aluminum
Inc.
You may even want to create both of them in your science-dedicated city, to
have a great science output and, maybe spread S.E. to foreign countries (see
below), but be careful because, if you are already using Representation
(+3 Science from every specialist in all cities), most likely having a food-
producing corporation will bring more specialists and so greater advantages.
Aluminum, Inc. is not so bad: it gives a nice science output, cheaper than
S.E and provides alluminium. Sadly, it uses coal like Mining Inc and they
can't be used together, but it can be used with Civilized Jewelers and
the aluminium produced by Aluminium, inc. may be used yo boost the
Creative Construction bonus.
But you must have an even number of resources, because the games rounds them
down and not up.
Being quite cheap, if you have enough coal, you may want to use this one too,
to have a nice science output.
Civilized Jewelers is the only one corporation that may give the player more
gold than the one used for its upkeep and may be used to simply reduce the
costs of the other corporations.
3 - merging corporatons together
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First of all, you have two choices about where locating them: build them in
your economy-based city, with Wall Street to maximize their economical benefits
or build them accordingly to the kind of great persons that they may generate.
Or a mix of those two strategies.
Assuming of having +2 of each resource, these are the benefits from multiple
corporations WITHOUT considering the +5 gold from the Home base, as told above.
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Sid Sushi + Mining Inc.:
+8 Food, +32 Culture, + 20 production, -20 Gold.
Sid Sushi + Aluminum, Inc. + Civilized Jewelers + Creative Constructions:
+8 Food, +140 clulture, + 10 Production, -32 gold, +12 science, alluminium.
Cereal Meals + Aluminum, Inc. + Civilized Jewelers + Creative Constructions:
+6 Food, +108 clulture, + 10 Production, -25 gold, +12 science, alluminium.
Aluminum, Inc. + Standard Ethanol + Creative Constrctions + Civilized Jewelers:
+0 Food + 108 Culture, + 10 production, -28 gold, +32 science.
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So, as you can see, if resources are even, cereal Meals is cheaper than S.S
and gives a very similar result: -2 food is not much (just 1 less citizen) but
has a much lesser cost.
Sid Sushi + Mining Inc. looks like the most powerful combo for a score vicotry
or a space-race victory, while Sid Sushi + Aluminum, Inc. + Civilized Jewelers
+ Creative Constructions is the second alternative. Maybe even without
Aluminium, inc.
Just remember that the combo Sid Sushi + Aluminum, Inc. + Civilized Jewelers
+ Creative Constructions (or Cereal meals) may lead you to a unexpected
cultural victory, so don't use it if you don't want to win in that way.
4 - Exporting corporations
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Exporting corporations may be a winning strategy that may lead more harm to
foes than benefits to the players.
As told before, Each Corporation homebase is Wonder that grants gold for each
other city where the same corporation is located. This mean that if you spread
them into your foes' territory, they'll get the expenses and you the moneys.
Of course, this will bring even some benefits to them but, if they have very
few resources, expenses will be much greater than benefits and this will soon
destroy their economy, slowing down their scientific development, while you
earn gold.
This will even prevent the enemy from using his own corporations, if they
are in competition with the ones that you have already located in foreign
cities! In fact, deleting a previous corporation will make greater the
economical cost of placing a new one.
5 - Other hints
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National Park Cost: 300
Culture: +3
GPP's: +1
Requires: Biology
Expires: never
Removes City's access to Coal
No unhealthiness from population
+1 specialist for every forest preserve
City more likely to generate Great Scientist
This is a new minor wonder from BTS. This one may give OUTSTANDING bonuses if
you place a new city just in the middle of a very deep forest and then cover
all of it with forest preserves. Of course, bonuses will be even greater with
environmentalism but just with Representation, the bonuses will be HUGE.
The matter is finding a good location.
If you really have no place where to build it, you can do it in your science
oriented city, but you have to do it AFTER building all corporations that you
want. In fact, it removes ALL COAL from that city, so it means that it will
be impossible to build Aluminium, inc. and Mining Inc.
Instead, if you build the National Park AFTER spreading those corporations,
you will keep all bonuses without any penalty.
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A quite confuse unit promotion in Civilization IV is the "first strike" concept.
The Drill promotions will basically allow that unit to deal damage before
really entering combat, so saving energies for the next battle.
Without it, even very strong units may be damaged by weaker ones, so it is
a good idea to give it to units that are already strong and that you want to
be sure of not to loose due to casualities in battle.
A good idea is to give it to your units promoted with a Great General, after
obtaining Combat VI.
Another purpose to use the Drill promotion is to create kamikaze units, since
with first strike there are better chances to damage a stronger unit and to
make things easier for the uits that you own and that you want to survive.
Last but not least, focus on Drill promotions for your second defensive
unit inside city edges or for armies, because first strike allows to kill
quickly and safely hordes of weaker units, so this is the best way to take
advantage from a greater technological level and preventing the AI or other
players from taking your cities using hordes or weaker units.
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The "March" promotion does not stack with Medic I: only the units with March
will be healed when moving but a "combat medic" unit, promoted with Medic I,
II and March will not be able to heal other units without March when moving.
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If you want super-strong units, try playing with Cyrus from Perisia.
He is both Charismatic and Imperialistic:
Charismatic +1 happiness per city
-25% XP needed for unit promotions
+1 happiness from Monument, Broadcast Tower
Imperialistic +100% Great General emergence
50% faster production of settlers
So, he has some abilities that are useful during peace time and you may
train very strong tanks, copters, artillery and all units that are not
affected by the "aggressive" and "protective" traits.
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Get stressed by the AI that is going too fast?
Done some mistake, that you want to revert?
You have to Know that the "noble" level, which is the most fair, still gives
some minor advantages to AI, so just press ESC on your keyboard and enter
the editor, to give some advantage to yourself, as much as wished to have
a better start.
Usually, a worker, another settler and a scout are more than enough for
having a challengening game and not driving mad if the AI is too strong.
There will be no record of those changes in the hall of fame.
Civilization is a PC game, not a good reason for getting stressed!
Even more, some leader traits are more or less useful at different difficulty
levels or in longer games: plan carefully your choices!
Mattia "Orion79" Loy - orpheananger@hotmail.com
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
