Newbie questions

[kevarms]

Hi,
Bought this game last weekend and haven't had a lot of time to play until now. This weekend I am not going to be doing much else
In the couple of games I've played so far I have a couple of questions (and I'm sure more will follow over the course of the w/e )
1. Playing as the Incas I tried to place a colonist in some inland South American province but only had the option to send a trader. I had LOTS of money. How come I coudn't send a colonist ?
2. One of my distant Inca cities down at the southern tip of South America gets looted. The natives are gone (IIRC I incorporated them in the city) so who is doing this ?
3. Playing as Sweden in one of the other scenarios I tried to get on friendly terms with one of the other major powers (Austria IIRC). However, there were no options to offer alliance etc. I was in no wars at the time but was on bad terms with most of their allies. Could this be why ?
4. On the subject of diplomacy : why would I want to worsen relations by insulting/threatening other nations ? I am guessing that I'd do this to a nation I wanted to go to war but hoped to make them declare so as I wouldn't appear the belligerent. Some clarification would be appreciated though.

TIA
-Kev-

 

[kevarms]

almost forgot .......

Re. my question 3

I should add I was on very, very good terms with Austria thanks to sending them gifts etc. That's why it baffled me so much that I couldn't form an alliance with them.

 

[grumbold]

1. Playing as the Incas I tried to place a colonist in some inland South American province but only had the option to send a trader. I had LOTS of money. How come I coudn't send a colonist ?
Except in exceptional circumstances a colony can only be founded on a coast or adjacent to one of your city sized colonies (700+)

2. One of my distant Inca cities down at the southern tip of South America gets looted. The natives are gone (IIRC I incorporated them in the city) so who is doing this ?
Don't know. Try turning up the message box settings to alert you of future events like this.

3. Playing as Sweden in one of the other scenarios I tried to get on friendly terms with one of the other major powers (Austria IIRC). However, there were no options to offer alliance etc. I was in no wars at the time but was on bad terms with most of their allies. Could this be why ?
A country can only be in one alliance at a time. If Austria is already allied, you must find their alliance leader and ask to join. No-one else can invite you in.

4. On the subject of diplomacy : why would I want to worsen relations by insulting/threatening other nations ? I am guessing that I'd do this to a nation I wanted to go to war but hoped to make them declare so as I wouldn't appear the belligerent. Some clarification would be appreciated though.
Spot on. Declaring war without a Casus Belli is an automatic stability loss and makes you the aggressor. It is even worse if you are the same religion. Winning territory in a defensive war keeps your badboy rating down.

 

[unmerged(1457)]

'3. Playing as Sweden in one of the other scenarios I tried to get on friendly terms with one of the other major powers (Austria IIRC). However, there were no options to offer alliance etc. I was in no wars at the time but was on bad terms with most of their allies. Could this be why ? '

Are you sure you had a diplomat? Every diplomatic action requires and expends one diplomat (they're listed at the top).

 

[kevarms]

>>Except in exceptional circumstances a colony can only be founded on a coast or adjacent to one of your city sized colonies (700+)<<
Ah-ha ! The clouds clear ... I've just come across this again - an inland gold province in South American and I can't build a colony. So I need to build a city on the adjacent coastal province. Easy !!!

>>A country can only be in one alliance at a time. If Austria is already allied, you must find their alliance leader and ask to join. No-one else can invite you in.<<

That makes sense. Austria was allied with all my enemies <g> Is there any way to 'persuade' them to leave that alliance and join mine ? Bribery ? Threats ?

Thanks very much indeed for your help. Makes the game a lot more fun when I have a clue what I'm doing

 

[kevarms]

>>Are you sure you had a diplomat? Every diplomatic action requires and expends one diplomat (they're listed at the top).<<

Yep, definitely had a diplomat. I was able to do other diplomatic actions, just not make an alliance. It seems that a nation cannot be in two alliances at the same time. Thanks for your suggestion though.

 

[grumbold]

I don't know of a way of enticing a potential ally out of their former alliance short of manipulating the whole bunch into a war with you and hoping that your pal dishonours the alliance Of coutse, that still leaves you in a war and they will join your alliance too late to fight on your side. This can be very frustrating when small brush wars keep updating the alliance end date by another decade.