2 questions about culture and economy

[ash874]

1. can culture be added segnificantly? i noticed some buildings that add 2% culture only
2. i have about 15 cities. built roads and grain exchanges in each. barely make enough money to keep one full stack of soldiers. am i missing something?

[Jean=A=Luc]

1. can culture be added segnificantly? i noticed some buildings that add 2% culture only

Not some but all tier 1 culture buildings add 2%, upgrade them to get more. And 2% is significant. Culture conversion is supposed to be a gradual process not something you accomplish in 2-3 turns.

2. i have about 15 cities. built roads and grain exchanges in each. barely make enough money to keep one full stack of soldiers. am i missing something?

Well what faction are you? How far gone is your campaign? I hope you didn't build just grain exchanges and not higher market levels. Did you accept every single general that was offered? They have a pretty high upkeep. Did you establish trade agreements? Did you build farms?

[ash874]

Not some but all tier 1 culture buildings add 2%, upgrade them to get more. And 2% is significant. Culture conversion is supposed to be a gradual process not something you accomplish in 2-3 turns.



Well what faction are you? How far gone is your campaign? I hope you didn't build just grain exchanges and not higher market levels. Did you accept every single general that was offered? They have a pretty high upkeep. Did you establish trade agreements? Did you build farms?

you mean to say that i can get 2% each turn? or is it a one time bonus?
if i have say -96% in moria as the legolas elves than is it even possible to reach 40% culture?
i built all the economy related buildings that i could. but frankly i dont get too many options. maybe a grain exchange and a small farm and MAYBE a market. thats all.
how do i use trade agreements? do i need to buy merchants? or do i get money just from signing them?

OH one more question! if i conquer orc buildings can i use them or should i sell them and buy my own?

[Seleukos_I.]

you mean to say that i can get 2% each turn? or is it a one time bonus?
if i have say -96% in moria as the legolas elves than is it even possible to reach 40% culture?

The -96% only says how much higher the percentage of the other cultures is than yours.

i built all the economy related buildings that i could. but frankly i dont get too many options. maybe a grain exchange and a small farm and MAYBE a market. thats all.
how do i use trade agreements? do i need to buy merchants? or do i get money just from signing them?

That indicates that you have very small cities. You'll get more money when your towns grow bigger. Maybe you should reduce you army.
You only have to send a diplomat to another faction and offer them a trade agreement. Once they accept, trading will start.

OH one more question! if i conquer orc buildings can i use them or should i sell them and buy my own?

You can use them too.

[ash874]

thanks

[Withwnar]

you mean to say that i can get 2% each turn? or is it a one time bonus?

The culture conversion rate is a bit misleading and took me a while to figure it out. To quote myself from that linked thread (if you haven't already read it)...

... a 2% building does not increase my culture by 2% each turn, it converts culture by 2% each turn, which means decreasing previous/other culture by 1% and increasing my culture by 1%. Or thereabouts; the actual numbers seem to vary each turn... some turns my culture doesn't actually go up at all. So the Elven culture number does not jump by 2% each turn but the number to the right of the culture 'meter' display does. e.g. From +20% to +22%. Or from -40% to -38%.

In other words: it won't take 10 turns to go from 0% Elven culture to 20% Elven culture, with a 2% culture building. It will take something like 20 turns. Faster with 3% and 4% culture buildings, of course.

The first thing I do when conquering a settlement is build the 2% and 3% culture buildings. It takes 5 turns to do it but after that culture is always being converted at 3% every turn while you build other things. It pays off in the long run. Unless, of course, something else is more urgent than getting my culture up ASAP; e.g. maybe it's more pressing for the region to have roads through it than being able to provide recruitment.

if i have say -96% in moria as the legolas elves than is it even possible to reach 40% culture?

There are two culture numbers at play here:

• The number to the right of the culture display is the conversion rate (-96% in your example). I don't recall the precise workings of it (e.g. -96% sounds like it's going down) but it can essentially be ignored.
• The number that matters is seen by hovering the mouse over the top row in this display. That's your current culture level. It will never be below zero and it is the one that dictates when certain units and buildings become unlocked.

So, yes, 40% is reachable. It's not like you have raise culture by 134% (-96 to 0, then 0 to 40), you only have to raise it by 40% (from 0 to 40).

[ash874]

dude thanks

[old_dude]

• The number to the right of the culture display is the conversion rate (-96% in your example). I don't recall the precise workings of it (e.g. -96% sounds like it's going down) but it can essentially be ignored.

That is more of a comparison percentage. For example at -96% the player would have 2% culture and all others would add to 98%. If the players culture reaches 50% than it would read +/- 0%

[Jean=A=Luc]

You get culture each turn, bit by bit, so eventually you are able to recruit units with higher culture requirement.

Also cities need to grow before more advanced buildings become available. You get notifications when a city has grown and then you need to build higher level walls to unlock new buildings.

See this thread for more tips: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=257891

[Withwnar]

Apparently your alliance status with other cultures has an impact on conversion rates.

I found a guide that explains some of the Kingdoms Brittania culture system, which TATW uses. It says that if the existing culture of the settlement is for a faction that is your ally then they will be converted to your culture faster.

Brittania is a little different because there are only five factions and they each have their own culture. So I'm not sure how this translates to TATW; you do not make alliances with other cultures but other factions. For example: if you are the High Elves, the settlement is largely Melkor culture, and you are allied with Isengard but not Mordor, what happens? Will those Melkor culture inhabitants convert faster due to your Isengard alliance, or slower due to your Mordor non-alliance?

I looked back at some tests I had done previously and this might explain some strange numbers that I had found there. Each of these I had captured and built 3% culture buildings. Then I looked at how much the culture was actually converting over a few turns:

• Tirith Anduin: 2.25%
• Minas Tirith: 2%
• Moria: 0.75%
• Isengard: 0.25%

The first two I had alliances with (Rohan/Gondor .. Northmen/Dunedain). Isengard/OotMM were destroyed but the last two had mostly Melkor culture and I was at war with all other Melkor factions.

If this is due to alliances then that's good to know but, personally, it's not of much help in planning strategies. If I'm not at war with a faction then I always ally with them if I can. If I am at war with them then I don't want to be their ally.

But if, say, you captured a rebel town that had a lot of Melkor culture, and you weren't yet at war with Isengard, then maybe allying with them for 10 turns is an option. Just to boost your culture there by an extra 15% or so. That could translate into getting higher level units recruitable there 10 turns earlier (just guessing that number).

It might also affect which of two factions you ally with if they are at war with each other.