I remember that from Mist! I think you've missed the biggest differences between FFH and regular/RtR civ, though.
- FFH does not have much in the way of culture multiplier buildings. IIRC, temples are worth all of +10% - a far cry from a cathedral's +50% - and FFH temples aren't nearly as stackable as civ cathedrals are. +50% culture per building, stackable theoretically up to 7x, makes a huge difference in the effectiveness of the slider, but crucially, not to the artists. I think BtS has smaller multipliers available too. Granted, in a big Pitboss it's a challenge to acquire all the religions, but even half of them add up to a huge effect on slider commerce.
- FFH has wonders that add culture to either Bards or to all specialists.
- FFH games are generally shorter, and FFH towns are worse, than BtS towns. So it's a lot harder to get raw commerce in a city in FFH to begin with.
- FFH farms can produce commerce, so all-farm cities are a viable strategy for non-culture victory attempts, which means all-farm cities don't raise eyebrows.
- FFH does not have much in the way of culture multiplier buildings. IIRC, temples are worth all of +10% - a far cry from a cathedral's +50% - and FFH temples aren't nearly as stackable as civ cathedrals are. +50% culture per building, stackable theoretically up to 7x, makes a huge difference in the effectiveness of the slider, but crucially, not to the artists. I think BtS has smaller multipliers available too. Granted, in a big Pitboss it's a challenge to acquire all the religions, but even half of them add up to a huge effect on slider commerce.
- FFH has wonders that add culture to either Bards or to all specialists.
- FFH games are generally shorter, and FFH towns are worse, than BtS towns. So it's a lot harder to get raw commerce in a city in FFH to begin with.
- FFH farms can produce commerce, so all-farm cities are a viable strategy for non-culture victory attempts, which means all-farm cities don't raise eyebrows.
EitB 25 - Perpentach
Occasional mapmaker
Occasional mapmaker