Thanks for all the comments. I actually missed building culture off my list of raw sources, although I suspect it's weak at best. A lot of this can probably be answered with a fairly simple sim. I'll try and knock one up over the next few days and actually get some facts.
As FinTourist said, most of this is far-future thinking. I think that the only real early decision will be whether to space the core slightly more than normal; wherever culture best comes from, other than GArts it has to be produced by the three best cities individually. In the absence of actual map (and leader, and civ) knowledge, it's all theory. I just felt it's worth thinking about what the "ideal" start for a culture victory would look like and getting a feel for the trade-offs against fast growth and actual survivability.
As FinTourist said, most of this is far-future thinking. I think that the only real early decision will be whether to space the core slightly more than normal; wherever culture best comes from, other than GArts it has to be produced by the three best cities individually. In the absence of actual map (and leader, and civ) knowledge, it's all theory. I just felt it's worth thinking about what the "ideal" start for a culture victory would look like and getting a feel for the trade-offs against fast growth and actual survivability.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore