Took Metal Casting, as planned. Roy starts immediately on a Forge while growing; as long as I keep it above size 2 it's at least 8 hpt, and the capital can also definitely use the extra happiness, and extra whip hammers are useful too. Not quite ready for forges anywhere else, though.
Went back and forth on forge vs lighthouse in Haley, ended up deciding to finish the lighthouse first. Food is probably more important than bonus hammers, especially with the plains gold hill I want to keep working. The lake can add to the food surplus, and the extra happiness isn't useful just yet in any event. Plus the lighthouse is already at 16/60, so it's closer to done. I'm still not sure that was the right move, but it feels right.
Can't delay forges too long, I need to get a coastal forge up and get started on Colossus while we still have an edge. With required Forge and likely copper, Industrious is a small boost.
Also in the news: first cottage! I assume it's worth working over the lake, sacrifice a little commerce now for more potential later. Although once we get some more happiness and the granaries really kick in, we won't have to choose anymore.
And, at EOT, we finished Writing, unlocking another useful building to slowbuild while growing: the library. Not that those are all that useful until we can get our cities a tad bigger, but we certainly want the science boost in the long term. Plus Scientist slots, especially if we can grab the Mids.
Why cottage the non-riverside grassland over the unimproved floodplain?
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
So what is it that makes Slavery better in BTS than in FFH? It's the same mechanic, right? Is it because granaries are better? Or that it's available earlier?
(September 8th, 2013, 01:52)Merovech Wrote: Why cottage the non-riverside grassland over the unimproved floodplain?
Mostly that the workers were already present, having just chopped forests. With a side order of, that grassland can be shared between the two cities so the cottage is always worked, while a floodplains cottage will only be worked when Roy is size 3 or more. But I think I should do the floodplains next.
And it may have been a mistake, for that matter. But it'll be a minor one.
(September 8th, 2013, 08:51)HidingKneel Wrote: So what is it that makes Slavery better in BTS than in FFH? It's the same mechanic, right? Is it because granaries are better? Or that it's available earlier?
I think the vast majority of it is the granaries. Only 60 Normal hammers to double the food, while in FFH it's more like 200 hammers to increase food by 1/0.6 = 66%. It takes a lot more investment to set up Slavery in FFH than it does in BtS.
Earlier also helps, since it's more efficient at small city sizes and with unimproved tiles. And because it takes a long while to unlock competition for it, while Apprenticeship and MilState are available about the same time as Slavery in FFH - and XP is worth more in FFH, on top.
And, um, I saw a bug report for 28 that seemed to imply it's not quite the same mechanic in FFH, either, although I don't remember who reported it. Something about the happiness counter being longer.
Got Hunting this turn, for insurance mainly. Although it also makes the cow/furs site more tempting.
City management for Krill to mock:
I plan to put one turn into this worker, then 2-pop whip it. Overflow goes back into the Forge. Should leave Roy working the most important tiles (pigs and copper); in addition, the granary will let it regrow quite quickly. And Haley is about to grow, so it can steal the southern cottage while Roy is regrowing.
I don't think this can be improved much, although maybe I should have waited until the food box was nearly full before starting the worker? Lose a couple worker turns, gain more turns of working the good tiles?
Probably one more worker from either Haley or Roy, then move on to settlers. Two of my three workers are now roading toward the next sites (silver and stone) so it won't be long before I'm ready to use more settlers. Plus, the core cities are nearly set for good tiles, at least as long as I'm using the without much of a happy cap.
I think I will claim the inland cows/furs site as soon as I have some worker turns. Mostly because I can pasture the cows before settling, and also partly because that'll give me an insurance horse a lot sooner than if I were to wait for the eastern horse to come within my borders. It'll never be a very strong city, but it'll come up to speed quickly, at least.
Meanwhile, demographics are looking good. The GNP lead doesn't mean a whole lot, with Holy City and Oracle culture both inflating it, but the Food and Production numbers are good to see.
It's not completely retarded but it's not the only choice. You could consider not working the FP farm for a turn, instead working a forest to get to 29/60 and then double whip, to overflow more into the forge. City (and worker) management isn't just about simple plans over a few turns it's about linking the needs of the cities together and getting the workers to improve the tiles exactly as when they are needed. The whole game has to be viewed holistically as one problem instead of 5 or six different and separate ones.
That's progress, I suppose, if Krill's only complaint is the lack of an integrated plan, rather than something downright stupid with the city management. I know I don't have a civ-wide microplan, it doesn't make sense to do one of those until I understand the basics.
Decided to stick with my plan for Roy, mostly because I already have enough hammers for the Forge to finish, and nothing else slowbuilt in Roy is a priority. I'll probably put up a library next, but it'll only be worth 2-3 bpt. Either that, or add an axe or two for garrisoning the next couple cities and covering workers. So without any strong use for overflow, I think it's better to start regrowing ASAP, so I can whip out a settler. I've pretty much caught up on improvements; every citizen is working an improved tile, and I'm putting down a couple extras in preparation for growth: so settler next instead of worker next.
The more I think about it, the more the cows site makes sense to be settled soon. It'll be a very poor city in the long run, but that's compensated by being a strong city quick. No point in any infra here besides a Forge (it'll hit max size before I could finish a Granary), I can preimprove the cows, and then I can just lean on the site for military and settlers forever. I will probably settle Belkar first, but then we'll come back and grab Elan. Durkon will have to wait until I've got a missionary ready. And besides, we can use extra happiness immediately, but I'm not ready to start any wonders quite yet, not until after another round of settlers. I think Monotheism is coming next, after Masonry, even if that means we'll have dueling religions for a while, but it'll still take time to research, revolt, and get a missionary or two built.
Haley will probably whip a settler after hitting size four, while Roy will whip one after regrowing to 5. Vaarsuvius still needs its granary, which will be timed for just before half food box at size 4.
(September 14th, 2013, 15:28)Commodore Wrote: So Sian built is by score.
Looks like he's destined to be the biggest conventional threat, and certainly the biggest competition for wonders - he also nabbed Henge, I think. Ruff, of course, is pretty good at asymmetric competition.
Quote: Also what happened to poor TT?
Not sure, but this is my guess for primary candidate:
He's pretty much been keeping up with me on food and GNP. And he does have a third city by now.
Best guess: his capital is coastal, with mainly fish as food. No hammers, slowish start, and not many land points either. Probably not doing as badly as score would imply, either.
without much of a happy cap.
