Best starting locations?

Elledge · Mar 6, 2006

I was just playing MP, 5 people, continents, normal settings, and my jaw dropped when I got slotted into what is almost literally the best starting location I could possibly imagine. I do not believe I will ever see better.

I wish I had taken a screenshot or save, but it was pretty straightforward; I was on a plains hill next to a river, with 5 flood plains (no desert, of course) in my fat cross, corn, and 2 gold mines.

After cottaging the flood plains, farming the corn, and mining the mines my capital was size 8 and making 50 beakers per turn at about 2700 BC. By about 1800 BC I had a library and an academy up and I was making around 120 bpt. My opponents realized something was more than a little wrong when switched to Pacifism in about 1500 BC on the same turn I switched to Bureaucracy :king:

By 1000 AD cossacks were making short work of that game.

What are your ridiculously-unbalanced-start stories?

Cam_H · Mar 6, 2006

I was nearly going to take a screenshot of one of my starts too! Four fur, a gold hill, a sheep hill, with the spot on a river mouth with crabs off the coast. Seven resources!

I knew it was too good to be true. I was cornered on a peninsula with a strip of desert and then the Germans, who were blocking the way out, and there were no linking islands nearby.

I was in two minds as to whether this was a fantastic opportunity or a doomed game, and I decided on the latter and dropped it.

ownedbyakorat · Mar 6, 2006

Start position seems to be crucial to the game. Screenshot following if I can figure out how to upload one.

Dusty Monkey · Mar 7, 2006

I believe that although there are some great start positions in terms of that first city.. its much more important that you can quickly colonize and work many more above average tiles than are in the fat cross of the first city.

Gold and cash crops are best concentrated in one city but I hate to waste big food tiles by having more than 2 of them all in the same city. The rest of the tiles are *never* so crappy that I actualy ever need more food than a wheat and fish combo.

ownedbyakorat · Mar 7, 2006

Check this out

http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=915&original=1&c=2

MrCynical · Mar 7, 2006

The best start I've had was eight assorted seafood resources within my city's fat cross (and horses I later discovered). Admittedly I was stuck on a four tile island down near the south pole, but it was definitely worth it.

cabert · Mar 7, 2006

ownedbyakorat said:
Check this out

http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=915&original=1&c=2

I did.
Just one question : why did you start building a worker when you knew your city would go up to size 2 in no time?
(beginning with fishing, and having such a good starting position, i would have started building a boat.)

I never have more than 2 ressources in the fat cross of my starting position and i hate moving and losing turns before settling :mad:

ownedbyakorat · Mar 7, 2006

I was attempting to try out a particular opening strategy that requires workers to start... needless to say it was entirely inappropriate. Also it seems that whenever I start with a fishing boat, even if the position is ideal for it, I get off to a really slow start... building that settler without chops is a pain (though admittedly it would be quite fast after the 3rd fishing boat in this situation).

Crighton · Mar 7, 2006

nice spot, pity the rest of the island kind of sux though (5 resource start, nice)

cabert · Mar 7, 2006

ownedbyakorat said:
I was attempting to try out a particular opening strategy that requires workers to start... needless to say it was entirely inappropriate. Also it seems that whenever I start with a fishing boat, even if the position is ideal for it, I get off to a really slow start... building that settler without chops is a pain (though admittedly it would be quite fast after the 3rd fishing boat in this situation).

i was not implying it was wrong to build a worker, but i would wait for the city to be size 2, at least (this not being long, with so many food bonuses).

Anyway, you play the way you want

Roland Johansen · Mar 7, 2006

Is it true that the best starting positions occur on the smaller maps? Every resource has to be on the planet, so they have to be concentrated more. Anyone experienced this correlation?

Leifmk · Mar 7, 2006

The best starting location I've had had eight specials in the fat cross. Coastal location. Two clams, a banana and a horse, and four gems on grasslands (so I could mine them as soon as I could make a worker instead of having to wait for Iron Working to clear any jungle). There was a river, too, and some hills. Ridiculous, really.

dalwand · Mar 7, 2006

To Rojoh: not all resources have to be on the planet..... it is very well possible to miss some.

Roland Johansen · Mar 7, 2006

dalwand said:
To Rojoh: not all resources have to be on the planet..... it is very well possible to miss some.

Is that so? I must say that I've never played on the smaller maps, so I just assumed that it worked that way.

It must be rather hard to build the large cities which have a lot of health and happiness problems if you miss the availability of certain goods on the planet.

There is an easy to use quote option on this forum by the way.

Cheeze · Mar 7, 2006

I had a start with seven ivory tiles once.

On a Great Plains map, I had a grassland start with two pigs and corn. Incredible food city.

ownedbyakorat · Mar 7, 2006

Crighton said:
nice spot, pity the rest of the island kind of sux though (5 resource start, nice)

That start is an ironic example... while the first city radius is very good, there's not a single square of anything but tundra and ice outside of the city's fat cross - nothing at all that could possibly be used to start the barest minimum of a second city. Then, there's ONE mountain, in the exact wrong spot for gaining access to the continent.

Anyway it turned out that the only land that could be reached was already settled by Tokugawa by the time I got there, so considering it was a Prince level game I knew there'd be no shot at having a decent one.

lutzj · Mar 7, 2006

actually that isn't a bad start if you don't mind not making contact with other civs 4 a while. remember, if you cant get them, they cant get you. so build a strong navy and 3 good cities on the coast, you'r set. (It worked for England)

Guerra · Mar 7, 2006

Hah, my best starting position once was the most hilarious thing ever.

I had Rome situated on the Northern part of the map, 5 crab! 2 fish, 1 clam, 1 wheat, 1 sheep, 1 horse, 1 iron, 2 silver, 1 gold, and a lot of deer and furs.

Due to all the food, my city grew to 24 before we reached 0 AD.

Infact, my other cities were razed, but since that city was just in the most beautiful position (it was extremely easily defendable, on a penisula with a forested hill right infront of my city, worked very nice to keep my enemy at bay.

It was just unfair.

Earlier today I had a beautiful spot too, 1 marble, 1 corn, 1 cow, 1 wheat, 2 horses, 4 ivory, 1 sugar, 1 clam, 1 fish, 1 whale, iron and bronze, all in one city. There were some other resources, silver, fur and deer. It was just absurd.

However, everyone quit that MP game, and I was very very sad.

PopTarts · Mar 8, 2006

What was the worst you've had?

I've had one where my only resource was 1 wine and a few hills next to a river, and a freshwater lake. There might have been aluminum, uranium, etc - but I never made it that far because it was a MP game.

PopTarts · Mar 8, 2006

Guerra said:
Hah, my best starting position once was the most hilarious thing ever.

I had Rome situated on the Northern part of the map, 5 crab! 2 fish, 1 clam, 1 wheat, 1 sheep, 1 horse, 1 iron, 2 silver, 1 gold, and a lot of deer and furs.

Due to all the food, my city grew to 24 before we reached 0 AD.

Infact, my other cities were razed, but since that city was just in the most beautiful position (it was extremely easily defendable, on a penisula with a forested hill right infront of my city, worked very nice to keep my enemy at bay.

It was just unfair.

Earlier today I had a beautiful spot too, 1 marble, 1 corn, 1 cow, 1 wheat, 2 horses, 4 ivory, 1 sugar, 1 clam, 1 fish, 1 whale, iron and bronze, all in one city. There were some other resources, silver, fur and deer. It was just absurd.

However, everyone quit that MP game, and I was very very sad.

That's some nice map editing

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