Dawn of Civilization General Discussion

[Logoncal]

At what pace did you expand? I tried it and maintenance + stability + potential attacks from Europeans make it seem like quick expansion can backfire.

Found out that your day 1 army can wipe egypt and mecca easily. Sounds costly due to maintenance but if you're quick to build up with whips and infrastructure, you can get some mileage on those lands. The issue in cost/stability was mainly Crimea and Maghreb, they were worth almost nothing while costing alot.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Only conquer Iraq, Levant, Mecca and Egypt before Firearms. Sack everything, to max out your conquest gold. Otherwise you might take too long to unlock Jans for the real conquest.

To prevent massive OE, i had to combine both civics bonuses and constant whipping to lower my peripheral score. It also helped alot with income since i was whipping useful buildings.
Wonders like Sankore, Minaret, theyre very useful for your eco tho. Sankore works on all deserts.
Europe doesnt seem to keen to attack you too early tho (maybe on Monarch or above), but the 3 main warmongers i always had to deal was Iran, Russia and Turkestan. I actually had to reload a save because Turkestan sniped Istanbul with a Oghuz.

For improvements: Food for core, Istanbul works ALL BFC (i ended with size 26) and non cores i spammed mines, lumbers, watermills and workshops.

The last i have to say is that your third goal actually helps you deal with overextension, since cultural penalty murders you.

I do have to say tho. If there is one thing i cheesed out and i was proud of it was somehow getting the Silver Tree.

Lastly, Shrines. Mecca usually lacks its Shrine so you gotta build it, but you have to since it's a huge boost for your eco (40+ gold)

 

[SultanRedSnake]

Europe doesnt seem to keen to attack you too early tho (maybe on Monarch or above), but the 3 main warmongers i always had to deal was Iran, Russia and Turkestan. I actually had to reload a save because Turkestan sniped Istanbul with a Oghuz.

Agreed. ..........HRE usually hasn't recovered militarily from wasting their starting army on Italy and is often distracted by Vikings. I've had luck with Russia getting slowed down by a combination of Mongols and Kiev getting taken by somebody else. The real jerks tho...:

***Ugh*** I always wince when the *other* Turks resurrect with psyho-bro Tamerlane at the helm of a huge army and no indies to use it on. I send everything to do the borders and hold my breath until Iran spawns.

 

[Logoncal]

Agreed. ..........HRE usually hasn't recovered militarily from wasting their starting army on Italy and is often distracted by Vikings. I've had luck with Russia getting slowed down by a combination of Mongols and Kiev getting taken by somebody else. The real jerks tho...:

***Ugh*** I always wince when the *other* Turks resurrect with psyho-bro Tamerlane at the helm of a huge army and no indies to use it on. I send everything to do the borders and hold my breath until Iran spawns.

Idk why, Timur and Iran are both bloodthirsty with HORRIBLE armies. One have outdated troops that a few jans wipe the floor and the other attacks Baghdad with 2-3 Qizilbash and 8 cannons. And they STILL attack you even when you're 3 times stronger than them.

 

[urbestfriend]

Idk why, Timur and Iran are both bloodthirsty with HORRIBLE armies. One have outdated troops that a few jans wipe the floor and the other attacks Baghdad with 2-3 Qizilbash and 8 cannons. And they STILL attack you even when you're 3 times stronger than them.

Egypt post respawn too... they will backstab you even if you're like 4x their power. That's the aggresive AI setting at work

 

[Logoncal]

Egypt post respawn too... they will backstab you even if you're like 4x their power. That's the aggresive AI setting at work

Luckily i give no room for that because i declare war day 1 after i finish Byzantium

 

[Logoncal]

The impending doom of Britain's conquerors probably shattered one of my arteries.

BONUS: This is worrying LMAO. I might in the future get 1 gigs worth of civ saves. (these are all like specific saves and checkpoints. i delete 90% of them)

 

[HNation]

@Leoreth if the big map is 600 turns standard, are epic and marathon 900 and 1800 turns, respectively?

 

[Leoreth]

It is 580 turns currently, but yes. They are multiples of 1.5 and 3 respectively.

 

[HNation]

It is 580 turns currently, but yes. They are multiples of 1.5 and 3 respectively.

Thanks. I've always loved the slower speeds, especially for civs like Mongolia or Japan, or the Timurids in SoI. I always thought it was a bummer that RFCE had no slower speeds, it would make the Ottoman UHVs there a lot more manageable.

I also sometimes like to just play really long Epic/Marathon games as civs like China (DoC), Byzantines (SoI), just to have really long games. A 1800 turn DoC game is something I am looking forward to.

 

[Genghis Khaiser]

When having an "advanced start" what are the best things to spend your money on? And how much should I spend?

 

[Dracosolon]

When having an "advanced start" what are the best things to spend your money on? And how much should I spend?

It's really different if you're handled a small budget, like medieval civs, or something more substantial, like post-colonial civs. For the latter you can easily consider buildings, while for the former you probably don't have enough budget for more than a couple of improvements, and you have more time to build so improvements seem better.

I generally favor Pastures (especially on Elective starts) and resource Mines, since they're cheaper (and the latter are typically on hills, so demanding an extra Worker turn). Essential roads are high priority too for optimal movement of troops, Settlers and Workers. If the budget is big enough, extra resources that won't be quickly improved by Workers or Workboats are next.

Buildings can be:
- Happiness buildings if you start with unhappy population (common in post-colonial civs, or civs that can conquer a city on the first turn like the Ottomans or Argentina),
- Barracks if you have a tight military objective (especially if you're running Tributaries, where low population only makes you more efficient),
- Something you want in your capital for the UP construction bonus if you're playing Rome (like a Granary), so that your other cities may start working on it immediately (pairs very well with Despotism); as Rome you always want to have something ready to build with the UP bonus,
- Production buildings if you've got a big budget (like a Levee in New York as America).

I think other players often prioritize population points but I've never been quite sure how much budget you need for that: when I try it it's seemingly unavailable.

I never leave money in the budget if I can help it. You start with money already and it's less useful than time gained.

 

[Logoncal]

When having an "advanced start" what are the best things to spend your money on? And how much should I spend?

Depends. As Rome, for example, i build a library with it to boost tech which will need to rush those techs for UHV.
Russia, i improve the land to pump out Lancers asap
Ottomans i waste all on Istanbul, to make it a super city.

It really depends what civ you have and how much leverage gold you have.

 

[Glorfindel of Gondolin]

Why does Greece have a hole in it's core area?

 

[Derdan]

I believe there used to be a few more mountains on the map many many years ago. Those are plots where the stability map was never updated when they were changed to hills.

 

[Glorfindel of Gondolin]

Well, at least it's adjacent to Constantinople so no one would anyway make a city there

 

[Dracosolon]

Does immigration just increase your population and add a religion or does it have other effects?