Got some questions about openers on emperor.

[APCY]

Hello guys i just started playing emperor and i always rush great libary. But it is not look like its helping me a lot, i always fall behind in mid game. My question is it worth always rushing great libary or maybe there other better openers? Thank you and sorry for my bad english. Btw usually i buy monument and granary if i going liberty if tradition worker and granary.

 

[FinsT]

May be try Temple of Artemis. It boosts all food in all your cities 10%. Faster growth means more science. If growth is limited by happiness, then still, more food per food-producing tile means you can switch more citizens from making food to production etc. Best of all, ToA gets better and better the larger you grow. If you get some 200+ total population late-game, generating 400+ food to feed themselves, - ToA will give 40+ food to your civ. That's ~10 citizens which you can switch from full-time food production to something else completely - production, science (jungle tiles, if you didn't chop 'em down and had 'em in the 1st place), gold (moar trading posts! ). Compare this with a meager +6 food from Hanging Gardens, and you'll see what i mean.

 

[Adjuvant]

I'd rather build a settler than great library at any difficulty. Temple of Artemis, Finst recommended, is a good choice if you have, like, a tall, semi-turtled-with-bows thing going on, but even in that case I'd probably beeline Hanging Garden. The immediate return is just better for that extra culture push especially, for no-guilt specialists in writer/artist/musician guilds... very easy to stack them in the same city and reap big percentage bonuses later.

 

[reddishrecue]

I'd rather build a settler than great library at any difficulty. Temple of Artemis, Finst recommended, is a choice if you have, like, a tall, semi-turtled-with-bows thing going on, but even in that case I'd probably beeline Hanging Garden. The immediate return is just better for that extra culture push especially, for no-guilt specialists in writer/artist/musician guilds... very easy to stack them in the same city and reap big percentage bonuses later.

Doesn't a great library start give you good technology at first? You get a free library and a good technology lead at first. As for hanging gardens, i think you are talking about making a gp farm a lot earlier and getting the culture making specialists earlier.

 

[Adjuvant]

An earlier second or third city and all the benefits of it far outweigh the admittedly attractive benefit of great library.

Get it as egypt with marble for sure. Maybe get it as korea. Maybe get it with rome or iroquois for early iron working, I guess. If you can get it super fast (without chopping, you can chop anything), or if it works into a theme, I guess. I think overall this might be, what...3% to 5% of games where it's considerable.

edit: As for culture, you always need it, cultural victory aim or otherwise. Putting any amount into it early (not at the expense of science) is pretty much "good". I don't advocate always "all 3 guilds in one city", but if you can make that work, it's pretty darn nice.