[BNW] Not a Lot of Luxuries?

[DracoTheGreat]

Basically, there's no luxuries nearby other than the ones I started with.

For example, let's say I start off with cotton and ivory. I go east, and the only luxuries there are cotton or ivory. I go west, north and south, and still only cotton and ivory.

The only time I'd find, say, dyes, is when I'm way too close to another civ to settle there.

Has this happened to you, and is there a mod for it?

 

[pdxmm]

Yeah it happens to me a fair bit of the time and that is why I use a mod that allows me to cycle through all the starting locations and pick the one I want. That still doesn't help if there isn't anything new near by but it is a start. I don't know of any mods that change the amount of lux on the map but I wouldn't be surprised that there is one or several. If you don't mind a little cheating you can always use a saved game editor and add some new lux around your starting area. After about 3000 hours of game play I don't mind going this route now days than just starting a new game but each their own.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Well, that's a bit disappointing.

Thanks for replying, though!

 

[beetle]

Having several of one lux in your general area is very typical. It leads to good trading opportunities. And if your lux gets boycotted, it really hurts. Also, if you do not claim every copy of the common lux in your starting area, it is an invitation for an AI to settle near you to claim it. I actually think this particular game mechanic works pretty well.

 

[jrwh]

Trading duplicate copies of your lux to the AI, or even buying their lux outright for 9gpt helps with your happiness (sell horses and iron as early and often as possible for 2gpt each, it will help you buy their extra luxes later).

Also keep an eye out on city state quests, particularly the ones that have luxuries and other resources you are lacking. Mercantile city states have their own extra luxury which doesn't exist on the map (like jewelry, porcelain), plus a normal luxury in their borders, PLUS they give you happiness as the bonus for friendship/alliance. So allying the right mercantile CS with luxuries you don't already have is a ton of happiness.

You can tailor your gameplan also. With basic 4-city Tradition play it's ideal to have 5 luxuries, and okay and totally normal to have just 4. But it's still possible to make 4 cities with only 3 luxes, you just have to grow slower and go for coliseums earlier, like before libraries even. If you have a good faith generation pantheon you can then help out by getting extra happiness via a religion. Or you could do a 2-3 city start and play taller, or a 2-3 city start and plan on taking some neighbor cities and their luxuries via war, or whatever. Stuff like that can make the game interesting.

It sounds like what you're looking for, though, is a different sort of map as opposed to a different sort of strategy. You might want to google "Hellblazers Pangaea map" in that case. AFAIK what it does is give each starting location a "regional" luxury, which has 5 copies nearby, but also provides more good expansion locations near you with unique luxuries.

It was designed for multiplayer games, going hand in hand with the "No Quitters" mod. The mod changes a ton of stuff like social policies and pantheons/religion, but with the map alone you should get what you're looking for in terms of reliably finding good expansion spots for yourself. Keep in mind the AI is going to get tons and tons of good expansion spots though as well, and they are way less penalized for making a million cities than you are.

 

[pdxmm]

The Caribbean map for sure and I think the British Isles map are both loaded with tons of luxs all over the map if you didn't want to deal with a modded map.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Yeah, but if that's the case, you already know what the map is gonna look like. Something like Continents or Continents plus if better for exploration because you don't know what you're gonna find.

But that's just me. Thanks for responding, though!

Appreciate it. Also everyone else that responded.