Recent content by Rusten

Imp makes those plains cow starts much more playable, especially with the added river commerce. No need to run around blindly with the settler, but if the scout finds something good you can move of course.

I know it comes across like a joke but I'd probably settle on the gold. There looks to be a plains forest 2W and with all the luxuries available (already +2 happy) I don't think a gold mine is that much better than cottaged flood plains.

I don't play much SP anymore, but when I do I enjoy AW the most. I prefer maps where some AIs are hidden away somewhere* -- it results in a more balanced and interesting game through the ages with both land and naval combat. The problem with playing maps like Pangea (at least on deity) is that...

I think settling on the silk is better than PH. 3C center is a big deal when you don't start with hunting or agriculture and don't have a grain resource. This open land will face a lot of barbarians so earlier archery (skirmishers) helps too. It also moves towards the center of the map to claim...

I'm more interested in why your leftmost x isn't 1 south.

Double-digit trade routes were not an uncommon sight, IIRC.

Were you reading pre-BTS threads? Trade routes worked differently then and were more valuable. ToA was one of the top early game wonders in vanilla/warlords.

Not really. Every unhappy citizen costs 2 food per turn which amounts to roughly 4 hammers per turn (if in slavery). You're better off splitting the food with other cities than stacking a bunch of unhappy faces.

:bump: There's another vanilla game in sign-up phase right now. I welcome you to check it out. http://www.realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=9886

BIC's approach looks right to me and may change your mind. edit: You are likely to feel the benefit of extra worker turns when you try to get early granaries up. And the benefit of those aren't obvious until much later. State of empire on T50 will usually give you a good idea.

Not really. It was played with a mod where everyone starts with a scout instead of a warrior and mapmakers over there rarely (if ever) place strategic resources in the starting BFC. The game mod has moved pastures to hunting for balance reasons which means it's easier to get the relevant techs...

I've arrived late to the thread and don't have time to read through it all right now, but I can drop off some anecdotal/empirical evidence. In all 3 of my last multiplayer pitboss games I went double worker before setter. Those games involved extensive simulation and long term planning. FWIW...

You really ought to scout wider in the starting turns, it will help you a lot in the future. You'd have a much clearer picture of where to put your 2nd city and how many you could reasonably settle before stumbling upon Byzantine culture. The area south of the capital can be always be unfogged...

The advantage isn't so much early religion, but early religion + spiritual. Means you you get both happiness (adopt religion) and OR switch without anarchy. Sending a missionary to go with settlers is very strong in the later expansion phase. Cheaper granary and culture for the border pop. The...

I may be doing you a disservice mentioning this as you just want to get comfortable on immortal, but... Non-deity Arabia with oasis and tons of food smells like early religion (polytheism first) to me. But I've not looked at the timings.