A couple ICS questions.

[Numi]

So I see a lot of talk about it, and I notice just how many cities the AI can have and i have a desire to try out ICS which looks interesting with a ton of cities but most people don't actually say how it works.

How do you chose how far to separate cities and were to put them? I normally chose them based on where resources are and trying to fill gaps in my empire but how do i plan how close they should all be?

What kind of tech paths are normally beelined for and why?

And lastly, what kind of avg population should I be aiming for in them along with what tile improvements do I usually put down.

Thanks for any info in advance.

 

[Trickster7135]

How do you chose how far to separate cities and were to put them?

Put them anywhere except on snow, even tundra is fine. Space them 2 tiles apart.

What kind of tech paths are normally beelined for and why?

That really depends. Getting Colosseums early is mandatory, but other than that it depends on what you're trying to do. If you want to get to industrial quickly for Order social policies, you'll beeline to Biology. ICS is a flexible strategy that can be used for multiple objectives though.

And lastly, what kind of avg population should I be aiming for in them along with what tile improvements do I usually put down.

Four at first until you can start building Theatres, then six to eight or so. You'll be more limited by how many maritime city-states you have allied than anything else. Only put down trade posts.

I have a more in depth guide in my Civ5 guide, link in my signature.

 

[Darth Varak]

For city placement I usually make my first 4-5 cities "actual" cities and place them as strategically as I can (near horses, iron, or luxury resources). For all the rest I place them as close together as possible (3 tiles away from each other). It can be tricky to plan well, but I find that if you can start around the ocean then you use the maximum amount of space possible.

I normally beeline banking and printing press. The Forbidden City is amazing in an ICS, and the Taj Mahal is my favorite wonder period. Rifiling also follows a similar route as Banking, which is nice because after I get those two it is my first concern.

For an ICS city you can see populations from 5-9 depending on how many Maritime CS you can ally. Most often mine get to 7 with two CS. Also, I almost never improve with anything other than Trading Posts, unless the game forces me to do something else. Trading Posts on hills next to a river is the best for an ICS city in my opinion.

 

[Numi]

So when you guys say 2 spaces apart or 3 tiles away you mean like this?

[City] - Tile - Tile - [City]
Tile---Tile---Tile----Tile
Tile---Tile---Tile----Tile
[City] - Tile - Tile - [City]

 

[Trickster7135]

So when you guys say 2 spaces apart or 3 tiles away you mean like this?

[City] - Tile - Tile - [City]
Tile---Tile---Tile----Tile
Tile---Tile---Tile----Tile
[City] - Tile - Tile - [City]

Yes. Keep cities to a single ring of tiles for them to work.

 

[Numi]

Is this like a LAW where there are no exceptions? Or like if you are 1 tile from it being on the coast you can stretch it to 3.

 

[Trickster7135]

Is this like a LAW where there are no exceptions? Or like if you are 1 tile from it being on the coast you can stretch it to 3.

You don't have to have it exact, and because of mountains and coasts, you usually won't. It is just that the closer to have every city to two tiles between them, the more efficient your trade route income becomes.

 

[rrhal]

on the Hex grid the pattern looks like this:

c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   
  o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o 
o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   
  o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o 
o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   
  o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o 
c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   
  o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o 
o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   
  o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o 
o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   
  o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o 
c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   c   o   o   
  o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o   o

These cities are only going to be working a few tiles. Food comes from Maritime CS, Production comes from SP, the rest comes from specialists and working a couple of trading posts.

 

[HermannLombard]

I have a necktie that looks like that.

For the OP: there are at least two big ICS threads on the first two pages of the forum:

ICS, Civ V style: http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=391&order=desc&page=2

Why I think ICS was deliberately designed as an option:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=391707

I'm gearing up for an ICS shot, when I'm up for the micromanagement...

 

[Paeanblack]

on the Hex grid the pattern looks like this:
...snip...

You can pack them even more densely. Here is an example with roads: 37 cities connected with 48 roads. You only have to pay 1.33g in road upkeep for each traderoute.

 

[pi-r8]

Bear in mind though, any real game will have city states, mountains, ocean, and enemy capital cities all over the place which throw off the pattern a lot.

 

[Numi]

Thanks for all the info guys, im well into my first ICS game and its alota fun, im at 600GPT and still not into the industrial yet, with a massive army ready to crush the romans, its alota fun so far.