large map, archipelago, corporations, disasters at 1. i've been able to squeak out wins on immortal, haven't tried this on deity. everything else standard, going for science victory.
some thoughts:
some thoughts:
- obviously with Kupe, start location is critical. from what i can tell it usually starts you at cold weather areas near the top or bottom of the map. you need to be patient and search out warmer weather start locations. i'm sure it has been discussed, but i don't know what the limit on turns you can wait to settle your first city is with Kupe before it puts you too far behind. i think you should have 10-ish turns but barb galleys show up fast on immortal and you can lose right off the bat.
- i love corporations, and i think the best start for Kupe is a location with at least two turtles. for my first two cities i try to build a city that will be huge population to be a science/culture city with Pingala, and i try to build a high production city for Magnus and ancestral hall to crank out settlers. either one can be first, but the turtles should be in pingala's city. i hate losing pop to settlers, maybe too much so.
- if no-go on turtles, growth luxuries like sugar are my second favorite. you can build a huge city fast. next is gold luxuries like diamonds or silver, early game money is always good.
- pantheon wise, if the free settler is gone (it always is) i always get +1 production from fishing boats, seems like a no-brainer. divine spark might be good too. after the pantheon i don't usually play for faith because on archipelago tiles to build districts on are limited most of the time.
- after early campuses i prioritize harbors. i want internal trade routes to my Magnus city to increase growth and productivity early in new cities. try to put reyna in a city with a really good harbor, and promote her to contractor because we want to buy spaceports later.
- typically, i am going to keep up in science early and then fall behind for a while before i come roaring back later in the game. but there are two tech's that i think need to be prioritized in this game type, caravels and eventually computers for floodwalls. if cities start getting flooded you are probably screwed. nefariously, this might be helping me comeback against the AI's but i haven't tried to quantify how much it might be affecting them. often i am bee-lining computers before i am even getting oil, especially if i find coal.
- i haven't had many AI's declare war on me, but you still need to have at least some competent military because the barbs are relentless and you will not be able to expand. that is the importance of caravels, if you get behind early and the barbs swarm you...galleys and quadriremes get trashed by caravels. early on you can explore carefully with galleys because the barbs can't go in deep water for a little while. usually get to caravels fast and then go back to the bottom of the tree and get to niter because you can't upgrade with frigates without it anyway.
- as far as city states to try to suzerain, non madol is really good because you will have tons of districts on coasts. same with cardiff as you should have a harbor in every city. geneva is always good, as are many of the yellows for trade benefits...such as the no plunder traders on water tiles.
- i don't usually go for land wonders because space is at a premium on archipelago maps but i am happy to try for collosus under the right conditions. mausoleum at halicarnassus is like a must get if you can, the extra engineer charge is great for space race later. a fun thing to try is to settle a desert island and go for petra and mausoleum in the same city. the AI does not tend to prioritize mausoleum from what i can tell.
- as you near the late-game it is good to build some encampments in secondary cities where you have space. you want to stockpile aluminum and uranium for the final push at the end.
- generally i will probably prioritize science and gold, then production, then culture and faith not at all.