Best way to build?

[Baltimoretrader]

I keep swithing between two methods of thought when I build my civ and I wanted an opinion from you folks .....
When you pick a place to build a new city, do you place it somewhere so it expands the whole border, or do you put it somewhere where the resources are good? I'm trying to maximize the economy of the civ, so I'm trying to find out if you want more or less cities given the same size (border) civ.

 

[Angmar]

Lots of people place cities entirely based on how many squares it away from the rest. I think this is a little goofy, but then it matches the kinda goofy corruption system.

I worry less about culture borders than I do about resources and such. There are situations where I build a city specificly to influence an area of the world with culture, then I figure out where the best place for the city would be based on culture. Culture is important but not as important as having a strong city. A bit of culture overlap in the beginning is worth it if you can grow your city above 6 because its on a river.

 

[peace_frog]

I second what Angmar says, but I think it is almost a religious debate with some. I prefer that resources to be within the initial 9 squares if possible and/or on a river, on the coast etc. So my cities always overlap to some degree and sometimes I even miss a few squares that aren't being worked by anyone. I don't believe a rigidly fixed structure can always be the best. Even if it were, what is the fun in that?

I would strongly recommend Cracker's piece on opening moves in the War academy for the best way to maximize resources in the opening moves. Some subtle things that I didn't understand prior to reading it changed my strategies significantly. In fact, I went back to it after a few games and learned more that I didn't fully comprehend the first time through.

 

[StrategizedMind]

I think that the definitive answer to this question is--"it depends."

I prefer to place the cities so that at least one tile overlaps with a previously built city to establish my borders early. Or sometimes since I know what tiles culture will expand the borders to in the future, I place the cities according to this.

Certain resources (especially in the early game) are critical to your survival--iron, maybe horses. I usually try to place these resources within my city borders as quickly as possible without compromising my border line.

But then again--"it all depends". It all depends on your strategy also and what factors are most important to you. I have found that when the cities are further apart in the early game your score and/or economy (among other things) may suffer.

I have to agree with peace_frog, in that there is no "rigidly fixed structure" on building your cities.

Bottom line--"It depends."

 

[BiatchGuy]

Yep.. it depends.

If there are other civs close to you you might want to push the border outward by spacing out the cities, just to claim more land; but at the same time this opens you up to those pesky AI civs planting cities in between yours.. which MEANS WAR for me!

Resources are also very important.

 

[anarres]

One big bonus of placing a city so resources are within the 9-tile radius is that an AI civ can't plonk a city just outside your border and grab the resource from you. Even with culture expansion resources 2 tiles from your city are easy prey.

Apart from that, I tend to be flexible.

 

[Lord Borak]

Ideally, I try to place cities with a 2-4 tile overlap (in the expanded 21 tile X). In the early game, however, this takes a back seat to grabbing resources and prime fresh water locations. I make it a rule to try to have at least three different luxuries inside my boarders before the land grab phase of the game is complete, and this is about the only reason I would start a war in the ancient era.

If I somehow leave a few squares untended (in my territory but not in a city radius) I usually fill them in later in the game with smaller (no aqueduct) cities that are purely there to build all cultural wonders (to help boost overall culture rating) and then sit there creating workers, artillary, or defenders as needed.

 

[lord42]

I try to build costal cities so I can have good trade later on and build large navies.

 

[wilbill]

For me the choice between maximizing territory (expand the border) and good location (resources) is a balancing act. I think you have to do both depending on the circumstances.
As my game has improved I've noticed that victories (never defeats, of course, lol) come earlier than they used to. I rarely get to the point where my more productive cities need more than 12 to 14 tiles to sustain all the growth they'll need. Consequently I've been building cities with more overlap than I used to. Instead of 2 or 3 tiles, I'll accept an overlap of 5 or 6 even in my core cities.

 

[kb2tvl]

I assume that your speaking of the early growth phase?

My first city will be next to a food bonus and on a river/fresh water if that is available. Then my second expansion will capture a luxuary. If I have traded for iron working, I will place the next city where I can get an iron source and rush a temple asap.

After that I will either overlap a tile if I can get fresh water OR have no over lap and know that I will have to build an aquaduct later.

corruption is not as big a deal, to me, as making sure that I will have strong cities once I get factories.