Building Priority List

[ksa76]

I am somewhat curious as to how other players handle city building priorities for new mid-to-late game non-wonder cities. The building priorities will obviously be situational, but with the following assumptions what would be your building priorities?
Assumptions:
* you have already completed the following wonders; Stonehenge, The Temple of Artemis, the Great Lighthouse, the Colossus, the Forgotten Palace, the Apolistic Palace, Oxford, Globe Theater, and Wall Street
* you start a new non-wonder city from population 1 with average tiles (average hammers, food, and commerce and say a sea food tile)
* you don’t have any specific quests to complete.
* we disregard military buildings, walls, and castles etc.

Here is my priority list:
Granary -> Lighthouse -> Forge -> Monastery of State Religion -> Temple of State Religion -> Courthouse -> Harbor -> Library -> Observatory -> University –> Bank -> Grocer -> Theater -> Monastery of non-State Religion ->Temple of non State Religion -> Cathedral of not-state Religion -> Coliseum

Questions:
1) What would your priority list roughly look like?
2) Any comments to my general approach of prioritizing food buildings first, then production modifier buildings (note hammers from Apolistic Palace), maintenance buildings, science buildings, commerce buildings, and finally culture/happiness buildings?
3) Which buildings would you rather not build or at the least delay to really needed and instead build Research/Wealth?

 

[kochman]

You are building way too many temples/monasteries if every city has them. I only build temples in a city where I am trying to get a great prophet, unless it is late in the game and I need the happiness or have nothing to do (should've won by that point). I tend to only bother with monasteries in my science capital and in order cities that need the cultural push. Coliseums are weaks, as are the cathedrals (unless you really need the happiness/culture they offer).

Generally speaking, unless there is a quest or some pressing need, I like to do the following.

Granary
Forge
Courthouse
Library
Observatory
University (Univs before observs until I build enough to unlock Oxford)
Market
Bank
Theatre

I might sprinkle in harbors, monasteries, theater, lighthouse, etc...
I tend to build aqueduct when needed, and whip it out.

Basically, prioritize: Food, Commerce, Hammers...
With food and commerce prioritized, you can push your science slider high...
Hammers, well, duh.

 

[G-Max]

Automated Factory -> Robo Miner Plant -> Hydroponic Farm -> Cloning Center -> Marine Barracks (if Feudal/Dictatorship) -> Spaceport -> Research Lab -> Supercomputer -> Radiation Shield (if Radiated) -> Terraforming (if Barren) -> Soil Enrichment (if Desert, Tundra, or Arid) -> Terraforming (if Ocean or Swamp) -> Starbase...

Wait, what forum am I on?

 

[ecuwins]

moo2 ftw!

Research labs should be first though.

 

[TheMulattoMaker]

First of all, a disclaimer: I'm a noob, so take this whole post with a ginormous grain of salt.

Secondly, after finally finishing this novel: Egad, I'm long-winded.

Okay. You did mention it would be situational. There's a whole lot to think about. Will this city grow up and be a production city, or run commerce, or be a specialist city? The way you described it kind of sounds like a backfill city that won't be anything particularly special, that keeps things kind of basic. Is it on a potentially dangerous border? (I'm guessing no, because you said forget about military buildings.) Is it on a peaceful but cultural-intense border? Is there a resource you want that's three tiles away? Take into consideration your civ's traits and UB, they'll probably be important in the first few buildings. What civics you are running is another thing, you can get a lot of cheap buildings knocked out very quickly if you're running Slavery with a couple decent food tiles.

One more thing to consider before I try and give you an actual answer. You said mid-to-late game- depending on how late we're talking, all of those early Wonders are probably obsolete. So are some buildings- I have to mention Castles, even though you said not to, they're so much more than strictly for defense (I don't think there's any other building in the game that gives you so many different types of bonuses). Once again, though, they're probably unavailable by now.

Well, after writing all that mess, I don't really have a specific build order. Every one of my cities would be different. However, I'll tell you what I'd be thinking about, and why.

Okay. The things I'd have in place beforehand, so my infant city doesn't have to worry about them. Let's assume this is a planned-out city that's nice and safe, not some desperate culture grab on the border. Provided my empire has the available ability (a production city nearby with a few turns to spare would be nice), my target tile already has at least one defensive unit and a missionary either sitting there waiting or on the way. If I can spare a Worker or two, I'm already roadspamming the area and maybe pre-chopping some forests, ready to hook up resources and farm/cottage/mine/whatever as soon as the culture pops. The seafood resource already has a work boat waiting, and if there's annoying but "peaceful" neighbors nearby, I have a defensive Spy parked there too.

Ugh. I'm getting verbose. I said all that to say this: Anything your empire can do for your city, have it already done it advance to give your city a head start.

As far as the buildings themselves- if everything is nice and boring and not-at-all-complicated, my first two are usually Granary-Forge. Lighthouse and at least one culture building usually come soon after. But there are soooooo many things to take into account. Here's a few:

City specialization almost always dictates what I'll build after the first few buildings, sometimes right from the start. However, the city you described probably won't be specialized, at least not to a great extent. If the tiles are average, and I'm not hurting for producting or commerce cities, I wouldn't be worrying about this too much for a little unimportant city. It's good to think about in the long run anyway, but it probably wouldn't affect my early build order.

Culture: How far and how fast does this city's culture need to expand? Obviously, the borders need to pop at least once to get the whole BFC. The missionary will do this in ten turns all on its own. If Stonehenge hasn't obsoleted it'll only take five. But... if I need to pop borders a second time, that'll change up my build queue quite a bit. If you're running Caste System, you can have an Artist or two do this for you; or you can bump up the culture slider. I hardly ever do either of these, but they're options. If I need that resource sitting three tiles away, or if this city is snuggled up next to another civ's culture, one of my first buildings will be a Theatre, very cheap 3PT. (Sometimes I build Theatres even before Granaries if I need to establish culture immediately.) If it needs another little kick, it gets a Library (which almost all of my cities eventually get anyway), but they can take a while on a brand-new city.

Civics: Certain Civics can affect how I build things. If I'm in Nationhood (rarely), then Barracks gives me that +2 (if happiness is even an issue in a city this small). If I'm running Slavery (often), then I can whip-rush a lot of smaller buildings very quickly, especially with two or three good food-producing tiles. Chop a Granary quick, then maybe Lighthouse if seafood is involved, then usually Forge. All the other early buildings will come very quickly. Note: Lighthouses are usually not one of my first two or three buildings if I'm not whipping, unless we're talking multiple seafood. That extra 1 from just one Fish doesn't seem to speed things along that much once the pop gets to 3 or 4. But, if I am whipping, a Lighthouse can really help when I'm trying to grow the city back up to 2 pop five times.

Oh, and about the Monasteries: Well... I'm usually in OR for much of the game, so I never build Monasteries for their intended purpose. I'll sometimes build them in a Science city after Library/University is done (hey, a lot + 10% = even more), or in a hotly-contested border city that really needs the culture. EDIT: While I was writing this, I totally forgot about the +2 from AP. I'm still not sure if Monasteries woud be in the first few buildings, but those hammers can come in handy. And that's another thing that can bump Monasteries (and Temples) up the list, too- if I happen to have AP/Sankore/Sistine/Spiral Minaret, those religious buildings really do a lot. If I don't, then they will usually wait for quite a while.

Leader Traits: Well, obviously, almost every trait has quickie buildings that go with it; basically, if it can get done twice as fast I'll probably prioritize it more, as long as it fits my strategy. If I'm Industrious (and I often am) the Forges get bumped even closer to the front of the list than they already are because once you have it every other build happens faster.

Unique Buildings: Playing as certain civs can have a big impact on what I build when. A few examples: Playing as the Aztecs (running Slavery, of course) a couple games ago I was building Granary/Sacrificial Altar in almost every city. It just makes the whiprush that much easier. Khmer's Baray helps the city grow faster, HRE's Rathaus is massive (especially if the city is far from the capital in a big empire), etc. Lots of civs have UBs that bump happiness, or health, or culture- if I need that bump, then I'm more likely to prioritize the UB.

Other various factors also come into play. I mentioned the Rathaus- even a regular Courthouse (which does take some time early on, unless I'm Organized) can be very high priority. If my economy is already teetering and this city pushes me too far into the red, I might make the city wait it out while building a Courthouse for the good of the nation. If maintenance isn't an issue, I might build ten other buildings first. If my happy and/or health caps are pretty high (yay resources!) then Temples, Colosseums, and Aqueducts wait indefinetely. Plus, if I have the right resources, Forges/Grocers/Markets do a better job anyway. You mentioned GLH/Colossus- if those two are still working, I try to get Harbors quickly, especially in a commerce city. As for the Cathedrals, save those rarities (can only make one for every 3-4 cities) for cities that have happiness problems and/or need massive culture.


tl;dr: Every city is different, so every city's build order will be different. Think about what you want this city to do and what its needs are, look at what each building will provide for the city, and go from there.

...

If this was way too long, and/or useless, and/or didn't really answer your question, apologies. I kinda got carried away.

 

[G-Max]

moo2 ftw!

Research labs should be first though.

No way. The first priority is to get your industrial base up and running so that you don't have to buy and/or wait 30 turns for each of your first half-dozen buildings. This is why production races ultimately out-tech even the tech races (a notable exception being the Lithovore/Democracy/Artifact races that build some Gyro Battleships, conquer Orion, and then just kill everyone with Loknar).

 

[ecuwins]

OP, from what I've been learning(I'm new too) is: Granary > Forge > then it starts to be highly situational.

No way. The first priority is to get your industrial base up and running so that you don't have to buy and/or wait 30 turns for each of your first half-dozen buildings. This is why production races ultimately out-tech even the tech races (a notable exception being the Lithovore/Democracy/Artifact races that build some Gyro Battleships, conquer Orion, and then just kill everyone with Loknar).

For UniTols(the premiere production race), Research Lab is undoubtedly the first tech and build. Below is the strategy for human vs human. Needless to say, it pwns the AI, even on impossible.

Spoiler :

These races colonize fastest, but are usually rather weak in research early in the game; this is especially true of UniTol races (Unification + Tolerant) as their production is not limited by pollution and they will often put all their non-farming population into building Colony Bases and Colony Ships. The only way they can get any research at all in this period is from the flat-rate 5 RPs that Research Labs produce without any scientists, so Research Labs are their first priority. A typical sequence is:

1. Electronics -> Electronic Computer
Meanwhile have 1 worker stockpiling production for the Research Lab.
2. Optronics -> Research Laboratory
Build the Research Lab immediately.
3. Nuclear Fission -> Freighters, Nuclear Drive
After researching and building Freighters they may colonize any usable planets in their home system and use them as Housing colonies.
4. Chemistry -> Standard Fuel Cells, Extended Fuel Tanks, Nuclear Missile.
Now build 1 or 2 Scout ships to look for system to colonize. Then design the most expensive possible Battleship and stockpile production fast - Colony Ships are expensive at this stage.
5. Cold Fusion -> Colony Ship
If the Scout ships find a few good systems, the homeworld now builds 2 to 4 Colony Ships flat out, relying on the 5 RP from the Research Lab to keep their research moving.
6. Advanced Engineering ->Reinforced Hull
7. Advanced Construction -> Auto Factories
Build the Auto Factory immediately. Now they can move some workers into research.
8. Astro Biology -> Biospheres
Not actually needed yet, but a prerequisite for Soil Enrichment or Cloning Centers, which they need as soon as possible in order to have more scientists. Build Biospheres on the homeworld when 1 short of full, to maintain its population growth for a few more turns.
9. Advanced Biology -> Soil Enrichment or Cloning Center.
Build whichever.
10. Artificial Intelligence -> Neural Scanners
11. Positronics -> Supercomputer
Build one on the homeworld immediately.
12. Capsule Construction -> Battle Pods
13. Astro Engineering -> Spaceports
Build one on the homeworld immediately.
14. Robotics ->Robo Miners
Build one on the homeworld immediately. They can move a few more workers into research when they want.
15. Physics -> Laser Cannon, Space Scanner, etc.
16. Advanced Metallurgy ->Tritanium Armor if Tolerant, otherwise Deuterium Fuel Cells
17. Advanced Fusion -> Augmented Engines
18. Fusion Physics -> Fusion Beam
19. Advanced Chemistry -> Merculite Missile
20. Molecular Compression -> If Tolerant, Iridium Fuel Cells; otherwise Atmospheric Renewer
21. Nano Technology -> Zortrium Armor.

 

[G-Max]

You're talking like I've never beaten Impossible with a Unitol race before . Seriously, build two colonies on identical planets on the same turn. Set one to produce a factory and then a lab, and set the other to build a lab and then a factory. See which one gets both built first.

Then again, my favorite Unitol race spends the remaining 4 picks on cybernetic , so my early colonies tend to need that initial production boost more than other unitol races do...

 

[Riflin'Joe]

By the time you have Wall St. there's usually not going to be much point in founding new cities at all so late in the game. Sometimes you might claim a few islands for the sake of pushing your territory towards the domination point, but those cities will only need some culture, which at this point you can get from sources other than buildings. (And if your playing for a peaceful win then stop doing so and ask yourself why you're not going for domination anyway.)

 

[lasombra1984]

Monument/Culture (if not Creative)
Granary
Lighthouse*
Barracks (in high hammer city)
Forge
+beakers/+gold buildings

It is all dependant on city placement & traits
On 1 tile island with lots of seafood i'll start Moai, whip Granary, LH, Harbor, happiness buildings to deal with unhappiness (with overhammers in MS)
If psycho as neighbors - I will build walls right after Monument

 

[kochman]

Monument/Culture (if not Creative)
Granary
Lighthouse*
Barracks (in high hammer city)
Forge
+beakers/+gold buildings

It is all dependant on city placement & traits
On 1 tile island with lots of seafood i'll start Moai, whip Granary, LH, Harbor, happiness buildings to deal with unhappiness (with overhammers in MS)
If psycho as neighbors - I will build walls right after Monument

Monument? Yikes.
If you need culture that bad, better to build a library, AFTER you build a granary.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Monument? Yikes.
If you need culture that bad, better to build a library, AFTER you build a granary.

Only if the good resources are all in the initial 8.

Monument is a reasonable build.

 

[kochman]

Only if the good resources are all in the initial 8.

Monument is a reasonable build.

As long as you have a forest or two to chop, I consider that enough... You build your granary, then chop/whip library... pop comes quickly.

I only build a monument in cities on borders, if I don't have better improvements to build.
Of course, that changes if CHR.

 

[Hortulanus]

The granary is the only building that I come close to building in every city. All other builds depend on what I want the city to do for me. Late in the game, I'm not inclined to build cottage cities, as there's limited time for the cottages to mature. Likewise, I've probably spawned a number of great people, so it takes a lot of GPP to make the next one. A new city will be unlikely to catch up to my established cities, especially the National Epic city, to help make any. As a result, my late cities tend to be aimed at production, especially since workshops become attractive late. If for some reason I have a good city site that gets founded late, I'll probably build the granary, forge, factory, perhaps a barracks, and whatever health building are needed. If the city site is not very good, but I'm settling it just to fill in the gaps between older cities BFC's, then I'll probably just chop a granary if possible, and then build wealth.

 

[G-Max]

Better idea: grab Myst and either Bronze (if surrounded by forests) or Masonry (if you're near stone), and chop/quarry yourself a Stonehenge.

 

[Nicol.Bolas]

Automated Factory -> Robo Miner Plant -> Hydroponic Farm -> Cloning Center -> Marine Barracks (if Feudal/Dictatorship) -> Spaceport -> Research Lab -> Supercomputer -> Radiation Shield (if Radiated) -> Terraforming (if Barren) -> Soil Enrichment (if Desert, Tundra, or Arid) -> Terraforming (if Ocean or Swamp) -> Starbase...

Wait, what forum am I on?

yes
y not deep core mine and deep core waste dump (if creative)

my favourite game

 

[G-Max]

yes
y not deep core mine and deep core waste dump (if creative)

Because I win long before I get that far in the tech tree.

 

[6K Man]

Granary...

and then, it depends.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

As long as you have a forest or two to chop, I consider that enough... You build your granary, then chop/whip library... pop comes quickly.

I only build a monument in cities on borders, if I don't have better improvements to build.
Of course, that changes if CHR.

It's still slower.

 

[xenex]

Here is my priority list:
Granary -> Lighthouse -> Forge -> Monastery of State Religion -> Temple of State Religion -> Courthouse -> Harbor -> Library -> Observatory -> University –> Bank -> Grocer -> Theater -> Monastery of non-State Religion ->Temple of non State Religion -> Cathedral of not-state Religion -> Coliseum

Granary>lighthouse> and then the list goes quite differently, first of all not every city needs a forge and even if they do, its not always needed that quickly but still, forge isn't that far off, probably second/third in cities that do need it and about ~4 or 5 in other cities that can use it.

Temples and monasteries ugh,I cant really see a reason to build them that early, the only reason to build them is if you need happiness, need missionaries or the beaker boost.

If you need happiness they'r kind of meh early on, your much better off trading for happy then you are building a temple.

You don't need missionaries coming out of every city you have, so building a monastery for the missionaries is too situational to actually be on the priority list

Now if you need beaker boost, your much better of building libraries which are so much more useful.They give more boost, they provide 2 juicy scientist slots and are needed for the great library, sure a library cost a little more, but its more then worth it.

Now after you build the main beaker boosting buildings then obviously you want a monastery for more beaker boosting, but I can't really see building a monastery before a library.

Now this all changes if the religion your running is the AP religion, but even then, the monastery doesn't become so much better then the library that it should be built first, if thats the case then the land dictates it even more.

Theatre is so late on your priority list and I cant see why, its such a great building, its super cheap, it provides nice culture, provides "easy" happiness and gives 2 slots for artist and is needed for a great wonder.Its so much better then a temple I cant see why you would build the temple before it.


My order is probably close to this
Granary -> Lighthouse -> Library/Theatre/Forge -> Courthouse -> Harbor -> Market -> Observatory -> University –> Bank -> Grocer (also possibly somewhere in between observatory/university/bank mostly depends on when i get the tech, If i get it sooner ill build it sooner, but more often then not I wont get it till a bit late)

Why didn't you list market?Did you simply forget it or do you not build it?

I can't remember the last time I built colosuem, so I wouldn't even put it on the list.