Came Back to civ4... city structure help

[Bladel]

Hello... I got civ4 back when it was new and just came back to it recently

I have none of the expansions but would still like to get back into it and play around with this for a while before I go out and buy them (so none of the new leaders/buildings/units for me...


on a warlord difficulty by 300AD I had 4 cities as catherine and the upkeep was killing me, I had to keep science at 60% to level out the upkeep cost to my income, and one of my cities was declining rapidly due to lack of luxury and health as it grew... I tried to expand sort of far with my cities to create a decent landmass for myself before I was surrounded (and nearby civs were starting to work into my newer cities) and the city that was failing kept two of my cities from being on an island so keeping it was essential

so my questions are

A) is 4 cities that quickly too much? I would assume not

B) how do I overcome the early upkeep costs, all 4 of my cities were in spots id consider commerce/science city locations

C) How do I determine whats a good place to be an industry / military unit city? I mean everywhere I went ended up just being full of cottages... and if I go into a high hill location there isn't much for the food resource and the city grows too slowly

D) what exactly entails a specialized city? I always feel like every city becomes a commerce/science city... I can never seem to make a city thats main purpose is to pump out units fast, instead I have a bunch of cities with all cottages

E) How should I tech? other than early religon I've been pretty confused as to how tech... considering Catherine (who I'll be using for a while) has a special unit cossack, I figured early game would be mainly expansion, city development, economy... get a horse resource, and then when I could tech for the cossacks is when I'd begin a big war. But what are good techs to start off my military and science cities?

F) where do i build my cities? I have a hard time picking spots other than anything circled blue on the map, or looking for flood plains... any tips to what to look for specifically would be nice

I feel like I'm just a step away... I used to play on noble level before I quit, and warlord doesn't feel terribly difficult, and anything below feels easy, so any help in the areas I listed would be terrific

oh and I've read many of the help files and I just cant seem to make it work, so actual resposes would be more helpful than a link

 

[Big Boss Man]

a) Not Really
b) Lower the research slider - dubble click on a city and set gov to com
Build courthouses - open borders for trade - sell an extra resource
Must have the tech to enable these options .
c) Spots with 2 or more food resources and hills and or forests
d) Evaluate each city - build no more cottages than you will have food surplus to have enough pop to work them . Same for mines windmills ect.
The city must have enough food first
e) Consider the Empire as a whole , What victory type can we acheive ?
Your answer will help determine what to tech as priority and which to skip and trade for later .
f ) The answer is complex - you must consider many different possibillities and situations that a city spot entails . Some helpful hints 2 or more food will help a city to grow faster . Do you span out far first ? Then backfill later ? Huddle close for now and build up an army ? Situations -A Rivial's distance to me - Their Leaders traits ect. all to be considered

Think ahead - Have A Plan - Adjust the plan - In peace time prepare for war - In Wartime Prepare for another war

Good to read Sisiutil's Stratagy Guide For Beginners , Link's in the War Academy

 

[Leventis]

In short, you should have no problems running an empire with 4 cities at 300AD--in fact, you should probably have at least 6 by now on Warlord. The fact that you are struggling with upkeep means something is fundamentally wrong with your city placement and/or tile improvements. Posting a screenshot or two would be helpful here if you want some more pertinent advice.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

is 4 cities that quickly too much? I would assume not

No.

how do I overcome the early upkeep costs, all 4 of my cities were in spots id consider commerce/science city locations

Early upkeep costs are over come by reducing those costs. Take a look at the financial adviser, and determine if you are buying something (civics, unit upkeep) you can live without.

Part of the game is identifying your economic needs, and ensuring you collect the required technologies in a timely fashion (Code of Laws -> courthouses -> reduced maintenance; Currency -> obtaining gold from other civs -> larger bankroll).

Failing anything else, you can visit a neighboring civ to see if they would care to make a donation

C) How do I determine whats a good place to be an industry / military unit city? I mean everywhere I went ended up just being full of cottages... and if I go into a high hill location there isn't much for the food resource and the city grows too slowly

As a rule, in the early and mid game a good production city looks like a big food resource (corn, pigs) and a bunch of green hills. Later in the game watermills and workshops can make up the difference - hills become less important, food and good tiles become more important (ie in the early game, corn, a bunch of hills, and 10 desert makes a better production city than a football field on a river. In the late game, the opposite is true).

On some maps, it is important to recognize that there's only one good place to put a production city, and you have to choose the locations of your other city's around it.

If you are really hurting, you can use specialists, and great specialists, to provide hammers in the city they are attached to.

what exactly entails a specialized city? I always feel like every city becomes a commerce/science city... I can never seem to make a city thats main purpose is to pump out units fast, instead I have a bunch of cities with all cottages

A specialized military city for the first part of the game looks like a barracks, maybe a granary, maybe a monument, and nothing else. The other hammers get poured into units. When you find that you have more than enough military (you are number one on the power chart, or you are having trouble paying for all the troops, or you have wiped out all of the local competition), then you sneak in a few other buildings.

The tiles around the city will usually be mines or farms (substitute resource specific food improvement here). Not cottages.

How should I tech? other than early religon I've been pretty confused as to how tech... considering Catherine (who I'll be using for a while) has a special unit cossack, I figured early game would be mainly expansion, city development, economy... get a horse resource, and then when I could tech for the cossacks is when I'd begin a big war. But what are good techs to start off my military and science cities?

Let's see - you are playing the Cat. She's creative and financial. Being creative, she doesn't need a religion right away. Depending on the number of trees near by and the quality of your area of the map, you either go Food Tech -> Bronze Working or the other way around. Then you probably want to shuffle some order of Wheel, Animal Husbandry (if you don't already have it), Pottery. You'll want a library in your capital as soon after that as you can manage, so Writing next (if the timing is right, you might slip writing in before Pottery, as your workers may still be too busy for Cottaging.

From here, you're primarily focused on researching to Cossacks as quickly as you can. If you've got a lot of precious metal around, that likely means grabbing Metal Casting. Otherwise, you might now chase up the tree to Monarchy, so that you can work lots of cottages in your capital.

Beyond that, aside from a certain healthy caution to keep your nation safe, you probably want to head towards Civil Service and Education, then depending on your circumstances bend toward MT directly or toward Liberalism to pick it up on the cheap.

where do i build my cities? I have a hard time picking spots other than anything circled blue on the map, or looking for flood plains... any tips to what to look for specifically would be nice

Food.