early exploration tips

[Avatarz]

What should the early priorities be when exploring the map? I usually find myself exploring large areas very far from the capital that are no use to me. Also, how do I move my warriors and scouts to reveal larger areas in one turn?

 

[Benford's Law]

Here are a few pointers I use:

-Standing on a hill gives you a line of sight up to two tiles away as long as a forest or jungle is not in the way. I try to end my scouts' movements on a hill or forest (forested hills being particularly desirable). Warriors with their one movement point may not always have this flexibility.
-Many people suggest going in a circular pattern around your capital to properly scout out the nearby areas for future city placement. Do this thoroughly with at least one unit and send the other to far-off lands. A more efficient approach (in my opinion) is using a warrior for the nearby scouting and using a scout (if your civ has hunting) for the faraway searches.
-If goody huts are turned on feel free to "run out there" far away to pop as many huts as you can while you search for neighboring civs.
-Early on I usually use two units for exploration and one for garrison duty. Replace as necessary if there is still lots to explore and the early animals are killing you.
-Be sure to check your game details right away if you are using random maps. If you are on a high sea-level and/or archipelago map, devote fewer hammers from the capital for exploration. If it's a low sea-level pangea map place a little more emphasis on the exploring.

Hope this helps.

~Benford's Law

 

[Avatarz]

Well, goody huts pretty much are my problem. Chasing after them is a pain to the early exploration since they often pop out of the initial circular path around the capital.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I usually send the initial guy along the coast, and the fogbusters after initial worker to explore for settling sites and prevent too much barbarian nonsense.

 

[vicawoo]

Prioritize the coast and around your capital. Scout rush targets thoroughly, otherwise you can skip land their likely to settle to look for huts.

So how do you balance that all?

My preferred path is scout along the coast, then hook around my capital in a way that maximizes tiles revealed. Second warrior will scout the other side of the capital.


There's also a difference if you want your scouting unit to live or not. If you don't, just send him down the coastline as far away as possible to contact AI and happen upon huts. Otherwise sweep back and forth in arcs, and get him back to safety in time to fog bust for your settlers.