I find all of your posts quite informative Jesus, particularly the specific ones where I can match my pace against. I think you devalue artists and the wonders however. I pollute my GP pool intentionally since you can use each GP for some helpful purpose, particularly scientists for Philo, Edu, and Printing Press. Even priests can be converted to culture and are useful for obtaining Theology. The artists are better than a fully grown cottage in terms of culture. So I think a hybrid approach is best (it almost always is I believe for whatever victory condition) as you can turn up the culture slider in the 250-500 AD range and still research what you need.
A question though- settled artists I have calculated are best before 830 AD if you plan on finishing around 1600. Is this calculation correct or should it be later? I base this on having only 2 cathedrals to multiply its effect for the last turns so the payback is 6000/42=143 turns. I am now thinking to push this date back to past 1000 AD and count on 3 cathedrals.
Thank you. I was a bit afraid I was talking too much and I was monopolizing the thread. If only my posts for other victory conditions could reach the rank of "informative" instead of "rambling"!
I basically agree with all you've said here. 1 single early GP is at least useful for lightbulbing Theo. But I prefer a GS to lighbulb Philo, it gives you 50% more beakers. A GM is almost useless, it is worth nothing compared to a GA. A GE too, there is no such an important WW as to renounce to a GA on Prince level. Early GS are useful. Late GS are not. GAs is what you want.
Early GS: you can make an Academy or lightbulb Educ/Philo. In one of my Deity cultural attempts I emphasized research. So I used 4 GS for all that. It was a bit of overdoing things, though, 3 lightbulbs leaves too little time for Academy to be efficient. I had ended researching in the BC (I chose PP instead of Nationalism and traded for it). I thought it would be a great game. It wasn’t. It took me to 800-1000AD to have a couple of Cathedrals in every city. Going 100% culture without Cathedrals and without mature cottages is not so efficient.
Anyway, my point is you don’t want GLib, the subsequent GS would be too late, and you prefer to put your hammers into missionaries/temples anyway.
Hybrid approach: yes, of course, in both my games I set up my GPFarm in the BC. It is a very restricted GPfarm though, maximum 5 artists.
<<you can turn up the culture slider in the 250-500 AD range and still research what you need.>> Mmmmm, I don’t know. Sounds a bit inefficient. If you have things left to research, just research them with 100% science. While you do that, you build a couple of cathedrals more. Then, when you are done with research, you go 100% culture and it is more efficient now because you have had the time to build more cathedrals.
Oh, or where you talking about Representation beakers?
Settled artists calculation: I imagine you are doing the maths right, but I think the way it is explained could lead to mistakes. 6000/42=143 is ok if you have 2 cathedrals the whole 143 turns, not just at the end. I think what you are doing is having 0 cathedrals in the first turn and 4 in the 143th turn, so roughly as a mean you have had 2 the whole time. If you want more accuracy you need to plan ahead the dates your cathedrals will be produced in that city and add up the expected culture output turn by turn. No shortcuts.
By the way, I had forgotten about settling artists! I am so spoiled by Deity Quick! On Quick you almost never want to settle a GA.
As for your game, congratulations, those cities are really nice! I am sorry I can’t open your save, I don’t have Warlords. Looking at the pictures my ideas are:
- Nice cities, I wish they were mine!
- I would never pollute my GP pool that way. But you have already explained you did it on purpose. I can’t agree with you on that point though. Please tell us, how many GPeople did you pop, how many were GA, how many of the GS were early ones?
- (Assuming the NE is in the capital): It seems a pity not to have farmed those cottages in your GPFarm. But I think I would have done the same, your GPFarm happens to be your capital, so in the BC you preferred to have cottages for research. And once they were so developed, it would have been too late to replace them with farms for maybe a single additional GA.
Hey, killercane, you see what you’ve done! You encouraged me and now I can’t stop talking! I really enjoy discussing about cultural games, does it show?
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or getting there.
