GA Use

[Sir Bugsy]

I realize that there are countless variables to be taken into consideration, but I'll ask the question anyway? What is the most effective use of a GA? What actions should you take throughout your empire to maximize the GA's effectiveness?

 

[superslug]

Welcome to CFC!

Try and avoid having one while your government is in Despotism. That particular government is the absolute worst for shield production, having your GA then will only give you what you get in any other government anyway.

One other thing many players agree on is that an early GA is better than a late one. If you can get it in/near the Ancient times or early Middle, then you can maybe snag a useful tech before the AI does. Perhaps Map Making, Literacy, etc., something you can immediately use to generate cash through brokering with the computer.

The other advantage of an early GA is being able to rush out settlers and have a nice 'boom' in expansion. It's also a good time to finish a wonder or two. The Forbidden Palace, Sun Tzu's, the Great Library, etc.

 

[jollyhangman]

Yes! Getting settlers out quick and expanding seems to be what I do most in the GA, but then I often play Carthage or France (Commercial/Industrious), so I'm often stuck w/ an early GA. No matter--it's a game and I make the most of it. With com/ind civs, an early GA is agreat time to improve the infrastructure. Sadly, I don't reap a harvest of shields, but I've got a solid base for quick production early on.

 

[ivory]

Make sure all the tiles are producing shields and commerce, otherwise the GA might go by unnoticed... This means roading tiles which are not on a river, it may even mean mining the grasslands that have been irrigated.
I am not particularly happy with settlers running around during the GA because that means they aren't working any tiles. But I realise this is the time to get the territory expanded so I usually build them anyway. Early GA's usually have a bigger impact on history than late GA's, because they can help you get ahead of the AI in such way that you 'll never lose your place. But the less cities you have, the less impact the GA will make.
GA's during wars are not a bad thing at all. You can crank out military units like they cost nothing, and because you usually have money to burn, can buy dozens of temples, barracks etc. in newly captured towns.
The best use of GA's is building wonders though in my opinion. There have times where I built all Middle Age wonders thanks to a well timed GA (early Middle Ages like superslug said or slightly later).
The big DO-NOT is having anarchy or despotism during the Golden Age, because of their tile penalty. If you start the GA during despotism, chage governemt asap tho so you get at least a few turns in monarchy or republic.

 

[RegentMan]

I'll what others have said: no golden age in despotism. (Sorry, there are no yellow colors). Having it in a Republic or Democracy adds yet another commerce piece to your tiles. Imagine a city with the Colossus, railed to perfection, with a marketplace, bank, a stock market, a commercial dock, tons of gold and gem tiles... ooohh, need napkin to stop drool!

 

[ivory]

Proud to play on RegentMan, thank you for your additional thoughts on the subject.
You are not restricted to the colours that the list suggests, although they are usually the best for the various backgrounds. Try or or any other of the 216 'websafe colour' words that HTML understands: from aqua and ivory to firebrick and yellowgreen!

 

[Kaiser_Berger]

It really depends on your style. Personally, I like a golden age in the middle ages, in which I can build marketplaces, libraries, catherdrals, universities and banks that my civ needs.

Another strategy is to trigger it early on, and use the production bonus to run your oppenents into the ground, and pick up the pieces later. The Aztecs work well for this.

Which is better? I can't really say. It depends on your civ and the type of situation you're in. Experiment and see what works for you.

 

[RegentMan]

Originally posted by ivory
Proud to play on RegentMan, thank you for your additional thoughts on the subject. You are not restricted to the colours that the list suggests, although they are usually the best for the various backgrounds. Try or or any other of the 216 'websafe colour' words that HTML understands: from aqua and ivory to firebrick and yellowgreen!

Why thank you for the additional info. I'll have to try it some time!

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by ivory
Proud to play on RegentMan, thank you for your additional thoughts on the subject.
You are not restricted to the colours that the list suggests, although they are usually the best for the various backgrounds. Try or or any other of the 216 'websafe colour' words that HTML understands: from aqua and ivory to firebrick and yellowgreen!

Cool, didn't know that!

And I found a website that has all the websafe colors on it: 216 websafe colors

Hold your mouse over one of the colors to get the code. For example, [co*lor=0FF33]blahblahblah[/col*or] (without the *'s) gives you [color=0FF33]blahblahblah.

 

[ivory]

You 're welcome. Like WillJ's example shows, you are not restricted to words either. For example [color=123456] and [color=789abc] will be recognized as hexadecimal code, which opens the way for 16777216 different colours. Only RGB code is not well supported.
I made a mistake in my earlier post: there are 140 named colours, 216 so-called websafe colours (they don't overlap by the way) and even 27 system colours.

A versatile tester for coloured text on different backgrounds, including those names, is at www.4umi.com/web/css/coloror.htm. It works best in IE. Just click the buttons, checkboxes etc. to see what it all does. I hope you like it because I wrote it myself.

And just to stay on-topic: who is not ready for his Golden Age now?

 

[Orc]

Two words:

 

[marceagleye]

Not a whole lot you can do to avoid one if you have an ancient UU. In my current game as Egypt Alexander declared war on me midway through the ancient age. It irritated me a lot because I had no choice but to kill his intruders with what I had available- war chariots. The first three or four turns I tried my best to avoid triggering the GA... while trying hard not to trigger Alex's either. At first I tried only using what few archers I had around and only attacked his archers and warriors with them. But when a pair of his warriors was about to move into position to start pillaging the only units I had around to prevent it was war chariots... so I decided to send one on a suicide mission against one of his fortified hoplites. Damn you Alex! Since you forced me into an early golden age you'll have to suffer through it too.