Game start question

[Tinkerbell]

I usually have in the beginning of a game small city's with way to much food. I don't know what the way to go is here. Say a planned commerce city working 4 flood plains with cottages. It has +6 , so will grow soon too big to be happy. Now what? Just let it grow, set the stop city grow flag, use other squares, whip big buildings?

How do you all manage this?

 

[Padma]

Moderator Action: Thread moved - not a strategy article.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Moderator Action: Thread moved - not a strategy article.

Sorry about that, my mistake.

 

[nanomage]

in the very beginning of the game it is usualy worth only work squares that yield 4+ food of 3+ hammers or 5+ commerce, that is, improved resources, farmed floodplains, mined hills. if your initial city is going to grow over happy cap or use up all such good tiles, then yes, you should whip it. better to whip not "big" buildings, but a granary and a bunch of settlers-workers. or a bunch of axemen.
stop city grow flag is not for early game - even a "wasted" population point which angry citizen is still can be whipped and so has its use.
edit:
normally, from my playing experience as well as from numerous guides, whipping is great and it's extremely difficult to overwhip - there're always some people to whip again. however, there are some basic tips on whipping, one great set i have found in this forum in thread "agressive whipping strategy tips." (great thanks to its creators). for me personally, the main point is - always try to whip 2+ citizens at once.

 

[UWHabs]

I think that cottaged city is probably best for building workers/settlers. I don't like whipping away cottages, but floodplain towns are actually pretty good at building settlers and workers.

 

[pigswill]

Too much food?
i) Whip and regrow.
ii) Build workers and settlers.
iii) Run specialists.

 

[Skallagrimson]

I usually have in the beginning of a game small city's with way to much food. I don't know what the way to go is here. Say a planned commerce city working 4 flood plains with cottages. It has +6 , so will grow soon too big to be happy. Now what? Just let it grow, set the stop city grow flag, use other squares, whip big buildings?

How do you all manage this?

Whip until it has all the buildings it needs (and none of the ones it doesn't), and then whip units. Run specialists to control/slow the growth if they're back to the happy/healthy caps before the whip anger goes away. But if they're at the growth cap (either happy or healthy), whip whatever building can increase that cap (e.g., aquaduct, temple, whatev) and at a certain point you'll be whipping units OR... running specialists at stagnation. Depending on your civics.

 

[slobberinbear]

With a commerce city running mostly cottages I would use the extra food to run a specialist or two, assuming I had the basic commerce city buildings in place (granary, library, market). Those can be chopped or whipped usually.

 

[oyzar]

Whip buildings and/or settlers and workers. Just building settlers or workers if you don't have a granary is also a possiblity.

 

[Bleys]

Too much food?
i) Whip and regrow.
ii) Build workers and settlers.
iii) Run specialists.

No such thing as too much food! Its actually the best "problem" you can have in this game. "My cities grow too fast" is a good thing!

But i) - iii) are right on. Mix and Match as best you can!

 

[Cashew]

If all else fails just stop working your food producing tiles and work mines instead.

 

[Skallagrimson]

Also lately I've become less afraid of going over the health/happy caps. It's sub-optimal, but when I'm waiting to be able to whip something like an aquaduct I'm seeing the unhappies and unhealthies more and more as just a storehouse of whip-pop.

Also if the happy cap is higher than the health cap, I'll whip before the anger goes away, because I'll want to stagnate sooner with specialists anyhow. Extra happies do you no good if you don't have the health to use them.

 

[futurehermit]

 

[Gwynnja]

Hmmm. Whipping is good, but you also want to acquire more happiness. Early on look for elephants, gold, silver, jewels, and beavers. Religions and hereditary rule will also allow you to build larger cities.

 

[Skallagrimson]

With higher happiness you can do bigger whips.