CommunistSquared
Chieftain
- Joined
- May 4, 2020
- Messages
- 7
Just played a fun science victory game as India where I managed to grow the capital of Delhi to 120 pop (663 million inhabitants). I did not use internal food routes, my only luxury monopoly was salt (+10% growth), I didn't have a few food-related social policies, and I never converted the city's massive production to food. Considering all this, I'm convinced that a 200 pop city (2.7 billion inhabitants!) by turn ~500 is definitely possible if I try my best to min/max everything. Right now I'm figuring out the optimal strategy to achieve this. Currently I plan to do this on a hot Terra map (standard size with only 6 players to give me more room for growth, settler difficulty, chill barbarians), also using "Really Advanced Setup" mod to ensure I have the right resources. (painting a perfect custom map is too cheaty for me. Arbitrary, I know)
Currently top map contender: https://imgur.com/a/BtXeeZH
Still not 100% certain on this but it's the best generation I got after a dozen or so tries. (Workable resources: 10 wheat, 3 sugar, 3 lapis, 2 truffle piglets)
Terrain: I'm assuming floodplains with wheat is the best overall food source? Unfortunately due to the distance and shape of the rivers along with no fresh water options in the desert, I won't be able to do any crazy food triangle setups (does the adjacency bonus even stack? as in will a farm completely surrounded by farms have +6 or only +2 food bonus?). If the adjacency bonus stacks then I will strongly consider rerolling the map for better floodplain coverage.
Civilization: India seems like the best choice due to their UA (growth bonus from religious followers) and their unique building (+1 food from farms). I guess Aztec could also work with their decent unique building?
Religion: I absolutely must have my own religion due to India's UA. I am conflicted when it comes to choosing the pantheon. Goddess of Fertility might seem like an obvious choice (+25% growth and +4 food) but when you consider that I have 10 workable wheat tiles, God of the Sun (+3 food from wheat) would provide me with an extra +30 food!!! Could this make more of a difference, especially early game? I plan to rush religion and choose divine inheritance (+20% capital city yield during golden age) as my founder belief and asceticism (+1 food for every follower, +15 food cap) as my first follower belief. Further upgrades will be mandir follower belief (+2 food, +10% food in city), medicancy enhancer belief(+2 food from internal trade routes, scaling with era). If I get around to choosing a reformation belief I'll probably do Faith of the Masses (purchase culture buildings with faith, they also get +2 culture).
Social Policies: I plan to start by fully going through the Tradition branch (every single policy increases food and growth, otherwise decent early-game bonuses). Afterwards I'll move onto Fealty branch (unlocks monastery for +3 food), and unlock Nobility/Serfdom policies (+50% yields from internal routes). Then I'll unlock Imperialism branch for the Exploitation policy (+2 food from all farms) and Colonialism policy (+10% to sum, +3 to flat yields from global monopolies). I'll probably be at the ideology stage at that point, and I'm thinking that Order is the way to go (+20% growth, +5 food in all cities, +2 citizens in all cities, +200% food from internal trade routes). I could also go for Freedom (specialists consume less food, farms produce +2 food), but overall it feels a bit weaker.
Resources/Corporations: This one is obvious, go for truffle/crab/salt/sugar/olive monopoly and TwoKay Foods corporation.
Early-game Plan: Rush religion (shrine -> Stonehenge). Then go for early food-based wonders (Temple of Artemis and Hanging Gardens).
TLDR
Currently top map contender: https://imgur.com/a/BtXeeZH
Still not 100% certain on this but it's the best generation I got after a dozen or so tries. (Workable resources: 10 wheat, 3 sugar, 3 lapis, 2 truffle piglets)
Terrain: I'm assuming floodplains with wheat is the best overall food source? Unfortunately due to the distance and shape of the rivers along with no fresh water options in the desert, I won't be able to do any crazy food triangle setups (does the adjacency bonus even stack? as in will a farm completely surrounded by farms have +6 or only +2 food bonus?). If the adjacency bonus stacks then I will strongly consider rerolling the map for better floodplain coverage.
Civilization: India seems like the best choice due to their UA (growth bonus from religious followers) and their unique building (+1 food from farms). I guess Aztec could also work with their decent unique building?
Religion: I absolutely must have my own religion due to India's UA. I am conflicted when it comes to choosing the pantheon. Goddess of Fertility might seem like an obvious choice (+25% growth and +4 food) but when you consider that I have 10 workable wheat tiles, God of the Sun (+3 food from wheat) would provide me with an extra +30 food!!! Could this make more of a difference, especially early game? I plan to rush religion and choose divine inheritance (+20% capital city yield during golden age) as my founder belief and asceticism (+1 food for every follower, +15 food cap) as my first follower belief. Further upgrades will be mandir follower belief (+2 food, +10% food in city), medicancy enhancer belief(+2 food from internal trade routes, scaling with era). If I get around to choosing a reformation belief I'll probably do Faith of the Masses (purchase culture buildings with faith, they also get +2 culture).
Social Policies: I plan to start by fully going through the Tradition branch (every single policy increases food and growth, otherwise decent early-game bonuses). Afterwards I'll move onto Fealty branch (unlocks monastery for +3 food), and unlock Nobility/Serfdom policies (+50% yields from internal routes). Then I'll unlock Imperialism branch for the Exploitation policy (+2 food from all farms) and Colonialism policy (+10% to sum, +3 to flat yields from global monopolies). I'll probably be at the ideology stage at that point, and I'm thinking that Order is the way to go (+20% growth, +5 food in all cities, +2 citizens in all cities, +200% food from internal trade routes). I could also go for Freedom (specialists consume less food, farms produce +2 food), but overall it feels a bit weaker.
Resources/Corporations: This one is obvious, go for truffle/crab/salt/sugar/olive monopoly and TwoKay Foods corporation.
Early-game Plan: Rush religion (shrine -> Stonehenge). Then go for early food-based wonders (Temple of Artemis and Hanging Gardens).
TLDR
- Are floodplains with wheat overall the best food source? Does the farm adjacency bonus stack?
- Is India the best growth civ?
- Goddess of Fertility or God of the Sun for pantheon (assuming 8+ wheat tiles)?
- Order or Freedom as ideology?
- Any other tips/advice appreciated