One of the most enjoyable parts of the game is the initial exploration. How do you explore? Do you find the nearest coast and follow it? Do you expand out in a circular pattern? Do you find a river and follow that? Do you go where the animals aren't? Any thoughts?
How do you explore at the beginning of the game?
- Thread starter br_casino
- Start date
I basicly try to go diagonally into areas that are black, sometimes trying to end on a hill so I can see better. If I have a warrior, I might be more inclined to go over forests/jungles/hills. If I have a scout, I try to avoid them, at least on the first square. If I have "super warrior" (two woodman promotions) I'll try to go over a forest or jungle, at least on the first square, so I can move two.
Meatbuster
formerly Robo Kai
If I have only one scout/warrior I do the circular thing around my base to find good sites. If I have more than one, I would use the second/succeeding scouts to find other civs.
If there is a big area of jungle I will avoid it for two reasons.
The land there is slow to develop, needing iron working and a lot of chopping so it's not suitable for early cities.
Second, it can be full of panthers which eat scouts and warriors.
The land there is slow to develop, needing iron working and a lot of chopping so it's not suitable for early cities.
Second, it can be full of panthers which eat scouts and warriors.
I usually feed my warrior to a bear. Not on purpose, of course, but it does seem to happen a lot. At least it keeps the bears happy.
peace,
lilnev
PS. On a more serious note, the AI gets big combat bonuses against animals. It's warriors don't get eaten by bears. So it's worth keeping an eye on where the AI goes -- it's usually safe to follow (though you won't find many huts that way, at least you can explore the map more safely).
peace,
lilnev
PS. On a more serious note, the AI gets big combat bonuses against animals. It's warriors don't get eaten by bears. So it's worth keeping an eye on where the AI goes -- it's usually safe to follow (though you won't find many huts that way, at least you can explore the map more safely).
Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
I usually explore in a circular fashion around the capital, exposing tiles so I know where vital resources like bronze or horses will appear, and where my first few cities should go. One Warrior will explore part of the circle--say, the south, moving from east to west--and the next one will explore the other part, say the north. If they complete a circuit, they turn around and explore the next "ring" of darkened tiles. By then, other civs' borders usually force them along specific paths.
Of course, I depart from this for goody huts. And I'm not shy about covering territory near other civs or where their units came from; I've often found the AI has missed a hut very close to its borders; given the limited visibility of the early exploring units, that's not too surprising.
I also don't mind when a unit pops a hut for XPs. I usually give them Woodsman I and II so they become super-scouts. Fast-moving units often result in more huts. Later, assuming I haven't made any bears happy
, that unit gets upgraded and becomes a good fog-buster, and later a stack protector.
VoiceOfUnreason
Deity
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2005
- Messages
- 3,663
If I've founded the capital along a river, I'll prioritize exploring the river (free connection to my next city, or to resources that appear along the river). In theory, exploring the coast should get a similar upgrade in priority, but I don't often make sailing part of my early plans except on aquatic maps (where terrain units don't get a lot of opportunity for exploration anyway).
I'm learning some basic exploring strats here, thanks!
I must say I didn't change my exploring strat from vanilla to warlords which is a mistake.
What i do:
- build a warrior first in the capital
- choose a general direction that my instinct says is best for next city site (out of the desert, out of the tundra are most common instinct feeders)
- send my initial warrior/scout in this general direction, using forests and hills to minimize use of defenseless terrain.
- send the second warrior in a different (not necessarily opposite) direction.
- I leave exploring of the immediate vicinity to cultural expansion of the capital
What are the results :
- I clear a lot of land and I can often find good second city sites, but not in the most immediate vicinity sometimes (which is not a big deal in most games)
- I meet a lot of neighbours, but I often find only 1 "enemy" city
- I earn good promotions (hello lion, hello wolf)
- I pop very few huts (3 is a good result)
- I have a hard time bringing my warriors home to fogbust
I must say I didn't change my exploring strat from vanilla to warlords which is a mistake.
What i do:
- build a warrior first in the capital
- choose a general direction that my instinct says is best for next city site (out of the desert, out of the tundra are most common instinct feeders)
- send my initial warrior/scout in this general direction, using forests and hills to minimize use of defenseless terrain.
- send the second warrior in a different (not necessarily opposite) direction.
- I leave exploring of the immediate vicinity to cultural expansion of the capital
What are the results :
- I clear a lot of land and I can often find good second city sites, but not in the most immediate vicinity sometimes (which is not a big deal in most games)
- I meet a lot of neighbours, but I often find only 1 "enemy" city
- I earn good promotions (hello lion, hello wolf)
- I pop very few huts (3 is a good result)
- I have a hard time bringing my warriors home to fogbust
Dirk1302
Deity
I scout more or less as Sisiutil does (in circles).i try to stay in the wood and jungle as often as possible and deliberately try to defend against animals as often as possible. Most of the time i pickup woodsman I and II this way.+/- 2000 BC the warriors head home to take on the barbarian archers, that come at my empire around 1600, in the woods. This usually gives enough protection till the appearance of barbarian axes.
This means that i sometimes don't scout (much) further in the first scouting round than is needed for finding copper and city placement.
Second round of scouting with axes comes when i'm close to alphabet and i need civs to trade with (or to attack).
This means that i sometimes don't scout (much) further in the first scouting round than is needed for finding copper and city placement.
Second round of scouting with axes comes when i'm close to alphabet and i need civs to trade with (or to attack).
eric_
Emperor
I usually follow the concentric circle exploration method as described by Sisiutil. I hold to that pattern until my city(ies) has (have) a unit protecting them. Once that occurs I tend to hop from hill to hill and follow coast lines. Woodsman I and II are also my standard upgrades for scouts and exploring warriors, and I often maneuver into position to defend against animals and warrior barbs if I'm exploring with a warrior.
I do my best to retain 1 if not 2 units for exploration until rival expansion boxes in a unit or the map is fully revealed. If the former occurs, I'll hit autoexplore to keep tabs on how rival civs are doing. Eventually my explorers end up popping back up near home once their shrinking plot of unclaimed land is eaten up by expansion.
Probably my favorite goody-hut prize is a scout. I love having two scouts.
I do my best to retain 1 if not 2 units for exploration until rival expansion boxes in a unit or the map is fully revealed. If the former occurs, I'll hit autoexplore to keep tabs on how rival civs are doing. Eventually my explorers end up popping back up near home once their shrinking plot of unclaimed land is eaten up by expansion.
Probably my favorite goody-hut prize is a scout. I love having two scouts.
Quagga
Former Dictator
Two scouts is good. Then how about five scouts? That happened to me in a game last week. I found lots of huts and most of them popped scouts. I prefer techs, but scouts are second best, except maybe when you already have four of them!
I love the movement of scouts and try my best to land on a forest/jungle hill. This often strong influences my direction (as do huts), which otherwise would be an outward spiral. Also, I avoid bears if I see them.
With Scouts I go for the Woodsman II promo as others have mentioned. Usually I can get this promo fighting animals. After that, I'm likely to get to 10 XP, as the Scout will be able to handle Warriors when fortified on a suitable tile. I run away from Archers.
If my explorer is a Warrior, I go for Combat I and then Cover, running away from Axemen.
I've tried giving my Scouts Combat then Medic, but they rarely make it back home to be used as war medics.
I love the movement of scouts and try my best to land on a forest/jungle hill. This often strong influences my direction (as do huts), which otherwise would be an outward spiral. Also, I avoid bears if I see them.
With Scouts I go for the Woodsman II promo as others have mentioned. Usually I can get this promo fighting animals. After that, I'm likely to get to 10 XP, as the Scout will be able to handle Warriors when fortified on a suitable tile. I run away from Archers.
If my explorer is a Warrior, I go for Combat I and then Cover, running away from Axemen.
I've tried giving my Scouts Combat then Medic, but they rarely make it back home to be used as war medics.
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