how far apart should cities be??

[gingerbill]

sorry for the newbie question . Just wondering how many squares apart your cities are?

 

[Hans Lemurson]

As close together as possible while minimizing overlap. This generally means 3-4 squares in-between them. The main factor on city-placement after this one is maximizing their access to resources.

 

[Gyhth]

As far apart as the AI builds them

When I build them, I just build them in the best places possible that will either net me good resources that I need or I find a great place to settle down. Normally, I place my cities far enough apart so they can all obtain the Fat Cross and have no over lapping tiles, but I also sometimes find myself with cities that overlap 2 or 3 tiles - those, personally, I don't mind. When it's an entire row that is over lapped, then I begin to raze and move. I only tend to build 2, maybe 3 cities though. The rest are gotten in War.

 

[Esox]

I don't mind a little overlap, since it's rare I get cities to grow so big that all of the tiles are being worked. Working a good resource square takes precedence for me, over 'perfect' spacing.

 

[Stickler]

I make mine 5 spaces from the center tile and no less than 4 if I have to.

 

[Murky]

It depends on the map and settings. It's best to use dottmapping to decide where to place new cities. The optimal distance is 4 squares away. This way their fatcross are just touching but not overlapping. Sometimes, you have to forgo the optimal distance in order to get a resource you need.

 

[VirusMonster]

I try to minimize the unreached territory around my cities. Thus, I usually have 1-2 or something even 3 square overlap between two of my cities. I really feel bad if I can't use some land, even a single square, because finding land at higher difficulty levels can be a problem.

 

[Charles 22]

If you count four hexes straight across, and two to one side or the other, you overlap just one hex. If you go one more hex to the side you have no overlap and a perfect fit. My favorite use is to either just count five straight in which no overlap occurs either, or the four-up two across method. I'm playing for an all-out conquering of the board so I'm not keen on overlapping, since my games will always last into the futuristic era. I may yet allow for a little more overlapping, as it seems I never get a city too much beyond 20 pop. There are other times OTOH where I will go as far as even 6 straight across from my last city, if it will net me one or two more resources or is the difference between me having one port or none at all, etc.

I guess the territory where I'm most keen to allow for more serious overlapping would be when it's a conquered city, as the alternative of building up a whole other one and having to make another settler is none too charming. OTOH, a new city won't have rebels in it, be that in the immediate sense or further down the road.

 

[Zherak_Khan]

Hexes are hexagons - six sides regular shapes - the angles and sides of the shape are identical. Hexes exist in many wargames, but no in civs. They are tiles, or strictly speaking quadragons.

 

[civn]

Usually, I try to build my cities ring first and fill the center empty land last. Hoping for some AI would build his city there and all my city will flip him and I get 1 free settler and 1 defending military unit. If no AI took the bait then eventually I'll fill the land myself.

This way all my outskirt cities have moderate to strong culture which are enough to protect the newly found cities in the center.

 

[Charles 22]

Hexes are hexagons - six sides regular shapes - the angles and sides of the shape are identical. Hexes exist in many wargames, but no in civs. They are tiles, or strictly speaking quadragons.

If you think I or anyone else on this board is going to type out quadragons, or even something as non-decript as tiles you're losing it. I would type hex if they were squares. Tiles sound like something in my kitchen and certainly not something in my pc game.

 

[malekithe]

Hexes are hexagons - six sides regular shapes - the angles and sides of the shape are identical. Hexes exist in many wargames, but no in civs. They are tiles, or strictly speaking quadragons.

In English, we use the word quadrilateral.

If you think I or anyone else on this board is going to type out quadragons, or even something as non-decript as tiles you're losing it. I would type hex if they were squares. Tiles sound like something in my kitchen and certainly not something in my pc game.

I use the word tile frequently. The game itself calls them spaces. I've never seen anyone but you use the term hex refering to anything in Civ.

 

[Araqiel]

Even if you don't like the alternatives its much better to come up with a term that doesn't invite such confusion. Hex implies a rather specific structure to the grid that just doesn't exist in this game. Just use the term square if you like. They're only quadrilaterals because of the camera angle. Fundamentally its just a square tiling of the map.

 

[Charles 22]

In English, we use the word quadrilateral.



I use the word tile frequently. The game itself calls them spaces. I've never seen anyone but you use the term hex refering to anything in Civ.

Well wise up then, because I see plenty of people using that, but, then again, maybe it's not from 'this' forum, but no matter, as it's a commonly used general term. Quadrilateral indeed .

I'm sorry if I being the crowned only one using the term hex in this forum causes all sorts of undo confusion .

 

[Charles 22]

Even if you don't like the alternatives its much better to come up with a term that doesn't invite such confusion. Hex implies a rather specific structure to the grid that just doesn't exist in this game. Just use the term square if you like. They're only quadrilaterals because of the camera angle. Fundamentally its just a square tiling of the map.

Square sounds (how shall I put it?), square?

 

[malekithe]

I can't believe anyone who has ever played a game that actually uses hexes would use the term when refering to Civilization. A standard tiled gameboard can be constructed of either of two shapes; squares or hexes. The defining characteristic of a hex is that it is equidistant from its 6 neighbors. They solve the whole "what does it cost to move diagonally" problem because there is no diagonal. If you start throwing the word hex around in the stategy forum, new people could be confused into thinking Civ actually operates on a hex-based system. You're using a word that includes certain assummptions in a scenario in which those assumptions do not apply. In other words, you're using the word incorrectly. Hex is not a "general" term for a four sided game tile.

Feel free to continue using it here, but expect to be corrected occasionally.

 

[Charles 22]

I can't believe anyone who has ever played a game that actually uses hexes would use the term when refering to Civilization. A standard tiled gameboard can be constructed of either of two shapes; squares or hexes. The defining characteristic of a hex is that it is equidistant from its 6 neighbors. They solve the whole "what does it cost to move diagonally" problem because there is no diagonal. If you start throwing the word hex around in the stategy forum, new people could be confused into thinking Civ actually operates on a hex-based system. You're using a word that includes certain assummptions in a scenario in which those assumptions do not apply. In other words, you're using the word incorrectly. Hex is not a "general" term for a four sided game tile.

Feel free to continue using it here, but expect to be corrected occasionally.

Oh yeah, I've noticed a certain permeation of term-nerds around if you will. I don't mind the term-nerds apart from the few that get so bold as to try to tell you what to do and how they know so much better. On the subject of what I say is a generic term, that being 'hex', part of the argument I've seen from you is about that it might give the wrong impression, well believe me when I say, that a hex is usually denoting a much better game than a square, or whatever weird name some people have contrived for that Civ4 rendering. I backl part of my claim to it being a generic term and therefore applicaable as such, when I note that there are octagon-based games, or have been anyway, and I don't recall a single person ever calling those things 'octs' or octagons when referring to them. Most assuredly it was 'hexes' that I recall. I think it it's often used to denote a single point of a given map which has more than 4 sides. I also think that people think it strange to call even squares as squares, hence the general hex terminology. But, who knows, maybe I'm making this all up ? An erroneous view is entirely possible here, though I think even the nerdiest of us see the pointlessness, particularly in this age of constant abbreviations that we would call these Civ4 hexes as quadrilaterals; a name so unique I'm sure many saw it for the first time in this thread, and which is better off, due to lack of use, to be entirely forgotten.

 

[pigswill]

Tiles,hexes, who cares. It's the basic geographical unit in the game. Silly debate.

 

[Charles 22]

I've been thnking about the hex ordeal a bit more, and one thing that strikes me slightly, and that is my description that it is denoting of something with more than 4 sides to it. Well, come to think of it, how many octagonally-based games do you know? Far and few between, so no wonder that the word hex would do what I say it does, when almost the entirety of games based on more than four sides is what are really hex-based (six sides).

Now, one more applicable thought to the game itself. I think the term 'space' sounds far too generic, much more so than hex, but in this game I think hex is the prefect term, more so than in other games. Now if that weird "quadrilateral" thing is more accurate I do not know, but what I do know is that it's complex beyond reasonable use. In any case to call this game that, or more pointedly to call it square-based flies in the face of facts as I know them. What are the facts? Have you ever played a square-based game? Chess, right? Nope. Yeah, but the 'hexes' are squares! Yes, but it's not the shape of the hex that is important here, it the angles of action (AoA). IOW, in chess, just like with this game, you have an octagonal AoA, such that you can conduct actions in eight directions because it allows diagonal moves. So based on that observation, most of you have never played a square-based game. I have, and believe me, the experience was miserable.

Now I've heard some people claim that Sid's games would be better if they weren't "square"-based but as I just described they're really not. I have played octagonal-based games before and you only got eight AoA's you could perform. IOW, you could only conduct AoA's on the facings only and there wasn't any movement allowed on the points, which for that sort of game would be the equivalent of the diagonal moves allowed in civ. So while Civ looks square-based, it in fact plays in an octagonal fashion. I was wondering why there's leagues of difference between what I knew of true square-based games and Civ, as Civ is far better and not typical of true square-based.

So since Civ isn't really square-based since the AoA's are octagonal-based, I think the generic 'hex' is just the right term for this game.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Hex is NOT generic*, it is specifically inappropriate
tile, space are generic
square is not generic, it is specifically appropriate

(quadrilateral, quadrangle, or tetragon are also appropriate but they are too long)

stick with square/tile/space and the term-nerds won't go after you and they are just as short.


*Hex means either 6 (and is used as short for Hexagons) or a curse.

Note:if you look at AoA , then Chess is not a "square based" game.
But its not Octagonal either. Its actually a Hexadecimal based game (16 possible moves: four sides, four corners, and 8 different knight moves)

But your position IS always on a Specific Square. So the Tiles are called Squares (because they are)


As was said before all 'tile' based games are made of either Hexes, Squares, or Triangles. because those are the only regular polygons (ie Normal shapes) that will cover a board... Octagons Won't

A square means four sides a hex means six.... saying a square is a type of hex is like saying a dog is a type of cat.

Now if you want to say civ is an "Octagon based" game because of the 8 directions that you can move in fine, but calling the squares hexes is wildly incorrect. (Like when I say the 60 United states... you assume I'm just making a mistake and correct me in your head... we know what you mean, but its Not what you are saying)