How to Bring a City "Up to Speed"

[Ethan Moreau]

Something that usually poses a big problem for me is that by the time I'm building my sixth city, it's just something I use to take up territory space. I only have a core of about five useful cities, the rest don't do anything. Past micromanagement, is there a lot I can do? Assistance is appreciated.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

Something that usually poses a big problem for me is that by the time I'm building my sixth city, it's just something I use to take up territory space. I only have a core of about five useful cities, the rest don't do anything. Past micromanagement, is there a lot I can do? Assistance is appreciated.

The corruption will heavily depend on map size and/or level. And on tiny maps on a medium to upper level there is probably little you can do.

Another thing is that corrupted commerce and wasted shields are generally rounded to your disadvantage. That means that especially with smallish numbers of shields and commerce the loss due to rounding can be significant. Take for example a city that has 33% percent of corruption. If that city made 5 shields, then 2 out of 5 (de facto 40%) would be lost.

The solution here is simply not to be deterred too much by the heavy rounding loss at small sizes. If the above city was larger and made 20 shields, then 7 out of 20 (de facto 35%) would be lost. In other words, cities should outgrow the corruption a little.

Another thing that you shouldn't forget is that you are likely still in despotism and have no forbidden palace yet. Getting into a proper government and building the FP should mitigate the corruption as well.

 

[ThinkTank]

Just taking up territory space is already useful: there might be a (future) strategic lux in it, but more importantly, land that is claimed by you cannot be claimed by anyone else. At least not easily.

Other than that, Lord Emsworth is right and corruption and waste are just factors of the game that can be countered somewhat (like building the FP) but not entirely. Food is never corrupted; neither is output from specialists. This is why players build science or tax farms: a highly corrupt city which is high on food, which you then use to turn as many citizens as possible in that city to tax collector or scientist.

 

[capnvonbaron]

What is your city spacing like? If you jam cities closer together (two-tiles laterally) you will suffer less distance corruption. If you are putting your "core" cities a little looser, that is okay if you plan on making them into super powerhouse cities in late game... but remember each city can only work 12 tiles out of the 20 workable tiles in the "big fat cross" until sanitation. Past those first five cities, start jamming them in as close as you can. BELIEVE ME it works great!

Here's a link to city placement in the war academy. FYI, I use loose placement in my core and go tight in the hinterlands.

 

[Boss Tweed]

Something that usually poses a big problem for me is that by the time I'm building my sixth city, it's just something I use to take up territory space. I only have a core of about five useful cities, the rest don't do anything. Past micromanagement, is there a lot I can do? Assistance is appreciated.

several points...

one, city placement is the biggest thing (IMO). If you place your city in a strategic location, it can make the most out of the surrounding terrain.

two, make the most out of the surrounding terrain. Work the tiles right. Don't irrigate bonus grassland, etc...

three, build the Forbidden Palace ASAP. The sooner you get it built, the sooner you can reap the benefits

four, if you're gunna' spend the money on courthouses, build them early on too (I wouldn't advise building them in the farther out cities, as they're just a waste of money on higher levels)

five, build up population in far-out cities, and make tax-farms or science farms. That way you can have a larger income and research faster, and your corrupt cities aren't going to waste

six, use your core cities to build important units and improvements to conquer far lands

seven, don't ignore the use of an airbase rather than building a money intensive airport. Its an easy way to ship units without spending as much money and effort in far off corrupt cities

I'm sure there are many, many more tips that people can give you, but those are just a few

 

[eldar]

two, make the most out of the surrounding terrain. Work the tiles right. Don't irrigate bonus grassland, etc...

Most of these I agree with... out of Despotism, this I would (and DO) do. It takes a city with +4 food (awkward) to +5 food. Probably meaning you can offline a settler/worker pump in the core and put it to better use.

And typically you'd irrigate BG's before regular grassland, because you still get a bonus shield in a GA/Mobilization from the BG, you need the mine on a regular grassland for that.

 

[Spoonwood]

five, build up population in far-out cities, and make tax-farms or science farms.

Better still. Build up population in far-out cities and use them as *specialist* farms. What's the difference? If you ever play a histographic game, you'll want to use civil engineers or taxmen in those cities to build aqueducts, markets, hospitals, mass transit systems, and possibly even courthouses and cathedrals. Or even a temple or a library for a border expansion.

 

[Boss Tweed]

Most of these I agree with... out of Despotism, this I would (and DO) do. It takes a city with +4 food (awkward) to +5 food. Probably meaning you can offline a settler/worker pump in the core and put it to better use.

And typically you'd irrigate BG's before regular grassland, because you still get a bonus shield in a GA/Mobilization from the BG, you need the mine on a regular grassland for that.

sorry. I should've specified that it was out of Despotism

Better still. Build up population in far-out cities and use them as *specialist* farms. What's the difference? If you ever play a histographic game, you'll want to use civil engineers or taxmen in those cities to build aqueducts, markets, hospitals, mass transit systems, and possibly even courthouses and cathedrals. Or even a temple or a library for a border expansion.

Civil Engineers never seem to work right for me. It seems that they only work when I'm in a city with resistors (or something weird like that)

 

[eldar]

Civil Engineers are the most cost-effective specialists (in super-corrupt cities at least - I'd say that Cops are best in cities where 1 cop gives you back 1 shield+1 commerce; with a factory+plant, that's 2 shields and with a library/uni or market/bank/exchange combo, useful extra science/gold as well).

1 shield = 4 gold. So a Civil Engineer is worth 8 gold - the equivalent of four taxmen. So if you just want to build improvements, only use taxmen when there would be overrun. The same rule as if you're using Scientists to boost research.

 

[Boss Tweed]

Civil Engineers are the most cost-effective specialists (in super-corrupt cities at least - I'd say that Cops are best in cities where 1 cop gives you back 1 shield+1 commerce; with a factory+plant, that's 2 shields and with a library/uni or market/bank/exchange combo, useful extra science/gold as well).

1 shield = 4 gold. So a Civil Engineer is worth 8 gold - the equivalent of four taxmen. So if you just want to build improvements, only use taxmen when there would be overrun. The same rule as if you're using Scientists to boost research.

so, in a sense, Civil Engineers aren't producing shields to hurry up production, but are really adding gold?

 

[eldar]

If you're planning on rushing a lot of buildings, then they save you gold. Every two shields added to a project by an engineer saves you 6 gold: the 8 gold that those two shields are worth, less the 2 gold you would've got from a taxman.

When I'm running specialist farms, it's normally for science. So for 3 turns out of 4, all my specialists in corrupt cities are scientists.

On the 4th turn, if I'm building something in a city (typically culture, or maybe a harbor to bring a fish tile up to 4 food), the scientists become engineers; otherwise they become taxmen.

 

[Spoonwood]

Eldar's right about civil engineers... but I'll add one condition, which he already knows and assumes. Civil engineers are the most cost-effective specialists *for buildings*. For units, they don't do anything... and you can't pre-build say a cavalry via a market with civil engineers either.

 

[Hasdrubal Barca]

Actually you can use civil engineers for units, just use it for a building and then at then beggining of the turn, zoom in to the city at the production pop-up and switch to the unit, when all the production pop-ups end, the turn cycle will calculate your earning for the playable turn and the shields will add up to the whatever unit you changed to.