Hybrid Economies the way to go in BTS?

[axident]

I think the idea of HE is that you let your land and resources dictate the type of economy you run.

Sometimes your capital makes a good GP farm, and sometimes your capital really lends itself to lots of cottages. Usually you can tell which is which at the start, but this to me helps dictate whether I cottage the capital and aim for bureaucracy or put specialists in the capital and aim for philosophy and a lot of GPP.

Then I get a mix of specialist, cottage and production cities.

Good early specialist cities are cities with a couple of food specials and mediocre terrain otherwise. They can usually run a couple of scientists and a spy with appropriate buildings and may generate a single great person out of your first 5 or so. Often they get converted into production cities later, or with biology can run more specialists.

Good early cottage cities are grasslands, especially river grasslands, but not many food specials. Farm one or two grasslands for growth and build cottages.

Floodplains usually favour cottage cities due to unhealthiness but with Expansive or lots of health resources make good specialist cities too.

Cities with iron/copper and a food source plus hills and forests usually become production cities.

If I am financial I will tend to have more cottage cities. If philosophical more specialist cities. But I will tend to play the terrain I have rather than adopt any hard rules about how many of each sort of city I have.

I agree with you and stalker, as usual.

I would note that people sometimes forget that they can move their palace, or otherwise overestimate the cost of doing so. That's nonsense; I routinely move my palace if my starting capital is a food/production powerhouses, and I found or capture a cottagespammed river/grassland city later on.

 

[Percy]

I would note that people sometimes forget that they can move their palace, or otherwise overestimate the cost of doing so. That's nonsense; I routinely move my palace if my starting capital is a food/production powerhouses, and I found or capture a cottagespammed river/grassland city later on.

True. The game i'm in, i had a medium-sized island all for myself, but my capital started on the coast. Inland, there are only 2 cities (mostly desert), but one of them is floodplains-heavy. I cottaged them, and am planning on moving the Palace here: i'll get more commerce, and less distance maintenance.