i always start off rough at the beginning, i need help please!

[bigk89m]

I always start off and sometimes il do fine, but most times il start losing gold and im forced to bring my science down really low. I become "backwards" and my cities arent growing. WHy does this happen?

 

[tR1cKy]

You suck You need to improve.

Post a save and / or a screenshot of your game. Someone will help.

 

[SewerStarFish]

Some quick suggestions as there are many strategies and things you can do.

Explore - the more civs you meet early the better your trading options - send your first warrior (two if you don't have scout) out to meet new people and open goody huts.
Trade - if you have a Tech they don't - trade it, sell it
Expand - build settlers and get more cities.
From turn one: choose Republic or Monarchy - when you are struggling it's good to get out of Despotism.

If you fall behind make sure each city has plenty of units -- you usually have an oppurtunity to catch up in the Middle Ages

 

[Rohili]

First say what difficulty level you are playing on. Different difficulties require different strategies.

 

[vmxa]

I always start off and sometimes il do fine, but most times il start losing gold and im forced to bring my science down really low. I become "backwards" and my cities arent growing. WHy does this happen?

This is a sure sign that you have not used workers properly. This could be in part because you do not have enough and or they are wasting turns. If they are automated, that will do it.

Get mines and roads going on tiles that your citizens are actually working.
Get enough cities and place them advantageously. Make full use of any rivers.
Get markets up in the core.
Do not over do temples and libs. Temples probably are not needed and libs do not go up in places that are not producing beakers.

 

[garyg]

It's okay to lose money. I usually am losing money per turn but make it up by sliding the science down when there is only one turn left so that I get the 'bonus' and still get the technology in one turn. Then I sell that technology to anyone I can.

 

[Mongol]

Do not over do temples and libs. Temples probably are not needed and libs do not go up in places that are not producing beakers.

temples are not needed? how do u expand your cultural influence so that your city can use all tiles instead of just 9? i thought temple was the cheapest structure that gives u culture, no?

 

[Scuffer]

Using more than 9 tile is only relevant if you have more than 9 citizens. Generally I prefer libraries, as they aren't much more expensive, do 3x the culture, and need research more than happy citizens. But each to their own.

 

[vmxa]

temples are not needed? how do u expand your cultural influence so that your city can use all tiles instead of just 9? i thought temple was the cheapest structure that gives u culture, no?

True you need to expand your culture to use more than 9 tiles in most cases, but that does not require temples. If you were religious, then I would build them.

Anyway I did not say to not build them or never build them, only to not go over board. That means do not make them you first build in every city. You have to pay support for them and if that town is not going to get over size 6, it does not need one. Later after you are out of despotism and if you are going to have an aqua or are next to a river, them you can reevaluate it.

In som cases you will have to go ahead and build one, even in a small town. You may be better off in larger cities to have a lib and a market and skip the temple. All I am saying is it is not uncommon to find players with a small empire that has very low cash flow with a temple in every town. Then they wonder why they have problems with research and troops support.

Every time you are about to build any structure, it needs to be looked at to see if it is justified. If it is, then build it. The most common place to not build, is those towns that have no river, are not real close to the capitol and little in the way of food producing tiles. IOW they are not going to be productive and not going to grow much, unless you do a lot of work. So why not save the expense of a temple, both in terms of support and build?

BTW libs are the next most commonly build structure that is not always needed. I often see saves posted with libs in a town that is totally corrupt and yields one beaker. Worse yet, they are not doing any research and have lis in every city. Those shields and maint could have been used to take down soem other civ.

 

[gunkulator]

temples are not needed? how do u expand your cultural influence so that your city can use all tiles instead of just 9? i thought temple was the cheapest structure that gives u culture, no?

The best way at the beginning of the game to get access to those other tiles is by using CxxC city spacing. You certainly aren't going to be growing past the immediate 9 any time soon anyway

Your border cities are another matter. Temples, barracks and even walls are useful in these, even if the cities are mostly corrupt.

 

[Mongol]

hm... maybe i should rethink my building strategies...
right now i always build temples in new conquered cities not only to get access to all tiles but also to have my empire without gaps...
i even go so far as to let the city put in one (usually since it is corrupted beyond any reasoning) shield and the buy it, and then let the city build other things on its own... but then again it is warlord and i have lots of money... i didnt know library is giving u 3 times what temple gives u? 6 culture points?

 

[tR1cKy]

Temples are useful to provide at least some culture in your empire, expecially if you're religious. If you're scientific instead, libraries are better.
Even with a totally war-oriented playstyle, building a little culture is a good idea (more culture -> less risk of flip)

 

[eddfire3]

On easier levels (which is probably what the thread starter is on), the smilies that temples provide arn't as important than on higher levels, when you only get 1 or 2 content citizens

 

[vmxa]

hm... maybe i should rethink my building strategies...
right now i always build temples in new conquered cities not only to get access to all tiles but also to have my empire without gaps...
i even go so far as to let the city put in one (usually since it is corrupted beyond any reasoning) shield and the buy it, and then let the city build other things on its own... but then again it is warlord and i have lots of money... i didnt know library is giving u 3 times what temple gives u? 6 culture points?

As was mentioned the level makes a difference as do circimstances. When you start with 3 or 4 content citizens, a pop 6 town is good to go. If you are in a 1 born content game, that is another story. You will have to evaluate all the factors, flip, disorder, tiles and so on.

In the main, I would think if your are conquering towns, they will always be corrupt without massive work. In that case, why spend for a temple and surely a lib is not worth it. You will likely need to starve down to be safe and that means specialist anyway.

A net of one shield is going to be 60 long turns for non relgious civs and then you spend your one gold for maint. This is not profitable, unless something special is going on. Make a scientist or taxman as the case maybe and all the gold or beakers goes to the bottom line and you do not add maint.

If flipping is a real concern, raze it. A temple will not be enough and will not come online soon enough to save the day anyway. Flipping is not an issue at Warlord or Regent, which ever this game is at.

 

[gunkulator]

If you are conquering and keeping, sometimes a temple is worth it. The AI spaces its cities pretty wide. If you leave culture gaps, other AIs can drop off settlers and build cities right in the middle of that land you fought so hard for. If you leave a lux or resource out the open, you can expect an AI ship to drop off a setter really soon.

 

[vmxa]

If you are conquering and keeping, sometimes a temple is worth it. The AI spaces its cities pretty wide. If you leave culture gaps, other AIs can drop off settlers and build cities right in the middle of that land you fought so hard for. If you leave a lux or resource out the open, you can expect an AI ship to drop off a setter really soon.

Thats nice, but it is not relevant to the original question. He wants to know why he cannot afford to research and his cities do not grow. This is caused by lack of tiles improvements, too many structures to support in most cases.

If we were to look at a save, I would expect to see temples and maybe libs in nearly every city. Citizen working on some unimproved tiles, too large of a garrison. Workers mining mountians before they are needed, tiles worked that produce 1 food or 0, with 2 food tiles available. No aqua in size 6 and not on a river. Things like that.

So I said you do not always have to have a temple in every town. I did not say never build a temple. Anyway it is not hard to prevent a settler grabbing a lux at the lower levels. You have many techniques to handle it, without a temple in some border town that will not yield more than 1 net shield.