i find it hard to get to the 40+ per tile in exploration age.

[MightySpice]

Not sure what i am doing wrong here.
Right now i am playing a game with Amina/Hawaii (Maya in previous age).
I build all sorts of buildings. Use specialists. My best tile right now is 23/40 according to the game. 50% into exploration age.

 

[MightySpice]

At 96% my best tile is 30/40. So i can't even get one tile up to 40!

 

[sixty4half]

It's more than just stacking specialists, you have to prep the tile for adjacency bonuses. You want to find tiles where you can get 4 or more adjacencies for your buildings.

Science and Production buildings get Adj Bonus from Resources and Wonders. So you are looking for a tile next to 2 or 3 Resources, then you build a Wonder in 1 or 2 tiles that are touching that Hex. With 2 resources and 2 wonders any Science or Production building will have +4 Adjacency bonus.

Food and Gold buildings get adjacency to Coast, Nav River and Wonders. So you are looking for a Coastal tile like an isthmus that has 4 or 5 water tiles connected, or a bend in a river where it goes almost completely around 1 tile. The absolute best is a 1 tile island that is 1 tile from the coast. You can connect to the island via Fishing Quay then build a Food and a Gold building on it that gets 6 Adjacency.

Happiness and Culture buildings use Mountains and Wonders and Nat Wonders. A lot of Nat Wonders are Mnts so yes, those count as double adjacency bonus. It can be difficult to find a good city spot that also has a tile with 4 Mountains next to it but they do exist. Either way, you can always build a Wonder (even during Antiquity) to give that tile another adjacency bonus.

The reason we are focusing on Adj Bonus is that Specialist get a bonus .5 Yield for each adjacency bonus. So if you have a tile that gives Science/Production buildings +4 adjacency your specialist will get +2 Science (from the University for example) and +2 Production (Dungeon) on top of its starting 2 Culture/Science for a total of +8 Yields (don't worry about the -2 Gold and -2 Food, that's maintenance for the specialist and doesn't count against to 40 Yields required).

So if you had a Dungeon (base 5 Yield, +4 Prod from Adj) and a University (Base 5 Science +4 Adj) then you have 18 Yield in that tile. Each Spcialist adds 8 Yields. It will take 3 Population Events for 3 Specialists (each at +8 Yields) to get to 42.

There are Momentos that add Yields to specialists. If you had +1 Culture/Science to specialists the above example would only take 2 to reach 40.

When making a quarter try to find your best adjacwncy tiles.
Stack Scienc with Production; Happiness with Culture; and Food with Gold. Those types share adjacency bonus. If you have a tile you know has good adjacency but you still have older buildings there, go ahead a pre-place those specialists so you don't waste the growth events.

Edit: Two last things I thought of; Quarters next to the Palace get a bonus 2 Culture and 2 Science. Those 4 Yields can be the difference in getting to 40 with 2 specialists instead of 3.

Also, getting Ankor Wat in Antiquity gives you an extra specialist slot per tile. This can help you get to 40 in tiles with only a +2 or 3 adj bonus.

 

[Core Imposter]

It's more than just stacking specialists, you have to prep the tile for adjacency bonuses. You want to find tiles where you can get 4 or more adjacencies for your buildings.

Science and Production buildings get Adj Bonus from Resources and Wonders. So you are looking for a tile next to 2 or 3 Resources, then you build a Wonder in 1 or 2 tiles that are touching that Hex. With 2 resources and 2 wonders any Science or Production building will have +4 Adjacency bonus.

Food and Gold buildings get adjacency to Coast, Nav River and Wonders. So you are looking for a Coastal tile like an isthmus that has 4 or 5 water tiles connected, or a bend in a river where it goes almost completely around 1 tile. The absolute best is a 1 tile island that is 1 tile from the coast. You can connect to the island via Fishing Quay then build a Food and a Gold building on it that gets 6 Adjacency.

Happiness and Culture buildings use Mountains and Wonders and Nat Wonders. A lot of Nat Wonders are Mnts so yes, those count as double adjacency bonus. It can be difficult to find a good city spot that also has a tile with 4 Mountains next to it but they do exist. Either way, you can always build a Wonder (even during Antiquity) to give that tile another adjacency bonus.

The reason we are focusing on Adj Bonus is that Specialist get a bonus .5 Yield for each adjacency bonus. So if you have a tile that gives Science/Production buildings +4 adjacency your specialist will get +2 Science (from the University for example) and +2 Production (Dungeon) on top of its starting 2 Culture/Science for a total of +8 Yields (don't worry about the -2 Gold and -2 Food, that's maintenance for the specialist and doesn't count against to 40 Yields required).

So if you had a Dungeon (base 5 Yield, +4 Prod from Adj) and a University (Base 5 Science +4 Adj) then you have 18 Yield in that tile. Each Spcialist adds 8 Yields. It will take 3 Population Events for 3 Specialists (each at +8 Yields) to get to 42.

There are Momentos that add Yields to specialists. If you had +1 Culture/Science to specialists the above example would only take 2 to reach 40.

When making a quarter try to find your best adjacwncy tiles.
Stack Scienc with Production; Happiness with Culture; and Food with Gold. Those types share adjacency bonus. If you have a tile you know has good adjacency but you still have older buildings there, go ahead a pre-place those specialists so you don't waste the growth events.

Edit: Two last things I thought of; Quarters next to the Palace get a bonus 2 Culture and 2 Science. Those 4 Yields can be the difference in getting to 40 with 2 specialists instead of 3.

Also, getting Ankor Wat in Antiquity gives you an extra specialist slot per tile. This can help you get to 40 in tiles with only a +2 or 3 adj bonus.

What I want is to be reminded of the historic instances in which one civilization gained advantage due to an adjacency bonus. Can you name it?

 

[sixty4half]

What I want is to be reminded of the historic instances in which one civilization gained advantage due to an adjacency bonus. Can you name it?

I think that is outside of the purview of this thread.

I'm trying to help someone that asked a question here. Take whatever point your trying to make to the adjacency-isn't-historically-accurate thread please and thanks.

 

[pmarc]

To add to @sixty4half's post, if you look at the social policies that boost adjacencies or specialist yields, you can probably get to 40 with 2 specialists and a +4 base adjacency, or 3 specialists with a smaller adjacency.

Another useful trick is that you don't have to wait for a population growth event to place a specialist if you can overwrite a rural improvement with a building or wonder, it frees the population and you can reassign it as a specialist.

 

[RaidandTrade]

Adding to this, high yield unique quarters are good as they are ageless and you don’t lose the potency of your specialists in the next age.

I like to try for it before the crises hit as some of those penalise specialist yields.

The science path comes late but can be done quickly if needed. If you don’t want to wait for a growth event to place a specialist, you can overbuild a rural district to free up a population then place them. This might improve in the next patch which changes the growth formula in larger cities where you’re more likely to want specialists.

Final point on the overbuild, if you’re mid-build on something else that you really need or want (e.g., a wonder), you and the play about with the queue. E.g., wonder in build, place granary over rural, move granary to top of queue, place new specialist, move granary back to bottom of queue.

 

[Sly1foxy]

Sometimes I can accomplish it by the 75% point in exploration, sometimes it takes me a bit longer, but I can usually do it. I don't do as much adjacency planning as some other players seem to do...I just do it this way...
1) First, if you are someone who likes to build on yellow tiles in order to expand your cities/towns, I largely stop doing that in exploration. I look to overbuild as much as possible to combine high yields on the same tiles and replace buildings that are no longer giving me anything. I have installed several mods that give you instant updates on total yields for tiles when you mouse over them...that mod helps immensley.
2) I research the civics that allow me to increase specialist yields. You want to have the ability to place three specialists on a tile.
3) Later in the exploration age, if I still need to get my 40 yield tiles, and I've researched enough to get 3 specialists per tile, I will start to build on yellow tiles again to allow me to place specialists.
4) Finally as others have mentioned, you want to research the civics that give you policy cards that increase your yields and also civic masteries that increase yields. By the end of the age you want to have all of the policy cards slotted that give you increased yields on science, gold, happiness, culture, whatever you can get.

 

[ferenginar]

Suzerainty of independent powers can offer bonuses on +1 to science buildings, of +1 to culture buildings etc, depending on the nature of the independent power. Getting a couple of these can be very helpful.

 

[sixty4half]

Suzerainty of independent powers can offer bonuses on +1 to science buildings, of +1 to culture buildings etc, depending on the nature of the independent power. Getting a couple of these can be very helpful.

And if I remember correctly it is +1 Science/Culture PER SUZERAIN. So getting a few suzerains helps more.

 

[chazzycat]

In games where I lean into playing "tall" I find myself getting 40 output tiles in antiquity rather than exploration. And will continue to complete the explo milestone without even giving it a moment's thought.

With the new growth curve I would advise everyone give it a shot. Just push food and see what happens, it's pretty fun!

Others have pointed out all the specific things you can do, and they are good tips. But to me its more of a mindset. Push food, grow cities, plop specialists, profit. I would be doing it even if no milestone existed, because that's how I loosely see civilization as making progress over time. Urbanization is a hugely important trend across all of human history, and I'm really liking the way civ 7 models it now in the latest update.

 

[MightySpice]

Well, that could be it. I push hammers in combination with food. In my last game i placed buildings pretty thoughtfull. Still didn't make it.
Let's try again! I usually strart counting in exploration age. Maybe start counting in antiquity helps.

You mention playing tall. I come from Civ 5 where playing tall was an pretty good way to win. Maybe that's also the case in Civ 7?

 

[Sagax]

Well, that could be it. I push hammers in combination with food. In my last game i placed buildings pretty thoughtfull. Still didn't make it.
Let's try again! I usually strart counting in exploration age. Maybe start counting in antiquity helps.

You mention playing tall. I come from Civ 5 where playing tall was a pretty good way to win. Maybe that's also the case in Civ 7?

If tall is viable, then it’s more of a result of the recent patch.

Either way, wide/tall has never been a big factor in completing the Exploration Science path, so your issue must still lie somewhere else.

Here’s a checklist:

1. Ensure proper adjacency bonuses:
- Science and Production buildings go together on tiles with at least 2 adjacent resources.
- Culture and Happiness go together on tiles with at least 1 adjacent mountain or Natural Wonder. Ideally 2 mountains/Nat Wonders, but I understand it’s less of a guarantee.
- Gold and Food buildings (NOT warehouses) go together on tiles with lots of adjacent coast and navigable rivers.
- DO NOT mix in warehouse buildings, isolate them somewhere else into their own quarter. Adjacencies don’t matter for them.
- For remaining adjacent tiles that are not resources/mountains/water - build wonders there. All wonders give +1 adjacency to the neighboring quarters.

2. Overbuild obsolete buildings. This hasn’t been emphasized enough, but I hope you’re not keeping those Libraries and Amphitheaters around in Exploration. Except for warehouse and unique buldings, all other buildings lose their adjacency benefits upon age transition - so they are essentially dead weight. Also, they no longer count as Quarters - so even if you manage to get to 40+ with a University+Library tile, it will not count towards the goal. Find those obsolete Antiquity buildings and replace ASAP. Assuming you were already placing them with proper adjacencies in Antiquity, your Exploration buildings will benefit from these same locations as well. The only caveat is that some resources disappear upon age transition, so you might have to find a new location for Science/Production.

3. Place specialists into high-adjacency quarters.

4. Leverage Policy Cards and City State bonuses. Anything that says “+X on ___ buildings” will contribute to the goal.

5. The ultimate cheesy strat - Machu Picchu. Settle somewhere where you can surround a Tropical Mountain with districts, rush and build Macchi Picchu, congratulations you won.

 

[chazzycat]

Well, that could be it. I push hammers in combination with food. In my last game i placed buildings pretty thoughtfull. Still didn't make it.
Let's try again! I usually strart counting in exploration age. Maybe start counting in antiquity helps.

You mention playing tall. I come from Civ 5 where playing tall was an pretty good way to win. Maybe that's also the case in Civ 7?

It wasn't great until an update a couple days ago changed the growth curve. It's still early to say for sure, but early results seem strong to me.

Sagax post is solid advice but I don't really agree that tall/wide balance doesn't factor into this milestone. Sure, of course you don't need to go tall to achieve it, but it makes it way easier. Like I said it will happen without even thinking about it. Because when you play tall you are building more wonders to create good adjacency bonuses and also placing more specialists from having more towns pumping food. All the things mentioned above just come more naturally if you are playing with fewer cities IMO.

 

[MightySpice]

Oke, progress. 1 tile was 40+.
One step at the time. At the end of exploration my capital had 40 citizens. Is that i bit 'normal'?

I try and use adjecency, but i guess i should do it better.

 

[MightySpice]

Is it wise to build ageless buildings? The output is low and you are stuck with them the rest of the game. Leaving me with low yield districts.

 

[uppi]

Is it wise to build ageless buildings? The output is low and you are stuck with them the rest of the game. Leaving me with low yield districts.

Yes, but be mindful where you put them.

They don't cost maintenance, so even though their yields may not be spectacular, they are essentially free yields. They also don't increase the food threshold for the next population, which placing a farm would. They also can form a quarter for quarter bonuses and adjacencies and there is the node in the exploration tree, which adds food per age on warehouse buildings. In most cases, two warehouse buildings stacked on a tile is much better than having a farm there.

But, be careful when you put them down, especially since you cannot move them ever. You don't want them to occupy good adjacency spaces which you want to save for science, culture and production buildings. Identify the potential good spots early on and avoid placing anything but the intended buildings there. If you are building a warehouse building adjacent to two wonders and a resource, you may want to reconsider. Be extra careful when playing civs with special effects (like for example Mississippians), because the UI might show you those spots as the spots with the highest yields. Which is technically correct, but it doesn't show you what you are missing when you would put a library there.

You really want to stack warehouse buildings in pairs. This means that you don't have to "waste" two tiles, but they also form a quarter, even after the age transition. It also shortens the process of finding a suitable spot: If there already is a warehouse building on it, just put the second one on the same tile.

Also don't cover rural tiles you want to work. Cities don't really need to work farms, because they can get their food from towns, but they usually will want to work mines. So don't cover the mines if you can help it.

They are also great as fillers, especially early one. Have that really good library spot three tiles from the center? Put two warehouse buildings as filler in between so you can get there.

No city layout is perfect and you will have to make compromises, though.

 

[vorlon_mi]

What do you recommend placing with the palace/city hall? Yes, I know that the exploration age goal does NOT count city center tiles.
Some games I have tried placing an ageless warehouse building in the city center, figuring I should put ageless next to ageless.
Other games I put an altar in the center, to be overbuilt with the Temple.

On the other hand, the Temple is a Happiness building, so placing it in a city it should be paired with a culture building.
Buying Temples in towns -- and specializing that town to be religious -- is my current strategy for having lots of relic slots.

 

[pmarc]

A warehouse in the city center is ok if there is no other good place, but there is no benefit to having it there. In contrast, a quarter of two warehouses adjacent to the palace gives the permanent +1 science/culture adjacency. I think of the building paired with the palace/city hall as a "flex" spot, so it's useful to keep the option to overbuild on it.

There might also be cases where you only want to build one of the two unique buildings of a civ before the age ends in that particular city; maybe it has good adjacency there, but you don't care much about the unique quarter bonus or the other building.

 

[RaidandTrade]

There are attributes that give bonuses for quarters. If you use ageless + non-ageless where there’s no adjacency to be had, your quarters are online faster in the next age so those bonuses are worth more over time.

If I have lots of gold at the end of an age, I’m usually looking at converting towns and putting down ageless buildings so that they’re buffed for the next age too.