Islands early game strategy

[8loodlvst]

Hello, I can’t seem to understand how one can play a good early game on a map with islands considering one can’t have tribes board any of the prehistoric boats?

In a Pangea game I will have between 4-8 cities before sedentary lifestyle (once I get chiefdom I expand easily), but to claim neighboring islands, or the neighboring continent, I need to build palisades and establish a military presence securing resources and occupying important squares, and focus research way into the future towards when I can eventually have a settler type unit board a boat.

I wanted to enjoy starting on a nice island near a Pangea for a seafaring (Minoan/Carthaginian) experience, but I was isolated on my island crowded with 4 cities while I managed to occupy a 5 tile coastal strip with soldiers and palisades/caves directly across a straight from my starting island.

Meanwhile the Hatti expanded from the far coast of the Pangea right up to my occupied coast (they had about eight cities to my 3) by the time I reached sedentary lifestyle.


If I want to keep up as an island civ, must I start on a large enough island to put 6-8 medium-good cities on? Or am I missing something? Any archipelago map enthusiasts out there have any advice?

 

[Thunderbrd]

Are you playing on SM? Merge rafts. It may also help to know that your ships can go further than one space out from land if doing so within borders, so where you place cities so that culture can expand into the ocean can make a difference.

I have some interesting ideas for how all this may work for island hopping in Nomadic coming up but it'll be a bit still before any of that sees the light of day.

 

[8loodlvst]

I’m not playing SV, but the latest version (is it 40.1? I’m away) Merged rafts can carry tribes? Fantastic!

what’s Nomadic? Are you folks still working on implementing a nomadic beginning game?

 

[Thunderbrd]

I’m not playing SV, but the latest version (is it 40.1? I’m away) Merged rafts can carry tribes? Fantastic!

what’s Nomadic? Are you folks still working on implementing a nomadic beginning game?

Yeah - the idea is to have a unit work as a moving city for the first portion of the game. From there, there's numerous variations in the concept but it's a part of the goal and project plan.

 

[8loodlvst]

That’s fascinating, I suppose you’ll want to prevent Neanderthals and barbs from settling cities during prehistoric era as well? Do you plan on keeping the same ancient buildings and we assume they are in mobile tents? I wonder how the AI will behave with a mobile capital. Keep up the good work!

 

[8loodlvst]

Some “civs” irl were nomadic until relatively recently too, it would be interesting if you made a new barbarian civ that generated nomadic tribes even beyond prehistoric times, roaming the unsettled regions, or even nomadic civilizations which remained nomadic until some reasonable stage in the tech tree!

 

[Thunderbrd]

We have it in mind to allow nomadic play as an option throughout the ages, though settling may be a better option from a competitive standpoint.