NEWB1: Initial Expansion

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Noble Exercise Work Book I

This is an attempt at an idea that I have been kicking around for a while. The inspiration is a challenge series from long ago, where players were encouraged to play, and replay, a particular save to optimize for a particular result. Although the objectives in the original series were a little... extreme... for novice play, I think the fundamental approach has merit.

Initial Expansion with Hatshepsut

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Our opening exercise takes place on an Inland Sea map (ancient era, normal speed), with Hatshepsut as the leader of the Egyptians. In this exercise, we want to establish a simple base from which we can begin to develop a win. We'll define that base as achieving all of the following conditions:

• Founding four cities (your capital plus three more cities)
• Growing the four cities to size four
• with at least four tile improvements (per city)
• twenty hp worth of defenders (10 warriors, 7 archers, one tank, any combination) - total
• construct a Library in the capital

The object of this exercise is to achieve this "victory condition" as quickly as possible. So your "score" is the turn on which you've achieved all of these.

THE SAVE

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Inland Sea is a map with ocean in the middle of a flat map, with no wrapping (the world is a square). Civilizations are distributed around the ring.

This start is non trivial - if you look very carefully at the edges of what is visible, you'll see hints of the shoreline. If that is the ocean above you, you probably don't want to settle in place - there are long term advantages that inland cities don't share with coastal cities; in particular, it is difficult to improve a water tile if you cannot build a boat or a lighthouse....

When you have doubts about the best initial location for your settler, moving your warrior/scout to get more food is wise.

Spoiler Spoilers: It is not cheating to look here :

My initial play on this map was to move the warrior to the north east, revealing the fish, and moving the settler to the north. I lose a turn this way, but in the long run I get that back with the ability to build a light house, harbor, and so on.

If you moved the warrior SW instead, you would see the corn. Moving east, or SE of the corn are both interesting positions. My hunch is that even if you see the corn, you should move north for the cows.

You will probably want to travel east to settle your second city, and use the production there to help establish cities #3 and #4.

Advanced players looking at the map are noticing that there aren't very many happiness resources in the neighborhood. That's not critical for this challenge, but it is "a problem that needs to be solved" as we move from the opening to the mid game.

 

[r_rolo1]

A lake with a lighthouse counts as a improvement ?

 

[Single Malt]

VOU, I get 404 not found, when trying to dl the save.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

VOU, I get 404 not found, when trying to dl the save.

Spelling error - fixed. Thank you.

 

[Jet]

Here's my first (actually seventh) try. The zip file has an autosave for every turn. This was with reloads, which I think are fine for this game.

Spoiler winning turn :

Turn 63 (1480 BC). My last three tries were 64, 64, 63, so that's as far as I want to take it tonight, but I don't think 63 will last long as the best date.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Haha! What a name! Obviously in practice it might not always be optimal to go this route with the restrictions in place (sometimes getting the 4 improvements slower is worth securing a blocking space for more eventual cities), but this should be a very good exercise for anyone trying to improve their early game expansion under general conditions. I'll have a go at it too, after MS and LHC.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Here's my first (actually seventh) try. The zip file has an autosave for every turn. This was with reloads, which I think are fine for this game.

Jet, if you still have it in you: I revised the conditions of contest to up the number of improvements (my fault - I thought that I had been more explicit about the number of improvements).

 

[Ultimate_Waffle]

Is that four tile improvements or actual city improvements?

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Is that four tile improvements or actual city improvements?

Thanks you - tile improvements.

 

[Ultimate_Waffle]

Spoiler :

Starting off, I moved my warrior a bit to see what was up. I decided to move my settler in order to get three food resources and settled.

I started with Animal Husbandry, because of two resources that require it; and I start on a worker to get those improvements quickly. I finish Animal Husbandry and start on fishing for workboats. I need that food. I then finish Fishing and start on mining and a workboat (finished worker). I take Bronze Working after mining, for chopping and faster builds, of course. Afterwards, I start on Mysticism for required border pops in the future. That leads to sailing, so that I may build a lighthouse in order to get more out of my fish. I then put my capital on building Stoneheng, because it will give me free obelisks in each city; which is basically a free city improvement in all of my cities. I also begin Pottery, so that I may build granaries for faster city growth. Then I start on writing for that library. Here's the situation so far:

I finish Writing and go for Hunting and Archery, because I need those archers for my "hp". Things carry on for a while. At 400 B.C., I meet the requirements (assuming you didn't mean 20 hp worth of defenders per city).

 

[Ultimate_Waffle]

Blast, posted too late. I got the four tile improvements long ago. Oh well.

 

[Negator_UK]

This is an attempt at an idea that I have been kicking around for a while. The inspiration is a challenge series from long ago, where players were encouraged to play, and replay, a particular save to optimize for a particular result.

I tried this myself a while ago, but it didn't fly, nice to see another great mind out there I'm not a novice any more, but I'm signing up anyway.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Blast, posted too late. I got the four tile improvements long ago. Oh well.

My instinct is that you could probably improve with another run anyway.... At the very least, the ambiguity in the instructions took you on a very different path than the one I meant for you to travel.

Spoiler Some observations :

Heliopolis would probably be a stronger city in the long term if you had settled it on the plains hill to the north east. It's current location is going to make taking advantage of the flood plains difficult.

I suspect that the faster times will show Memphis where you have Heliopolis...

Choosing to settle Ananda in Elephantine is... odd. Not wrong, necessarily, but

 

[Ultimate_Waffle]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try again later today (Sunday) or Monday.

 

[Comrade-Deux]

91 Turns, but I also built the cities out naturally and took quite a few turns to trek through the forest. Coulda shaved off 10 turns at least if I built more nuclear and skipped the graneries. I'll try again after I get some sleep.

Spoiler :

 

[Soirana]

Well, i am not chopping genius clearly... Took me 62 turns...

Spoiler :

* Founding four cities

If that cheat of using initial settler counts than yes....

* Growing the four cities to size four
Thebes is size five... sorry
* with at least four tile improvements (per city)
let me think - Elephantine- pasture, far, cottagers 2x
Memphis - pasture, mine, cottages 2x
Heliopolis - pasture, mine, farm cottage
Thebes - farm, pasture, mine cotaggesx2. Slightly overcottaged...

* twenty hp worth of defenders (10 warriors, 7 archers, one tank, any combination) - total
12warriors including the one i started with. Damn overbuilt again...

* construct a Library in the capital
yes and granaries in other cities since these were growing to slowly...

Overall - teched Mining, BW, AH, Pottery, Writing.
Built four workers before first settler. Second city went settler first...
Popped hunting from hut but that did not really matter...
Don't know maybe should have built one more worker.... There was some forest standing in da end...

Could cut about turn with more micro...
Sorry for lack of pictures... Save bellow

 

[Negator_UK]

3 tries, 81, 81 and 71 turns

Spoiler :

I moved NE to the plains hill next to the fish. First attempt, made worker, then grew on hillpig, 2nd try made boat and grew on fish. Didn't seem to matter which one I did.

In the first and second tries I grew the capital to make a settler/worker pump, while in the third I WWS chopped, then built other settlers and workers at pop 2/3.

In the second and third I also founded the easiest food city (to the NW, with cow and clam) last to permitase of rapid growth and becaise the cow tile was in my capital influence and could be improved before the city was founded (and the boat built too).

I did build granaries, but did not notice increase in ability to grow my citys to pop4 quicker - Granary first looks like a myth to me, although I did no whipping.

Finally, I could get Stonehenge without any bad effects on my time to get all 4 cities to 4 pop. I built it in try 1 to avoid the need for monuments - imagine my surprise when the borders of my second city popped all by themselves before SH was finished

 

[Soirana]

3 tries, 81, 81 and 71 turns

Spoiler :

I did build granaries, but did not notice increase in ability to grow my citys to pop4 quicker - Granary first looks like a myth to me, although I did no whipping.

Spoiler :

If you chop granary really aggresively - before city reaches first half of food it will save great ammounts of time....

 

[pigswill]

Bit of clarification please:
Found 4 cities means 4 cities+capital=5 in total or 4 including capital?
4 tile improvements per city =16 or 20 improved tiles?
Tile improvements include farm, pasture, cottage, mine, fishing net but exclude roads?
What about city overlap?