On starting games in later eras

[Mr_PeaCH]

I have played Civilization games from the very beginning. My confession here is that I don't think I've ever played with starting games in later eras aside from pre-fab scenarios.

I had been avoiding playing many civilizations because their Uniques don't come in to play until later eras. My example here is Hungary. I wanted to play with their Civ State bonus and make Thermal Baths. But the TB and their two UUs are not in play until about the Renaissance.

I figured what the hell and set the starting era to Medieval to give myself a running start to the Renaissance and wondered how the game would set up. I can't recall all the details but I was given 2 Settlers, 2 Skirmishers and a bonus population and free ancient walls, etc. when founding my first cities. After these 2 Settlers there were still a sub-set of bonuses for any new cities I founded.

Well I guess if you've done this before you are aware of this mechanic but I quite enjoyed how it played out to 'discover' the world at this era along with the AIs; it was a land rush.

What I also found was that the way in which Religions were founded was much different in so much as now I, the human player, could compete with and beat the AI to founding religions, the good Evangelical bonuses, all of that. This change alone made me much more competitive from the start and I was able to flex a lot of Religious muscle in a way I rarely can with an Ancient Era start and no cheats.

There are a number of other facets I'm just finding out but I made this post to say "I'm a believer" and to maybe nudge anyone else who, like me, had been ignoring this feature since about forever. Good stuff. 10/10 Will start later era games again.

 

[MarigoldRan]

We need more discussions about this, like which civ is better if you can start later.

 

[Mr_PeaCH]

We need more discussions about this, like which civ is better if you can start later.

Well I have set aside Hungary (which I believe is an excellent candidate for Civs to start in later eras) and have done another with Sweeden and I am again very impressed with the gameplay. While it's a little weird that religions all start in the Renaissance era, the exploration, discovering new continents, new civilizations and City States at this time is a very fresh feeling. Plus I forgot to mention, as with getting to start on level ground with AIs founding a religion, you get some free points to spend on City States and both games I have found a goodly number of CSes very quickly; often the first to find. Having the "first point for CS counts double" policy in place is wondrous. Within probably 25 turns I was Suzerain to 5 different CSes.

But what this is really about is getting to play with the later era bonuses afforded to some Civilizations w/o starting from the Ancient era and so far, both cases, so good. I'm really kicking myself hard for not experimenting with this sooner.

 

[Socrates99]

Is there an era where you're locked out of a religion like in V? I used to like later starts in V because it changes the war game. The era where every civ is relatively close in tech tends to have the most entertaining wars.

I may do a later era start when I get around to playing Canada. Make the early game less of a slog.

 

[Midgardsormr]

Is there an era where you're locked out of a religion like in V?

Yes, there is. I think it's Industrial, but I don't recall for sure.

 

[mrjepson]

Another strange feature of starting a game in a later era is your cities get bonus tiles upon founding. I have found this bonus actually keeps increasing with each additional city founded until you are getting six hexes in every direction. If you focus hard on putting out settlers you can have a significant amount of land claimed very fast.

 

[jddods]

Yes, there is. I think it's Industrial, but I don't recall for sure.

I thought this was changed for GS. To allow Rock Bands.

 

[Mr_PeaCH]

Another strange feature of starting a game in a later era is your cities get bonus tiles upon founding. I have found this bonus actually keeps increasing with each additional city founded until you are getting six hexes in every direction. If you focus hard on putting out settlers you can have a significant amount of land claimed very fast.

I didn't notice it at first but now I see what you're talking about. Definitely seems to ramp up, more and more hexes right out of the chute the more cities you found also (or is it as you get to later and later eras?). I was looking to found a city right in the midst of a small continent that had CSes on the coastlines on all sides. An AI was getting a settler in position as well but I beat it to the sweet spot by one turn and my new city occupied almost the entire rest of the continent, fully 3 tiles in all directions except where the CS borders stopped it. A few turns later the AI founded a city on a barren peninsula where they own almost no tiles (all ocean, no land) thanks to me and the CSes.

 

[iammaxhailme]

I pretty much only start after the beginning if I'm trying to knock out an achievment that I don't really feel like playing a whole game for.

 

[Naeshar]

Yes, there is. I think it's Industrial, but I don't recall for sure.

You are right. In a renaissance start there is only one prophet and none later. This means if you get religion in Renaissance era start you won the Religious victory.
I absolutely hate the tile ramp as its a very strange feature. Also the AI is quite confused in these starts, as if it was never prepared for such an eventuality.

 

[Mr_PeaCH]

You are right. In a renaissance start there is only one prophet and none later. This means if you get religion in Renaissance era start you won the Religious victory.
I absolutely hate the tile ramp as its a very strange feature. Also the AI is quite confused in these starts, as if it was never prepared for such an eventuality.

Do you know what the mechanics are? I started my latest game in Renaissance and while I got the first Prophet/religion there were two more given out. But now I am in the Industrial age and if I look at the religion screen it says 3/6 religions (Large Map, 10 starting Civs) whereas if I look at Great People it says under Prophets that all GPs have been given out. I'm guessing based on your statement it's more like Prophets still available in the Renaissance but not after entering Industrial (and not at all if you start Industrial or later); something like that?

 

[smvalentine]

Another strange feature of starting a game in a later era is your cities get bonus tiles upon founding. I have found this bonus actually keeps increasing with each additional city founded until you are getting six hexes in every direction. If you focus hard on putting out settlers you can have a significant amount of land claimed very fast.

That sure sounds like a bug to me.

 

[Midgardsormr]

I don't think it's a bug. If you found a city inside the borders of another city, you still get all the tiles that city is entitled to, even if there are no unclaimed tiles within that city's 3-hex radius. You can see the same thing if you found a city right on an enemy border in a normal game—since you can't get one or more tiles in Ring 1, you'll get them in Ring 2 instead. It's just an extension of that mechanic. I actually find it quite fun to watch city 3 send its borders halfway across the continent.

I thought this was changed for GS. To allow Rock Bands.

Maybe so. I haven't started a late-era game since GS dropped.

 

[Caprikel]

This feature is amazing for multiplayer games, especially since it lets you and some other players actually try out late game combat without having to play through 6 hours just to get there. Also it makes reenacting various wars like the 7 years war or WW2 with teams actually possible. I've probably had the most fun in Civ doing late start team war reenactments.

 

[Naeshar]

I don't think it's a bug. If you found a city inside the borders of another city, you still get all the tiles that city is entitled to, even if there are no unclaimed tiles within that city's 3-hex radius. You can see the same thing if you found a city right on an enemy border in a normal game—since you can't get one or more tiles in Ring 1, you'll get them in Ring 2 instead. It's just an extension of that mechanic. I actually find it quite fun to watch city 3 send its borders halfway across the continent.

This is a different thing. Your first city gets 6 tiles. But your other cities get 1 tile more each at least... 7-8-9-10, and starting in much later eras they seem to ramp up more rapidly. In the end you found a city and it claims 20 neighboring tiles like if it needed them at size 1.

 

[WillowBrook]

Another strange feature of starting a game in a later era is your cities get bonus tiles upon founding. I have found this bonus actually keeps increasing with each additional city founded until you are getting six hexes in every direction. If you focus hard on putting out settlers you can have a significant amount of land claimed very fast.

Yes, I'm pretty sure this is a bug that's been in there since the beginning. It gets really ridiculous if you play Russia starting in a later era.

Edit: The bug is not the extra tiles, but the increasing number of extra tiles for each subsequent city founded.

 

[Midgardsormr]

I see. I hadn't taken the time to stop and look at it. I'll pay closer attention next time.