Progress Left Side First

[Stalker0]

So generally I have wholeheartedly embraced going the right side of Progress first. In generally the extra worker, food, gold, and science I find give you a better jump start than the prod and culture bonuses on the left.

That said, there are exceptions for everything, and I wanted to highlight one here.

Spoiler :

So ultimately there are two factors that made me go left side in this particular game.

1) Limited Land Resources: This is a common scenario with certain sea resource focused starts. As you can see, most of my early tiles are going to be sea focused, with a push towards work boats over workers. The land around me doesn't have much need for worker improvement in the very early game. So I would rather have the prod bonus for faster work boats and to balance out this more food heavy start.

2) "Donated" Workers from Korea: This was less common but put me over the top in my decision making. Korea decided that having 2 workers (it took progress 2 for the free worker) by its capital with a warrior off a few tiles drinking with barbs was a good idea. So in 1 turn I bagged 2 workers and a farm pillage for my trouble.


Now honestly I probably would have gone left side on number 1 alone, but with the two donated workers from Korea it sealed the deal.

 

[crdvis16]

So generally I have wholeheartedly embraced going the right side of Progress first. In generally the extra worker, food, gold, and science I find give you a better jump start than the prod and culture bonuses on the left.

That said, there are exceptions for everything, and I wanted to highlight one here.

Spoiler :

View attachment 564659

So ultimately there are two factors that made me go left side in this particular game.

1) Limited Land Resources: This is a common scenario with certain sea resource focused starts. As you can see, most of my early tiles are going to be sea focused, with a push towards work boats over workers. The land around me doesn't have much need for worker improvement in the very early game. So I would rather have the prod bonus for faster work boats and to balance out this more food heavy start.

2) "Donated" Workers from Korea: This was less common but put me over the top in my decision making. Korea decided that having 2 workers (it took progress 2 for the free worker) by its capital with a warrior off a few tiles drinking with barbs was a good idea. So in 1 turn I bagged 2 workers and a farm pillage for my trouble.


Now honestly I probably would have gone left side on number 1 alone, but with the two donated workers from Korea it sealed the deal.

I think the biggest problem is the slow science. The +3 science per connected city often doubles your science output. Delaying that really hurts even in a situation where the free early worker is largely useless.

 

[Stalker0]

I think the biggest problem is the slow science. The +3 science per connected city often doubles your science output. Delaying that really hurts even in a situation where the free early worker is largely useless.

It true, and in this example having gotten used to right side progress, I was shocked by how slow my tech progress was. That said ultimately the infrastructure on the left and early production helped to stabalize me and I did alright, but it does effect your wonder expectations....a shift towards more medieval wonders over classical.

 

[phantomaxl1207]

Having the left side does let you get policies faster. More overall, I think I would rather have the Science and the Food. It gets your satellite Cities off to a much better start. Of course that assumes that I have more of land start than you have shown here. So left side would make sense for a more water based start.

 

[CrazyG]

I like the right side first on water starts, or sometimes in jungle when the +1 movement is relevant. You need to be ready for the low science though.

 

[Stalker0]

I like the right side first on water starts, or sometimes in jungle when the +1 movement is relevant. You need to be ready for the low science though.

Did you mean left side?

 

[CrazyG]

Did you mean left side?

Yes I did . Typically I take left on water or sometimes jungle, but right otherwise.

 

[azum4roll]

So generally I have wholeheartedly embraced going the right side of Progress first. In generally the extra worker, food, gold, and science I find give you a better jump start than the prod and culture bonuses on the left.

That said, there are exceptions for everything, and I wanted to highlight one here.

Spoiler :

View attachment 564659

So ultimately there are two factors that made me go left side in this particular game.

1) Limited Land Resources: This is a common scenario with certain sea resource focused starts. As you can see, most of my early tiles are going to be sea focused, with a push towards work boats over workers. The land around me doesn't have much need for worker improvement in the very early game. So I would rather have the prod bonus for faster work boats and to balance out this more food heavy start.

2) "Donated" Workers from Korea: This was less common but put me over the top in my decision making. Korea decided that having 2 workers (it took progress 2 for the free worker) by its capital with a warrior off a few tiles drinking with barbs was a good idea. So in 1 turn I bagged 2 workers and a farm pillage for my trouble.


Now honestly I probably would have gone left side on number 1 alone, but with the two donated workers from Korea it sealed the deal.

That's one beautiful starting spot. I wonder how you'll handle the naval invasions though. And whether you'll chop down those trees for Polders.