Settling in Place - when not to?

[capnvonbaron]

^^^ Oh please Thats like saying "Quechua rushes should not be attempted until a player has at least mastered <insert inane skill level>"

I move my starting settler probably at least a third of the time. I <3 settling on plains hills for the hammer bonus, even though I lose a turn in the process. Also, any time it starts me one tile from the coast... I don't think so Tim. Or if I'm buried in floodplains... too much unhealthiness to deal with. There are many reasons to move it.... consider it.

 

[Dreadful]

Thanks a lot for the extensive answers! Especially about the floodplains... I didn't know they caused so much unhealthiness. As a cottage spammer (playing with financial trait mostly) I obviously love them, but now I know where all those green gas clouds come from

Now I know what to look out for at the start, thanks guys! Stay tuned for more newbie questions

 

[ahcos]

be aware that health rarely isn't an major issue until you play monarch+ ... plus: access to fresh water is more important for the capital then avoiding FPs. overall FPs are decent tiles, don't avoid them ^^ but as you play emperor+ you'll recognize that your cities become unhealty much faster, that's when you'll start doing the maths (0.4 unhealthy per FP, rounded ... e.g.: 3 FPs = 1 unhealth, 4 = 2 unhealt and so on) it's rather bad if you become unhealthy before you reach your happycap, especially if you don't have many grain resources around for bonus health through granaries. starts with alot of FPs tend to lack other resources, and therefore you'll face some serious health problems. aequaducts solve at least some unhealthiness, but it's a long way to more unhealthiness-reducing-buildings after that, especially as groceries aren't priority buildings in non-commerce-cities

long story made short: start to think about "avoiding" FPs on monarch+, before that level you really shouldn't care at all.

 

[capnvonbaron]

This is true too. I can't think of many starts where I've been "buried" in FP, but the few times I have, a tile move one way or another often provides some ease to unhealth and often puts more productive tiles in the BFC, like hills or forests.

Unless you go whip-crazy, FPs hurt productivity too much before Universal Sufferage and levies IMO. I will sometimes make non-capital FP whip-factory cities (with Globe Theater, these cities can be rediculously awesome), but I hesitate to whip in my capital too much.

 

[ForGreatJustice]

Moving your settler is an advanced strategy that should not be attempted until you learn how to beat Emperor.

I respectfully disagree. Some things people learn better through trial and error, just like the game. There is no recipe to winning consistently, only adaptation. By making mistakes and reflecting back, individuals will learn how to avoid that mistake in the future.

 

[Cía]

Moving your settler is an advanced strategy that should not be attempted until you learn how to beat Emperor.

Am I the only one who wonder how you can win without moving your settlers?

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

also let`s differentiate between 2 things .

1. I dont like the starting position so I`ll move my settler and if I still dont like what I see I`ll regenerate .

2. I`ll move my settler and if it`s still no good then so be it , I gambled and I`ll play on , even if it means moving yet again or going back to the original spot .

I have no problem at all with either approach , it`s a game , do as you wish .

But if your style is option 2 , moving the settler has less appeal (but not always)

 

[pollock]

Generally ill only move if can get another good food source like grass cows or pigs. Also may move for gold if dont lose alot. If can swap water tiles for decent land may also move. Plains hill for extra hammer at start is also a factor

 

[zedth]

It mostly depends how you play. But in general on Immortal and especially on Diety you HAVE to move to be in range to GOLD, RIVER, FOOD and MINES. Plus, it's good to move on coastal area to have additional commerce bonus.

Therefore:
1. Do not be afraid to move you settlers.
2. ALWAYS save game after creation. So you can easily reload.
3. RECREATE game until you see GOLD, food and mines. So if you see good spot but no gold - forget about. Just recreate game and locate gold.

 

[drlake]

It mostly depends how you play. But in general on Immortal and especially on Diety you HAVE to move to be in range to GOLD, RIVER, FOOD and MINES. Plus, it's good to move on coastal area to have additional commerce bonus.

Therefore:
1. Do not be afraid to move you settlers.
2. ALWAYS save game after creation. So you can easily reload.
3. RECREATE game until you see GOLD, food and mines. So if you see good spot but no gold - forget about. Just recreate game and locate gold.

Heh, methinks you're going to get a pile of deity and immortal players telling you that rerolling if no gold is EZ-mode...

 

[pollock]

Take what your given and grow tough

 

[Monsterzuma]

I try to make sure I can get at least 14 production out of my capital before any whipping, so I don't get into an awkward situation when a rush is required.

 

[Svest]

Heh, methinks you're going to get a pile of deity and immortal players telling you that rerolling if no gold is EZ-mode...

In fact, there are some people who will regenerate the map because they started with gold. That's usually what I do on immortal. Though on deity I'll take any advantage I can get.

 

[MathNerd]

IMHO, in my serious games, I consider regenerating the map as cheap as reloading so you can win a battle.

However, I value all happiness resources a lot. It drives me crazy when I see unhappy citizens that could instead be working some great tile.

 

[Zechnophobe]

When you first start, flood plains look like just awesome things that you always want as many of as possible. Lots of Flood plains? Put city to get as many as possible!

Then... you start realizing that -3 or 4 health in a city is a bad, thing, and you can't grow enough to work them all with one city in the early game ANYway. I've gotten very much into the habit of parcelling off a few FP's with each of my first few cities if I can, and only getting a big FP city if it has lots of forests/health resource very close by.