Target number of cities on Med map?

[constans337]

I'm currently playing my first game and it's on the Mediterranean map (default settings), and I'm 31 turns in. How many cities should I be aiming for to remain competitive (on The Noble)? I currently have 4 and I'm waiting for a settler for a 5th site.

My first impressions of the game are very positive, although the pace seems a touch slow (especially research progress) even though I have plenty of orders. Most likely user error at this stage though.

 

[Ita Bear]

Hello constans337

Welcome to one of the best strategy games in recent years! It sounds like you've made a decent pace so far; your starting area usually contains 3-4 extra city sites that are free or occupied by barbarians and the priority is to settle these ASAP before your enemies do. Around now your focus should be turning onto one of the tribes nearby and thinking about taking their land.

Pace at the beginning can seem slow, but it will pick up once you start developing your nation with laws, specialists and projects in your cities. Events, exploring and trade deals can also speed up your research.

Don't worry if your first game falls through; it's a complex game and will take a good few restarts before you're comfortable with everything!

Kind regards,
Ita Bear

 

[jguy100]

In general, wide (more cities) is better than tall (better cities) in OW. There’s always exceptions, but expanding more usually is the correct choice. To the point that my first three cities generally produce nothing but military or settlers for quite a while. Expand, expand, expand!

The antithesis to this is of course OCC (playing with only one city), which is still relatively balanced and fun. Just not as powerful as having a wide reaching empire.

 

[constans337]

Thanks for the comments. My first instinct is not to keep expanding because of the micro entailed by ICS in 4X games. Given the fixed number of city sites in this game, and the fairly low management a city requires compared to most others, I guess this isn't as big an issue in OW.

It's still early days yet, but I'm impressed with the elegant design of this game so far, and I've been playing these kinds of games since they were invented.

 

[Solver]

The pre-made maps aren't well balanced for what it's worth. Rome is ridiculously overpowered on this map and the expansion possibilities in general don't look similar to regular games on random maps. The real-world maps are very interesting to try once in a while but it's not the default game experience by any means.

 

[constans337]

The pre-made maps aren't well balanced for what it's worth. Rome is ridiculously overpowered on this map and the expansion possibilities in general don't look similar to regular games on random maps. The real-world maps are very interesting to try once in a while but it's not the default game experience by any means.

Thanks. Good to know, especially since I'm playing Greece and have made first contact with a Roman army lurking near my western most city site! I may restart on a random map if things get too ugly.

 

[Nico_D]

I think I'm playing too passive and on the same map, playing with Rome. Greece has 26 cities, I have 13. They lead me by 10 points.

I'm really bad at warfare in general, in all the games. Bad habit.

 

[constans337]

I think I'm playing too passive and on the same map, playing with Rome. Greece has 26 cities, I have 13. They lead me by 10 points.

I'm really bad at warfare in general, in all the games. Bad habit.

What turn are you on?

 

[Nico_D]

What turn are you on?

Turn 66. I don't understand how to get the cities grow so fast in early game that I'd be able to build the Wonders the AI is building.

 

[constans337]

The pre-made maps aren't well balanced for what it's worth. Rome is ridiculously overpowered on this map and the expansion possibilities in general don't look similar to regular games on random maps. The real-world maps are very interesting to try once in a while but it's not the default game experience by any means.

Actually, when I bought the game, I didn't appreciate it was a pure 4x game set in the classical period, rather than a grand strategy/4x hybrid game about the historical classical period (in the vein of Field of Glory: Empires, or Greeks Wars). In the 30 years of playing Civilization I think I would have played a set scenario only once or twice! Once this dawned on me, I abandoned my current game last night and restarted on a random map. It does feel quite different.

 

[PiR]

Turn 66. I don't understand how to get the cities grow so fast in early game that I'd be able to build the Wonders the AI is building.

More workers. More orders.