The City Challenge

[Save_Ferris]

Reading how high people had gotten their cities (some above 50!), I decided to see how big I could grow a city by 2050 AD. I would make the settings perfect for a large city, putting food first and gold second (for maritime city-states). Here goes nothing.

Oh, and by the way, this was done on a Mac. So no Aqueducts

Settings
I chose Askia because he had a start bias near the jungle. Looking back, maybe Gandhi was the better choice. My settings: Low sea level, archipelago, abundant resources, settler, huge map, wet, 2 players, hot. I chose Genghis Khan for my opponent due to his start bias in the desert. I don't really want to defeat Khan as much as ignore him- hey, I needed an opponent for the game.

I chose no barbarians so that they wouldn't ruin my improvements. However, this may have been another bad decision, as Songhai gets extra gold from encampments. Oh, well. Of course, I put a one-city challenge.

Turns 1-50
Picture 1: This seems nice enough- near the ocean with a wheat resource nearby. I could find a better place, but that would take too much time.
Picture 2: By the end of the turn, I've researched Pottery so I could get a Granary and I've set production on a Worker for farming. I let my warrior explore- there are no barbarians, and I don't think the Mongols will invade me anytime soon.
Picture 3: Ah, a worker- just what I need for my goal. I'll let it farm the wheat resource. I don't really need another worker, but I'll keep building one until I research Pottery.
Picture 4: Another good ruin. I'm beginning to realize how large the island is due to the low sea level option- hopefully I don't share it with Mongolia.
Picture 5: A city-state, and a maritime one too! I think I put 28 of them, so I should have seen one before this. I think the slider may have reset to 4, or the rest are all crowded in one spot.
Picture 6: I decide to research Mining so I can chop down forests and make more farms. I then stop producing my worker in favor of a granary.
Picture 7: This seems like the appropriate SP.
Picture 8: Meh.
Picture 9: I want to research Sailing, but I usually try to research techs in the same column. Gao is at size 3 and its Granary is well under way. The island is now more like a continent, but I have explored a good amount of it. Things look promising.

 

[Sparthage]

lurker's comment: I can't see the pics, but otherwise, Subscribed!

 

[Save_Ferris]

lurker's comment: I can't see the pics, but otherwise, Subscribed!

Thanks. But by the way, the pictures are JPGs, so I'm not sure if the problem is with your computer or mine.

 

[Sonereal]

I don't see the pictures either.

 

[Sparthage]

lurker's comment: Where did you dl them too?

 

[Save_Ferris]

lurker's comment: Where did you dl them too?

I took the screenshot, put it in the "pictures" folder of my computer, and then attached them to my post and used the picture link to post... Hmmm... Should I convert them to a different file type?

 

[Sonereal]

You didn't attach them correctly. If you attached them, they would've at least showed up on the bottom of your post.

 

[Save_Ferris]

You didn't attach them correctly. If you attached them, they would've at least showed up on the bottom of your post.

I deleted the attachments because I thought I didn't need them... I know! I'll remove the JPGs and use attachments, but I'll put the story in multiple posts. It'll be a sec.

Turns 51-100
Picture 1: Turn 60, and my city's looking pretty good. Shown here on the turn it reached a population of 4, it demands the currently unworkable sugar. Sugar isn't anywhere near my borders, but I'm focused on growth rate so I'll be sure to get it from Khan or a CS.
Picture 2: As I explore more of my fractal-like Archipelago, I keep on raking in tribal villages. I guess I could use a new SP.
Picture 3: I guess it will stall off a happiness crash, so it's the best policy I can get.
Picture 4: Cha-CHING! Just what I needed, again. Who needs India when you have luck?
Picture 5: By Turn 72, I am on the last starting tech, Archery. I've just finished my Granary, and have further delayed my worker so I could build a monument and expand my borders.
Picture 6: My warrior has explored most of my continent, and still no more CS's. I hope it reverted back to 4, because if Khan has 27 CS's to himself I'm going to be super angry. At least it will prevent him from expanding! Seen here is my first sight of other land- I'll be sure to go here once I research Optics.
Picture 7: I was going to research Sailing, but I decide to go with The Wheel for a watermill.
Picture 8: Not of any significance, but it made me wonder: How did Singapore find another CS? It will remain a mystery.
Picture 9: To wrap up this part, I decided to take a closer look at Gao by Turn 100. It completed construction of the monument and had finally resumed work on another worker. Not only was it at size 6, but it had a large food surplus. According to my demographics screen, it had over 100,000 people, which (I'm pretty sure) is larger than any other city that existed at that time. Take that, history!

Things are finally coming together for my civ- hopefully, they stay that way.

 

[Sparthage]

Uh, still can't see the pics...

Step-by-Step:
1) Upload .jpg files in advanced options
2) Click on the file name under attachments
3) Copy the URL
4) Click 'Add Images'
5) Paste the URL
6) Repeat until satisfied

You can only attach 10 files to each post. I use photobucket for my story to avoid having a limit like this.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Uh, still can't see the pics...

Step-by-Step:
1) Upload .jpg files in advanced options
2) Click on the file name under attachments
3) Copy the URL
4) Click 'Add Images'
5) Paste the URL
6) Repeat until satisfied

You can only attach 10 files to each post. I use photobucket for my story to avoid having a limit like this.

Patience patience!

 

[Sonereal]

 

[Save_Ferris]

We might be seeing two different things, but I see a picture. You do, right?
Edit: Anyhoo, I'll try to post 101-150 tomorrow.

 

[Sonereal]

I see it.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Technically the best civ for that is the Aztecs.
(+15% food)

Of course patch would give Very good results (Aqueduct, Culture from Tradition to get quick Landed Elite Boost, Monarchy for Happiness+Gold)


But given what you've got... after Watermills, get Mining (to remove Forests) and Civil Service(food boost)->Currency(National Treasury)->Optics(Lighthouse)->Fertilizer(boost)->Biology(Hospital)->Pennicillin(Medical Lab)

[there aren't too many food buildings, so keep up with the Culture and Gold Buildings along the way]
Happiness Wonders would be slightly worthwhile, but if you have lots of Maritime Allies, Happiness won't be much of a problem.

Policy Wise
Monarchy, Landed Elite (you will need the Gold and Extra Territory)
Freedom+Civil Service (extra Food+Happy for Specialists)
Theocracy (extra happy)
Patronage (one from both left+right sides)
Commerce (just starting policy)
would all be good

 

[Save_Ferris]

I'd think Siam would be the best if I included more CSs. But since I've gotten a great starting location and population growth for ruins, I'm definitely not starting over.

But anyways, here's turns 101-150:

Picture 1: I decide to research Trapping so I can improve the two Ivory resources near my borders.

Picture 2: The best part about 2 players on a huge map? The ruins...

Picture 3: ...Which is not to say that they're all good, of course.

Picture 4: Border expansion? I think so, what's better than more farms?
NOTHING.

Picture 5: Finally, I get around to sailing. As you can barely see behind the box, I have finished my worker and am now worker on a Watermill.

Picture 6: As you can see, my population is 8x that of Genghis. I even outnumber him in military, even though I only have one spearman.

Picture 7: Ah, a wonder. But I'll need a lot more border expansion to access that.

Picture 8: I go for Optics in my quest to rake an even more ridiculous amount of ruins.

Picture 9: An unknown player? Hmm, I wonder who that is. Whoever they are, I'm definitely winning against them.

Picture 10: To finish this off, let's go back to Gao. It has 8 citizens with two buildings increasing its food surplus, and I made sure to put it on a food focus. It has 9 production, pretty good for 2000 B.C. I'm building a trireme and researching Optics, so I will definitely see some exploring ahead.

I will try to update Tuesday night!

 

[Save_Ferris]

Finally, here it is- turns 151-200! I am currently at turn 300, by the way, this game has me hooked I would just edit the first post, but only 10 attachments are allowed per post, and I don't have any photo account.

Picture 1: Let's take a look at my city. It's at a population of 8, but let's see how high we can get it in 50 turns. Currently I have 5 farms, and I need to improve my culture to get some more tiles.
Picture 2: I am researching Optics and building a ship- I want to explore and meet some new city-states. Speaking of city-states, I have over 1000 gold- I should give some to Singapore to get some extra growth.
Picture 3: And I did that, without being anywhere within 1,000 miles of their borders!
Picture 4: My ship is done, I'll put it on explore. Let's build the Colossus- I could use extra gold. (Later I realized that I wasn't anywhere near a fish resource. I guess I needed the points and culture.)
Picture 5: Optics is done, time to explore! As I mentioned in a previous update, there's an island to the southwest that I want to reach. I decide to go for Calendar now so I can improve the cotton in my borders.
Picture 6:This will easily add 50% to my gold, which I will definitely focus on as I meet new city-states.
Picture 7: I really want to build the Hanging Gardens, so let's research Mathematics.
Picture 8: Yes!
Picture 9: Okay, I know, this is turn 201. But close enough. My city has a food surplus of 21, is mostly done with the Colosus, and is at... 11! Great. Outside of my borders, my spearman has gotten countless ruins on other islands, and might even run into a city-state soon
I'll try to update tomorrow!

 

[Save_Ferris]

I've gotten this update up so fast because I have a lot of time on my hands right now. By the way, if you want to comment of this, feel free to! I'll take any compliments or criticism.

Picture 1: Ooh, another city-state! I'll try to gift it some gold when I have enough.

Picture 2: Good, I think that puts Gao at 12 or 13.

Picture 3: Ruins have gotten me a third worker, as shown here. There isn't much land left to farm for now, so I'll let it explore. Also, I have found another city-state on the same island as Cape Town. Meanwhile, I have finished Mathematics and Masonry, and Gao is building the Hanging Gardens.

Picture 4: Looks like I'm way ahead of science with only one city. As you can see in the upper left, I am now researching Philosophy.

Picture 5: A Golden Age will probably allow me to finish The Hanging Gardens before Turn 250.

Picture 6: The Hanging Gardens have been completed, and I've started on a Lighthouse for extra food.

Picture 7: To end this part, let's take a look at Gao, as always. It's at 15 citizens- up 4 from 50 turns ago- Due in part to ruins and wonders.

I have still not met Genghis Khan. But I feel that I might be close...

I'll try to update on Saturday!

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Is that an unchopped jungle?

I'd chop+farm it.. gives 1 more food post-Civil Service

 

[DiamondPirate]

This seemed like a cool idea, so I gave it a spin. Same options except temperate rather then hot, legendary start instead of abundent, and I went with Gandi.

22 pop by turn 109. 4 water resources is like, the nuts. If you just going for the highest pop possible, go with legendary start

 

[Save_Ferris]

Should have tried that. 22 by 109 seems impossible on my game, were you on a speed other than marathon?