What kinds of districts should I be building across the whole civilization?

[fullhouse]

Just looking for generalities.

In my current Emperor game I have 6 cities:

Every one has a campus and commercial zone.
3 industrial districts
0 holy sites (are pointless if you don't get a religion early?)
1 aqueduct (any reason to build one if your city has water already?)
1 harbor
1 entertainment district (just experimenting with it, not had any problems with amenities)
2 theater/culture district.
1 encampment

So I am rolling in gold, and my science is decent (2nd place in the atomic era).
I definitely feel like I am missing culture, since my civics are way behind, and I am in 8th place for the culture victory.
I am also lacking in Production - or at least things are starting to take a long time to build!

So I'm just wondering for my next game what are the key districts to get in every city? If there are any key ones. I'm building more as they become available but population is limiting.

And in general - is it worth building campuses with no mountain bonuses? industrial with no mines? Holy sites, ever? etc.

 

[LanguishViking]

All cities need
- industrial district for production
- commercial hub for trade route
- port district for trade rout
- entertainment for 5 local amenities

everything else depends on your civ needs but in general I'd advise at least one of each kind of great person district in an sp game

 

[Huaojozumakurwa]

My current beelines are to get the Commercial District (build everywhere), Harbor (build everywhere) and Industrial Zone (build everywhere). From there on it depends on your end game. You won't probably have space for 5 districts (unless you're Germany) so choosing the appropriate one is best. If I am going for Cultural victory, I spam Theater everywhere. Same thing for Science or Conquest victory. I kind of neglect Holy Sites completely, since by the end game Faith is only useful for buying great people and I am rolling in gold from all the trade routes anyway. As cities get bigger and start supporting the 5th district, it's usually Entertainment to keep up with the amenities game.

 

[Kimurae]

Given how early you get them, I build one Holy Site in the Capitol, that's usually enough. I also build a bunch of small cities to fill in gaps between the good cities, those typically just build one district: Industrial.

 

[LokiTheCat]

Every city needs 2 districts no matter what victory condition you are going for: commercial and industrial. I would strongly advise campus as well in MP because keeping up in military tech is more important, but it's less important in SP for now as AI is bad at upgrading units. Harbors are also great because they give you trade route slots. The rest is pretty much situational - need more housing? Get an aqueduct if early or a neighborhood later on. Going for culture? Get more theater squares. If you are low on amenities, get an entertainment district (try to place these, like industrial districts, close to other cities because some of their buildings can give bonuses to nearby cities, not just the one that built the district.)

Holy site is a trap IMO, religion is bad right now unless you want to go for religious victory. It's not worth the slot because in order to get a religion you need to emphasize it early and it's better to get more infrastructure.

 

[Rilyharytoze]

If you spam a lot of cities, either peaceful or through force, entertainment districts are nice for peaceful not always needed though if you have lot of trade opportunities. Commercial, industrial and harbors where available are must haves. Those extra trade routes are all you need to turn a garbage tundra city into something useful.

 

[teakbois]

If your city is in a good growth (ie will hit housing cap pre-neighborhood) spot I'd consider encampment over commerce. Barracks + armory gives 4 hammers and 2 housing. And with that extra 2 pop you may be able to build the commercial hub quick after all.

 

[RealHuhn]

You definitely do not need industrial zones in every city. What's the point of getting a factory in a city at the edge of your empire where bonuses only affect maybe one additional city? You waste tons of turns and production to get more production. Doesn't make much sense unless it's late game and you can yolo build everything anyway. Better boost its production via internal trade routes and let it specialize in culture, science or encampment, depending on the environment.
Oh, and coastal cities are amazing for commercial hub + harbor combo.

 

[CaiusDrewart]

I put a commercial hub and harbor in every city that can build either. The trade routes are too good to pass up. Almost all of my cities get industrial zones, too. I might make exceptions for small outlying cities.

Two or three campuses are helpful. I put them in whichever of my cities are near mountains. I don't think you need these everywhere, unless you really want to beeline some late-game unit.

I usually build only one or two encampments. It's nice to have one in my capital because it means internal trade routes to my capital will generate more production. I usually only need one entertainment district, two at the most. A super-wide empire will need more.

For a Cultural Victory, I end up with theater squares in every city. I need the great work slots and great person points, and each of them can eventually pump out an archaeologist.

Unless I'm playing Russia, I completely skip Holy Sites.

 

[joncnunn]

All cities need: Commercial Hub & Harbor (when possible) for trade routes.
Cities without fresh water access need the Aqueduct (when possible) just to avoid housing capacity problems. (As to city with fresh water; if you aren't Rome, it's basically compare the cost of the Aqueduct vs 4 builder charges for farms.)
Most cities should build Industrial Zones; start with higher production cities.

Also, start the above zones asap while they are cheaper.

 

[Ogaw]

Commercial hub is key. That is my feeling. Always build commercial hub

 

[player1 fanatic]

Holy district can be good for growth if you have follower belief that adds food for each faith bonus for temples and shrines.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

If I am thinking ICS and have to limit my districts, I'd go with (1) industrial, (2) commercial, and (3) cultural. Science goes SO fast. I play for fun and so don't get into the super cheat immortal or deity levels, but even on king, I do quite well on science with limited campuses. Even if the AI leaps due to the gaps in the tech tree, I do just fine. Where I find myself struggling is a large number of late game writers, artists, and musicians without a place for their works.

 

[isau]

IMO Commercial is the most critical district as of the release version of the game.

 

[jakedamus]

Industrial districts every city. Commercial and ports in most cities. Campus, cultural, entertainment AND holy in some cities.

Skipping faith seems inefficient to me. faith is a form of currency.
you will need some Apostles to defend against the AI winning a religious victory. faith buys units with Theocracy which can be very useful in mid game. Faith lets you buy conservationists.
Most importantly faith lets you buy great people.

Religion gives you other bonus including worship buildings which can be bought with faith.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

I had a tight map game earlier which really showed me how coastal starts are far too weak. I was on a large peninsula which allowed for three cities, but two had to be coastal. I built my harbor, commercial, and industrial districts, but then found myself dealing with a quandary when it came to the available land, producing appropriate food and hammers, and space for late game necessary districts/wonders. Not exactly what we're talking about here, but it did make me wary of seeding a bunch of islands in order to contribute. I felt rather frustrated needing a place to build a policy slot wonder and not having anywhere to place it for fear of crippling my city's production or food output.

 

[Zenstrive]

I am just thinking that we maybe able to skip industrial district first,
in favor of Encampment.

My point is that encampment give defense, give at least 3 productions.

After that we can build commercial hubs and industrial zones, safely protected by the encampment.

Thoughts?

 

[CaiusDrewart]

I am just thinking that we maybe able to skip industrial district first,
in favor of Encampment.

My point is that encampment give defense, give at least 3 productions.

After that we can build commercial hubs and industrial zones, safely protected by the encampment.

Thoughts?

With the AI so incompetent at siege warfare, the extra defense of the encampment is hardly needed. I usually do build 1 or 2 encampments because having a diverse army with lots of different unit types is fun, even if it's not at all necessary.

 

[Zenstrive]

Well, the AI is incompetent right now, but you might not know what the future brings.

Also encampment comes earlier than Industrial Zone.

 

[Roxlimn]

I skip the Industrial Zones in some cities - but you do need a centralized area or areas that will project to nearby cities once Industrialization hits. Bear in mind that until Industrialization, Industrial Zones are completely dependent on adjacency bonuses to get their +hammers. If you're Japan, it might be better to build an Encampment for half price - you get +1 hammer from Barracks or Stable, and you get to build units with only 1 strategic resource. And the Encampment itself will provide +1 adjacency for the Industrial Zone later on.

Peripheral cities don't benefit from building IZs. At best, they'll improve a nearby city and themselves for maybe 7 hammers per turn each. It's a little questionable whether that's worth the build time. Maybe if you have a bunch of builder City States. Then they're worth more.