When/how to get a new city

[Calicea]

So right now I'm learning to play on king as polynesia and I try to go for culture victory. but I feel I get a bad start and it stems from either the quick or too slow of getting new towns also I think I focus too much on specialization from the get go so basically is there a time from to get new cities or when I find good spots? also when should I begin specializing a town ie making it focus on gold or production etc. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[anandus]

Most people start the second city through their free settler in the liberty tree. That's often a good cue.
Also some strategies prefer to get a second city as soon as possible, either through the free settler or a hard built settler. Where other people rather wait until they have the National college going.

There isn't really a fixed set of rules, it depends on playstyle, map, victory conditions, civ, etc.

Personally, I had a rule to have 3 cities going by turn 100 (which is a bit slow), nowadays, I try to have three running by turn 50 (which is hard for me, but a good benchmark). I don't necessarily wait for the NC to finish (often trying to purchase a library in at least one city to speed it up though).

But it really all depends.

 

[The_Quasar]

It really depends greatly on which map type, and to a lesser extent, what speed you are playing on.

You're playing Polynesia on King, so the biggest advantage would be Archipelago. Your initial cities will depend on how large an island you've been dealt, but assuming you've got one to yourself, try to fill it as soon as you can, while exploring with your triremes. You need to fill your island, or others will, but you don't want too many cities for a cultural victory. An island with good tiles, allowing 2 or 3 cities is ideal.

Playing Polynesia on other map types is more difficult, and can be very interesting, but always try to see that you're in a place near water, or you'll not be able to use this civ's interesting exploring capabilities in the earlier game.

 

[woodshadows]

It can be useful to time your second settler to come around the time you learn iron working, assuming you want access to iron, which in most cases you will. Liberty tree will give you a free settler for that. Third settler you should be able to purchase with gold you receive from citystates/artifacts/barb camps and if you have writing selling open borders. Just make sure you have enough luxuries around to support the unhappiness you'll receive.

 

[Calicea]

Thanks everyone it all seems like great advice. Does anyone have any advice on specializing cities? I think I need to focus on letting them grow more at first, but I'm not sure to be honest. I am pretty sure though that figuring it out would really improve my play.

 

[SuperJay]

Keep in mind that the more cities you have, the more Social Policies cost, and gaining Social Policies is how you win a cultural victory. You might consider Tradition over Liberty to help you build a 'tall' empire (made up of a few large cities) rather than a 'wide' empire (made up of many smaller cities).

RE: Specializing cities - there's no rule that I know of, it really depends on the city in question and the tiles / resources it works. Personally I let my cities grow to a moderate size (maybe 7) beforehand; you generally want to encourage growth in the early game anyway, unless you're coming up against a low Happiness and population threatens to push you into unhappiness.

That said, take this all with a grain of salt - I just started playing Civ5 again after giving up on it about a year ago, so I'm not up on the latest changes and current game mechanics.

 

[binhthuy71]

Playing as Polynesia on King, pick a map type that makes maximum use of Polynesia's advantages (Instant Embarkation and +1 Line of Sight when embarked). I'd pick either Archipelago or Tiny Islands. Build Scouts and start exploring right away so as to snag all of the Ruins you can while discovering Natural Wonders. Your opposing civs will have to tech Pottery and then Sailing before they can explore via Triremes and they have to get Compass before they can Embark to harvest Ruins. The AI seems not to beeline Sailing, much less Compass, on a majority-water map. If you build 2-4 cheap Scouts (Depending on map size) immediately and then send them off exploring you'll have all the goodies before your opponents get their feet wet. You will also have the advantage of finding the best places to settle new cities.

 

[Calicea]

Thanks more good advice =) I might just lead my civilization to glory.

 

[bcaiko]

Where other people rather wait until they have the National college going.

This is a little off topic, but I find the one-city National College start to be very weak now that the National College was moved to a later tech. It just delays your second city for a darn precarious amount of time.

I, like anadus, have found that a slow founding of cities can be detrimental. Even if that's tended to be my habit.

 

[woodshadows]

This is a little off topic, but I find the one-city National College start to be very weak now that the National College was moved to a later tech. It just delays your second city for a darn precarious amount of time.

I, like anadus, have found that a slow founding of cities can be detrimental. Even if that's tended to be my habit.

My second and third city rarely contribute much to my game, tho I tend to play very aggressively, but my experience has been that my capital becomes a hoss and builds everything for me as I puppet tons of the ai's cities.. causing unhappiness and a diversion for my workers, resulting in my second and third cities being severely neglected/stagnating in population growth from the unhappiness. It's pretty fun tho, playing like a city state, except one bent on conquest, like historical Rome.

 

[binhthuy71]

My second and third city rarely contribute much to my game, tho I tend to play very aggressively, but my experience has been that my capital becomes a hoss and builds everything for me as I puppet tons of the ai's cities.. causing unhappiness and a diversion for my workers, resulting in my second and third cities being severely neglected/stagnating in population growth from the unhappiness. It's pretty fun tho, playing like a city state, except one bent on conquest, like historical Rome.

I'll make the classic Civ Fanatics forum response; it depends. I still tend to specialize cities ( A carryover from CiIV) and although my capitol tends to be very powerful a second or third city with Stone and/or Iron and built on a river can outproduce the it. Same for Culture of Science. If I have a seacoast city and my capitol is inland then I'll invest in Culture-producing buildings in the coastal city just in case the game lasts long enough to build the Sydney Opera House. For Science, a city built beside a mountain is a natural for an Observatory and it can become a powerful Science city. The only reason a capitol is the most powerful is because the game usually provides a good starting location and the capitol has a head start on buildings and tile improvements.