After reading on here how important NC is, I've been trying to shoot for getting NC as soon as I can in games where I can build the Great Library, which usually means OCC until I get NC.
The question then is, when should I expand my number of cities, assuming I don't pick Liberty at any point? I often wind up waiting for a long time to build my second city, sometimes around turn 70-80 or longer before the city is plopped in place. This can be really bad if I'm next to an expansive AI, and it winds up taking a long time to get those cities producing anything. At the same time, I find I have a lot of things to build (caravans/cargo ships in particular, workers, markets when they are available) that give better short-term rewards, but if I wait too long all of the good settle locations are blocked off.
Difficulty is Emperor if it makes any difference.
The question then is, when should I expand my number of cities, assuming I don't pick Liberty at any point? I often wind up waiting for a long time to build my second city, sometimes around turn 70-80 or longer before the city is plopped in place. This can be really bad if I'm next to an expansive AI, and it winds up taking a long time to get those cities producing anything. At the same time, I find I have a lot of things to build (caravans/cargo ships in particular, workers, markets when they are available) that give better short-term rewards, but if I wait too long all of the good settle locations are blocked off.
Difficulty is Emperor if it makes any difference.