Why is my city still level '1'?

[MBJODET]

I'm new to CIV games and trying to get the hang of this. I did the tutorial, I read the manual, I've read some stuff on line.

I cannot get my first city to go to level 2. What is the deal? I've got a good city with horses and cows and farms. I haven't over-expanded. My health level is 8 levels higher than the 'ickyness' level. I have Stonehenge and religion. It's not like I'm not trying here folks!!!!

The other civs citys are at levels 5 and 6 and I just sit here at level 1 where it takes me 34 turns to build a Settler.

So what is the deal here?

The game drives me nuts. The manual is full of details about how 'this lets your create that', and 'arrows are made out of yet' and all that stuff. But I do not get how you read the city screen, makes choices, achieve goals. Sure, I can build a farm (I build 3 or 4) but I can't get CITY GROWTH.

Thanks for any suggestions.

-MB

PS: Who's picking up CivCity: Rome this week? I love the old City building games, it will be curious to see how this compares to Caesar 4.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Erm, hmm? If you can post a save game, or even a screen shot then maybe we can help, otherwise sounds very strange, there must be something very basic that you're doing wrong, but I'm not sure what..

 

[pigswill]

The only thing that occurs to me is that you're running a specialist, possibly a citizen. Go into the city screen and click on one of the tiles, a white circle should appear to show you're working it and then you're away.

 

[MBJODET]

It looks like there's no food, but I've no idea why.

Here's a screenshot of the city and a saved game.

Thanks for your help!

-M

 

[sigmakan]

When building a settler/worker all food is diverted to producing that unit and no food is used for growth.

If you build something other than a settler/worker you should notice population growth.

Hope that helps.

 

[Pantastic]

Cities don't grow while you're building a worker or settler. Build something else and your city can gain size.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Change production to an archer, then click the central square of Madrid, this should put the city under AI governor control. You will see the "white square" around the horses change to one of the flood plain farms (you can also do this manually at any time from the city screen, just click on the farm from within the city screen, or on any other square you wish to work).

When the archer is built, build another (your city will be growing at this time), then when this 2nd archer is built, start producing a settler. You will then notice the city stops growing (this is true when ALL workers and settlers are being produced).

Each square has a different value for food, production and commerce, indicated by "slices of bread", hammers and "coin type symbols". The more "high food" squares you work, the faster your city will grow.

When your settler is ready, send him off with one of the archers, and your civ is off and running

To reiterate, just go into the city screen at any time, and click on the tile you wish to work, each point of population allows you to work one tile within that city's borders (shown by the white circles..and you are ALWAYS working the center square, you can't move that and it doesn't count as a population point):-its best to balance growth, production and commerce early on

I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly, happy civving

 

[Monado]

He's already built the Stonehenge, granary, etc....shouldn't he already be above a level 1 (even if he is building a worker now?)

 

[Beamup]

Not if he built those by working the gold mine.

 

[MBJODET]

I read that you shouldn't build a Settler till you were level 2. Thanks for letting me know that goes for workers, too. I just started another game and I have two cities fairly quickly at level three and four. But there were lots of food tiles by the first city.

 

[FuRRie]

Nothing Wrong with building a Worker From the start, all depends on the reousrces around your city

 

[drkodos]

I read that you shouldn't build a Settler till you were level 2. Thanks for letting me know that goes for workers, too. I just started another game and I have two cities fairly quickly at level three and four. But there were lots of food tiles by the first city.

The key is that the food tiles must be the ones you are working (as evidenced by the white circle in the city map)

 

[MBJODET]

The key is that the food tiles must be the ones you are working (as evidenced by the white circle in the city map)

Ok, total noob question here (I just started playing Friday night). On the picture I posted above of my city....what are the white circles? Surely those are not the only tiles with 'being worked'? I gather that 'being worked' means the same as 'a worker has been an improvement upon' (ie farm, cottage, mine, etc). ??

-M

 

[CliftonBazaar]

The white circle shows which squares have a person working on it.
The square that the city is on is always worked and you have a population of 1 so 1 tile outside of the city is worked on.
Worker improvements improve a tile but it DOESN'T mean that the tile is worked.

In your screen shot you have population 1 and that person is working on horses (1 food, 1 gold and 4 hammers) shown by the white circle, if a worker improved that tile then the white circle would create more hammers & gold (I don't know by how much as I don't micromanage but I do know that it is worth improving).

Again, the worker has nothing to do with whcih tiles the city is working on.

James

PS I hope I haven't confused you

 

[Ace4nyC]

Put your civilian to work the farm then your city will grow

 

[CliftonBazaar]

Or click on the bread icon down the bottom right hand corner (next to the hammer icon), this will make your city priotorise food production and your city will grow.

 

[Petrucci]

Just thought I would add you can work one tile per population your city is, so if you city is lvl 1 you can work 1 tile, if your city is lvl 4 you can work 4 tiles, if your city is lvl 15 you can work 15 tiles! I did this in another thread but i would recommend this walkthrough its great for a beginner to see an experience player going step by step through the game! http://civ4info.com/Sullla/civ4_walk_1.html also I recommend this! http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165632

 

[MestreLion]

what are the white circles? Surely those are not the only tiles with 'being worked'?

For your surprise, yes, the white circles are exaclty the ones being worked by your city

You always work your city tile "for free", and each population works an additional tile. You have 1 population, thus only 1 white circle (besides the city one).

I gather that 'being worked' means the same as 'a worker has been an improvement upon' (ie farm, cottage, mine, etc). ??

Wrong. When a worker improves a tile (by farm, cottage, mine), it makes the tile "better", by yelding more food, hammers or gold when that tile is worked by the city. Thus, you only benefit from an improvement when the city actually works those improved tiles (white circles).

For you not to get confused:
- Improving a tile: when a worker builds a farm, cottage, mine etc on a tile
- Working a tile: when a city uses that tile to produce food, hammer or gold. you can see what tiles are being worked by the white circles on city screen.

Needless to say, you should prioritize improving the tiles you are currently working, and always try to work on improved tiles.

Last but not least, your city will grow again as soon as you finish that worker. Its not a bad idea to build a worker first. Actually, many players (including myself) consider this to be a great strategy, depending on circunstances. Just make sure that the net food on worked tiles is always positive (ie, you have surplus food for growth), or you will stagnate. Ok for emergencies, but under normal conditions, you should always aim to grow.