What should each city have, and in what order?

[stormwriter]

I'm not very good at Civ, but i do remember playing Civ2, i had a list of what the first 4-5 things each city should have, and in what order. It was something like a defender first, then a worker, then a granary, then another settler, then barracks... or something like that?

I get overwhelmed once my cities have lots of choices, like aqueducts, granaries, temples, barracks. I have no idea what to do, or what's essential, etc.

I might buy the strategy guide today. Would that help a little bit? Cause the manual doesn't really clear the confusion.

[Jon Miller]

I like lighthouses for coastal cities

not sure how quick to build them

JM

[padillah]

Re: What should each city have, and in what order?

Originally posted by stormwriter
I'm not very good at Civ, but i do remember playing Civ2, i had a list of what the first 4-5 things each city should have, and in what order. It was something like a defender first, then a worker, then a granary, then another settler, then barracks... or something like that?

I get overwhelmed once my cities have lots of choices, like aqueducts, granaries, temples, barracks. I have no idea what to do, or what's essential, etc.

I might buy the strategy guide today. Would that help a little bit? Cause the manual doesn't really clear the confusion.

Page 61 has a list of early objectives:
1) Protect the city.
2) Explore the world.
3) Improve the land around the city.
4) Build additional cities.
5) Connect your cities.
6) Crush your enemies.
7) Improve the city's culture.

My playstyle puts culture a bit ahead of where it falls in this list but it's a start.

Tom P.
"If you are flamable and have legs you are never blocking a fire exit." - Mitch Hedberg

[Cabbagemeister]

One of the best things to do is to send a missionary into a newly-built city to convert it to your state religion. This produces 1 culture per turn, and it makes it so that your borders expand in a decently short period of time. Otherwise you have to build an obelisk (in the early game) to expand your cultural borders. And obelisks aren't very good.

Once you get that cultural expansion, I prefer granaries/barracks/libraries, based on what my goals for the city are.

[Cabbagemeister]

You definitely should NEVER build a worker in a new city. Build a worker in a big city and have it walk over (not a big deal with 2-move workers). Building a worker early is too crippling. I also prefer not to build the military unit in the new city, because that unit can be built quickly in a big city, while buildings for the new city cannot.

[stormwriter]

So, figure out what are the most cost-effective and most culture-impacting upgrades, and do those first? (Barring protecting the city, which is a given...)
So, try to expand it's borders through culture to get more population so the subsequent buildings are built faster?

Then, after the basics are there, and the culture is decent, start having that city specialize in something, depending on whether its a good producer or food, hammers, etc?

I think i will get the strategy guide, cause i want to really really know what's going on, and know every detail, rather than guessing. It's so easy to get by without really knowing stuff about religion, missionaries, trading, spying, some buildings, etc.

[Jon Miller]

I ahve never had a culture flip

and I had huge culture cities.. well over 50k (when the next largest that wasn't mine was ~20k)

JM

[padillah]

Originally posted by stormwriter
I think i will get the strategy guide, cause i want to really really know what's going on, and know every detail, rather than guessing. It's so easy to get by without really knowing stuff about religion, missionaries, trading, spying, some buildings, etc.

I will probably end up with a strategy guide but I'll get it much later. I want to see how bad I really am and work from there.

Tom P.
"I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans 'cause maybe they are just as good and we're wasting time." - Mitch Hedberg