n00b - I MUST be missing something

[Amarsir]

It is certainly worth trying to understand why the suggestion is being made. But don't click on "do so at the first opportunity" - by that time the situation may have changed completely.

Right, that's what I was saying. Don't necessarily take the advice (particularly the "build a settler now" one), but when the computer suggests building a granary, that's a good time to figure out what a granary does.

[marvinkosh]

You should remember that when you mouse-over any unit improvement to construct next, you'll get Sid's tips (if switched on) and these will help you figure out what each thing is for.

What you have to grasp really is that a happy and healthy city is a productive city, and there are ways of improving health and happiness. A productive city is of course useful to your growing Civ, while an unproductive one is not.

A Civ also needs units to defend its cities from attack, culture to expand its influence (borders) and gold. This is why you have sliders to adjust where your commerce will go.

Finally, no Civ can get far without a number of workers to improve the land around your cities and connect the cities with roads.

[Solver]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
This reminds me, the game needs to have a "sandbox" mode for newbies.

The Settler level is that, the players don't have to be very concerned about health or happiness, and the AIs are under horrible penalties, and unable to attack.