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Early wonders for me tend to be opportunistic as I think it is for most people. But you should not underestimate their value in two areas
1) They will start generating GPs
Although you can probably do this all more quickly by building a library or some other specialist building, your wonders are your GP slow-cookers that leave you free to pursue other things while your GP is being born. Early GPP are extremely valuable
2) Their basic benefit can be very valuable.
A wonder like Great Lighthouse can be a real boost for a civ with lots of coast to expand to, particularly if you have open borders and trade links with neighbours. Even without the open borders, a civ with three coastal cities will see a boost of 6 commerce for the cost of 200 hammers. For comparison, here are some crude comparative figures
Missionary (Cost 50 – Gain 1gpt)
Courthouse in City with M.E. of 6gpt (Cost 120 – Gain 3gpt)
Market in City with 20 commerce and 40% allocated to gold (Cost 150 – Gain 2gpt)
In some later situations (Large Empire/Pacifist/Representation), a wonder like the Statue of Liberty is simply too good to pass on.
Of course, early wonders also come at a time when expansion and improvements are also critical to the game so these will also have to be factored into the plan. But don’t leave the wonders too late or you will be beaten to them - the gold generated from a lost wonder race is nowhere near enough to compensate for losing the race and is a VERY poor use of production unless you happen to have the +100% resource bonus.
As for the forests, if you are in a wonder race then chop them down.
I don’t think I entirely agree with ben04 on the need for a gold mine in the capital. You can easily get the same level of commerce from a couple of villages. Having said that, achieving the CS sling is a lot deal easier if you have gold (or gems). I would, however, agree that boosting research is a better goal than boosting production simply because the +50% increases is a pre-multiplier commerce increases and this itself gets boosted by gold or science multipliers
1) They will start generating GPs
Although you can probably do this all more quickly by building a library or some other specialist building, your wonders are your GP slow-cookers that leave you free to pursue other things while your GP is being born. Early GPP are extremely valuable
2) Their basic benefit can be very valuable.
A wonder like Great Lighthouse can be a real boost for a civ with lots of coast to expand to, particularly if you have open borders and trade links with neighbours. Even without the open borders, a civ with three coastal cities will see a boost of 6 commerce for the cost of 200 hammers. For comparison, here are some crude comparative figures
Missionary (Cost 50 – Gain 1gpt)
Courthouse in City with M.E. of 6gpt (Cost 120 – Gain 3gpt)
Market in City with 20 commerce and 40% allocated to gold (Cost 150 – Gain 2gpt)
In some later situations (Large Empire/Pacifist/Representation), a wonder like the Statue of Liberty is simply too good to pass on.
Of course, early wonders also come at a time when expansion and improvements are also critical to the game so these will also have to be factored into the plan. But don’t leave the wonders too late or you will be beaten to them - the gold generated from a lost wonder race is nowhere near enough to compensate for losing the race and is a VERY poor use of production unless you happen to have the +100% resource bonus.
As for the forests, if you are in a wonder race then chop them down.
I don’t think I entirely agree with ben04 on the need for a gold mine in the capital. You can easily get the same level of commerce from a couple of villages. Having said that, achieving the CS sling is a lot deal easier if you have gold (or gems). I would, however, agree that boosting research is a better goal than boosting production simply because the +50% increases is a pre-multiplier commerce increases and this itself gets boosted by gold or science multipliers
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