First city

[Peacemaker]

I am new to civ2 and would like some advice from the experts.

I build my first city in the first couple of turns most of the time. I have learned from this site that this is not always the best thing to do. What I would like to know, on average how long does it take you to build your first city and are there any special recources you look for during a normal game vs. the AI.

My whole game counts on this

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Don't let the name fool you!!!

[Caesar the Great]

The first time I saw your name I thought it was pacemaker

[klesh]

I usually move ony two or three turns max bofore I build my first city. If I don't find anything good, I have a tendancy to just restart.
IMHO the best early terrain bonuses are:
Whale- good mix of food/shield.
Wheat- great food for growing city.
Fish- good food off the bat, add a harbor...

then some other good ones for a little later...
Wine- build the mine and collect trade.
Gold- trade trade trade trade trade. A must have for the Super Science City. If you don't know what that is, look for it in the archives...you can get 600+ beakers in one city per turn! One magical time I got 2 in the same spot right off the start!

Try to get spots that have two, or three bonuses. they are by far the most important spots. Learn the shape of the city screen. And figure out the best spot to build and get all possible bonuses.

[Black Bart]

I used to always build where they put me, but from advice here, I sometimes look around for a better spot. If there is a hut nearby I usually will pop it. It's great when I get a unit, it will be a none unit. Allows for great early exploration. I also try to get at least 1 bonus square, preferribly 2.

I usually don't wait to try to get 3 bonus squares unless I know for a fact that there is enough land to fit them all in (sometimes ocean will cover the perfect spot). I've been lucky to get 4 bonus squares in my city screen. Those cities are unbelievable. Great for science or production.


Forgot to answer your main question. I have never waited more than 5 or 6 turns to build my first city though. If things are real bleak (all desert), I'll just restart. But I usually don't restart. It's not much harder for me. I get off to a poorer start and get less early wonders, but in the end, I always prevail (Single player game obviously)
[This message has been edited by Black Bart (edited February 27, 2000).]

[rah]

Trade trade trade, in SP you can wander for quite a while without falling behind. In mp I check to see other players dropping cities, but searching for 6 or 7 turns in MP is not that bad.

RAH

[War4ever]

peacemaker...... i recommend waiting for the perfect spot in SP as you can easily catch up without too much effort...... your capital should be a glorious city...

[Matthew]

In single production you can afford to look around a bit more, but there is probably less need because In SP the balance between trade specials and roaded grassland isn't so skewed. In double production it may well be best to plop that first city or 2 down real quick, and send out warriors to find ideal spots for your next 2 cities.

[Peacemaker]

Thanks for the help.

This should help me. As I said I am new to the game I found cheftain real easy and won every time then I went to warlord and quickly got my but kicked. Hopefuly a faster start will help.