Ocean Cities

[SilverDragon]

Once, I founded a little city on a 1 square grassland/river island in the middle of the sea. I bought it a harbor, and then an offshore platform. (I built it because the default name it gave me was Venice ) Anyway, then I left it alone for a while, and when I came back, it was producing 50 sheilds, (with factory, hydro plant from hoover dam, and manufacturing plant) and its trade was incalculable. I wonder how good you could get an SSC that way. Then again, you don't have offshore platforms when youre building colossus. But anyway, now I build cities on tiny islands, and rushbuy harbor and offshore platform. Do any of you do that?

------------------
Long live the Communists!
-- SilverDragon

[geofelt]

One of the benefits of such a city is that you can ignore pollution solutions because the center and ocean squares will never get pollution skulls. That said, I only build them if it is convenient.

[SilverDragon]

Oh, I was gonna say that, except I forgot. Once on one of those cities I just built a power plant instead of nuclear or hydro or solar, (I missed the Hoover Dam ) and it didnt pollute even though it had the worst polluting power plant

[Sortub]

In a game I recently finished, I founded one of those island-type cities whose radius touched like two whales and two fish squares. After I built all the trade boosters and double-irrigated the land, it was producing a staggering 110 trade arrows.

The key is whales. Find them. Harvest them. There are no international treaties in the game against this.

I'm starting to think the ideal location for a city is on a sort of promontory or island that includes bountiful both land and ocean squares.

Stragetically, a city on an isthmus is good for the bi-coastal capability, in addition to harvesting the ocean squares.

[Miner]

KRC works on sea squares, so this usually worthless wonder would be quite useful on making a SSC from an island.

[Sieve Too]

Another benefit of island cities is that the AI doesn't know how to capture them. They'll attack with ships but they never follow up with a transport to take the empty city.

[Ming]

I've had AI marines try to take my one square island cities. Too bad for them it was a forest square with many vet Mech Infantry in it. A costal fortress, a SAM, and a SDI made the city untakeable. Needless to say, their strategy didn't work

But you bring up a good point. If early in the game, you can't find trade specials, just build along the coast. It beats having to place workers on plains or swamp squares

[Sieve Too]

I've never seen an AI amphibious assault but I guess they do exist afterall.

[geofelt]

If any prospective city location has three or more ocean squares, I try to found the center where I get the capability to build a harbor. It seems that whenever I don't I regret it.
If a city could be built to act as a bridge between two bodies of water, I try to build there, even if it is not an optimal location. Many times I have been glad that I can get a naval unit from one ocean to another.

[cavebear]

geofelt - I heartily agree on the "city as passage between 2 bodies of water" idea. It drives me crazy when I discover a city I've built would have permitted such passage if only it had been one square different!

I've longed for a Panama Canal Wonder that would allow a ship to move through the entire city radius...

And, if I may, why can't a city not on the ocean, but having squares incorporating water, not build a harbor?

[finbar]

Presumably because, if it's not on the water, it can't, literally, have a harbour.

------------------
finbar
Mono Rules!
#33984591

[Carolus Rex]

I like one square islands too.

A question and a warning.

Can they be amphibiously attacked before marines, i.e. even if they are empty (no defenders) which pre-marine unit can enter them? It's been a while since I built such a city (or launched amphibious assaults!), but isn't bribing the only way to get them?

Pretty good deal in that case, just keep a diplo on a ship in reach to buy it back the next turn a heck of a lot cheaper.

As someone posted in a thread far, far away... Don't let triremes stay in those cities' ports, the AI will sink them 50% of the time. And I thought I was safe, ouch!

Carolus

[This message has been edited by Carolus Rex (edited April 28, 2000).]

[Paul]

All land units can walk into your undefended cities from a ship. Marines are just the only ones that can attack from a ship.

[Tom DeMille]

The trireme is safe in an island port if you put it on sentry duty (before using up all its movement points).

[inca911]

Island SSC is a concept that should be attempted in an OCC format. Anybody want to create a scenario for this?