[u]Choosing home</u>
The two starting sites are almost identical, but far apart, and we are only allowed one palace! For now, that is.
Basically, there are three options:
(a) to settle on or near both starting locations (with a slight preference for the capital near the Dyes as it is more central);
(b) to settle the capital and have the other Settler/Worker pair start a long trek towards it;
(c) to walk both pairs and settle somewhere in the middle.
I decided upon (a) after my first move basically because it was the spirit of the game (that, and the fact that there are raging barbarians). In the distant future, the two cities will be connected, right?
Actually neither starting tile looks real good in terms of rapid growth potential. Those Settlers need to be moved! Luckily, there are mountains near both locations.
We number the northern pair as 1 and the southern pair as 2.
4000 BC
[u]Workers</u>: 1»west
Whoa! You must see this to believe it (well, it IS a modded map).
We have found our capital location and will reach it in 2 turns. But what is that ... tower? ... doing there?
[u]Settlers</u>: 2»east
It has to hang around for 2 turns anyway.
[u]Settlers</u>: 1»sw
Might as well look around since we will settle on the forest rather than the floodplain. If at all possible, we want to avoid working floodplain tiles in our capital!
[u]Workers</u>: 2»ne
We need to connect the Spices asap so we can keep the luxury slider down.
north at the Dyes, and something ...
3950 BC
[u]Settlers</u>: 1»west, 2»n
The secondary town should be right at the luxury as it'll be ages before it can reach it otherwise. Settling on a floodplain is a risk here, too, but much less important, and food is all it can handle anyway.
[u]Workers</u>: 1»nw, 2=road
3900 BC
[u]Settlers</u>: 1=Beijing, 2=Shanghai
[u]Workers</u>: 1=road
At this point there are a few major decisions to make:
- what to research, if anything (we have Masonry and Martial Arts);
- how and when to set up a Settler factory in Beijing.
Feel free to enter your ideas before I tell you what I did, and to ask any questions you may have!