City Planners Report

[Bear]

I've had a good peak around the game (played it, infact.. took us into the nuclear age and got totally obliterated by the Americans, but thats another story ), and my conclusion is this:

Nothing major needs to be changed


Since the last City Planner has done such a good job, and kept us on the right track, its a lot easier. But.. now I gotta think about the future


May I draw your attention to the map below, which shows the best areas for arrows (tax, science, luxery).
The key is as follows:
Light blue - High arrows - No development needed
Red - Medium/High arrows - Some development needed
Yellow - Low/Medium arrows - *ALARM BELLS*

I'm most worried about the main island, where Apolyton is, because it *should* be the core. I understand we're making caravans there, but the cities are starting to lag behind.
Its cities make just 33 arrows, with a population of 28,whilst the island to the north makes 57 with a population of 24.


I propose this: 2 cities on the main island stop making caravans, and start devoloping their improvements - harbours (more trade from sea, so get harbours to stop the food loss), marketplaces/banks (encouraging more money), etc. The other 2 cities make ironclads OR caravans.
On the northern island, make two cities produce ironclads (as is happening), and build caravans with the other two. This will mean we could still build the same number of caravans, more ironclads and more development.

Basically, it is my thoughts that Apolyton is in desperate need of devolopment, for trade and productivity (although that has already started with hills, mines etc). After that, the yellow areas could be improved.



Opinions?

[-Jrabbit]

Hey Bear -- You're not supposed to play ahead!!!!!!!!!!

[-Jrabbit]

We are reaching the point in the game where several WoWs will be available. While we are doing a fine job of reclaiming lost Wonders from nearby Civs, it's important that we maintain our ability to build the ones we need/want most.

Plus, continuing our camel farming can also feed the kitty with trade.

[civman2000]

NO PLAYING AHEAD

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Hey Bear -- You're not supposed to play ahead!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly! The condition for allowing the High Council access to the save file was that none should play it forward. Well they can, but shouldn't get caught. Or tell of the results to anyone on Apolyton.

Now, this probably means that Bear didn't know of this. Which means that this aspect has not been appropriately highlighted.

Either that or Bear is illiterate, which he appears not to be.

[Bear]

I was just joking! I didn't really play ahead..

I went forward one turn by accident (I pressed enter to leave a city, then again because I thought I was in the City Advisor screen, but I wasn't..), but I didn't play ahead! Gawd..

I apologise for my stupidity.


Now, that aside, would anyone like to tell me if I'm doing a reasonably good job?

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Bear
I was just joking! I didn't really play ahead..

Oh. My apologies. But at least this served as a wakeup call, reminding people that no playing ahead.

Now, that aside, would anyone like to tell me if I'm doing a reasonably good job?

Well, at least better then the first Apolyton City Planner, I can tell you that.

[Kropotkin]

If he had actually played ahead and then got wacked by the americans at this stage of the game we should get rid of him no matter what, we can't loose!!!

I voted for productivity as that's the driving force in any society, even comrade Stalin knew that!

[MrWhereItsAt]

Wow. How could you guys take that comment seriously? I had faith in you Bear, I knew you were joking. You had a smiley and all! And obliterated by the Americans? That wouldn't have happened, as you'd have taken my excellent recommendations to eliminate them quickly anyway.


All our cities, as soon as essential things (Clads, Defense, Engineers to improve terrain) are done, need Marketplaces, Libraries, Temples and even Barracks - as they are all free from Adam's! Banks in cities of >7 gold (with Marketplace already there) make a profit, and Universities should be made in our top science cities (IIRC these are mostly in the island N of Apolytonia) - we have several cities of >15 science, even 20+ .

Harbours are an interesting idea, and we certainly should consider them in some cities. Perhaps you can post the names and maps of the cities where you think they will be of benefit?

The only other things we can build are Walls (we have them in most cities that need them already, Collossea (hardly needed) and Aqueducts (also little needed. Once the wars are over we can also look at WoWs we might need - I have my eye on Sun Tzu's, of course.

Minister of WAR, not peace.
MrWIA.

[MrWhereItsAt]

But then, our science rate is 70%, so the cities concerned aren't producing enough gold to justify banks (all have 2-4 gold, only one without Marketplace). Perhaps a wait until we are Republic/Democracy is needed before we can produce enough gold to justify these improvements. And Harbours will mean food, meaning either less shields or more population = unhappiness problems.

Just a few things to note here. We need to increase the trade in our cities on the Apolyton island, but how? The island N of Apolyton island has good trade because of good terrain - wines, many whales and gems. What else can we do to get Apolyton up to speed?

Minister of WAR, not peace.
MrWIA.

[CannonFodder]

We need more shields and more science, all the better for our military actions.

[Immortal Wombat]

science!! what is the point of more shields on an isolated island?

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt
Wow. How could you guys take that comment seriously? I had faith in you Bear, I knew you were joking. You had a smiley and all!

How could I? Easy, cuz he's new(-ish) here.
Perhaps a would have conveyed the joke better than a ...

Sorry, Bear.

[cavebear]

I did not realize it was a joke, either. I feared it was a sad error by an enthusiastic new Minister. I am relieved to find out otherwise...

[cavebear]

Well, I notice that we have a lot of Marketplaces being built right now, and we don't gain a lot from them until our income increases. But we do get a good boost in Science if we build Libraries.

So, idea... Switch to Libraries and get our science rate improved. Then raise our tax rate, dropping our Science Rate back down but we get a lot more gold that way than building Marketplaces. Later, as our income raises through sounder means, build the Marketplaces.

[Kuciwalker]

We're going for a conquest victory, so we need to build lots of units, and we need tech. Money isn't that important if you get a tech lead, as you won't need to bribe as much.

[atawa]

I would suggest an increase in shields as our main goal.

With our increased productivity we can build harbours, markets libery's and caravans much faster. (btw mwia, barracks after gunpowder cost 2 upkeep so arent free with adam's)

We can increase sience by establishing more routes, gaining the same amount of beakers as we do gold.

So increase our productivity and the sience and money will follow

[Hydey]

lots of libraries, our children need to read the right propaganda, I mean books.

[MrWhereItsAt]

I'm starting to agree with Hydey and Prez cavebear - propag- I mean learning from books is what our young Communists of the future must do!



Minister of WAR, not peace.
MrWIA.

[Kropotkin]

Yes, with more libraries we could both focus and shields and science!

[Gen. Hancock]

Yes Libraries are good, but please no more military units except in the few border cities close to Thebes and Philidelphia. We need to end this war and focus on more immportant things, like relying on our own resources and those provided by trade to develop our own WoW's and technology.

[Kuciwalker]

We need more units to conquer people. What's more important than that (conquering people, not units)?

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Gen. Hancock
...please no more military units except in the few border cities close to Thebes and Philidelphia. We need to end this war.

How the heck did this guy make general ???????

[MrWhereItsAt]

Perhaps he's looking at future wars, -Jrabbit.

Minister of WAR, not peace.
MrWIA.

[cavebear]

The US Civil War is an interest of mine. The real Gen Winfield Scott Hancock was an aggressive and brave leader. I don't understand the connection with the Gen. Hancock handle and that real General. It doesn't seem to be for aggreement of temperment.

[JCP]

Originally posted by MrWhereItsAt
...and even Barracks - as they are all free from Adam's!

NO Barracks cost 1 gold only in the early game, after them obsolete, they cost 2 then 3 golds, and Adam's is of no use !

[JCP]

As in many things, balance is a good way : we are first in shields , perhaps first in science (certain after eliminating Egyptians and Yankees) but late in income.
An advance in science is vital, so I'm for alternate marketplaces and library between our cities.

[cavebear]

Marketplaces don't gain us much in most cities; we don't have enough gross income yet. Libraries, though, will gain us considerable Science. I'll be converting city production of Marketplaces to Libraries for now.

[atawa]

Originally posted by cavebear
Marketplaces don't gain us much in most cities; we don't have enough gross income yet. Libraries, though, will gain us considerable Science. I'll be converting city production of Marketplaces to Libraries for now.

Depends on taxrate, another option is build markets, and use the extra money to buy libraries