Poll: Ultimate Civilization Question!

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

So after reading Tito's article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/features/11060-You-Never-Move-Your-Settler-Opening-Strategy-Splits-Civ-V-Studio.3], I realized they didn't have any way for any of us to chime in with our 2 cents on the matter, so here we are! (really though, why have these articles and other such pieces and then not give us the ability to chime in or discuss them? Especially something like this!)

tl;dr the article:

In civilization the game (Civ V specifically), do you move your settler the first turn if you see "greener pastures" or do you plop where you were put?

Me personally, I almost always move (or restart if I'm put in an abysmally shitty spot that doesn't go well with my civ at all, lord knows the computer already is getting every fucking advantage it can get, I'M GONNA GET MINE TOO.) to get perfect river/resource placement, That first turn is too much of a short gain unless you hammer home to get that free settler from liberty real quickly, then you might be able to save it and get to another better location.

 

[The Madman]

Depends really. I prefer not to move at the start since I very much like getting my research going right away, but if I'm playing as a civ that's best with a certain tile type nearby or if the starting position isn't so great then hell yeah I'll move. A few turns hit on research at the beginning of the game isn't that big a deal, especially not if it means a location that will make your capital more prosperous in the long run.

 

[Tanis]

I'd rather be at an ocean or a river tile, or at the very least near the green stuff.

It's worth moving to get it.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Almost always.

I only play Civ with one other person, and we have vastly different playstyles. I meticulously micromanage everything, he has more of a tendency to automate everything wherever possible, doesn't even queue up research on the tech tree.

Yet he always comes out with a significant advantage. Huh.

 

[Savagezion]

My rule is you need to settle in 5 turns or less. You don't need a "great" starting spot, you just need a goodone for moving to be worth it. Most games, I settle on the first or second turn. I have on occassion pushed to 3 and 5 turns. When I do that, it is usually because I want the land near my starting location to be my 2nd city and not my capital.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

Damn it, man.

Guess I'm going to have to install Civilisation 2 when I get home.. again!

I have never gotten into any other civ game, so this is my one true love. I get bored of it pretty quickly, but every now and then I like to dip back into it - normally when my brother and my sister are home and we can LAN it up.

I've got to say that my knowledge for knowing where to place my beginning city isn't exactly great. There is a prompt in civ 2 for when it thinks you are in a good spot and I normally tend to go with that.

I know, I'm a nub. Quit hatin' on the casuals, hater.

I'd say I tend to move more than I don't move, but I don't have a rule that means I must always move or must always not, so I'm not really sure where to put myself in your poll. I'd put other, but surely that just gets lost in the ether and doesn't get us anywhere.

 

[veloper]

In my experience, moving away from the starting postion often puts you in a worse position later on, when the resources start appearing.

So in addition to losing the turn advantage, you may also lose out on resources that will appear within the sphere of your capital later on. The game appears to have a tendency to generate good capital spots.

So I generally don't move anymore, unless I can move from an inland position, to a seaside spot within a single move, or the starter-phase food production would be abysmal in the default spot.

 

[Jandau]

1. Move the Warrior before doing ANYTHING else. Might as well take a look.

2. Assess the starting location. If it's atrocious, Move. If it's decent, but initial scouting spotted something useful 1-2 hexes away (ocean access, river access), Move.

3. If the starting location is mediocre (nothing terrible about it, but no real resources, rivers or coasts), move the Settler ONCE to scout some more.

4. If I moved the Settler during the first turn, move the Warrior again and reassess - Has all this scouting revealed a superior location? If yes, how long would it take me to get to it? If I have to go through rough terrain and spend multiple turns getting there, it might not be worth it.

5. Have my innate perfectionism kick in and start whispering sweet promises of a perfect golden city.

6. Run around like a headless chicken for the first 5-10 turns looking for the perfect spot.

7. Realize my starting location or the hex right next to it were in fact the optimal spot and just go back there.

8. Cry.

 

[JediMB]

1. Move the Warrior before doing ANYTHING else. Might as well take a look.

2. Assess the starting location. If it's atrocious, Move. If it's decent, but initial scouting spotted something useful 1-2 hexes away (ocean access, river access), Move.

3. If the starting location is mediocre (nothing terrible about it, but no real resources, rivers or coasts), move the Settler ONCE to scout some more.

4. If I moved the Settler during the first turn, move the Warrior again and reassess - Has all this scouting revealed a superior location? If yes, how long would it take me to get to it? If I have to go through rough terrain and spend multiple turns getting there, it might not be worth it.

Spoiler

5. Have my innate perfectionism kick in and start whispering sweet promises of a perfect golden city.

6. Run around like a headless chicken for the first 5-10 turns looking for the perfect spot.

7. Realize my starting location or the hex right next to it were in fact the optimal spot and just go back there.

8. Cry.

Brilliant!

Well, steps 1 through 4 describe my play-style rather accurately. It's all about scouting with the Warrior to get a nice spot without taking unnecessary risks.

EDIT: As for undiscovered resource types in the starting area, they'll likely still pop up within the borders of one of the many cities I'll have founded at that point. The increased early-game growth more than compensates.

 

[freaper]

I only ever play on medium difficulty so it doesn't really matter. I'd probably move if I saw better resources a tile away.

 

[MammothBlade]

Just settle with what I'm given. Unless it really is a horrible location (no production, no luxuries, poor food), then it's not usually worth the missed turns producing something. Happy camper every time.

 

[Kaymish]

i normally assess the starting location then send my warrior away from the settler then assess again then sent the settler away from the warrior then do that until i either find a superior location or 3-4 turns have passed by that time you are too far behind and your other cities will have to make up the difference
my most prized tile is a grassland hill next to an estuary the hill gives you a defense and production bonus and the grass gives a food boon where the river and ocean give the obvious advantages

 

[MysticSlayer]

I take a look at the resources and often send a Warrior/Scout to see if anything in the immediate vicinity looks better. If it looks like there are better tiles nearby, then I might risk moving the Settler for a turn or two. However, if it looks like I was placed in a position I can easily use for basic expansion, then I'll certainly settle down on the first turn.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

You've a free unit ontop of your settler. Move it first to gather more information, then decide if there's a better position then place the city.

I wouldn't waste more than 2 turns on this though, since the whole game is one giant ripple-effect and missing out 1 or 2 wonders in the early game because your city is 2 turns behind can turn a good game into a horrible one.

 

[C F]

I don't have Civ V, but I can speak from my Civ IV experiences.

I settle my capital city of Pax Awesome (for it is always Pax Awesome, unless it happens to be Saint Awesome) right away to begin production and research. The game always seems to generate something worthwhile to capitalize on.

Then it's dash my scouts away to the nearest hilltop for line of sight purposes. Rinse, repeat, hope I get a tribal village to cough up a worker at some point.

 

[Sethzard]

It depends, if I can see anywhere then I'll move there, otherwise I might just plop down.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

1. Move the Warrior before doing ANYTHING else. Might as well take a look.

2. Assess the starting location. If it's atrocious, Move. If it's decent, but initial scouting spotted something useful 1-2 hexes away (ocean access, river access), Move.

3. If the starting location is mediocre (nothing terrible about it, but no real resources, rivers or coasts), move the Settler ONCE to scout some more.

4. If I moved the Settler during the first turn, move the Warrior again and reassess - Has all this scouting revealed a superior location? If yes, how long would it take me to get to it? If I have to go through rough terrain and spend multiple turns getting there, it might not be worth it.

5. Have my innate perfectionism kick in and start whispering sweet promises of a perfect golden city.

6. Run around like a headless chicken for the first 5-10 turns looking for the perfect spot.

7. Realize my starting location or the hex right next to it were in fact the optimal spot and just go back there.

8. Cry.

that's actually a good point, it's been a while since I've played civ V so I wasn't thinking about the free warrior you have off the bat, usually I'll move him to see a bit extra but with my luck he usually doesn't show much.

it would be interesting to know exactly how they are running the simulations, I'd like to test em myself to find the optimum strategies

I've got to say that my knowledge for knowing where to place my beginning city isn't exactly great. There is a prompt in civ 2 for when it thinks you are in a good spot and I normally tend to go with that.

I know, I'm a nub. Quit hatin' on the casuals, hater.

Actually they have that in Civ V too, however alot of times I don't exactly trust it, it seems like the computer doesn't take into account city location to get the maximum amount of resources in your range (such as, if you settle one more spot over, your city will have 4 resources instead of 2).

HOWEVER, one thing I've noticed is, sometimes the computer will tell you that a certain tile is a good spot to settle, yet there are no resources by it at all..like straight up desert shit area and maybe by a mountain, but then 150+ turns down the road I end up finding out there were 2 uranium and an aluminum spot by that location, so in the long term it would've been a great spot...so it's interesting to wonder if the computer makes those suggestions to you KNOWING those spots are there while you obviously wouldn't.

 

[karma9308]

I always end the turn by settling a city a building a monument. Always. I may move the settler a space over, but unless the warrior discovers some place that resembles the garden of Eden nearby, I don't move. If I have a really bad starting place, I'll just restart.

 

[Savagezion]

HOWEVER, one thing I've noticed is, sometimes the computer will tell you that a certain tile is a good spot to settle, yet there are no resources by it at all..like straight up desert shit area and maybe by a mountain, but then 150+ turns down the road I end up finding out there were 2 uranium and an aluminum spot by that location, so in the long term it would've been a great spot...so it's interesting to wonder if the computer makes those suggestions to you KNOWING those spots are there while you obviously wouldn't.

Yeah, it does. IN civ 4, you can even spot them in forests as forests wont grow on many resources like iron, horses, uranium, etc. So a big forest with an odd empty grassland tile is ... something. Early on, you have no idea as there are many early resources but mid-game you can usually call it.

The problem with founding a crappy city that you know may have aluminum or uranium is that it is going to be a crappy city for a long time before you discover those. I chase food in the early game with an occasional hammer heavy city for military. Food is what will make roaming in the first turns worth it. More population means exploiting the land faster and better. Luxury resources for happy cap and food are all that matter early on.

 

[King of Asgaard]

I'm with OP on this; if the starting location is crap I'll get moving elsewhere before I plop down the capital. No sense in handicapping myself from the very start with poor resources.