You only need to settle right next to resources if you need them immediately – which might be the case now and then, but you’ll usually have the luxury of time. Your city will grow and eventually gain access to the resource. You can settle a few tiles away in more prosperous lands. You don’t have to settle your city next to the desert. Let’s say, for example, that you want access to some iron – but the resource is right next to a desert. This means you don’t have to settle cities right next to resources. Remember, however, that cities don’t have a set area that they can work. You should also keep an eye out for resources needed to build units, such as iron. These resources make your civilization happy. Luxury resources, as mentioned, are tiles that have things like gems, cotton, or silk.
When do you know a spot is appropriate? That’s not an easy question to answer, but looking for and building next to luxury resources is a good rule of thumb. Only build new cities once you have found a spot that you believe is appropriate. So what should you do? Chill out, scout, and improve the land that you do have by building Workers. When to Expand – The Slow and Steady Method It isn’t impossible, but as a new player you probably shouldn’t do it. This means that it is very difficult to expand quickly in Civilization 5. If your empire becomes severely unhappy (as indicated by the smiley-face icon at the top of the interface) your armies will have a big penalty slapped on to their overall combat effectiveness. If your empire’s happiness ever goes below zero the growth rate of your cities will be hurt. In addition, you can’t even build any city improvements that increase happiness until you’ve done the appropriate research. As your cities grow in population you’ll find that it is more and more difficult to keep your empire happy. Instead your entire empire shares the same level of satisfaction. You also have to deal with a happiness mechanic that is no longer tied to each individual city. As cities grow in size and influence they also are able to work more territory. A nation in Civilization 2 usually consists of numerous tightly packed cities.Ĭivilization 5 is different. It is for this reason very important to expand quickly. Cities have access to a limited number of resources in their area and their area of control doesn’t expand as the cities grow. In that game it is incredibly important to expand quickly. Understanding Happiness and Planning Empire SizeĪ few months ago, in anticipation of Civilization 5, I reinstalled my old copy of Civilization 2. But not so fast! Before you start expanding, let’s explore why large empires are hard to manage in Civilization 5. Fast expanding is absolutely critical in most games of this type. If you’re a veteran of the 4x strategy genre your first Warrior or Scout will be followed by a Settler. Scouts don’t suffer a movement penalty in this terrain. Scouts can be effective, however, if you seem to be located in an area of dense forest and hills. I generally prefer the Warrior because it can be used for defense and because it can be upgraded to the Swordsman unit later in the game for a relatively modest sum of gold. The first thing coming out of your city should be either a Scout or Warrior. I’m not going to delve too deeply into the research element of the game yet – that will be handled later in the guide – so let’s just talk about production. Once you have your first city up and running you’ll be able to start production of a new unit and you’ll be able to begin your research. Empires based on sea power can be very strong, but I think they’re a bit harder to cultivate and manage, so I suggest avoiding that for now. As a new player I also suggest avoiding the ocean. These will quickly become very valuable.Īvoid deserts and an excessive number of hills. Some tiles include things like gems, cotton, or silk. Also try to include a hill, as you can mine it for an early production bonus. The best spot to found a city is a location that has immediate access to several tiles that generate a good amount of food. A unit on a hill has better line of sight. This shouldn’t be too difficult because the game tries to make sure that every player has a reasonably good place to start nearby. With that said, however, you shouldn’t wander endlessly. Many game bonuses apply only to your capital city and the domination victory type depends on your ability to defend your capital. This is actually an important task because your capital city will probably be your most prosperous. It is up to you to found your capital city.