New Game!

So, it's the Christmas holidays and I have some time to play. I thought that an archipelago map might be interesting for a change, so I choose that one in standard size, temperate climate, high sealevel and the warlord difficulty. I believe that an organized leader would be good because they get double production speed for Courthouses and Lighthouses, both of which are needed in the circumstances I chose. I end up selecting the Ottoman Empire and renaming Mehmed II to Zerohmed I.

I establish my capital city, Istanbul, right where the Settler starts:


I had the idea of rushing for some sea-going vessels as fast as possible, but instead I figure that I'd actually like a religion, too, so I start researching Mysticism. By turn 4 (3840 BC) I have explored my entire little island -- there's barely space for another city but nothing special except for the elephants. On turn 5 Istanbul finishes training a Warrior and starts training a Settler unit.

Mysticism has been researched on turn 6 and I start researching Meditation, which gives Buddhism to whoever discovers it first. On turn 10 Buddhism is founded in a distant land (d'oh!) so I start researching Polytheism to get Hinduism, but on turn 11 Hinduism is founded in a distant land (double d'oh!). At this point I decide to go with my original plan and research Fishing and Sailing, which gives me galleys.

Istanbul completes the Settler on turn 25 (3000 BC) and starts constructing a work boat to explore a bit and to make use of the clams on the coast. Sailing is completed on turn 26 and I continue researching Meditation. On turn 27 I establish Edirne to the other end of my little island, west from Istanbul. Edirne starts producing a galley.

After the work boat and galley have been completed a (yet another?) fault in my plans unveils: galleys cannot enter the ocean squares! This means that my galley won't go anywhere from my own coast... Turns pass fast: Istanbul is building the Stonehenge and Edirne is building a lighthouse. Only the scientific research gives me something to do. After Meditation I continue Polytheism. Then I realize that there are still religions available and decide to go for Judaism, which I indeed get when Monotheism is researched on turn 50. I then start researching Mining to get Bronze Working so that my workers could chop down forests.

On turn 52 something great happens: the expanding cultural borders of my civilization push back the fog surrounding the map and I see a hint of another island in the north. This alone is not that great -- what makes it great is that when I try to approach the island with my galley, it succeeds: a galley can enter ocean squares after all! It just needed the ocean squares to be within my cultural borders. (This, of course, took me a while to notice... The end result was that I didn't establish a new city, Ankara, on the new island until turn 86.)

Istanbul completed Stonehenge on turn 58, giving a free Monument to all of my cities, which is great, because Monuments produce culture, which then expands the cultural borders. Istanbul then trained a worker. Here is yet another mistake: I didn't notice there were hills next to Istanbul, because they were covered with forests. It took me quite a while before I realized that I can actually build mines there, greatly boosting Istanbul's production... By turn 86 my world looked like as follows: