The Best City in the Game World [Archive]

myz

03-30-2005, 20:32

doc_bean

03-30-2005, 20:43

I'm partial to Carthage, probzbly because I played Scipii on my first campaign.

myz

03-30-2005, 20:45

also, if you can, give reasons why you think it's the best

moerty

03-30-2005, 21:02

sparta is one of the best cities, i always make a go for it unless i'm playing a faction like iberia or numidia. it's the gateway to corinth and the rest of greece, strategically it's a naval checkpoint so it can block the majority of traffic going and coming from the med. money.

3 good reasons why it is the best.

Count Belisarius

03-30-2005, 21:04

I like Antioch, along with the other Levantine cities (though Jerusalem is hard to control). Antioch is not that lucrative early on in the game, but by the time the Seleucid war machine gets clicking mid-late game (having punched out Egypt, Parthia, Armenia, and Pontus), they becomes enormous cash cows.

Mikeus Caesar

03-30-2005, 21:05

Sparta. Because like the guy above said, it's a naval checkpoint and the gateway to the rest of greece. And the rest of greece is a goldmine.

Kekvit Irae

03-30-2005, 21:40

Capture Rome early enough, and you have the ability to produce units you will have no chance of seeing for a long time otherwise. That's why I like Rome, it's already built up. I play mostly as Germania, and when I capture Rome, I'm able to churn out Chosen Archers on the spot.

Craterus

03-30-2005, 21:42

I like Sidon, but Alexandria is my favourite out of that list. ~:cool:

cunobelinus

03-30-2005, 21:49

my favourite is carthage it grows quick its amazing better than rome but sparta is pretty good

Craterus

03-30-2005, 21:50

both are good cities, i prefer Carthage out of Carthage and Sparta

AntiochusIII

03-31-2005, 02:03

Personal reasons makes me prefers Antioch...

But Carthage is the best. The massive possibility of growth, wealth, and power. Besides, I heard rumors of some mods trying to depict Carthage's legendary two-docks port (very clever even by Punic standards ~D ) by creating a super port (or tone down the other ones) for special cities like Carthage. Not sure, though.

Though Antioch/Seleucia (port of Antioch) was, in a sense, the older Constantinople as the trade routes from the east often enter the Mediterranean from there.

Brysk

03-31-2005, 02:22

Patavium, Maybe its just the fact that I play Barbarians/Romans a lot, but Patavium is a GREAT troop producing city, not the cash maker, but it techs up faster than all cities on Italy.

Es Arkajae

03-31-2005, 02:42

This may sound strange but I prefer Crete, it gives great income, whats more it has great mercenaries and a watch tower on its eastern most elevation gives a great view of the Aegean for monitoring enemy action ,it is also a great waystation if you're running the gauntlet of enemy ships.

The island does need some hefty improvements and possibly some forced peasant migration to reach city limit requirements for upgrades but I still like it a lot, it is also an excellent island to defend and I always have fun doing so.

Plus none of the other factions ever seem to grab it, except maybe the Brutii from mid to late game.

Perhaps though its more a 'favourite' than a 'best' city but it certainly has its good points.

Uesugi Kenshin

03-31-2005, 04:13

I would have to say Sparta. I prefer Sparta because it is a great naval checkpoint, great for building troops, gateway to Greece and close to Italia so I can take down Rome, I am biased towards Sparta due to their military tradition and finally great baby killing jokes. I am not sick, I swear...

AntiochusIII

03-31-2005, 05:15

Carthage beats Sparta in both ways! Mwahaha!

-Site: They're at the heart of the Mediterranean. In game terms, possibilitie of expansion are everywhere.

-Cult: Sparta? Ah, little. Remember the cult of Baal?

I feel sick... ~D

aw89

03-31-2005, 15:54

Antioch! One hint;

First shalt thou take out
the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less.
Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the
counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either
count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is
right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be
reached, then lobbest thou thy **** **** ******* ** ******* towards
thou foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.

Titus Livius

03-31-2005, 16:06

This may sound strange but I prefer Crete...

Crete is a great piece of land to own, strategically placed and a potentially huge trading port. Also, the actual ground favors defenders in a big way. I always grab Crete early in the game, but I have to say my favorite city is Rhodes. It basically has all the virtues and vices of Crete, but it's an oustanding port from which a good-sized fleet can easily dominate the eastern Mediterranean.

TF923

03-31-2005, 16:22

Jerusalem. Because if you own Judea as Romans, then you get to reenact the crucifixion thereby setting the stage for the next 2000+ years of history.

Eh, actually the game ends before the crucifixion takes place, so I guess it would be Rhodes then.

aw89

03-31-2005, 16:40

You could jest keep it 'til year 0, then let it rebel and slaughter the city, rinse and repeat until the population is 400.

imdWALRU5

03-31-2005, 19:04

I would say Sparta. It has a great location in the middle of the map, great troop productions, great income, and great naval dock place. And as Uesugi Kenshin said its a gateway to Greece and close to Italy so you can take down Rome

hoom

03-31-2005, 19:38

I vote Carthage.
But basically it doesn't seem to make much difference really most of the time.

Mikeus Caesar

03-31-2005, 20:09

This may sound strange but I prefer Crete...

It's not strange at all man! You make it seem like it's weird to like that little island. It's a cool island!! As well as being a great trading port (all of my trade routes pass through it) it's also a great base for controlling the eastern mediterannean.

Atreides

03-31-2005, 20:16

Rhodes

It's very wealthy, it's got the BEST WONDER IMO! a great infrastructure.

Craterus

03-31-2005, 20:55

Rhodes is nice, and a really cool wonder - (40% increase on naval trade?) ! What does the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus do? Sorry, but I don't remember..

I think Memphis and the pyramids is a nice province to own, especially since you are close to Alexandria, so you can take thast too, if you don't already own it.

Basileus

03-31-2005, 21:13

I love cash so it has to be Athens richest city in the game when you get the naval trade going.

Titus Livius

03-31-2005, 21:13

Rhodes is nice, and a really cool wonder - (40% increase on naval trade?) ! What does the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus do? Sorry, but I don't remember..

I believe it decreases the building times for structures taking 5 turns or more.

Craterus

03-31-2005, 21:21

oh thats why my epic stone walls only take 5 turns now? ~:confused:

I love cash so it has to be Athens richest city in the game when you get the naval trade going.

I don't own Athens and yet I have a huge and prosperous economy of a 2,200,000 denarii treasury and I make 50,000 denarii per turn... Rhodes is a centre of my naval trade but there is a lot of trade between Antioch, Tarsus, Jerusalem, Sidon and Salamis as well. When you own all of those, you'll get some decent naval trade. ~;)

Ellesthyan

03-31-2005, 22:29

honnourable notice for Crete, I go for Pergamum, one of the better trading cities.

Uesugi Kenshin

04-01-2005, 04:10

I am not sure but Carthage does not have good farming does it? That would be a major advantage when blockaded and for population.

Kekvit Irae

04-01-2005, 04:43

The Temple of Zeus, for me, is the best wonder in the game. The loyalty bonus to ALL your settlements is VERY nice, especially when you go out on a blitzkrieg campaign and only stop occasionally to train a peasant unit or two. It helps offset the penalty for squalor and distance from your capital.

Zalmoxis

04-01-2005, 04:49

I'll second Perganum, my capital. Can't say much for money, since am pathetic at that (12k gold a turn, and usually only 1000 dinari at any given point) but the city is great. My best troopes come from there and Corinth, which get an honourable mention.

Quietus

04-01-2005, 04:53

I'm with Basileus: Athens for this puppy. ~:) It is the richest province I have raking in 12+ K denari net per turn on VH (with 50 provinces). It is also central to other rich provinces.

:charge:

Sam Adams

04-01-2005, 05:13

rhodes

Khan48

04-01-2005, 07:24

Athens. Who doesn't like athenians + huge trade and already has stone walls. Too lazy to build them on any other settlement.

Somebody Else

04-01-2005, 07:34

Domus Dulcis Domus, of course.

Fisherking

04-01-2005, 16:57

From the list there are only three cities that consistently pay to own; Athens, Sparta, & Jerusalem. In my opinion any city that pays its way is a good one. The one that pays best is the best.

Strategically Athens & Sparta are roughly equal. Athens is the better of the two because of a faster growth rate. Having a city that looses 5000 plus denari each turn is a serious burden which must be overcome by some means. The units it could possibly produce are of little value if you must spend several turns getting them to where they will be of use…just one more expense! Large money loosing cities also require large expensive garrisons to keep them loyal & safe from attack. I have found it better to exterminate the populations in most of these cities & make them money earners for a few turns even if it means they don’t reach huge city status for a very long time. In fact I have allowed them to rebel just so I can sack them again to get back into the black in many campaigns. Beyond that point the ability to build good units is important but any army with the units on hand can win battles if handled well…. The only campaign I have abandoned was with Armenia because I could not afford to build units & each turn I defeated a major invasion only to have to rebuild what I could & do it again the next turn. I knew that eventually I would lack the troops to defeat them & loose the only city that gave me any money at all. :embarassed:

Fist of Brutii

04-01-2005, 19:28

I would problebly say Sparta to... though my best city is Athens, but well i control all regions in that area so my naval trade rocks!
But i guess Sparta is a good point to start a naval counquest from, and well, a good port to have since it is so central on the campain map.

P.S god damn i hope we will be getting an expansion to RTWT soon!

Dutch_guy

04-01-2005, 21:45

Athens, perfectly situated in the map, right in the center , in every game i've played I've set it my capital ( well not as Parthia though ) and it always makes money, and very much, if you upgrade all the economic structures.

Uesugi Kenshin

04-02-2005, 03:26

I hate Athenians, they tried to hold back the Spartans and have taken all the credit for inventing the Republic. They were also pansies when compared to Spartans in battle and people talk of Athens as the cradle of democracy when Athenians looked upon Sparta as the ideal society. They were just too weak willed to follow and live simple lives.

Aetius the Last Roman

04-02-2005, 12:05

Personally my favourite is Carthage,
Being the cornucopia of market economics it is. Add to that the spectacular population growth that rivals even the current growth of Saudi's population.
I addition you are surrounded by so many opportunities and have so many lucrative points of expansion (such as the the Sahara).
But we cannot forget that in addition to being a center of expansion, Carthage can also make you a target for everyone from the Romans to the Greeks to the Egyptian Horde.
Truly the City offers free-market paradise mixed in with turbulent population increase and a pitfall of foreign policy dangers. I vote Carthage.

sunsmountain

04-03-2005, 20:50

Who can deny beautiful Corinth? Usually has a good temple to Nike to boot. Too bad the wonders dont last (or do they, in the patch?).

Carthage always gets a population problem, Rome is only useful near the end, both of these have enough fans already

~:cool:

oompalumpa

04-03-2005, 22:08

Carthage (for uber population and good location) and Athens (for mega money).
Rome is nice, but you cant get to it without fighting like 10 units of gold xp pretorians (at least in RTR), so that makes it less appealing.

Craterus

04-03-2005, 22:29

TF923

04-04-2005, 06:06

It's not really dead centre of the map, Campus Iazyges is. ~;) :bow:
Actually, the weighted-center of the map is Salona.

Craterus

04-04-2005, 13:37

How is distance to capital worked out? Is it number of provinces? or Distance? ~:confused: :embarassed:

Check your map, I'm sure Campus Iazyges is central! ~;)

TF923

04-04-2005, 17:28

Distance is just straight-line distance. The closest city to geographic center of the map may be Campus Iazyges, but there are far more cities south of that, which is probably what shifts the population/political center of the map southward to Salona.

In fact, if actual population were taken into account it would probably move the capital down even more to Apollonia, but the city calculator treats all cities as equal, so that's why it's Salona.

Craterus

04-04-2005, 18:26

AntiochusIII

04-05-2005, 03:15

I don't understand what you mean?

There are more cities in the South-er part of the map than the North. So, having the capital at a geographic center is less beneficial than a combination of geographic and settlements center. Thus, Salona is actually more "central" concerning the weight of the settlements if you happen to rule the whole world.

Anyway, for me, Athens, Carthage, Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria are actually the only few cities that deserve recognition as suitable Imperial Centers for the game... ~D

Suitable Royal (2nd class powers ~;p) Centers that I count for are: Sparta, Memphis, Seleucia, Thessalonica (personally I prefer Pella and Demetrias, but they only exists in the mods, Demetrias isn't even in RTR), Pergamum, Syracuse, and Carthago Nova.

Rich and useful cities for me include Kydonia, Rhodes, Tarentum, Patavium, Byzantium, Massilia, and Sidon (Tyre, preferably, unfortunately it isn't in Vanilla).

Kekvit Irae

04-05-2005, 06:28

The dead center of the map is slightly east of Salona. Draw two straight lines on the map, one extending from the NW corner to the SE corner, and one from the NE corner to the SW corner.

But pretty much, Salona is the center of the game world.

Craterus

04-05-2005, 16:30

I looked at my map again this morning and I don't have a clue how I got Campus Iazyges. I might of been thinking centre of Europe (not inc. Asia Minor and Africa). Yep, I stand corrected Salona is the centre of the map.

The dead center of the map is slightly east of Salona. Draw two straight lines on the map, one extending from the NW corner to the SE corner, and one from the NE corner to the SW corner. You could just estimate instead of defacing your map. I use my map a lot so I like to see where all the cities are (I play with fow).

Campus Iazyges is dead on my "imaginary" vertical line. That might be where I got it from. Who knows the wonders of the human mind?

Rodion Romanovich

04-05-2005, 20:34

Which one do you think is the best city in the world?
By best I mean, population big, income big, resources, long term potential, production, geography, wonders, essentially those cities we all want to lay our hands on fast.
Here are some candidates in random order
1. Rome
2. Carthage
3. Athens
4. Sparta
5. Alexandria
6. Jerusalem
7. Pergamum
8. Syracuse
9. Thapsus

If you play a non-roman faction starting near Rome: Rome. Plenty of cash and many useful buildings. If you start near Greece: Corinth. The +4 loyalty bonus rocks. If you start near Carthage: Carthage - good buildings and sweet income. If near Egypt: Memphis. Good income and buildings, as well as the pyramids so useful when conquering the rest of Egypt. Antioch is also nice if you're coming into that area from the north. A great choke point to hold with ability to retrain your army/armies after tough battles.

Rodion Romanovich

04-05-2005, 20:39

Patavium, Maybe its just the fact that I play Barbarians/Romans a lot, but Patavium is a GREAT troop producing city, not the cash maker, but it techs up faster than all cities on Italy.

I also like Patavium a lot. Many legendary battles in my campaigns have taken place there. I'm particularly fond of when one of my untrained Dacian generals brought an already weakened army to take Patavium while another army invaded southern Italy. A series of 5-6 battles against full Julii armies with very good troops as well as 2 assaults on the city wasn't enough to destroy the army. In the end, I had almost 80 percent left of the army and my general had recieved something like 7 stars... Good times.

tibilicus

04-06-2005, 12:42

my favourite city just for its ideal loction is either crete or rodes. These citys i have found usefull in many a campign to fall back on. Also crete can generate a suprisingly large income once you have got its trading and ports up to a resonible lvl. But crete seems to slum back down if you go to war with egypt.............

Rodion Romanovich

04-06-2005, 16:08

Domus Dulcis Domus, of course.

How about Themiskyra?

Yesugey

12-23-2015, 13:21

I like Halicarnassus, it has great starting pop. With the best Wonder in the game. Reduced bulding time is a huge deal to have fun from the game.
Athens is also my favourite.

Carthage somehow annoys me, you must massacre everyone to keep order first you conquered it, then build again to have a huge city.

And Sychtia is very nice city, very well populated with its barbarian neighbours. I agree with Patavium too.

ReluctantSamurai

12-23-2015, 16:14

Best city is a rather relative term....

If you are the Greek Cities, then Sparta is your choice...one of two cities where you can produce Spartans. If you are the Ptolemaic's, then Alexandria is your choice...hefty population bonus, extra fleet movement, and excellent port. Any Roman faction will prefer Rome for all the reasons stated. Parthia will like Susa because it's the first province where you be able to train elephants. The Seleucids might prefer Seleucia because its farming bonus helps get those slow-growing desert cities to 24k. But....

....my favorites are: Athens-one of the top money producing cities on the map...centrally located in the mid-Mediterranean with excellent trade nodes; Rome and Carthage for the same reasons in the Western Med; Alexandria in the Eastern Med.

Least favorite cities are: Tarsus, Jerusalem, and Patavium because of their built-in 35% unrest. They can be controlled with ZPG, but it's still difficult.

The top two wonders have to be the Colossus for its 40% trade bonus, and the Temple of Zeus for the +4 to population loyalty.