This is where every Civilization begins -- with a settler who will found a city. You must pick a piece of land upon which to found your capital city. Your choice has consequences—build upon a desert and your citizens will not thrive; build where there are resources such as fish to catch and bear to hunt, and your citizens will flourish. (There are no vegetarian options in this game!) See the glossary for a description of the types of terrain in Civilization. The settler disbands, and the people who used to be settlers create a new city. As the overseer of the entire society, you as the player now have some choices to make.



You must now make decisions about what to build in your city -- warriors to defend against enemies? Barracks to train the warriors? Perhaps a temple to appease "restless" citizens? The choice is up to you. However, it is prudent to build at least some military units to live in the city—neglect to do so, and either warriors from a neighboring civilization, or barbarians, will walk into your city and capture it from you. Interestingly, there are few non-military units that can be built to prevent such an invasion. Diplomats and Spies can do the job—but poorly, as they do not offer much of a defense against chariots and howitzers. Regardless, Diplomats and Spies cannot be built until well into the game, so that the prudent player is left with no option other than to participate in military build-up.



Once the first moveable military unit is built, it can be sent out to explore the countryside. While it is risky to thus leave the city undefended, it can be to your advantage. Note that the black area around your city is not nothingness— it is merely land that you have yet to tread upon. A visible reminder that this game is built upon enlightenment philosophies, the terrain that surrounds you is only lit up once you have been there. Never mind that other people may be living in that area— for you, it is all riches just waiting to be discovered.



While on assignment, your military unit may have the good fortune to come upon some goodies. First, land that has rich resources can be located nearby— when your first city has time to build a settlers unit, you will have the perfect place upon which to found your next city. Second, and more exciting, are huts. Huts appear to be the very vision of what Westerners expect all their vacation beaches to contain: cabanas that are full of luxuries for them to enjoy. Only in Civilization, huts are even better than luxuries.





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