My city layout on large maps.

[Mulluane]

This seems to work really well for me and keep in mind I'm the worse thing you will ever find in a city builder, a fast builder.

Bare with me, I'm no good at fancy art, editing screenshots and the like so you will have to picture this in your head.

First I scan for a good sized area hopefully with resources to either side and a large stretch of flood plain.

Then I put down 5 to 6 medium pyramids. Let me see if I can explain this without getting too confusing.

I put down two, side by side just above the flood plain (this is looking at my building site from the water) with enough room between them for a road. I then place 2 more, above the first 2 with room between for a road, then two more above those. I ring all 6 with a road and then delete them. I now have 6 perfectly square city blocks.

Note: often there is only room for one close to the flood plain, thats no problem, in that case I center it under the next two.

The block closest to the water should be obvious, farmers, farmers and more farmers. I place ALL my farmers beforehand, it hurts nothing and one less worry later on. For this city design you need 82 farmers. any room left I use for servants.

If you had room for a second block beside your farmers this I use for bricklayers, brick makers, stone carvers, papyrus, granaries, a bakery and tax scribes much later.

Depending on where the closest resources are located, I use block 3 or 4 for shopping only, shops, merchant center, gardner, several bakeries, a few servants, exchange and later 2 scribes to monitor exchange and tariffs.

The opposite block is my priest block, 4 to start, I add 4 more later, 2 hospitals, 2 apothecaries, school, mortuary, court of law, bakery or 2 and a few servants. I usually have room in this block for a row of entertainers.

Block 5 and 6 I use for religion and nobles. One block holds 9 nobles very nicely and I place it above the shopping block. The other comfortably holds 7 or 8 shrines and 6 temples.


Above them all I place my palace in the center and a cult temple to either side.

The cool thing about this layout is nothing is very far from anything else. Shopping right above farmers, below nobles and beside priests, worship right beside nobles, above priests for easy access, only one block away from farmers and diagional from shops. Entertainment for your educated elite not far away

Its easy to expand on this also. If its a military based scenerio, place a block to the outside of your priests, this puts religion and healthcare within close reach and if they don't like trucking one block away for shops, give them a few of their own. I always put their weapons and armor shops in the same block with them.

Same with a scenerio heavy in resources, place a laborers block instead of military and if you have both, well just stack two blocks on the same side. Military beside priests and overseer/laborers beside worship with their own shops if you feel its needed.

Just something to play around with, modify, experiment, come up with something even better! Just have fun

[sitearm]

Mulluane: I must be in a holiday mood... your sample city screen shots look like fancy cakes with elegant sugar-miniature-buildings tastifully placed across cleverly-decorated white icing! Yum!

Cool how you use pyramid footprints to mark out your design space!

like jeweled miniatures... elegant cakes... with the plaza tiling

Originally Posted by Mulluane

This seems to work really well for me... medium pyramids... room...

[Mulluane]

LOL, darn women Pharoahs.....

[vipers101]

Then I put down 5 to 6 medium pyramids. Let me see if I can explain this without getting too confusing.

Using pyramids to plan cities. Ingenious.

The block closest to the water should be obvious, farmers, farmers and more farmers. I place ALL my farmers beforehand, it hurts nothing and one less worry later on. For this city design you need 82 farmers. any room left I use for servants.

Keep the slums barricaded, eh?

If you had room for a second block beside your farmers this I use for bricklayers, brick makers, stone carvers, papyrus, granaries, a bakery and tax scribes much later.

This can get a bit crowded. And all those brickmakers and papyrus makers will shave the reed supply clean.

Depending on where the closest resources are located, I use block 3 or 4 for shopping only, shops, merchant center, gardner, several bakeries, a few servants, exchange and later 2 scribes to monitor exchange and tariffs.

Love it. A central market plaza.

The opposite block is my priest block, 4 to start, I add 4 more later, 2 hospitals, 2 apothecaries, school, mortuary, court of law, bakery or 2 and a few servants. I usually have room in this block for a row of entertainers.

Nice. Love the idea.

Block 5 and 6 I use for religion and nobles. One block holds 9 nobles very nicely and I place it above the shopping block. The other comfortably holds 7 or 8 shrines and 6 temples.

Yikes, 6 temples! That's 6x50 bricks! And not counting the Cult Temple! How many generations does it take to develop this city?
Just wondering, don't the farmers ever complain of not being able to worship Amun and so on? They have to trek across town to get to the temple district.

Above them all I place my palace in the center and a cult temple to either side.

The palace may be a wee isolated from the central region (where the markets, doctors, court of law, and the monkeys are). Can't rely on those lazy princesses to do a good job shopping that far.

All in all, I've just got to try this one out! That is, considering I can find enough space for 6 pyramids. I'll see if I can put in more inputs later. Good job, man!

Viper

[imhotep3147]

Not only is it an excellent idea but you can build on it also. For instance if you are working with a smaller map you could use smaller pyramid footprints and place them in and around various terrain will still managing to have a well layed out city. All in all nice job man. (or woman....sorry!!)

[890719k]

I think a city planned in this way is a bit ugly and unnatural.

[MAX-1]

Umm,
Ever walk your city Mulluane? ** yawn** LoL

Good idea though. Insitefull on how they can be layered. But lacks the feel of a good 'Ol city.

That's what COTN does over other city builders. They've made so that you can actually walk you city. Thats how I build, NOW .

[imhotep3147]

Just remember that you can place the buildings at 45 degree angles so that could take out the blandness some may feel when thinking of a block-layout city.

[Maatkaamun]

I love the concept of using pyramids to design your city. If I were to design a city in real life, you can bet it would be regular and orderly. I must have some Roman legionaire in me.

The great thing about CotN is it allows to to build however you want--in blocks or "a' naturale".

@Viper, Mulluane says she builds fast (as do I) so she probably has 10+ brickmakers by the third year (at least, I do). After you get past the first or second building spree, those bricks can pile up fast if you're near a good amt of resources.