Notes on Civ 7 Yield Optimization

Introduction

• Addressing the challenge of placing buildings in Civ 7
• Promise of a breakthrough strategy for maximizing yields
• Focus on creating high-yield cities consistently
• Use of adjacencies and a formula akin to Sudoku

Components of the Breakthrough

1. The Palace

• Unique building in the capital city center
• Provides adjacency bonuses to quarters (pairs of buildings)
• Key to maximizing early adjacency bonuses

2. Yield Matching

• Strategy to pair buildings with similar adjacency bonuses
• Types of yield groupings:
  • Food and Gold Buildings: Adjacency to water
  • Happiness and Culture Buildings: Adjacency to mountains
  • Science and Production Buildings: Adjacency to resources

3. The Specialist

• Citizens placed on urban tiles
• Provides base yields and amplifies adjacencies
• Example: Market near water benefits from additional gold

Key Strategies

• Focus on maximizing the palace's adjacency bonus
• Use six quarters to achieve high bonuses
• Consider tile availability and natural features (mountains, coast)

Golden Rules

1. Never build adjacent to the palace unless necessary.
2. Warehouse buildings (no adjacency bonuses) should be close to the palace.
3. Wonders should not be adjacent to the palace unless unavoidable.

Placement Strategy

• Evaluate tiles for multiple resource adjacencies
• Use landmarks like mountains and water for specific building types
• Use the "ring" system to plan building placement:
  • Ring 1: Immediately adjacent to the palace
  • Ring 2: One tile away
  • Ring 3: Two tiles away

Example Walkthrough

• Example city setups with strategic placement:
  • Ring utilization for monument, villa, garden, and market
  • Use of specialists to enhance yields

Advanced Techniques

• Specialists can "leapfrog" to enhance tile yields
• Importance of wonder placements for adjacency bonuses

Case Studies

Example 1

• Use of natural resources for adjacencies
• Strategic placement of science and happiness buildings

Example 2

• Handling a resource-poor starting position
• Focus on water adjacency and early game teching

Exceptional Circumstances

• Unique civ bonuses can alter standard strategies
• Example: Greeks with Odeon building for cultural adjacency

Conclusion

• Effective yield management can drastically change game outcomes
• Emphasis on strategic planning and adaptation based on civ bonuses
• Encouragement for feedback and engagement with Civ 7 community