So I've been noodling around culture games here in Civ 5, the Celts introduction, the ill-advised but enlightening wide France game, the Mayan game that crashed and wasn't worth recovering, and the Byzantium OCC. Those games each went in their own direction, meandering into game systems I wanted to try and experiment, not focusing too seriously on the result.
Now it's time for the magnum opus, the real show, the serious payoff. Culture as fast as I can deliver it.
For the civilization I'm taking the Dutch. Although that happy ability is very mechanicy and totally the product of someone's "I wish we could do that" wishlist, it's exactly what you need to accelerate the snowball during the early expansion phase. And the Polders look solid enough for later, though may represent a small gain by the time they arrive.
Inland Sea, large, young, hot, arid, disable start bias. I've described before that hilly desert is the best terrain and this is how you get lots of it.
Here's the starting save if anyone wants it.
Whoa. Read.