I am playing at Freecivweb.org, with a huge map (size = 38) and 63 AIs, and they spread like the plague and build many cities. My goal is to win the game through military conquest, not the space race.
My government is a democracy, where in the classic ruleset:
- "Empire size at which only three workers per city are content" = 14
"How many more cities make an additional worker unhappy in each city" = 16
My empire right now consists of 650 cities (total craziness, yeah, and there many cities to be conquered yet). Every turn takes a lot of time but I am enjoying it.
I have built all the wonders that affect happiness (Cure For Cancer, Michelangelo's Chapel, J.S. Bach's Cathedral, Women's Suffrage, Shakespeare's Theatre). I am building temples and colisseums in every city above size 3, and markets (even banks) where there is enough trade. In a few cases, cathedrals.
BUT!
My tax rates are 30% luxury and 70% gold. Isn't that weird?
650 cities and "16 more cities make an additional worker unhappy" mean 39 additional unhappy workers.