Stuporstar
Warlord
A Comprehensive Guide to The Cumulative Values of Terrain, Improvements and Resources.
My new, more complete and updated, guide for terrain can be found HERE!
Contents:
1. Terrain Values
2. Worker Improvements
3. Resources and Improvements
4. City Placement
Here is a complete breakdown of the types of terrain and their food, production and commerce values. There's a lot more to it than what was in the manual. Having a more in-depth understanding of these terrain values can really help your strategy when deciding where to build your cities. I've also made a list of worker improvements and their value modifications for each type of terrain. I've included the bonus value of resources as well, even though it's already in the manual, for completeness sake. There are five factors involved when using terrain effectively: terrain values, terrain feature values, improvement values, bonus resource values, and civics and tech bonuses, all of which accumulate.
1. Terrain
Base Tile Values:
F = Food : P = Production : C = Commerce
Peak = 0 impassible
Ice = 0 impassible
Desert = 0
Snow = 0
Tundra = 1F
Ocean = 1F 1C
Coast = 1F 2C
Inland Coast = 2F 2C fresh water source
Grassland = 2F
Plains = 1F 1P
The following types of terrain, or terrain features, modify the base terrain values:
Jungle = -1F (-0.25 health)
Hills = -1F 1P
Forest = 1P (+0.5 health)
Floodplains = 3F (-0.4 heath)
Oasis = 3F 2C fresh water source (+2 health to adjacent city)
River = 1C fresh water source (+2 health to adjacent city)
Rivers give no commerce bonus to Snow, Jungle or Forest tiles.
*Note that when it comes to fresh water adjacent to your cities, you only get a total +2 health bonus to your city. It is not cumulative as it is with forest tiles.
Cumulative Tile Values:
The base terrain types have a cumulative value when terrain features are added to them.
Grassland/Jungle = 1F
Snow/Forest = 1P
Tundra/Forest = 1F 1P
Plains/Forest = 1F 2P
Grassland/Forest = 2F 1P
Desert/Hill = 1P
Snow/Hill = 1P
Tundra/Hill = 1P
Plains/Hill = 2P
Grassland/Hill = 1F 1P
Grassland/Hill/Jungle = 1P
Snow/Hill/Forest = 2P
Tundra/Hill/Forest = 2P
Grassland/Hill/Forest = 1F 2P
Plains/Hill/Forest = 3P
A hill with a forest has just as much production as a hill with a mine, but with added health benefit, which leads me to...
2. Worker Improvements:
Terrain Specific Improvements
Desert: Nothing
Grassland, Plains, Floodplains: Farm (only by river until civil-service/biology), Cottage, Workshop, Watermill (by river)
Hills: Mine, Windmill (all), Cottage (except desert, tundra, snow)
Forest: Lumbermill, whatever you can build on the base tile (and remove forest)
Tundra (with river): Farm, Workshop, Cottage, Watermill
Snow (with river): Watermill
You cannot build improvements except roads/railroads on: Desert, and Snow or Tundra (without river, hills or forest)
A detailed breakdown of how improvements modify terrain values:
Farms: flatlands - can build on resources
Tech: Agriculture, Civil Service (can spread irrigation), Biology (can build farms without irrigation) +1F
Farm = 1F
Best income: 2F (Civil Service)
Best possible food: 5F 1C (Floodplains)
Best possible food with resource: 7F 2C (Wheat +2F 1C + Floodplains)
Agriculture:
Farms can only be built by rivers.
+ Tundra = 2F 1C
+ Plains = 2F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 3F 1C
+ Floodplains = 4F 1C
Civil Service:
Farms can be irrigated and "chained" away from river tiles.
Farm (irrigated) on river = 2F
+ Tundra = 3F 1C
+ Plains = 3F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 4F 1C
+ Floodplains = 5F 1C
Farm (irrigated) not on river = 2F
+ Plains = 3F 1P
+ Grassland = 4F
Biology:
Farms can be built anywhere without irrigation, but do not get the +1F irrigation bonus.
Farm (not irrigated) not on river = 1F
+ Plains = 2F 1P
+ Grassland = 3F
It's better to just chain your irrigated farms, however it may be useful if you are on a particular landmass that just has no way of reaching fresh water and desperately need to increase your food production.
Cottages: any workable tiles except Snow or Tundra (Tundra with river being the only exception)
Tech: Pottery, Printing Press +1C for Villages and Towns
Cottage = 1C
Hamlet = 2C (10 turns)
Village = 3C (20 turns)
Town = 4C (40 turns)
Printing Press:
Village = 4C
Town = 5C
Civic: Universal Suffrage (Democracy) +1P for town, Free Speech (Liberalism) +2C for town, Emancipation (Democracy) +100% growth for cottage, hamlet, and village
Best income: 1P 7C (Printing Press, Universal Suffrage, Free Speech)
Mines: any Hill tile - can build on resources
Tech: Mining, Railroads +1P if a railroad is added
Mine = 2P
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra, Grassland = 3P
+ Plains = 4P
Best income: 4P (with rairoad)
Best possible production: 5P 1C (Plains + railroad + river)
Best possible production with resource: 7P 2C (Aluminum +2P 1C + Plains + railroad + river)
Workshop: flatlands
Tech: Metal Casting, Guilds +1P, Chemistry +1P
Workshop = -1F 1P
Metal Casting:
+ Tundra (must have river) = 1P (1C)
+ Grassland = 1F 1P
+ Plains = 2P
Chemistry and Guilds:
Workshop = -1F 3P
+ Tundra (must have river) = 3P (1C)
+ Grassland = 1F 3P
+ Plains = 4P
Civic: State Property (Communism) +1F
Best income: 3P (Guilds, Chemistry, State Property)
Best possible production: 1F 4P 1C (Plains + river + State Property)
Windmills: any Hill tile
Tech: Machinery, Replaceable Parts +1P, Electricity +1C
Windmill = 1F 1C
Machinery:
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra = 1F 1P 1C
+ Plains = 1F 2P 1C
+ Grassland = 2F 1P 1C
Replaceable Parts and Electricity:
Windmill = 1F 1P 2C
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra = 1F 2P 2C
+ Plains = 1F 3P 2C
+ Grassland = 2F 2P 2C
Best income: 1F 1P 2C (Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Best possible production: 1F 3P 3C (Plains + river + Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Best possible food: 2F 2P 3C (Grassland + river + Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Watermill: flatlands near river
Tech: Machinery, Replaceable Parts +1P, Electricity + 2C
Watermill = 1P + 1C from river
Tech: Machinery
+ Snow = 1P 1C
+ Tundra = 1F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 2F 1P 1C
+ Plains = 1F 2P 1C
+ Floodplains = 3F 1P 1C
Replaceable Parts and Electricity:
Watermill = 2P 2C + 1C from river
+ Snow = 2P 3C
+ Tundra = 1F 2P 3C
+ Grassland = 2F 2P 3C
+ Plains = 1F 3P 3C
+ Floodplains = 3F 2P 3C
Civic: State Property (Communism) +1F
Best income: 1F 2P 2C (Replaceable Parts, Electricity, State Property)
Best possible food: 4F 2P 3C (floodplains + State Property)
Lumbermill: any forest tile
Tech: Replaceable Parts, Railroads +1P if built
Lumbermill = 1P
+ Snow = 2P
+ Tundra = 1F 2P
+ Grassland = 2F 2P
+ Plains = 3P
+ Snow/Hill = 3P
+ Tundra/Hill = 3P
+ Grassland/Hill = 1F 3P
+ Plains/Hill = 4P
Best income: 3P 1C (1C from being near river, 1P from railroad, 1P from forest)
Best possible production: 5P 1C (Plains/Hill + river and railroad)
To chop or not to chop...
(The ability to clear a forest comes with the bronze working tech.)
As you can see, keeping the forest will give you better production in the long run than if you chop it down to replace it with farms or cottages. On a forest/hill tile you only stand to gain 1P from replacing it with a mine, which you would eventually get back when you can build lumbermills. However that extra early production + the 30 or so hammers you get from the chop is something to consider in exchange for that later equal production and added health benefit.
As for deciding on the 30 hammer chop (30 hammers being average - not sure what modifies the amount) or waiting for lumbermills, note that forests will grow only on unimproved tiles as long as there is a forest square nearby. Whether they grow over roads (they seem not to - I seem to remember someone mentioning that they use roads to curb jungle growth) or the chance of regrowth being calculated by the number of adjacent forest/jungle tiles is still up for debate. There is currently no way to plant forests later in the game as there was in CivIII.
The last thing to consider is the defense bonus and whether or not it is of strategic value to chop a forest or jungle. The defense bonus for both is 50%, and if that's on a hill (25%) you get a cumulative 75%!
An excellent guide for chopping can be found here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=138682
Summary: a breakdown of which terrain improvements maximize income/production/food best would be:
Best Food
Farm +2F (5F 1C best terrain) (+2F 1C with resource)
Best Commerce
Cottage +1P 7C
Best Production
Workshop +3P (1F 4P 1C best terrain)
Mine +3P (5P 1C best terrain) (+2P 1C with resource)
Lumbermill +3P (5P 1C best terrain) + health bonus from forest
Best General
Windmill +1F 1P 2C (2F 2P 3C best terrain) (1F 3P 3C best terrain)
Watermill +1F 2P 2C (4F 2P 3C best terrain)
3. Resource Improvements and Tile Bonuses:
These improvements can be built wherever the resource is found. The improvements are non-terrain specific, though on a random map the resources tend to generate only on certain types of terrain. All these terrain values and bonuses are cumulative. This means that the 2P bonus with the improved resource iron, copper, coal or aluminum + 2P for the mine + 1-2P on a hill can equal up to a maximum of 7P on a single tile.
You will notice these values are different from the manual. The manual seems to calculate what is added to the base bonus (so corn = base 1F and improving it adds and additional 2F rather than just stating that improved corn = +3F on top of the base terrain). I've recalcuated the values so that the base bonus is calculated into the improved value and reflect what you will actually get added to the base terrain. In the case of mines and farms I have NOT included the added value from the mine or farm because they can be modified by tech/civics.
Farm
Tech: Agriculture
Resources:
Corn = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health (base bonus 1F + improved 2F)
Wheat = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Rice = Base 1F : Improved 2F +1 Health
*not included is the value added by the farm, so what you will actually see is that improving corn, wheat or rice adds an additional 1-2F on top of the improved value given.
Pasture
Tech: Animal Husbandry
Resources:
Horse = Base 1P : Improved 3P 1C
Cow = Base 1F : Improved 2F 2P +1 Health
Pig = Base 1F : Improved 4F +1 Health
Sheep = Base 1F : Improved 3F 1C +1 Health
Camp
Tech: Hunting
Resources:
Deer = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Fur (obsolete with Plastics) = Base 1C : Improved 4C +1 Happiness
Ivory (obsolete with Industrialism) = Base 1P : Improved 2P 1C +1 Happiness
*note, when these go obsolete you still get the tile bonuses from them.
Fishing Boats
Tech: Fishing
Resources:
Fish = Base 1F : Improved 4F +1 Health
Clam = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Crab = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Quarry
Tech: Masonry
Resources:
Stone = Base 1P : Improved 3P
Marble = Base 1P : Improved 2P 2C
Mine
Tech: Mining
Resources:
Silver = Base 1C : Improved -1P +5C +1 Happiness
Gems = Base 1C : Improved -1P +6C +1 Happiness
Gold = Base 1C : Improved -1P +7C +1 Happiness
Copper (Bronze Working) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Iron (Iron Working) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Coal (Steam Power) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Aluminum (Industrialism) = Base 1P : Improved 2P 1C
Uranium (Physics) + Base 0 : Improved 3C
*these values do NOT include the added 2P from the mine, so what you get from improved copper, iron, coal or aluminum is actually +4P. Silver, gems and gold are an unusual case since they actually reduce the production from a mine by 1, however they do NOT reduce the production of the base tile, so adding a mine will only give you +1P.
Well/Offshore Platform
Tech: Combustion/Plastics
Resources:
Oil (Scientific Method) = Base 1P : Improved 3P 1C
Winery
Tech: Monarchy
Resources:
Wine = Base 1C : Improved 1F 3C +1 Happiness
Whaling Boats
Tech: Optics
Resources:
Whales (obsolete with Combustion) = Base 1F : Improved 1P 2C +1 Happiness
*note, when whales become obsolete you still get the tile bonuses from them.
Plantation
Tech: Calendar
Resources:
Banana = Base 1F : Improved 3F +2 Health
Dye = Base 1C : Improved 5C +1 Happiness
Incense = Base 1C : Improved 6C +1 Happiness
Silk = Base 1C : Improved 4C +1 Happiness
Spices = Base 1C : Improved 1F 3C +1 Happiness
Sugar = Base 1F : Improved 2F 1C +1 Happiness
4. Some notes about City Placement and Resources:
A city square always gets 2F 1P 1C. There seems to be ONE exception. You get an additional 1P when you build a city on top of a plains/hill. This seems to be the only time you get any bonuses for city placement. You get no bonus for any other kind of hill, and no bonus for a flatland/plains square. It must be a plains/hill. The other major advantage to building on a hill is of course the defense bonus. Hills get a defense bonus of 25%
When you build a city on top of a resource, you can, under specific circumstances, get a small bonus for that resource. That bonus is not equal to the value you would get by improving the tile, but it can be worth it strategically or used to get an early boost in production. You will be able to use that resource once you research the appropriate tech. If you build a city on top of stone, you will not be able to use it until you discover masonry, but once you do, it will be immediately available to that city.
Here is a breakdown of the types of terrain and bonuses you get for settling on top of a specific resource. Much thanks to Brokguitar for finding this out:
Food Resources: When Bananas, Rice, Sugar, Sheep, Corn, Cows, and Pigs are on Grassland Tiles Only (no hills) you are able to produce One Extra Bread Slice more than normal when you settle on top of them.
Production Resources: When Coal, Copper, Iron, Marble, Oil, Stone, Aluminum, Horses, and Ivory are on Plains Tiles Only (no hills) you are able to produce One Extra Hammer more than normal when you settle on top of them.
Now if these same resources are on a PLAINS/HILL tile you can produce Two Extra Hammers more than normal.
Commerce Resources: When Dye, Gold, Gems,Incense, Fur, Silk, Silver, Spice, and Wine are next to a river, you will receive One Extra Commerce more then normal when you settle on top of them.
Other things to consider when placing a city:
Jungle/Floodplain: Health value is can be a big deal when placing your cities. A city surrounded by jungles or floodplains will get unhealthy very quickly. Researching Iron Working will give your workers the ability to cut down jungles. The other advantage/disadvantage to building on a floodplain is the very rapid growth. In the early game, this will lead to unhealthiness and unhappiness very quickly. Consider not building farms on floodplains right away in order to control your growth. In the later game, these cities will make great GP generators.
Rivers: Building on a river will not only give you extra health (+2 for a city adjacent to fresh water), but will automatically connect any cities on that river. You won't need to build roads to get that essential trade route early on. Oasis also count as a fresh water source and I assume also give a health bonus, though it is not specifically stated in the manual. Another benefit to rivers is the defense bonus (+25%) and you may find some cities have rivers on three sides, almost surrounding it like a moat. This on top of a hill can make your city nearly impenetrable. Also consider though, if you are going to ride out on the offensive from within your city, your units take the same penalty for crossing that river.
Coastal Cities: There are a number of factors to consider when building a city on coastal terrain. The first is of course access to the sea and an extra trade route. A coastal city can also become an economic powerhouse, especially with the Colossus wonder, which provides an extra commerce for every cities' water tiles. Building a lighthouse will also provide an extra food for every water tile within that city's borders. Though water tiles provide no production value, this can usually be balanced with worker improvements on the surrounding land tiles.
Roads: I'd also like to make a final note about roads. I'm sure everyone has figured out that roads do not generate gold the way they did in CivIII, but there is something more. A resource tile directly linked to a river does not need a road built on it in order to connect it to your trade network. The only requirement is that the river somehow links directly to your trade network.
Remember, Rivers = Roads.
Also, as mentioned before, railroads add 1P to both mines and lumbermills.
I hope people will find this guide useful. I will continue adding/correcting info as it comes. Special thanks to Heroes for his best income breakdowns and added civics. For more information, you can refer to Brokguitar's Photo Guide to Terrain, Improvements and City Placement.
My new, more complete and updated, guide for terrain can be found HERE!
Contents:
1. Terrain Values
2. Worker Improvements
3. Resources and Improvements
4. City Placement
Here is a complete breakdown of the types of terrain and their food, production and commerce values. There's a lot more to it than what was in the manual. Having a more in-depth understanding of these terrain values can really help your strategy when deciding where to build your cities. I've also made a list of worker improvements and their value modifications for each type of terrain. I've included the bonus value of resources as well, even though it's already in the manual, for completeness sake. There are five factors involved when using terrain effectively: terrain values, terrain feature values, improvement values, bonus resource values, and civics and tech bonuses, all of which accumulate.
1. Terrain
Base Tile Values:
F = Food : P = Production : C = Commerce
Peak = 0 impassible
Ice = 0 impassible
Desert = 0
Snow = 0
Tundra = 1F
Ocean = 1F 1C
Coast = 1F 2C
Inland Coast = 2F 2C fresh water source
Grassland = 2F
Plains = 1F 1P
The following types of terrain, or terrain features, modify the base terrain values:
Jungle = -1F (-0.25 health)
Hills = -1F 1P
Forest = 1P (+0.5 health)
Floodplains = 3F (-0.4 heath)
Oasis = 3F 2C fresh water source (+2 health to adjacent city)
River = 1C fresh water source (+2 health to adjacent city)
Rivers give no commerce bonus to Snow, Jungle or Forest tiles.
*Note that when it comes to fresh water adjacent to your cities, you only get a total +2 health bonus to your city. It is not cumulative as it is with forest tiles.
Cumulative Tile Values:
The base terrain types have a cumulative value when terrain features are added to them.
Grassland/Jungle = 1F
Snow/Forest = 1P
Tundra/Forest = 1F 1P
Plains/Forest = 1F 2P
Grassland/Forest = 2F 1P
Desert/Hill = 1P
Snow/Hill = 1P
Tundra/Hill = 1P
Plains/Hill = 2P
Grassland/Hill = 1F 1P
Grassland/Hill/Jungle = 1P
Snow/Hill/Forest = 2P
Tundra/Hill/Forest = 2P
Grassland/Hill/Forest = 1F 2P
Plains/Hill/Forest = 3P
A hill with a forest has just as much production as a hill with a mine, but with added health benefit, which leads me to...
2. Worker Improvements:
Terrain Specific Improvements
Desert: Nothing
Grassland, Plains, Floodplains: Farm (only by river until civil-service/biology), Cottage, Workshop, Watermill (by river)
Hills: Mine, Windmill (all), Cottage (except desert, tundra, snow)
Forest: Lumbermill, whatever you can build on the base tile (and remove forest)
Tundra (with river): Farm, Workshop, Cottage, Watermill
Snow (with river): Watermill
You cannot build improvements except roads/railroads on: Desert, and Snow or Tundra (without river, hills or forest)
A detailed breakdown of how improvements modify terrain values:
Farms: flatlands - can build on resources
Tech: Agriculture, Civil Service (can spread irrigation), Biology (can build farms without irrigation) +1F
Farm = 1F
Best income: 2F (Civil Service)
Best possible food: 5F 1C (Floodplains)
Best possible food with resource: 7F 2C (Wheat +2F 1C + Floodplains)
Agriculture:
Farms can only be built by rivers.
+ Tundra = 2F 1C
+ Plains = 2F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 3F 1C
+ Floodplains = 4F 1C
Civil Service:
Farms can be irrigated and "chained" away from river tiles.
Farm (irrigated) on river = 2F
+ Tundra = 3F 1C
+ Plains = 3F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 4F 1C
+ Floodplains = 5F 1C
Farm (irrigated) not on river = 2F
+ Plains = 3F 1P
+ Grassland = 4F
Biology:
Farms can be built anywhere without irrigation, but do not get the +1F irrigation bonus.
Farm (not irrigated) not on river = 1F
+ Plains = 2F 1P
+ Grassland = 3F
It's better to just chain your irrigated farms, however it may be useful if you are on a particular landmass that just has no way of reaching fresh water and desperately need to increase your food production.
Cottages: any workable tiles except Snow or Tundra (Tundra with river being the only exception)
Tech: Pottery, Printing Press +1C for Villages and Towns
Cottage = 1C
Hamlet = 2C (10 turns)
Village = 3C (20 turns)
Town = 4C (40 turns)
Printing Press:
Village = 4C
Town = 5C
Civic: Universal Suffrage (Democracy) +1P for town, Free Speech (Liberalism) +2C for town, Emancipation (Democracy) +100% growth for cottage, hamlet, and village
Best income: 1P 7C (Printing Press, Universal Suffrage, Free Speech)
Mines: any Hill tile - can build on resources
Tech: Mining, Railroads +1P if a railroad is added
Mine = 2P
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra, Grassland = 3P
+ Plains = 4P
Best income: 4P (with rairoad)
Best possible production: 5P 1C (Plains + railroad + river)
Best possible production with resource: 7P 2C (Aluminum +2P 1C + Plains + railroad + river)
Workshop: flatlands
Tech: Metal Casting, Guilds +1P, Chemistry +1P
Workshop = -1F 1P
Metal Casting:
+ Tundra (must have river) = 1P (1C)
+ Grassland = 1F 1P
+ Plains = 2P
Chemistry and Guilds:
Workshop = -1F 3P
+ Tundra (must have river) = 3P (1C)
+ Grassland = 1F 3P
+ Plains = 4P
Civic: State Property (Communism) +1F
Best income: 3P (Guilds, Chemistry, State Property)
Best possible production: 1F 4P 1C (Plains + river + State Property)
Windmills: any Hill tile
Tech: Machinery, Replaceable Parts +1P, Electricity +1C
Windmill = 1F 1C
Machinery:
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra = 1F 1P 1C
+ Plains = 1F 2P 1C
+ Grassland = 2F 1P 1C
Replaceable Parts and Electricity:
Windmill = 1F 1P 2C
+ Snow, Desert, Tundra = 1F 2P 2C
+ Plains = 1F 3P 2C
+ Grassland = 2F 2P 2C
Best income: 1F 1P 2C (Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Best possible production: 1F 3P 3C (Plains + river + Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Best possible food: 2F 2P 3C (Grassland + river + Replaceable Parts, Electricity)
Watermill: flatlands near river
Tech: Machinery, Replaceable Parts +1P, Electricity + 2C
Watermill = 1P + 1C from river
Tech: Machinery
+ Snow = 1P 1C
+ Tundra = 1F 1P 1C
+ Grassland = 2F 1P 1C
+ Plains = 1F 2P 1C
+ Floodplains = 3F 1P 1C
Replaceable Parts and Electricity:
Watermill = 2P 2C + 1C from river
+ Snow = 2P 3C
+ Tundra = 1F 2P 3C
+ Grassland = 2F 2P 3C
+ Plains = 1F 3P 3C
+ Floodplains = 3F 2P 3C
Civic: State Property (Communism) +1F
Best income: 1F 2P 2C (Replaceable Parts, Electricity, State Property)
Best possible food: 4F 2P 3C (floodplains + State Property)
Lumbermill: any forest tile
Tech: Replaceable Parts, Railroads +1P if built
Lumbermill = 1P
+ Snow = 2P
+ Tundra = 1F 2P
+ Grassland = 2F 2P
+ Plains = 3P
+ Snow/Hill = 3P
+ Tundra/Hill = 3P
+ Grassland/Hill = 1F 3P
+ Plains/Hill = 4P
Best income: 3P 1C (1C from being near river, 1P from railroad, 1P from forest)
Best possible production: 5P 1C (Plains/Hill + river and railroad)
To chop or not to chop...
(The ability to clear a forest comes with the bronze working tech.)
As you can see, keeping the forest will give you better production in the long run than if you chop it down to replace it with farms or cottages. On a forest/hill tile you only stand to gain 1P from replacing it with a mine, which you would eventually get back when you can build lumbermills. However that extra early production + the 30 or so hammers you get from the chop is something to consider in exchange for that later equal production and added health benefit.
As for deciding on the 30 hammer chop (30 hammers being average - not sure what modifies the amount) or waiting for lumbermills, note that forests will grow only on unimproved tiles as long as there is a forest square nearby. Whether they grow over roads (they seem not to - I seem to remember someone mentioning that they use roads to curb jungle growth) or the chance of regrowth being calculated by the number of adjacent forest/jungle tiles is still up for debate. There is currently no way to plant forests later in the game as there was in CivIII.
The last thing to consider is the defense bonus and whether or not it is of strategic value to chop a forest or jungle. The defense bonus for both is 50%, and if that's on a hill (25%) you get a cumulative 75%!
An excellent guide for chopping can be found here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=138682
Summary: a breakdown of which terrain improvements maximize income/production/food best would be:
Best Food
Farm +2F (5F 1C best terrain) (+2F 1C with resource)
Best Commerce
Cottage +1P 7C
Best Production
Workshop +3P (1F 4P 1C best terrain)
Mine +3P (5P 1C best terrain) (+2P 1C with resource)
Lumbermill +3P (5P 1C best terrain) + health bonus from forest
Best General
Windmill +1F 1P 2C (2F 2P 3C best terrain) (1F 3P 3C best terrain)
Watermill +1F 2P 2C (4F 2P 3C best terrain)
3. Resource Improvements and Tile Bonuses:
These improvements can be built wherever the resource is found. The improvements are non-terrain specific, though on a random map the resources tend to generate only on certain types of terrain. All these terrain values and bonuses are cumulative. This means that the 2P bonus with the improved resource iron, copper, coal or aluminum + 2P for the mine + 1-2P on a hill can equal up to a maximum of 7P on a single tile.
You will notice these values are different from the manual. The manual seems to calculate what is added to the base bonus (so corn = base 1F and improving it adds and additional 2F rather than just stating that improved corn = +3F on top of the base terrain). I've recalcuated the values so that the base bonus is calculated into the improved value and reflect what you will actually get added to the base terrain. In the case of mines and farms I have NOT included the added value from the mine or farm because they can be modified by tech/civics.
Farm
Tech: Agriculture
Resources:
Corn = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health (base bonus 1F + improved 2F)
Wheat = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Rice = Base 1F : Improved 2F +1 Health
*not included is the value added by the farm, so what you will actually see is that improving corn, wheat or rice adds an additional 1-2F on top of the improved value given.
Pasture
Tech: Animal Husbandry
Resources:
Horse = Base 1P : Improved 3P 1C
Cow = Base 1F : Improved 2F 2P +1 Health
Pig = Base 1F : Improved 4F +1 Health
Sheep = Base 1F : Improved 3F 1C +1 Health
Camp
Tech: Hunting
Resources:
Deer = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Fur (obsolete with Plastics) = Base 1C : Improved 4C +1 Happiness
Ivory (obsolete with Industrialism) = Base 1P : Improved 2P 1C +1 Happiness
*note, when these go obsolete you still get the tile bonuses from them.
Fishing Boats
Tech: Fishing
Resources:
Fish = Base 1F : Improved 4F +1 Health
Clam = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Crab = Base 1F : Improved 3F +1 Health
Quarry
Tech: Masonry
Resources:
Stone = Base 1P : Improved 3P
Marble = Base 1P : Improved 2P 2C
Mine
Tech: Mining
Resources:
Silver = Base 1C : Improved -1P +5C +1 Happiness
Gems = Base 1C : Improved -1P +6C +1 Happiness
Gold = Base 1C : Improved -1P +7C +1 Happiness
Copper (Bronze Working) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Iron (Iron Working) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Coal (Steam Power) = Base 1P : Improved 2P
Aluminum (Industrialism) = Base 1P : Improved 2P 1C
Uranium (Physics) + Base 0 : Improved 3C
*these values do NOT include the added 2P from the mine, so what you get from improved copper, iron, coal or aluminum is actually +4P. Silver, gems and gold are an unusual case since they actually reduce the production from a mine by 1, however they do NOT reduce the production of the base tile, so adding a mine will only give you +1P.
Well/Offshore Platform
Tech: Combustion/Plastics
Resources:
Oil (Scientific Method) = Base 1P : Improved 3P 1C
Winery
Tech: Monarchy
Resources:
Wine = Base 1C : Improved 1F 3C +1 Happiness
Whaling Boats
Tech: Optics
Resources:
Whales (obsolete with Combustion) = Base 1F : Improved 1P 2C +1 Happiness
*note, when whales become obsolete you still get the tile bonuses from them.
Plantation
Tech: Calendar
Resources:
Banana = Base 1F : Improved 3F +2 Health
Dye = Base 1C : Improved 5C +1 Happiness
Incense = Base 1C : Improved 6C +1 Happiness
Silk = Base 1C : Improved 4C +1 Happiness
Spices = Base 1C : Improved 1F 3C +1 Happiness
Sugar = Base 1F : Improved 2F 1C +1 Happiness
4. Some notes about City Placement and Resources:
A city square always gets 2F 1P 1C. There seems to be ONE exception. You get an additional 1P when you build a city on top of a plains/hill. This seems to be the only time you get any bonuses for city placement. You get no bonus for any other kind of hill, and no bonus for a flatland/plains square. It must be a plains/hill. The other major advantage to building on a hill is of course the defense bonus. Hills get a defense bonus of 25%
When you build a city on top of a resource, you can, under specific circumstances, get a small bonus for that resource. That bonus is not equal to the value you would get by improving the tile, but it can be worth it strategically or used to get an early boost in production. You will be able to use that resource once you research the appropriate tech. If you build a city on top of stone, you will not be able to use it until you discover masonry, but once you do, it will be immediately available to that city.
Here is a breakdown of the types of terrain and bonuses you get for settling on top of a specific resource. Much thanks to Brokguitar for finding this out:
Food Resources: When Bananas, Rice, Sugar, Sheep, Corn, Cows, and Pigs are on Grassland Tiles Only (no hills) you are able to produce One Extra Bread Slice more than normal when you settle on top of them.
Production Resources: When Coal, Copper, Iron, Marble, Oil, Stone, Aluminum, Horses, and Ivory are on Plains Tiles Only (no hills) you are able to produce One Extra Hammer more than normal when you settle on top of them.
Now if these same resources are on a PLAINS/HILL tile you can produce Two Extra Hammers more than normal.
Commerce Resources: When Dye, Gold, Gems,Incense, Fur, Silk, Silver, Spice, and Wine are next to a river, you will receive One Extra Commerce more then normal when you settle on top of them.
Other things to consider when placing a city:
Jungle/Floodplain: Health value is can be a big deal when placing your cities. A city surrounded by jungles or floodplains will get unhealthy very quickly. Researching Iron Working will give your workers the ability to cut down jungles. The other advantage/disadvantage to building on a floodplain is the very rapid growth. In the early game, this will lead to unhealthiness and unhappiness very quickly. Consider not building farms on floodplains right away in order to control your growth. In the later game, these cities will make great GP generators.
Rivers: Building on a river will not only give you extra health (+2 for a city adjacent to fresh water), but will automatically connect any cities on that river. You won't need to build roads to get that essential trade route early on. Oasis also count as a fresh water source and I assume also give a health bonus, though it is not specifically stated in the manual. Another benefit to rivers is the defense bonus (+25%) and you may find some cities have rivers on three sides, almost surrounding it like a moat. This on top of a hill can make your city nearly impenetrable. Also consider though, if you are going to ride out on the offensive from within your city, your units take the same penalty for crossing that river.
Coastal Cities: There are a number of factors to consider when building a city on coastal terrain. The first is of course access to the sea and an extra trade route. A coastal city can also become an economic powerhouse, especially with the Colossus wonder, which provides an extra commerce for every cities' water tiles. Building a lighthouse will also provide an extra food for every water tile within that city's borders. Though water tiles provide no production value, this can usually be balanced with worker improvements on the surrounding land tiles.
Roads: I'd also like to make a final note about roads. I'm sure everyone has figured out that roads do not generate gold the way they did in CivIII, but there is something more. A resource tile directly linked to a river does not need a road built on it in order to connect it to your trade network. The only requirement is that the river somehow links directly to your trade network.
Remember, Rivers = Roads.
Also, as mentioned before, railroads add 1P to both mines and lumbermills.
I hope people will find this guide useful. I will continue adding/correcting info as it comes. Special thanks to Heroes for his best income breakdowns and added civics. For more information, you can refer to Brokguitar's Photo Guide to Terrain, Improvements and City Placement.
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