Question that has always irked me

[Point13]

How do I improve my grasslands and plains? Do I farm grasslands and cottage plains? Vice-Versa? Or do I screw that and go with one or the other the whole way for a city? I'm never too sure which way to go. Thoughts?

I guess this thread is about tile improvement in general.

[DaveMcW]

Commerce city = cottage grassland.

Production city = farm grassland to feed the miners.

Plains should be ignored until Biology.

[Point13]

Originally Posted by DaveMcW

Commerce city = cottage grassland.

Production city = farm grassland to feed the miners.

Plains should be ignored until Biology.

So I should choose a specialist over working a plains tile is what you are recommending?

[Bleys]

You whip him into a Market to make the cottages stronger.

[Iranon]

Unless you rely heavily on free per-city bonuses, useful cities need food.

Plains tiles, usually with cottages, can be very much worth working if you have a few food resources nearby. Work grassland tiles with one city, food resources and plains tiles with another is often a good way to use one's land (especially if you don't have a useful outlet for excess food)

***

This is only the desirable end result though. The grassland tiles support themselves and are generally more valuable... so first found some cities, work resources and grassland tiles. When they have reached their cap, found some filler cities and work the food resources and the plains tiles.

If you have nothing better to do than building up second-rate cities that is...

[vicawoo]

Originally Posted by DaveMcW

Commerce city = cottage grassland.

Production city = farm grassland to feed the miners.

Plains should be ignored until Biology.

You don't cottage plains in your capital?

[DMOC]

I believe that "plains should be ignored until Biology" isn't true. Of course, you should cottage plains in a capital and other cities when the time is right. It's perfectly fine to cottage 5 plains in your commerce city (size 15) which also has 10 other floodplains that are cottaged as well.

[TheMeInTeam]

Originally Posted by DMOC

I believe that "plains should be ignored until Biology" isn't true. Of course, you should cottage plains in a capital and other cities when the time is right. It's perfectly fine to cottage 5 plains in your commerce city (size 15) which also has 10 other floodplains that are cottaged as well.

I also find them adequate workshop fodder ---> these become plains mines at caste/guilds, which are weaker than grassland mines but still stronger than the non-kremlin whip once you have a decent pop.

[DaveMcW]

Originally Posted by Captainkeyes23

So I should choose a specialist over working a plains tile is what you are recommending?

Yes.

Bureaucracy Oxford capital is a special case, but running specialists there until Biology won't hurt either.