Do you ever make resource colonies??

[Theov]

For my mod I thought it was a good idea to make a special cheap unit to make resource colonies. You know, the ones that connect a resource to your empire but eat up a worker.

So do you:
- build them a lot...
- build them rarely, for Iron (or luxuries/strategic resources)
- would build them more, if the cost would be lower.

I was wondering if anyone ever made these... because I don't.

The reason is because you need to build a long road far away (which are a lot of worker turns) and then it costs you a worker.
I figure I might as well build a city there.

 

[Kirejara]

I have added the ability to build roads and colonies to the Scout and the Explorer for this purpose.

And since deserts, jungle and tundra are in my ruleset uninhabitable, colonies can be useful.

Also I have the notorious searoads (build by Fishing Boats and Supply Ships), so it is possible to connect a resource on a small desert or mountain island (Ship builds the trade route to the island, worker sets up the dirt road and colony).

But if possible I place a city on or next to the resource.

 

[templar_x]

i sometimes use it in order to speed up a ROAD!
this is how it works: there is a ressource right outside your empire. the settler is on the way. however, a worker, also in place, would still require 6 turns to have a road on that forest silk that Comes into your culture after the town is founded? then i use the worker, sometimes, if that ressource is very valuable to the empire, for a colony, and only THEN plant the settler to build a town. that way the road is immediately there.
t_x

 

[Strong Reaction]

I only create colonies when I need a resource in a hurry; ex. during ancient times iron for swordsman etc. It is usually a strategic resource like iron, coal or oil. I would do it if I needed a luxury really badly.However I will only do it if it is convenient otherwise I don't waste my time with it. I never have built a lengthy road to a colony.

 

[Roundman]

I have built resource colonies on occasion- usually when the resource is on a mountain surrounded by other mountains and it would take too long to establish a city with enough culture to reach the resource. This doesn't happen too often (and when it does, it's usually for iron early in the game).

Not to thread jack, but does anyone ever use outposts? I don't think that I have ever built one. I forgot they were even in the game until I noticed them the other day in the advanced worker instruction menu.

 

[Theov]

I have built resource colonies on occasion- usually when the resource is on a mountain surrounded by other mountains and it would take too long to establish a city with enough culture to reach the resource. This doesn't happen too often (and when it does, it's usually for iron early in the game).

Not to thread jack, but does anyone ever use outposts? I don't think that I have ever built one. I forgot they were even in the game until I noticed them the other day in the advanced worker instruction menu.

No, that's another thing I never build. Maybe a fortress here and there. But that's on extreme specific spaces.

Maybe that's also on the list that a scout could build in a few turns.

 

[Buttercup]

Its funny you should ask that, I experimented with Outposts a few months back. I discovered that their only function is to light-up an area, like what a Unit would do only you don't have to pay upkeep.

I figured I'd use them to highlight areas of my zone of control where I didn't want to build cities due to poor land but didn't want to post a Unit there due to cost. The general idea being to prevent Barbarians spawning in non-lit areas.

Unfortunately the Outposts don't prevent Barbarians. The only good thing about them is the fun of actually watching Barbarians spawn from nowhere. For some reason they contradict the rule that Barbarians wont spawn in lit-up areas. I then thought I could use them to farm for Barbarians and their 25g, but they wont spawn if there's troops there and if there's no troops then they'll take the outpost easily.

As for Colonies, I wouldn't say never, as has been mentioned, such as early game hook-ups in Jungles and Mountains or to speed a road through something, but it's quite a rare enough thing to warrant saying its something I don't really use enough to say I use it.

 

[justanick]

Outposts can look further if built on hills or much better mountains.

For some reason they contradict the rule that Barbarians wont spawn in lit-up areas.

This rule only applies to cities, military units and maybe even colonies. I never bothered to check the later. But next to unescorted settlers or workers barbarians can spawn.

 

[Theov]

Ok. So my mod is going to have a unit that can build a colony.
Thanks.

Now, off to find a good unit.

 

[Simpson17866]

Ok. So my mod is going to have a unit that can build a colony.
Thanks.

Now, off to find a good unit.

Spanish Conquistador?

 

[Theov]

Spanish Conquistador?

why would I use that? It's the Spanish UU... make a changed version available to everyone?

I was thinking of an early unit and a simple unit.

Like this one:


or this one:

 

[Kirejara]

As I have written before, I have simply added the road and colony building ability to my Scouts and Explorers, since they have very little to do once you have explored everything (only on veeeryyy large maps this went into the middle ages ).

Only the Conquistator of Spain is unable to build road, but instead they can enslave... get some more volunteer foreign workers.

But since the question about the outpost came up (totally wasting a good worker in my eyes): Did anyone build Radar Towers? Ever?

They look in my eyes also as wasting of good workers and seem to have only little effect, as they rarely slow my forces down.

But the KI seems to love them. Once they have the required tech (Advanced Flight), they pepper their country side with Radar Towers and guarding units, despite the fact, that they regulary have far too less workers and a country side that is mostly underdeveloped...

 

[vorlon_mi]

Because they're so fragile, I don't make them. If I can get a settler close to the resource, I build a city. I usually always rush-build a culture building there, to get the border pop. If the AI builds a city, I conquer it.

I am falling in love with airfields, though. I usually have a dozen or more slave workers, so I send one along with my invasion fleet to another island. Conquer a beachhead city -- or raze and replace -- and then, once peace is declared, burn the worker to make an airfield. This allows me to easily reinforce the small (3-6 tiles) or medium (6-12 tiles) islands, without wasting the shields on an airport.

 

[Strong Reaction]

Ok. So my mod is going to have a unit that can build a colony.
Thanks.

Now, off to find a good unit.

How 'bout the explorer unit. I am guessing no one uses that unit.

 

[Simpson17866]

why would I use that? It's the Spanish UU... make a changed version available to everyone?

I was thinking of an early unit and a simple unit.

Oh I was not aware that you meant from scratch.

Like this one:


or this one:

Those are really cool

 

[Buttercup]

Outposts can look further if built on hills or much better mountains.

This rule only applies to cities, military units and maybe even colonies. I never bothered to check the later. But next to unescorted settlers or workers barbarians can spawn.

All Units see further from Mountains and Hills, I didn't notice Outposts seeing further than Units in this regard.

Ah, that probably explains it, the programme doesn't view Outposts as being anything more than a Worker rather than a building. If they'd made Outposts eliminate Barbarian spawning and give you +1 Units to your allocation and a culture boundary (to prevent the AI settling next to them) then they'd have a potentially interesting use. As it is I don't think it's even possible to mod this little list in.

Ok. So my mod is going to have a unit that can build a colony.
Thanks.

Now, off to find a good unit.

This seems obvious that the Warrior is the best choice? What am I missing?

 

[justanick]

How 'bout the explorer unit. I am guessing no one uses that unit.

It is used a lot in multiplayer for pillaging and reconnaissance before battle.

In singleplayer it can be used for exploration. Not being a military unit you might be able to explore AI territory without Rights of Passage.

All Units see further from Mountains and Hills, I didn't notice Outposts seeing further than Units in this regard.

Outpost in mountains can see further, should be 3 tiles far. I never build them so i am uncertain about details, but it surely is farther than units.

This seems obvious that the Warrior is the best choice? What am I missing?

They can be used for military purposes, for military police and for upgrading. Seems like enough and upgrading does remove the ability to build them.

 

[tjs282]

They can be used for military purposes, for military police and for upgrading. Seems like enough and upgrading does remove the ability to build them.

I would guess that Theov is simply planning to duplicate (the .../Unit/Art/ folder and .ini file for) whichever existing unit he decides on, rename that duplicate-unit (folder + .ini) as e.g. 'Resource Colonist', and then use the Editor to add the 'Resource Colonist' unit to his mod, replacing whatever abilities the original unit had, with the Colony-building ability. So the stats/ abilities of the original unit -- in this case the basic Warrior -- would be irrelevant.

On topic:

I voted for the 2nd option in the poll, even though it was restricted to Iron -- because Luxes are nice, too!

I generally don't build Colonies if I can get the Resource by Settling near/ beyond it, but in the case of that screenshot above (BTW, is that from Bamspeedy's 'Deity Settlers' story...?), I would definitely (also) have built a Colony. For Resource-tiles which lie just beyond my borders, and when I can build a replacement Worker in less time than it would take to build a road to/ on the tile in question, and/or get that tile within my borders through Cultural expansion, a Colony may well be the cheapest/easiest way to grab that resource.

Case in point: a Gem- or Iron-Mountain will need 1+9T to road (if not IND) just on its own -- but I can always build a (replacement) Worker in ≤10T, and possibly in as little as 2T if I have Worker-pump. Later on, after the town has built some (more) Culture and the Colonised tile comes within my borders, I then don't need to waste time/Worker-turns on roading it, either.

Similarly, if I've rolled a tropical/ Jungle start on a Warm/Wet map, building Colonies on nearby Jungle-Dyes/-Gems can also be a good use of Workers (or Slaves) in the early game, in my view. I get the Lux as soon as the Worker has roaded to and Colonised the tile (which also takes much less time than clearing it by hand), and I can later follow up with a Settler, who can use the Colony(s) as roads (as described by templar_x), and plant a town just beyond them: that town can then immediately use those now-cleared (and roaded) ex-Colony tiles.

I don't build Colonies a long way from my borders though -- when I first started playing Civ3, I played too many games where the AI plonked a city down next-door to my remote Iron-Colony. And I don't bother in the late game either, because I usually don't need them (or can't build them) by then. My Mod-in-progress, like Kirejara's, will have/has more unSettle-able terrain though (Tundra, Deserts, Jungle, probably Forests), so Colonies will be (much) more important...

Outposts? Used them in my first ever game of C3C (English, Regent, Standard Continents), never since. Radar Towers -- never in C3C, but planted a few in my current PtW-game (Germans, Emp, Standard Continents). Airfields -- only if I'm going for invasion, i.e. Dom/Conquest (lots on my turf, 1 on theirs = multiple airlifted reinforcements per turn).

 

[Strong Reaction]

It is used a lot in multiplayer for pillaging and reconnaissance before battle.

In single-player it can be used for exploration. Not being a military unit you might be able to explore AI territory without Rights of Passage.

For single player purposes it is a near useless unit except in rare instances. It enters with Astronomy which doesn't even enable you to cross oceans squares and it is only one tech research away from Navigation which enables you trade territory and world maps thereby negating its usefulness most likely before you can even deploy it.

 

[justanick]

Navigation is often skipped in order to reach the later eras more early.