No Fresh Water

[Bandobras Took]

What do you do with a no fresh water start (i.e. it's impossible to irrigate anything in your territory), especially when you're wanting to grow your cities in the Middle Ages?

 

[templar_x]

there is actually not much you can do. build coastal towns, harbours and get that seafood. use the seafood bonuses well. and of course any land bonus you can lay your hands on. build granaries. build 'ducts. be patient.
t_x

 

[Theov]

I've had starts where I had to irrigate cross country to get it to my cities. It slows down enormously.
Without fresh water at all - that's a challenge.

 

[Bandobras Took]

Thus my question -- the only fresh water was blocked by a line of hills, so even killing my neighbor wouldn't have helped *my* cities.

 

[Puppeteer]

the only fresh water was blocked by a line of hills

You can build a city on a hill to transmit irrigation across the hill, if you can irrigate up to the hill and have irrigable tiles (flat grass, plain or desert) on both sides of the hill.

If I recall, this works in Conquests and PTW but not the original CivIII. I've done it recently on Conquests.

Or research to Electricity in the Industrial Age and then you can irrigate without fresh water.

Or restart the game.

 

[Bandobras Took]

You can build a city on a hill to transmit irrigation across the hill, if you can irrigate up to the hill and have irrigable tiles (flat grass, plain or desert) on both sides of the hill.

If I recall, this works in Conquests and PTW but not the original CivIII. I've done it recently on Conquests.

Or research to Electricity in the Industrial Age and then you can irrigate without fresh water.

Or restart the game.

I eventually took that last option; by the time I realized I needed to wipe out my neighbor (he had a city that prevented my settling on the hill), the window had passed.

 

[bigFRANK]

Yep sucks to have a poor start location, my worst (that I played to the end) was between a jungle and a desert, I ended up moving my palace after a foray overseas and left my original cities under protected and under producing, they weren’t much use to me until the industrial age.

 

[Theov]

dont have a screenshot?

 

[Bandobras Took]

Didn't keep the game after I started another one; I was just more curious as to sort of a general "Options for no Fresh Water" should the situation arise again.

 

[bigFRANK]

dont have a screenshot?

I probably do if I can find the saved game although its not one Im proud of as I lost on points come 2050.