What is your tile improvement policy?

[Athenaeum]

Do you have a specific policy when it comes to which tile improvement you put where? I have a rough "policy" that I generally follow, but of course am open to altering it. I was hoping for some criticism/advice on what I'm doing.

Anytime i have a general plains tile, I build a farm. 2 food and 1 shield.

Anytime I have a grassland, I build a trading post. Unless it's next to a river, in which case I might build a farm (+2 food after civil service.)

I used to build trading posts on hills, but then I switched to mines at the advice of my friend because I was never satisfied with my production.

However I really want to go hard on science, so I feel like I need the trading posts. But at the same time production is really important to me.

 

[FlorbFnarb]

I tend to prioritize food to maximize city size. Production might be prioritized depending upon circumstances, but usually after food science and gold are high priority.

 

[reddishrecue]

I don't really focus on working improvements because barbarians often come in and try to plunder them. Other than that, building units to defend your improvements is also too much work that I don't want to do. I rather not build any improvements at all so that the barbarians could plunder them? no thanks..

 

[Browd]

This is terrible advice. As a general proposition, you don't want to work unimproved tiles. If you can't swat barbs as they wander by, you have more serious problems with your game. Invest in some archers.

 

[reddishrecue]

Well, I rather invest on my beginning worker and then the archer. Swatting barbarians is not as easy as it looks. I don't like barbarians plundering my improvements. Once you get a good control of the land as far as improvements go, you bring in a few units to fortify on the improvements that you've built so that barbarians can have a difficult time plundering your improvements.

 

[lockandload]

Well, I rather invest on my beginning worker and then the archer. Swatting barbarians is not as easy as it looks. I don't like barbarians plundering my improvements. Once you get a good control of the land as far as improvements go, you bring in a few units to fortify on the improvements that you've built so that barbarians can have a difficult time plundering your improvements.

Don't fortify against Barbs. Find their lair and destroy it. A lot of times they will stupidly just stand in the fort and let you shoot arrows at them.

Early in the game try walking your worker around your city, just out of reach of the barb, while the city defense picks them off.

 

[FaohKi]

I'm building farm wherever possible. Food is the most important thing in game. If you have food , you gonna get hammer , science etc. soon.

 

[Sarin]

Improvements are key for successful empire. Once you get out initial scout or two, run your warrior home and protect your worker.

Anyway, my policy:
Resources first. Then:
Flatland, no jungle: farm
Hills, no river, no jungle: mine
Hills or flatland, no river, jungle: trade post
Hills, river: farm, if there is jungle I sometimes build trade post, depending on what I need more, production or science.

Generally, lumber mills and trade posts without jungle are useless.

Edit: I improve flatlands without river and jungle last, usually I put academies and manufacturies there.

 

[noonex]

for me that depends on how much happiness I have (or expected to have in nearest future) and how much food/productiion city has and whether I lack gold

 

[reddishrecue]

Don't fortify against Barbs. Find their lair and destroy it. A lot of times they will stupidly just stand in the fort and let you shoot arrows at them.

Early in the game try walking your worker around your city, just out of reach of the barb, while the city defense picks them off.

That I already know. Why don't I do it? because there are already other people nearby that don't like barbarians and often times by the time I get my units to the encampment, the lair is already gone and destroyed by someone else, particularly if you're playing with no honor.

 

[DocRock]

I prefer early production to early food, especially combined with Lux (Salt, Gold, Gems, Silver..).

Regarding Barbarians: you can even use a Scout to block them and let the city do the rest. You need to improves your tiles asap. One Archer is enough to take every camp (unless you chose raging barbs) and it gets you money, free XP and if you have a CS quest even more riches. And you should have enough time to produce an Archer because Workers can and should easily be stolen.

 

[darkace77450]

My MO usually goes:
- develop and work the most lucrative food tiles to get the city growing
- develop and work luxury goods for the happiness and gold supplement
- develop and work industry output to ensure I can build what I need to build
- develop and work other food tiles keep the city growing

Unless there's a bonus, strategic, or luxury good on a tile, I usually build:
- farms on grasslands and river-adjacent plains
- mines on hills
- trading posts on desert and tundra that aren't adjacent to rivers
- trading posts on jungle unless I'm hard up for food or production, then I'll build a farm or mine
- with plains I build farms if the city is stagnating and trading posts if it's not
- forests I usually improve with mills unless it's next to a river, in which case I might build a farm
- jungles I leave alone unless I need food or production from farms or mines
- I always drain marshes
- I hardly ever build forts, and when I do it's in a chokepoint

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Improve the bee-jazus out of tiles around capital, then focus on all luxuries, strategic and bonuses resources (also, farms whenever possible). Never settle on resources. I also then forget to improve the rest of the nation until I get bored and let them automate. I also almost never build Trading Posts.. .. yay Prince?

 

[Athenaeum]

I don't really focus on working improvements because barbarians often come in and try to plunder them. Other than that, building units to defend your improvements is also too much work that I don't want to do. I rather not build any improvements at all so that the barbarians could plunder them? no thanks..

Yeah I agree with Browd, this is a disastrous thing to do. Just go kill the encampment and be done with it. OR at most, all I need is one unit for each city to guard against barbs. But usually I just kill the encampments.

It's waaaaaayyyy better than not building tile improvements.

 

[reddishrecue]

Yeah I agree with Browd, this is a disastrous thing to do. Just go kill the encampment and be done with it. OR at most, all I need is one unit for each city to guard against barbs. But usually I just kill the encampments.

It's waaaaaayyyy better than not building tile improvements.

Why do that when you can spend that time building a granary and then a wonder? Besides, if you let your warrior working out there by himself you risk losing him to 1 barbarian unit or two who often like to double on solitary units that want to clear encampments. Hand axes often specialize double teaming with other hand axes or archers that don'ttake damage when aattacking your units.

 

[Athenaeum]

I'm building farm wherever possible. Food is the most important thing in game. If you have food , you gonna get hammer , science etc. soon.

Not necessarily. I would have hugeass cities sometimes, but very little production. If all you have is food in your surrounding tiles, you ain't gonna get anything else, no matter how many workers you have working the food-only tiles around your city.

 

[Arcaian]

Why do that when you can spend that time building a granary and then a wonder? Besides, if you let your warrior working out there by himself you risk losing him to 1 barbarian unit or two who often like to double on solitary units that want to clear encampments. Hand axes often specialize double teaming with other hand axes or archers that don'ttake damage when aattacking your units.

If you're fighting Hand Axes with your warrior, you've taken too much time. You obviously play on a lower difficulty level, because you could not build a granary and then move on to a wonder and still successfully build it on any decent difficulty level. You need the worker to rush the wonders effectively. On top of that granaries only give you +2 food, which you can very easily get early game from a worker, you should go shrine before granary in pretty much every circumstance except if you have huge amount of deer/grain around you.

 

[Redaxe]

I don't really focus on working improvements because barbarians often come in and try to plunder them. Other than that, building units to defend your improvements is also too much work that I don't want to do. I rather not build any improvements at all so that the barbarians could plunder them? no thanks..

Really???? I'm trying to work out if this is a serious statement or not

Improving early tiles gives you a 33-50% increase in the yield of your land and a 100% food increase on freshwater tiles when you get civil service. you mention building wonders but how are you going to beat the AI if you have no quarries or pastures to get extra hammers.
You can chop a forest but only once.

If you can't defend yourself against barbarians than usually that is a sign you've underinvested in military. Even if you get troubled by a hand-axe you can manage with an archer and a warrior.

 

[Doktor Vic Tim]

I tend to farm everything. Farm this, farm that. Farm everything! I'll farm you if you're not careful!

Okay, farms are must on almost any river tile. Especially hills. Getting 1 food 2 production gets you some production and when hitting civil service you get a nice 2 food 2 production tile. The obvious exception is if you're REALLY starved for hills in which you might build a mine instead.

As for Granaries, I've started to delay them if my initial lands do not have bananas, wheat or deer. If most of my tiles are river plains, I might build a granary anyway, though. It might be a bad tactic, I think. Same goes for improvement buildings (stables, forges) which can add a nice +1 hammer to pastures and iron. I've had the luxury of playing as Russia, settling an iron hill, building Petra and getting a Forge along with Republic policy. That is one production happy city tile.

But I digress. as much early growth as possible. When you settle a new city, bring a worker or two and improve the best food tiles. I always forget WHEN it is time to set down trading posts.

EDIT: Oh, and as I've said so much recently: BANANAS! Don't improve them if they're in jungle pre-fertilizer. You'll be getting 4 food and 2 science with a GRanary+Uni. But if the bananas are on grassland (I think it happens?) Just plantation it right away.

 

[dasaard200]

Given that I usually start way out in the middle of Nowhere; a.k.a. Fumbuk; 20+tiles away from closest coast OR neighbors, 1 resource in a 16 tile radius; the improvement choice is simple : hill = mine, non-hill = farm, Lux = tech and do it ASAP.

First city, forests get chopped for mines, farms; rivers are farmed unless a better reason .

Unit build order : scout, warrior, worker, 2 archers, worker or settler .

Tech order : mining or pottery, archery .

Worker is never unescorted, if Barbs show up, that's their problem .

SPolicies : openers in Honor, Tradition, then Liberty; with Raging Barbs, Barb. Ultd. XP, Barb. Spawn Increase, and Ryika's Caravansary Trade Routes mods .

I work the first ring around city, a Lux tile in 1st ring comes ASAP, then go on to 2nd ring, 3rd ring or 2nd city . Welcome to the boonies, where the Barbs find YOU by T2 !!