Can someone pls explain Irrigation to me?

[kokomo]

After 3 or 4 Civ4 games I must say I'm missing the use of the "i" key for irrigate.
1) Can someone pls tell me how to irrigate again (if possible)? Or irrigation was replaced by farms?
2) Why can't you build farms everywhere? Must there be a water-link somewhere?
3) Is it no longer possible to irrigate desserts like before?

 

[Orion071]

After 3 or 4 Civ4 games I must say I'm missing the use of the "i" key for irrigate.
1) Can someone pls tell me how to irrigate again (if possible)? Or irrigation was replaced by farms?
2) Why can't you build farms everywhere? Must there be a water-link somewhere?
3) Is it no longer possible to irrigate desserts like before?

1) Irrigation and farms are liked, but not exactly the same. A farm gives +1 food to a tile. If you have Biology and that farm is irrigated (has access to fresh water), then the tile gets another +1 food bonus.

2) Farms initially can only be built on tiles with access to fresh water. This means next to a river or fresh water lake. If you mouse over a tile, it will say "Fresh water" next to the land type. After you research Civil Service, you can now chain your irrigation Civ 3 style and build farms wherever you can link your irrigation. After Biology, you can build a farm anywhere.

3) Deserts can no longer be improved in any way. They're basically a dead tile like a mountain peak.

 

[kokomo]

Thanks so much

 

[gunkulator]

Except that you can sometime get incense on desert an improve it and unlike mountains, you can build roads/rails on desert. Still, it's pretty much always a useless tile.

 

[sand]

can someone explain civil service for me in more detail: in the civolepedia it says that farms with irrigation should get +1 food but none of mine do. i also don't understand linked iraagation.

 

[ChicagoCubs]

Before civil service, you can only irrigate plains, flood plains and grasslands that are in contact with fresh water.

After civil service, you can create a chain of irrigated tiles, and they all count as if they all have contact with fresh water. As long as the chain is not broken, those tiles will get the fresh water bonus.

 

[ChicagoCubs]

can someone explain civil service for me in more detail: in the civolepedia it says that farms with irrigation should get +1 food but none of mine do. i also don't understand linked iraagation.

Couple thoughts:

1. Did you break the chain of irrigated tiles?

2. Remember that wheat, corn and rice tiles can be irrigated without fresh water (so you can get the resource). Until they are in contact with a fresh water source, they will not provide the bonus.

 

[Jarrod32]

Grain tiles can be FARMED without fresh water...if you can link them to fresh water, then you get a FARM with IRRIGATION.

Farms gives +1 food...pre-civil service, farms are effectively irrigation in the Civ3 sense...giving +1 food...but you need access to fresh water.

After Civil Service, you can chain your farms...i.e., irrigation...again, similar to Civ3.

Once you get to biology, you can build a farm for +1 food anywhere...and if it is irrigated (connected to fresh water), it is another +1.