cottage spam -- a test

[DaviddesJ]

I think you usually do want at least 1 or 2 farms if you have no food resource. But most cities will have a food resource, which makes the analysis completely different.

 

[malekithe]

If someone creates a simulator program to run these tests, we will have some better strategies for sure.

I thought so as well, that's why I wrote the simulator in the thread here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=166890.

It's not the easiest thing to use, but, once you learn how to use it, it can be fairly powerful. I wouldn't depend on it or anything, though. There is no substitute for in-game experiance.