Cottages

[Levon]

I've been playing Civ IV for a little less than a year now but still can't figure out my problem with the cottages. Does anyone here know what it means when Cities Need to Work to become Hamlet? It would help a lot.

 

[LosBlack]

that means you need to have that tile actively being used by that city. (it needs to have the white circle on it in the city screen). the cottages only grow when being used.

 

[Naismith]

Which really means you can't count on the city manager to work the tiles you really want to have worked. I gave up trying to set emphasize food or production options, it never really gives me what I want. You just have to keep a close eye on what tiles are being worked in your cities, and change them manually if you have to. That's especially important early in the game, when a cottage spammer like me builds the first few cottages. You want them to start getting worked immediately (at least after any really good resource tiles, like cows).

 

[automator]

Yup, keep an eye on what your citizens are doing.

But know the definitions of workers and citizens. Workers create improvements (roads, plantations, farms, mines, cottages, etc.). Citizens work tiles within the fat cross of their city, generating hammers, commerce and food.

To gain from a cottage, it must be built by a worker, then worked by a citizen for a number of turns (what, 15, 15 and 30?) to get to maximum commerce output.

 

[mice]

As said in post #2 they grow when you put a white circle on them. When you figure this out you'll see your cottages grow, your commerce boom, ,your research rocket, and your difficulty level seem not so difficult.

 

[Beamup]

But know the definitions of workers and citizens. Workers create improvements (roads, plantations, farms, mines, cottages, etc.). Citizens work tiles within the fat cross of their city, generating hammers, commerce and food.

And then, just to make things confusing, there's also the 'citizen' specialist. But that can generally be ignored because they're never worth using unless you REALLY screw up a city.

 

[cabert]

And then, just to make things confusing, there's also the 'citizen' specialist. But that can generally be ignored because they're never worth using unless you REALLY screw up a city.

with mercantilism or statue of liberty, you'll have some in the new cities

 

[Beamup]

with mercantilism or statue of liberty, you'll have some in the new cities

Point taken. I sit corrected.