In all previous incarnations of Civ, fertilizers are taken for granted. I propose that civs must possess key mineral fertilizers in order to get the (full) benefits from the fertilizer tech. Specifically:
Nitrate - available as a mineral resource (niter) OR building a Haber reactor building (requires one coal or oil, or a hydro/solar plant). Also important for gunpowder production prior to fertilizer tech.
Phosphate - available as a mineral resource (phosphate and/or guano)
Potash - available as a mineral resource OR from clearing a forest/jungle (any production bonus would be forgone if used to make potash). Also crucial for building Observatories with Astronomy tech (glass making).
Mineral fertilizer resources should not be unlimited. They should come with 250-2500 units where each farm or plantation uses 1/20 of a unit per turn. Thus, a 1000 unit resource could supply 100 farms & plantations (those being worked by a city) for 200 turns. It would also be nice to be able to decide which farms and plantations get fertilizer in case supplies are limited. Clearing forests would provide 50-100 units of potash while clearing jungles would provide 20-50 units.
Mineral fertilizers can be traded, but this drains them faster, of course. Use of Niter or Potash for non-fertilizer uses (gunpowder or observatories, respectively) would not drain them.
Haber Reactors would produce 20-50 units of Nitrate per turn so long as energy resources are secured.
Any thoughts?
Nitrate - available as a mineral resource (niter) OR building a Haber reactor building (requires one coal or oil, or a hydro/solar plant). Also important for gunpowder production prior to fertilizer tech.
Phosphate - available as a mineral resource (phosphate and/or guano)
Potash - available as a mineral resource OR from clearing a forest/jungle (any production bonus would be forgone if used to make potash). Also crucial for building Observatories with Astronomy tech (glass making).
Mineral fertilizer resources should not be unlimited. They should come with 250-2500 units where each farm or plantation uses 1/20 of a unit per turn. Thus, a 1000 unit resource could supply 100 farms & plantations (those being worked by a city) for 200 turns. It would also be nice to be able to decide which farms and plantations get fertilizer in case supplies are limited. Clearing forests would provide 50-100 units of potash while clearing jungles would provide 20-50 units.
Mineral fertilizers can be traded, but this drains them faster, of course. Use of Niter or Potash for non-fertilizer uses (gunpowder or observatories, respectively) would not drain them.
Haber Reactors would produce 20-50 units of Nitrate per turn so long as energy resources are secured.
Any thoughts?
