Have I been playing wrong?

[Stormy28]

(I'm fairly new to Civ, so forgive me if I'm a total noob )

I've noticed in several screenshots today that many civilizations have unimproved spaces within their territory, even in late game.

Every time I play, I fill every tile under my control with something. Farms, mines, trading posts, lumber mills, etc. Is there some sort of advantage to not doing this?

If anyone can clear this up for me, that'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[Haig]

I think you're doing it right, just fill them up if you have enough workers.

The improvements don't cost upkeep, roads and railroads only do.

Sometime when a player/AI has vast lands they might not have time to build improvements everywhere. Some AI leaders improve more and some less..

Just keep building

 

[snarzberry]

It's only necessary to have tiles improved that you want to work, but if your workers have nothing more important to do then you may as well use them to improve tiles you will want to work in the future when your pop grows. Having unimproved tiles is only really bad if you're actually working them.

 

[Kaosprophet]

(I'm fairly new to Civ, so forgive me if I'm a total noob )

I've noticed in several screenshots today that many civilizations have unimproved spaces within their territory, even in late game.

Every time I play, I fill every tile under my control with something. Farms, mines, trading posts, lumber mills, etc. Is there some sort of advantage to not doing this?

Not in itself. A plethora of unimproved tiles usually indicates either
a) someone who hasn't built enough workers, which is not a good thing
b) someone who's still expanding horizontally (probably through conquest) and has better things to do with his workers than improve tiles that likely won't be used in the near future.

For (b) the unimproved tiles are more a consequence of pursuing a particular advantage than a deliberate move in itself.

Also, some people tend to disband workers rather than pay their upkeep to keep improving tiles that won't be used any time soon. That's a feasible plan *if* you don't expect to be generating a lot of new work for the ones that remain.

 

[PhilBowles]

It's only necessary to have tiles improved that you want to work, but if your workers have nothing more important to do then you may as well use them to improve tiles you will want to work in the future when your pop grows. Having unimproved tiles is only really bad if you're actually working them.

Also, if you have an eye to going for GP-based victories (particularly culture), you may want to leave some land spare for landmarks etc.

 

[Stormy28]

Whew, I'm good then. Thanks for the help, guys!

 

[Jacques Lamerde]

I think tile improvements do have a cost to maintain. I don't improve a tile, unless I am
planning to work it. Later in the game if you see the AI with unimproved tiles, he/she
might have those citizens working as specialists. Whenever I decide to start using
specialists I delete most of my workers to save money, I keep just a couple for when
I discover late game resources, and want to build railroads. After discovering all resources, and building railroads I delete them all. At that point in the game all my new
citizens become specialists.

 

[tetley]

I usually have enough workers not just to improve all of my tiles, but also to road spam my "friends" with Open Borders. I'm sure they appreciate all those railroads in their empire I was kind enough to build for them.

 

[Stormy28]

^ Haha. I should try that.

I think tile improvements do have a cost to maintain. I don't improve a tile, unless I am
planning to work it. Later in the game if you see the AI with unimproved tiles, he/she
might have those citizens working as specialists. Whenever I decide to start using
specialists I delete most of my workers to save money, I keep just a couple for when
I discover late game resources, and want to build railroads. After discovering all resources, and building railroads I delete them all. At that point in the game all my new
citizens become specialists.

Interesting. Thanks for the tips!

 

[KokeenoPokameso]

I'm not sure if improvements (other than roads & Rail Roads) have maintenance coast. I tend to split my tile improvements between food, production and a balance of the two. This generally means I have thee tiles improved for every two citizens in the city. for any other specialization (gold, science, culture, etc) I need I generally depend on specialists in my city buildings.

 

[durian]

I'm quite sure that all terrain improvements have maintenance costs, not just roads and rails. If you check the economic overview, you should find a category called improvement maintenance under the expenses category.

 

[snarzberry]

Actually tile improvements do not have any maintenance cost, the bit in the economic advisor is referring only to roads/rail.

 

[Kaosprophet]

I'm quite sure that all terrain improvements have maintenance costs, not just roads and rails. If you check the economic overview, you should find a category called improvement maintenance under the expenses category.

Only roads and railroads affect the number in that category.
(Just double checked in my latest game. I have 9 roads, a bunch of other improvements and haven't unlocked Trade Unions. My Tile Improvement Cost is 9gpt.)

 

[headcase]

Yeah, the game is deceptive with a lot of references to "improvement maintenance" but unless they change something in an expansion, for now it's just roads (1) and rails (2, and they replace the road).

Also, if you have all worked tiles improved, sell some workers to save on maintenance, and use the remaining workers to improve the non-worked tiles in preparation for city growth. That said, you'll likely want lots of workers when railroads comes along.

 

[ense7en]

I don't improve deserts unless by rivers.

Every other tile i improve, and will usually even chop forests if they are outside my three tiles range and i don't plan to settle there later.

 

[Stormy28]

Why's that?

 

[Realyn]

I think you're doing it right, just fill them up if you have enough workers.

The improvements don't cost upkeep, roads and railroads only do.

Sometime when a player/AI has vast lands they might not have time to build improvements everywhere. Some AI leaders improve more and some less..

Just keep building

Sorry but thats not completly true. a worker costs upkeep. About 4 GPT(epic) in lategame, so it is mathematical profable to sell workers mid game instead of having them idle and buy new ones in case you need some for railroads.