How useless Deserts and Tundras are

[JaeChunDaeSung]

What I dread most is dealing with so much Desert (no Flood Plains) or Tundra, because it means less productive or fertile land.

Back in IV, you could research Biology to build farms on most land without fresh water except deserts if I'm not mistaken. Without fresh water, however, farms can't be built on tundras, and deserts without flood plains only benefit from Trading Posts.

Any thoughts on how to deal with Desert and Tundra? I always contemplated a good mod would involve either a tech that allows building farms on Tundra, or an improvement that can make desert or tundras sustainable in modern or future times.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I'd like to say maritime CS, but then that's a broken mechanic.

I like to settle a city on a desert tile, since that's one less desert to deal with, plus desert/hills nearby is nice for production.
Generally, though .. I keep cities in the desert small (and have more of them).

On tundra, I found something weird-ish.
I've been able to build farms next to ice .. but it might be because of (isolated) ice hexes counting as fresh water?

 

[Revoran]

I always kinda liked it that way. I mean it's pretty realistic, it's very difficult to get any kind of food production from desert or tundra (perhaps tundra slightly more than desert but not much). Even in instances where desert areas have been reclaimed an irrigated it's only isolated areas.

The ice-farm thing sounds like a bug or mistake in design.

If anything i'd have a mod that disallows building on Tundra and Desert with the exception of flood plains, tiles next to an oasis and tundra with forest (so basically tiaga, thoguh technically tundra being permafrozen shouldnt have trees but whatever)

Then there's Snow which I just pretend is icecap over land. Which you really shouldn't be able to build on or gain anything useful from.

 

[Bandobras Took]

Polar lakes are indeed possible, and farms can be built next to them.

I don't mind either terrain type. Deserts provide access to solar power. Tundra's not great, but it is improvable. Both I find to be far more useful than they were in previous incarnations of the game.

 

[DaveGold]

A tundra trading post is often more useful than a specialist. Deserts are meant to be uninhabitable or maybe even deserted. I don't see what the problem is.

 

[Danceofmasks]

It's not a problem as much as it is something people like doing.
"There's land and I'm not living on it? Must fix that"

On the subject of polar lakes, I'm going to specifically look for them now, and build a city on the snow for the giggles.
I wonder if floating gardens will give you +2 food for the ice lake?

 

[troytheface]

Fact- Oil

Fact- Solar Powered things

Fact- Foreign Legion

Fact- Forts and Uranium

the evidence is clear - Tundra, Ice, Desert, first city build- in the Valley of the Superior

 

[RobAnybody]

Fact- Foreign Legion

False.

Foreign Legion in own tundra/ice/desert is nerfed Foreign Legion.

Foreign Legion in enemy tundra/ice/desert is wasted Foreign Legion. Let them have it.

If you want the enemy's tundra/ice/desert city, use amphibious war elephants or scouts. The evidence is clear. I have learned.

 

[troytheface]

Fact- Foreign legion defending on a dune after pillaging oil is superior to a non foreign legion on a non desert tile not defending after not pillaging oil

the evidenced is clear- Pixelatted Bea Jes and the Pillagers of Time

 

[robvollman]

You can build a city near Desert and Tundra - and I'm assuming you're only doing this because it's militarily strategic, or it has a desired resource nearby - provided you have some maritime city states giving you food.

Build the right building, put some specialists inside, and it can be come a humble but useful city:
Market/etc: Wealth city
Library/etc: Research city
Temple/etc: Culture city (though usually not worthwhile when small)

With the right civics, the ones that offer extras "per city", a desert or tundra city can become reasonably useful.

Tundra cities aren't unheard of, here in Canada we have places like Inuvik, Iqaluit, Whitehorse, and Yellowknife, to name but a few. Americans have some in Alaska, the Russians have some (e.g. Murmansk, Archangelsk), as to the Scandinavians (Narvik, Petsamo), but they don't get very big, and generally don't have much in the way of farming - it's mostly fishing and hunting. A lot of them are ports, and make their living with the flow of trade.