Improvements...

[lildude]

Hmmm... Often time there are times when I must build an improvement. Usually, I only build about 3 per city. Do you guys and girls find that the benefits outweigh the cost and upkeep? The only ones I ever find that are worth it are a barracks, marketplace, and granary. Plus, the computer always sabatoges the good ones anyway. Well, think about that. Build, or not build?

 

[Sodak]

You must not play higher difficulty levels if you never build temples!

I always build a library before any of the 3 you list. Speeding your research rate will do wonders for your game. As a general rule, build only when the city will benefit from the improvement. Don't build just for something to do. If the city needs nothing, build caravans for trade and wonder building.

 

[Dell19]

In my main cities I will usually build a granary, temple and a library first (the order changes). In my fringe cities I may build a barracks first but in the last game I played of Civ2 I wanted as bigger science output as possible so they all built libraries as their first improvement (A lot of them were rush built).