Improving a City state resource

[Frossa]

There is this option on city states that you can improve one of their resources for 200 gold if you are their ally. But this option never seems to work for me for some reason!
The scenario: I have researched Electricity but I have no aluminum to build Hydro plants with. I allied myself to a couple of city states with the resource, but since the discovery was very recent they hadn't improved their Aluminum. I tried to pay them to improve it with that option, but it still doesn't work!
Is it in a specific situation that alternative will work, or is it just broken? Does anybody know?

 

[SYKOJAK]

Since you are allied/befriend the CS in question, you could send a worker over there to improve it yourself. Same goes for building roads into and through their AOO.

 

[Loucypher]

The CS might take a bit longer to "research" Electricity themselves. CS's usually discover a tech once a few Civs know it. Thus, since you're probably in the lead for techs, not enough have it yet and as such you're not getting the aluminium yet. Have some patience.

 

[Frossa]

Since you are allied/befriend the CS in question, you could send a worker over there to improve it yourself. Same goes for building roads into and through their AOO.

I didn't know that, and it sounds like the only solution... alright thanks

The CS might take a bit longer to "research" Electricity themselves. CS's usually discover a tech once a few Civs know it. Thus, since you're probably in the lead for techs, not enough have it yet and as such you're not getting the aluminium yet. Have some patience.

Actually, city states discovers the techs the same turn as another civ does. If I'm the first to research Electricity they get to know the secret as well.

 

[docbud]

^^^I could be totally wrong, but I don't think you can send a worker into a city state and improve the resource.

So far as whether or not you researched electricity first, I don't think that necessarily matters. It might be that several AIs have to research it as well. Just being first to a tech doesn't mean that the city state ally suddenly gets that tech. I could be wrong.

You can definitely build roads, but I don't know about sending workers to improve a city state resource. I think I tried it a while back, and I could not do it. That's why you have to pay them to improve it.

I'll wait for the experts to chime in.

 

[Halcyan2]

One common quirk is that you can't improve a "mine" if there is already a mine there.

If the tile has aluminum/coal/uranium and has no improvement or something else like a farm, you can pay 200 gp to turn it into a mine. But if there is already a mine there, you don't have the option to improve it and need to wait for the CS to discover the tech naturally.