improving tiles with forest on them..

[sens1942]

Maybe i should post this in the strategy forums but since it's more of a question i thaugh id try here first..

This question is for when lumbermills are NOT yet AVAILABLE.

In almost every game i play i find myself debating how to improve a tile that as a forest (thats not on a river). So hardcore in fact that by the time the lumbermills are available its still untouched, because not knowing how much good/or not it will turn out to be id rather not touch it. Multiply that by like 25 games it's obvious i'll never be able to make a decision on my own.

So i'm asking you , who's reading this post.. Do you normally improve that tile instead of waiting for lumbermills? If so what is your improvements choices? And if you state some exemple if you could add on what kinda tile (floodplains, hills , etc..) you do X improvements that would be great as well.

I also wanna add that i started playing civ with civ4 and never played any other versions. I've read alot of post and elevated my game a good 2000% so far.. going from struggling victory on chieftain to constant victories on noble. From what i gather in other threads, everyone as their own take on the subject.. but no one really says what would be the best options... as i am new to all this, going through threads with intense detail, mathematical and others i find myself lost most of the time. anyone else out there like me? lol

Anyhow.. any imput welcome!

 

[n0xie]

Forests are for chopping. That's my take on it.

If you need 2 forests because your city is REALLY unhealthy and you have no other way of keeping the city healthy nor do you have food bonusses to compensate the unhealthiness, then (and only then) I would just leave the 2 forests alone for the entire game untill lumbermills. You'll have 18 other squares to improve so leaving the forests alone wont change much in your game.

Whenever I really need the forests, I just ignore them worker wise. I usually don't improve the squares surrounding it to get a slight chance on regrowing some forest thus have something to chop again

My model on imroving landscape is pretty straightforward: if it has grass, put a cottage on it, if it has plains, irrigate it. That's about it. No room for forests

 

[Older than Dirt]

Generally, I chop forests to rush an important wonder or badly needed building (such as courthouse or theater) or to clear grasslands to farm so a city will grow. By the advent of tanks I usually have few forests left in my core city area.

 

[Rex Tyrannus]

I try to leave forests for lumbermills. I'll chop if I see a clear need for a fast few hammers (ie surprise war, prep for war, or a wonder).

I also chop depending if I need something. If my city needs more commerce, I might chop a grassland forrest and put down a cottage. Likewise, if my city only has the one hammer that came with the city, I'll chop a forrest on a hill to make a mine.

But otherwise, in a balanced city, I'll try to leave two or three fat-cross forests. Anything outside the cross is for chopping, though.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Easier than you think, if you're city isn't using said square..leave it alone...if its is then:- (for that city)

a)have you enough growth
b)have you enough production
c)have you enough commerce

If a = no then farm (if you can't farm yet but will be able to with civil service then leave it..if its impossible to ever chain it to irrigation go to b) )
If a = yes but b = no then leave it alone and lumbermill later
If a = yes, b = yes and c = no then cottage it

Above are my general rules (as you can see I don't deforest wholesale for production), and they work well in practice

 

[Sisiutil]

Generally, I chop forests to rush-build things, with the following exceptions:

(a) The city has flood plains tiles. They're great for either farming or cottages, but they have a 0.4 unhealthiness factor which, unlike the 0.25 of jungles, cannot be eliminated. The more flood plains in the fat cross, the more forests I leave. One benefit of this is that the forest tiles' production will balance the flood plains' food and commerce.

(b) The city is a production city. It seems to make sense to chop forests for production in these cities, but think long-term here. Unlike mines, the forests--especially on grasslands--contribute food as well as hammers. I find that food and growth is tricker to manage in a production city, because so many of the worked tiles have mines, which contribute little or no food. Forests offer the best of both worlds for a production city, and with lumbermills and railroads, their production will only increase. Since I'm going to build forges and factories in these cities, the forests will also help manage their unhealthy side effects.

Aside from that, I'm with n0xie: if it's green, build a cottage; if it's brown, build a farm. (Unless it's brown and next to a river, in which case, watermill.)

 

[The Keeper]

Forest with railroaded lumbermill is the best tile you can have. The exception being specials and a floodplain with a town on it.

The town on a floodplain and the forest are mutally exclusive.


I try to leave 4-6 forests per city. If I leave 6 forests, this gives me +3 health. It also leaves me 12 tiles to work while leaving the forest alone. Most tiles can be improved to be better than an unimproved forest.

Even an unimproved forest provided 1H 2F or 2H 1F. Unless you REALLY need the space for forests, I say leave at least 4 per city.

Chop the forests to make room for the improvements you need but leave a few for health reasons and future production. If you need extra chopping, chop outside the city borders.

 

[Gherald]

Forest with railroaded lumbermill is the best tile you can have.

Well if running state property, a workshop is equally good, except for the health benefit.

 

[Gherald]

(double post)

 

[Pantastic]

Keeper, I'd like to get ahold of your special forests. A normal forest on grassland gets a hammer and two food, while a plains forest gets two hammers and one food. They also remove the commerce you'd normally get from a river.

It's silly to keep forests around to counter the unhealthiness from floodplains, because unhealthiness isn't a limit on city size the way unhappiness is. Each unhealthiness is only -1 food, so you can effectively counter it by raising food production. If you chop down 2 forests for farms near your flood plain city then you'll end up with +2 food -1 healthiness, for a net gain of +1 food before biology. After biology, you'll get another 2 food from the farms and so the no-forest guy will have +3 food over the forest guy.

 

[FastWorker]

If my city does not have enough mines for production, I'll leave the forest for the production boost. Otherwise, I'll turn it into a cottage.

 

[The Keeper]

You are right Pantastic, Im at work and didn't have a game I could go look at and have edited my post accordingly. But the main point remains. It is tough to beat a railroaded forest with a lumbermill.