newb question: granaries

[delirium266]

Hi

I'm pretty new to the game (played Civ 2 yeeeaaars ago) and am trying to figure everything out. This forum has been very helpful in learning. One thing I'm still not quite sure about is what exactly the granary does. In its description, it says it stores half of the food after your city goes up in population. To me, that sounds like it means when I get the next population level, instead of starting at 0 again, I will keep half the food I had built up in the previous level. This does not seem to be the case... as my city went back to 0 after gaining a population level.

Can someone explain what exactly a granary does? Some tips on when it should be built would be helpful also. Thanks!

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Well a Civ IVgranary saves 1/2 of the food you add to it after it is built
e.g. Civ 1-3 Granary built when 18/20 food in box, 2 fpt. the next turn there is 10/20 food in box

Civ 4 Granary built when 18/20 food in box, 2 fpt. the next turn there is 1/20 food in the box (only 2 food was subject to the 50% saved rule)

So if your Civ 4 granary was built the same turn as your city grew (or when it only needed one more food, then it would have 0 food saved... fractions are dropped)

 

[skalapunk]

I'm also new, and even after that description, I'm still confused

 

[snepp]

Basic explanation, a granary doubles the rate that your city's population grows.

 

[Yaype]

Basic explanation, a granary doubles the rate that your city's population grows.

And unlike Civ 3, it does not matter when you build the granary - you get the same benefit regardless of when your city grows in relation to the time the granary is finished. This eliminates some micromanaging!

 

[petey]

It saves half the food when a city grows. The amount needed for a city to grow goes up with each point of population - IIRC it goes up by 10 each time. So to go from size 1 to size 2, you need 10 food. Then your food goes back to 0 and you need 20 food to go from size 2 to 3, etc.

With a granary, after getting the original 10 to move to size 2, you would save half of it and start climbing towards the 20 needed with a starting amount of 5 food, so you'd only need 15 more to grow. After hitting the 20, you'd save half and start with 10 to get to the 30, so you'd only need 20 more and then start with 15 to get to 40 for the next increase, etc.

Basically, it cuts down on the amount of food you need to get in order to grow and thus makes you grow faster. It also gives health bonuses with certain resources, to help you sustain that increased population.

 

[delirium266]

Well a Civ IVgranary saves 1/2 of the food you add to it after it is built
e.g. Civ 1-3 Granary built when 18/20 food in box, 2 fpt. the next turn there is 10/20 food in box

Civ 4 Granary built when 18/20 food in box, 2 fpt. the next turn there is 1/20 food in the box (only 2 food was subject to the 50% saved rule)

So if your Civ 4 granary was built the same turn as your city grew (or when it only needed one more food, then it would have 0 food saved... fractions are dropped)

This is very helpful and explains why my food started at 0 after growth (I had finished the granary the turn before my city grew). Thanks!!

 

[snepp]

It saves half the food when a city grows. The amount needed for a city to grow goes up with each point of population - IIRC it goes up by 10 each time. So to go from size 1 to size 2, you need 10 food. Then your food goes back to 0 and you need 20 food to go from size 2 to 3, etc.

On normal gamespeed it starts at needing 22 to increase from 1 to 2, and it goes up by 2 for each size. 2 to 3 requires 24, 3 to 4 requires 26, etc. Map size doesn't have any effect, but it is changed by the game speed, quick starts at 14 and epic starts at 33.

 

[markcogan]

Also remember that a granary gives the city it's in +1 health for each of the grain resources (rice, wheat, corn) the city has access to; this is on top of the regular health bonuses for those resources.

 

[petey]

On normal gamespeed it starts at needing 22 to increase from 1 to 2, and it goes up by 2 for each size. 2 to 3 requires 24, 3 to 4 requires 26, etc. Map size doesn't have any effect, but it is changed by the game speed, quick starts at 14 and epic starts at 33.

Ya, after I posted, I thought that what I said was too big an increase. It'll take a while before I can rattle all the stats off the top of my head.

Stupid office wanting me to do work and not load it on my computer here.

 

[snepp]

Ya, after I posted, I thought that what I said was too big an increase. It'll take a while before I can rattle all the stats off the top of my head.

Stupid office wanting me to do work and not load it on my computer here.

Well, I didn't make that post as a correction to your information (I did notice your IIRC), but strictly as informational fodder for the masses.

Rattling numbers off the top of my head isn't a strong suit of mine, I try to keep the game running in windowed mode, with the world builder fired up, while I post on the forums.