Newbie Needs Help ...

[King Arfer]

Hello Civ People - I am new to this and have never used a forum b4 - Sorry! - This is the reply box I am typing in - as I cannot see the post a thread/question option!?!? - just being thick, be patient with me. Anyway - Hello everyone. I have briefly flirted with Colonisation and Civilization over the years, I am currently having fun with Civ III PTW which I bought a long time ago but never used, for various reasons. Amateur, eh

Apart from many other things - can anyone tell me why every version of the various games I have played do not allow an increase of food production, by one, if Grassland is irrigated - this seems to be the ase in all games and all versions. I know its not that bigga deal - but it does have major effect on initial city development - esp for amateurs like me.

Can anyone tell me if this is a universal fault/error - or is there something I am missing???!

Thanx

 

[Aabraxan]

Welcome to CFC, King Arfer!

Honestly, your question belongs up in General Discussions, but I can answer it here. For future reference, look in General Discussions for a thread entitled "Quick Answers/Newbie Questions." That's a great thread in which to get answers to questions just like this.

Now, on to the question: What you're seeing is called the Despotism Penalty. It's neither a fault nor an error, just a rule of the game. The Despo Penalty says that while your government is Despotism, any tile producing 3 or more gold, shields, or food automatically has one unit (of each item getting 3 or more) deducted. For example, if you take a grassland tile (2 food / 0 shields / 0 gold), and irrigate it, it becomes a 3f/0s/0g tile. The Despo Penalty is then triggered, and 1 food is lost, so you're back to 2f/0s/0g. Once you leave Despo, it gets 3 food again. And yes, it's very important for the early game. A good rule of thumb while in despo is "mine green, water brown." The exception is food bonus tiles. They can still benefit from irrigation.

Good luck!

 

[King Arfer]

Thanx so much for the info on my simpleton question


Very helpful - and means I will have to stop procrastonating over revolutions !!!

Sorry I used the wrong section - and for the delay in my acknowledgement of your response - I didn't expect a reply to be honest (sorry) - some of the links on many of the CIV sites are either redundent or not UK functional.

I suppose I was being a bit lazy not going to the FAQs - but to be honest I thought the querie was far too basic from such a late starter that I could have been searching for ever or that it was to basic a q to even have an answer.

Anyway - I will shut up now ...

Thanx very muchly for your help.

 

[Aabraxan]

You're very welcome. We still get quite a few folks around here who are just picking up Civ III, and we're pretty good about answering questions. In fact, if you'll head over to the Succession Games forum, there's a game starting up right now that's a Training Day Game. Look for "Asterix" in the title. It might be good to follow along.