Observatory placement

[HiroProtagonist]

Must a city be immediately next to a mountain to build an observatory or can the mountain be in the cities 2nd ring?

 

[Polisurgist]

Right next to it.

 

[cpm4001]

The City has to be place directly next to the mountain. Mind, though, while some Natural Wonders seem to allow Observatory construction in a city placed next to them (Mt. Kilimanjaro, for one) others don't (Uluru).
Edit: Oops, Ninja'd.

 

[Jampine]

yeah, as polis and cpm said, cities have to be next to the mountain, so try to factor this in when building them, as 50% tech boost is not to be sniffed at! Also, all the mountain wonders will count for this, so building next to them allows you to get the tech boost on top of their usual output.

 

[Polisurgist]

Wonders have the added bonus of generally not being part of mountain ranges. I tend to think that building your city next to a solitary mountain just to get the Observatory bonus is a great idea, but it may not be worth nestling it in a mountain range, due to the lack of tile output you get when half your border is mountains.

Though that also is great for city defense.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to choose between building on the tile to the east of the lake and having full access to 2 Salt and a wheat resource or building next to the mountain range, gaining observatories but loosing a bit of resources.

 

[arand86]

If you settled on the river hill that would be a nice placement. The Shoshone UA should encompass the 2 cattle and deer tiles and you should be able to expand to the citrus pretty fast

 

[Polisurgist]

You might even get one of those salt tiles if you settled on that river hill. Go for it.

 

[FeiLing]

I hate that the AI usually never settles next to a mountain, they very often leave 1 space destroying totally awesome city spots. And then you're standing there and have to decide: Taking the city with some starting pop or razing it and settling it proper next to the mountain. Usually for me the right decision/only option is to not raze it. But I really hate that.

 

[Rathelon]

Doesn't the description for the observatory say the mountain must be within 2 tiles?

 

[Qoma]

Unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to choose between building on the tile to the east of the lake and having full access to 2 Salt and a wheat resource or building next to the mountain range, gaining observatories but loosing a bit of resources.

Dat Petra potential... lol. Looks like it might be a bit too late in the game to pull it off, though.

 

[Polisurgist]

Doesn't the description for the observatory say the mountain must be within 2 tiles?

No. The description for Macchu Picchu does, though.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

Dat Petra potential... lol. Looks like it might be a bit too late in the game to pull it off, though.

I'm already trying for Petra at another location

 

[HiroProtagonist]

No. The description for Macchu Picchu does, though.

I think that's where I got confused as well

 

[Jampine]

Its not just Macchu Picchu, , the Neustrine castle can be on a one within 2 tiles. So it seems that the 2 tiles applies to wonders, whilst observatories need to be next to them, like lake/rivers for gardens

 

[kaspergm]

Its not just Macchu Picchu, , the Neustrine castle can be on a one within 2 tiles. So it seems that the 2 tiles applies to wonders, whilst observatories need to be next to them, like lake/rivers for gardens

Yeah ... it's easy to mod Observatories to work like Macchu Picchu and Neuschwanstein, though.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

If you settled on the river hill that would be a nice placement. The Shoshone UA should encompass the 2 cattle and deer tiles and you should be able to expand to the citrus pretty fast

2 Cattle / deer / observatory > 2 salt / wheat ?

 

[HiroProtagonist]

2 Cattle / deer / observatory > 2 salt / wheat ?

In the short term the Salt might be more profitable, in the long term the observatory is probably the way to go. Not sure if it enters into he equation but two of my other three cities are next to mountains, so the question is not whether the observatory outweighs the resources but whether a third observatory outweighs the resources

 

[joshua43214]

In the short term the Salt might be more profitable, in the long term the observatory is probably the way to go. Not sure if it enters into he equation but two of my other three cities are next to mountains, so the question is not whether the observatory outweighs the resources but whether a third observatory outweighs the resources

On that map there is no question about placement. The city should go on the hill river. Its and emperor map, the AI is broke as it is, and the observatory far outweighs the extra salt even on a high level map in this situation.

The map has 3 excellent mountain drop,2 of which get rivers,and the 3rd is a lot of nice jungle with 2 banana

 

[mrwho]

2 Cattle / deer / observatory > 2 salt / wheat ?

I'd say yes, definitely. Given that you'll get the salt eventually anyway but just won't be able to work it, the +50% science is much better IMO. The mountain is also better for defense, as is the hill. And it doesn't really matter if you have other observatories. +50% science is +50% science. You get a little less growth, but not that much less, the +50% science will more than make up for that. The gold from the salt is nice but the observatory is much nicer.