stupid question

[ReligionIsDumb]

So, I haven't played civ5 a whole lot. I borrowed it from a friend to try it out and promptly went back to civ4. One of the many things that bothered me is this.

If I have a cattle resource next to a lake, why would I build a pasture? Why not just build a farm and save myself the tech?

The farm gives exactly the same bonus in the early game and will actually be better than the improved cattle resource once i get civil service.

Same goes for bannanas, deer, and sheep. These resources don't seem to provide any bonus other than the local yield bonus, yet that bonus is smaller than what one would get by just building a farm. Sure, these can be useful in early game before I have fertilizer to get food from non-fresh water squares, but once fertilizer comes along, these resources REALLY become useless.

Am I missing something here or did somebody not really think this through?

Also, why the heck does civil service increase the yield of farms. One would think that, if anything, fertilizer would increase the yield of farms. But fertilizer for some reason provides irrigation of farms away from rivers and lakes.

I have a list of about 10 other reasons that I don't play civ5, but this one seems like even the most basic of beta testing would have revealed the uselessness and pointlessness of these bonus resources if they are placed near fresh water.

 

[comatosedragon]

Bananas, deer, sheep and cows all have other bonuses with the correct building (granary or stable) which further increase the production or food of said resource.

 

[chazzycat]

a pasture will give you production, which is more valuable than food. It also allow you to build the stable, for even more production. Also, I don't think the game will allow you to build a farm anyway.

 

[ReligionIsDumb]

AHA! OK, I looked it up on the wiki. I am 98% sure this didn't happen when I last played the game. I think I would have noticed this. There was no synergy of the bonus resources with any buildings.

In fact, the stable originally required a horse resource and was otherwise not buildable.

See here, http://civilopedia5.com/buildings/stable.html

probably from an older version like the one I was playing.

The requirement and benefits are substantially different here.

http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/Stable_(Civ5)

So wheat on plains would yield 2 food, 1 prod to start with, then I build a farm and it goes to 3/1 (4/1 with civil service and fresh water?). Then I build a granary in the city and it goes to 4/1 (5/1 with civil service and fresh water?)

Also, why does deer benefit from a GRANary....eh whatever.

Bottom line, most bonus resources will yield 5 food/production total per square with the appropriate building which actually makes them better than farms even near fresh water.

Wheat can even get to 6 (maybe) with civil service and fresh water?

Banannas are still useless if near fresh water. Even with the granary, they only make 4 food unless I am still missing something

 

[ReligionIsDumb]

heh, just checked the patch notes...the granary/stable synergy only appeared in the last big patch on 3/1/2011. About 3 months after I stopped playing. Well at least they fixed THAT one.

 

[ahmed5]

Wait, so you started a thread about a game 3 months after you stopped playing it?

I'm genuinely curious as to why...

Perhaps he's just checking if there's a valid explanation to his original question before giving CiV a second chance.

i stopped playing this game at christmas but got back on it when the big patch came out.

 

[Dregor]

AHA! OK, I looked it up on the wiki. I am 98% sure this didn't happen when I last played the game. I think I would have noticed this. There was no synergy of the bonus resources with any buildings.

In fact, the stable originally required a horse resource and was otherwise not buildable.

See here, http://civilopedia5.com/buildings/stable.html

probably from an older version like the one I was playing.

The requirement and benefits are substantially different here.

http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/Stable_(Civ5)

So wheat on plains would yield 2 food, 1 prod to start with, then I build a farm and it goes to 3/1 (4/1 with civil service and fresh water?). Then I build a granary in the city and it goes to 4/1 (5/1 with civil service and fresh water?)

Also, why does deer benefit from a GRANary....eh whatever.

Bottom line, most bonus resources will yield 5 food/production total per square with the appropriate building which actually makes them better than farms even near fresh water.

Wheat can even get to 6 (maybe) with civil service and fresh water?

Banannas are still useless if near fresh water. Even with the granary, they only make 4 food unless I am still missing something

Deer go with the granary because granaries are used for storing/preserving food. Deer haven't really been a staple that people build ranches about (I know, some reindeer farms do exist), but rather hunt and preserve.

Bananas.. yeah, bananas are still a bit underwhelming. You also have to decide if you want to slash the jungle or keep it for science purposes later.

 

[ReligionIsDumb]

Wait, so you started a thread about a game 3 months after you stopped playing it?

I'm genuinely curious as to why...

ahmed got it right. I was thinking about giving it another try, but wanted to make sure the same old stupid problems weren't there. I wish I had time to mod Civ 5. I could make it a game I would enjoy with a little bit of modding.

Most of them are still there, but at least this one is better now.

I could rant on the others, but I don't think this is the appropriate thread for that.