Terrascapes: You like them?

[Minor Annoyance]

If yes, why do you use Terrascapes?
For what purpose and under what circumstances?

If no, why not?
Have you ever used Terrascapes, and if so, how did they not live up to your expectations?
Can you envision a situation where you would use Terrascapes in their current form?
What would Terrascapes have to do to make them usable to you?

Do you:
Play to win the most effective way possible? i.e. min-max, play the 'best' way
Play reasonably effectively but still by your own style? i.e. play an effective strategy but not always the same/best
Or just for fun? i.e. screw around, do what you want, see what happens

Final part in the trilogy. Then we reboot with Andrew Garfield.

 

[Zenstrive]

I use them to improve forests. Augment them with a last tier virtue from Prosperity.

 

[Promethian]

Snow tiles. A zero output tile becomes a powerful and effective tile. It doesn't come into play in every game but in many games I find myself making an arctic city because of a strategic resource.

 

[Zenstrive]

Well now, you can improve non-hill snow tiles? That changes everything

 

[Gorbles]

Arctic tiles, like Promethian said. Comes in useful on some of the different planet types.

Also, in general, any tile that doesn't have bonuses that outstrip those provided by the upgraded Terrascapes (given the Prosperity Virtue - though I don't normally make a beeline for this, so it's normally a lategame option).

 

[Gort]

Terrascapes are good to stick on Tundra and Snow tiles (you get the extra energy from Mass Digesters on Terrascapes). However, they come late enough in the game that you could easily ignore them and the game would likely be over before they'd made any real difference, and I probably wouldn't bother with them at all if I didn't have the Prosperity Virtue for them.

 

[Mutineer]

I tend to use them in order to speed up grow and border grow in new cities, building them on desert, tundra or even some times hill sites. I may remove then later, after they serve there purpose and i have more efficient option for that tie.

 

[Bandobras Took]

I use them sparingly; the -6 energy per tile is pretty harsh even considering the benefits. I usually do it when I need some yield in addition to food. As others have mentioned, snow is a prime candidate.

As noted elsewhere, I'm somewhere between fun and reasonably effectively with my own style.

 

[a space oddity]

I find myself using them in the end game whem hurtling to a victory to fill up the last unimproved spaces just because I like turning the new world green.

I usually play on desert maps because of the clearer tile types, and it feels a bit like dressing it up for a party.

 

[Bandobras Took]

I usually play on desert maps because of the clearer tile types, and it feels a bit like dressing it up for a party.

Slightly off-topic, but I have the hardest time differentiating tiles with desert tileset. Give me lush or fungal ever time.

 

[Gamewizard]

Slightly off-topic, but I have the hardest time differentiating tiles with desert tileset. Give me lush or fungal ever time.

Still slightly off topic, but there is a mod that makes the terrain easier to read:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=539901

 

[heat]

Snow tiles. A zero output tile becomes a powerful and effective tile. It doesn't come into play in every game but in many games I find myself making an arctic city because of a strategic resource.

Ditto on the snow tiles. Other than that particular tile, I see or have had no use for them.

 

[TheTTGGuy]

I find the big cost is the worker time. You have to be ready to have a large army of workers with lots of bonuses to make it a reality because they take so long to build, and you have to add new generators to support them too. Sometimes, I will setup a game with terrascapes in mind: PAC (25%), helping hands (15%), recycler quest (10%), civil creche quest (10%), feedsite hub (10%). I had a game where I put them almost everywhere in a very short amount of time and it was a huge boost to culture! I've never had so many virtues. I stacked it with a culture-focused strategy, holomatrix in the air, etc. That tier 3 synergy bonus is awesome.

You really want to plan to go prosperity + knowledge with terrascapes, too. Gotta get ecoscaping of course.

Otherwise, if you are not going to go all-in on them, might as well just put them on the snow like others have suggested.

 

[ProphetMaster]

They were working fine in my last game until I got into negative energy after a war. So maybe they should be converted back to generators at some point.

 

[Halbbruder]

General player opinion: terrascapes are nice but in moderation and preferably on otherwise useless tiles like tundra and sometimes desert.

AI opinion: BEST TILE EVER!

 

[Dargov]

When I start Prosperity (which I generally do) I use Terrascapes under the following circumstances:
a) a couple for new cities to help boost tile acquisition and start growth/production
(I was already doing this, but far more useful since the patch)
b) in a culture focused city
c) When a city has grown past the point where they have useful tiles to work, and have something like desert, tundra or snow tiles which can be improved significantly by the terrascape.

I tend to be less interested in them when I have gone down knowledge and buffed academies.

I play in a fairly effective manner, not minmaxing but pursuing a strategy based on the available terrain and faction chosen.