Whales whats the point?

[Silu]

There really should be a Zoo building that gives +1 happy for Ivory, Fur and Whale when they are obsolete (what, there are no Whales in IRL zoos you say? Well, IRL we also have robots but no space elevator )

About the Colossus, in the right map (read: much archipelago, few to none overseas Civs) it can be insane. In the current Taxman SG, income plummeted from ~800 to ~600 gpt when Astro had to be researched. Isolation is obviously totally the other way around wrt trade routes though

 

[PPQ_Purple]

So, in your opinion what should be done to make whales work fine?
1. Remove obsoleteness
2. Add the to the sushi corp
3. ???

 

[AlphaShard]

There really should be a Zoo building that gives +1 happy for Ivory, Fur and Whale when they are obsolete (what, there are no Whales in IRL zoos you say? Well, IRL we also have robots but no space elevator )

About the Colossus, in the right map (read: much archipelago, few to none overseas Civs) it can be insane. In the current Taxman SG, income plummeted from ~800 to ~600 gpt when Astro had to be researched. Isolation is obviously totally the other way around wrt trade routes though

Seaworld has whales.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

There really should be a Zoo building that gives +1 happy for Ivory, Fur and Whale when they are obsolete (what, there are no Whales in IRL zoos you say? Well, IRL we also have robots but no space elevator )

I'm for Environmentalism giving that bonus instead.

 

[CivMcNut]

Whales take a long time to enter into the picture. Then, they're obsolete almost as soon as you get them, so there's a narrow window there with extra happiness. The narrow time whales help with happiness is a pivotal point in the game, where victory is many times determined.

Whales are pretty useful for tile improvements. I like having an ocean tile that yields hammers without the Moa Statues, and the extra food and commerce ain't bad either.

 

[bestbrian]

Trafalgar square was very hammer heavy for its point in the game. IIRC it only boosted naval production, it didn't double it, and the XP just pushed them up a level after Drydock. It was very good but not over powered or necessary unless you where on a water heavy map where powerful navies where not optional.

The big bonus is that it adds +1 Commerce to water tiles, like Collossus. And you're right, it is very hammer intensive. It's in LoR, and probably most of the other Wolf-based mods. Fun, interesting, and about the only practical use for Whale.

 

[King Kalmah]

I second the Seaworld wonder idea....maybe make it give whales an extra happy face?

 

[BrainEater5000]

I second the Seaworld wonder idea....maybe make it give whales an extra happy face?

That or somehow tie whales into the Apollo project.

 

[Kansalaispoliis]

Second border pop is the thing. The whales more often than not seem to be 2 off the coast [...]

Is it even possible for Whales to spawn 1 off the coast? I don't think I've ever seen it. Either way I don't really see the problem, it's not like all the other resources are of equal value.

Poor Willzyx.

 

[starmanbeta]

Not only are whales usually a bit off the coast, and mostly restricted to polar regions, but they also seem to be pretty rare. I go a lot of games without ever seeing whales.

It seems odd considering how big whale hunting was as an industry back in the day. I also think it's weird that there never seem to be whales in tropical areas. A lot of whales go down to the tropics every year to raise their young.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Yes, whales are probably a little too scarce.

I played a donut map in co-op multiplayer recently. I don't think I've ever been so happy to have whales, since the *only* other resource types on the map were spice, silk, and ivory. Seriously...only those 3! No mineral luxuries, no fur, no dye, incense, etc.

This greatly increased the value of markets (fur, ivory, silk, and WHALE get an additional from it, and 3 of them were on the map), but also increased the value of missionaries + free religion. Early in the game monarchy was the only real option to grow cities quickly. Very interesting how resource distribution can affect one's choices.

Regardless, whales were a global +2 in my cities there thanks to markets, and when you have 15+ cities that is pretty helpful.

Generally, however, they're one of the weaker/weakest resources overall...but hey, one of the resources has to be. If not whales it would be some kind of livestock probably since the building that boosts them comes very late.

 

[Bostock]

Second border pop is the thing. The whales more often than not seem to be 2 off the coast, which means you can't work the tile for the cash, and it's not an exciting proposition to settle a junk city to "pick up the resource" because it's going to be ages before you get it. Those kind of cities often don't have hammers to spare to build culture buildings either.

I'm thinking more of the times when whales are semi-conveniently located in the third ring of one of those silver-and-fish cities.