What's your City VS town ratio so far

[Eramas]

Wait what? I thought town population growth totally halted when a town was specialized?

Not gonna lie, I thought that towns keep growing after you specialize them (just slower), but now when I think about it, I don't remember adding more pop after specializing. It makes sense, since they send all their food to cities, but somehow I still totally missed that.

 

[pokiehl]

Not gonna lie, I thought that towns keep growing after you specialize them (just slower), but now when I think about it, I don't remember adding more pop after specializing. It makes sense, since they send all their food to cities, but somehow I still totally missed that.

I think the confusion is that the UI still shows turns to growth for that settlement. It should be nulled out.

(Actually they should just let towns keep growing…)

 

[queenpea]

I need someone to sell me on towns. I'm really disappointed that they stop growing when they specialize, but maybe that is indeed better for gameplay? As it is right now I just promote to city as soon as I can. I don't really get the system.

I wish we could purchase rural improvements in towns. Why can I buy a granary but I can’t pay a farmer to plant wheat?

If we could buy rural improvements, at least the borders of a town and its yields could increase even when it’s specialized. If they want to keep population stable, ok, but let me expand the borders and reach new resources.

 

[MrRadar]

(Actually they should just let towns keep growing…)

But then what about the tradeoff? It would vanish and only benefits would remain, and now you have a real dilemma to mull over, a truly interesting decision, for once

 

[Cymsdale]

But then what about the tradeoff? It would vanish and only benefits would remain, and now you have a real dilemma to mull over, a truly interesting decision, for once

Let them keep the 50% growth bonus when specialized. So they keep the "bonus food", and send out the real food. The tradeoff is they grow slower, and can't have city-only buildings.

 

[queenpea]

But then what about the tradeoff? It would vanish and only benefits would remain, and now you have a real dilemma to mull over, a truly interesting decision, for once

Could the UI spell out the tradeoff a little better?

Example: specialize town, farming town, this town will send X food per turn to these cities. Doing so will halt the growth of this town. This town’s borders will cease expanding as long as it is specialized. Confirm decision.

 

[Siptah]

Let them keep the 50% growth bonus when specialized. So they keep the "bonus food", and send out the real food. The tradeoff is they grow slower, and can't have city-only buildings.

But then you end up with towns that are just rural cities. It's fine that they stay smaller on the map.

Could the UI spell out the tradeoff a little better?

Example: specialize town, farming town, this town will send X food per turn to these cities. Doing so will halt the growth of this town. This town’s borders will cease expanding as long as it is specialized. Confirm decision.

And please detail what you gain from each specialization. I don't want to count farms vs. mines for each or guess how much science, culture and influence they provide.

That said, what specializations do you use? I'm 90% on farming/fishing/mining town, and had a few factory towns in modern age. But never the religious one etc.

 

[Elhoim]

That said, what specializations do you use? I'm 90% on farming/fishing/mining town, and had a few factory towns in modern age. But never the religious one etc.

In general farming, unless there's not many farms. I sometimes used the trading one just for the happiness bonus on towns that won't send the food to cities or I'm having some kind of happiness crisis. Fort town feels like a waste. TBH, I don't think the game should lock you into one specialization. Maybe there was some kind of exploit that I'm not seeing, or maybe they wanted thing to be more "set and forget" (instead of a micro "There are enemies here, make it a fort town now!", then switch back, etc), but it makes some of the situational specializations something you never pick.

 

[queenpea]

But then you end up with towns that are just rural cities. It's fine that they stay smaller on the map.


And please detail what you gain from each specialization. I don't want to count farms vs. mines for each or guess how much science, culture and influence they provide.

That said, what specializations do you use? I'm 90% on farming/fishing/mining town, and had a few factory towns in modern age. But never the religious one etc.

I'm currently town-averse because of some bad early experiences. (I had a Distant Lands town with two treasure fleet resources and two other treasure resources only a tile away--the town said it was two turns away from growing again, so I specialized it to a farming/fishing town. The city banner still showed it was two turns away from growing for turn after turn. I thought the game was bugged, when it was really my stupidity).

I think I have tried all or most of the town types, and I am having a hard time weighing the benefits of each.

As a side note, once I specialized a city making a lot of cocoa as a farming town thinking cocoa = plantation = farming town. However, my stupidity struck again. Cocoa grows on woodcutter rural tiles instead, so I should have gone for mining for the woodcutter bonus.

I have never tried the religious town. Not really enjoying how religion is presented in the game at the moment, so I tend to ignore it outside of the relic rush for the culture points.

 

[tedhebert]

That said, what specializations do you use? I'm 90% on farming/fishing/mining town, and had a few factory towns in modern age. But never the religious one etc.

In general farming, unless there's not many farms. I sometimes used the trading one just for the happiness bonus on towns that won't send the food to cities or I'm having some kind of happiness crisis. Fort town feels like a waste. TBH, I don't think the game should lock you into one specialization. Maybe there was some kind of exploit that I'm not seeing, or maybe they wanted thing to be more "set and forget" (instead of a micro "There are enemies here, make it a fort town now!", then switch back, etc), but it makes some of the situational specializations something you never pick.

Mostly farming and mining towns, butI have in 2 or 3 exceptions used the science and culture one in a town where I had constructed quite a few districts the age before as a city and never converted back from town after.

I have also used the Fort town one in a special place that was ALWAYS under attack, it was vers handy. but that one’s very situational.

 

[Evolena]

I don't think it is a problem if Farming is the basic best choice for a Town (as feeding Cities is one of their main purpose), Mining as a fallback if really giving more production than food because of the nearby Resources, and the others situational.
I have a Town with no real focus, not a lot of food nor production, but it has 4 Resources and it was previously the Samarkand City-State that I've peacefully absorbed and Coastal, so I've decided it should be a Trade outpost. Even if the Happiness is overkill locally, it feeds my Celebrations!

 

[UWHabs]

I'd used the happiness per resource one sometimes when I was going over my settlement limits. Getting a +6 or +8 happiness boost in the town can be more valuable than the other bonuses, especially if the town is split among the improvements. I've taken to opening up the details panel and counting the improvements. But yeah, it feels like a pretty easy math, for it to just add up and tell you (Farming town: +6 food. Mining town: +8 production. Trading town: +4 happiness).

 

[Evolena]

Don't neglect the Hub thing too, with 4 connections you can have +8 Influence.

 

[Elhoim]

I'd used the happiness per resource one sometimes when I was going over my settlement limits. Getting a +6 or +8 happiness boost in the town can be more valuable than the other bonuses, especially if the town is split among the improvements. I've taken to opening up the details panel and counting the improvements. But yeah, it feels like a pretty easy math, for it to just add up and tell you (Farming town: +6 food. Mining town: +8 production. Trading town: +4 happiness).

I tell you, someone high up in Firaxis has a tile counting fetish

 

[Devilbound]

Yea when you spec in farm/fishing town if you have well developed the area around it, it often, and I mean often, grows faster. I have 93 hrs in now and I can tell you this is indeed the case.