When to build mines and farms?
- Thread starter Uber_John
- Start date
WackenOpenAir
Deity
Kuningas said:
If i go for science, i first conquer half the world with an optimised core, then irrigate everything and support as many scientists as possible. (think of 300 cities supporting 600 scientists)
For settler worker factories, irrigate what is needed to get that 5 food per turn. And mine what is needed for the production. this is another chapter though, find info on factories in other posts and articles.
Early in the game, in despotism, irrigating grassland is a waste. So then mine it, and irrigate plains.
Later on, you can freely mine or irrigate what you want and it is the total amounts that matter. while growing cities from size 6-12, i prefer to irrigate so much that i get around 5 food surplus per city if they have to grow on their own. More importantly though, i choose the tiles they use targeted on production. I do not want 9 production, i want 10, i am willing to give up one food for that. When it has grown, maybe it would get 11 production and i swich tile usage to get 1 more food again and have it stay at 10 production.
If you have food boni however, it is nice to use cities that are not in your immeadiate core, but at mediocre distance and corruption (50% or so) to be worker factories. These workers can then be joined to other cities. Do not keep core cities below size 6 to be such factories, that wastes too much opportunity.
Usually it is a combination of both. Some cities will have a good production as well as a good growth(bonus grasslands, cows), these can grow by themselves.
Others can have a good production but will have a hard time growing (all plains or many hills), there i will join some workers from the factories.
When all your cities are maxed out, minimize food to target for 0 surplus. When your cities start to produce polution, give them 1 or 2 surplus so they keep their food boxes full and don't starve when they lose a tile to polution.
This all is only for your core of course. If you have captured corrupt lands, irrigate everything there.
Uber_John said:
Farms, still playing civ2 heh. Anyway I mine until I need food to keep growing. Many exceptions, such as food bonus, but mine green and water brown is the norm.
NintendoNut
Chieftain
- Joined
- May 17, 2005
- Messages
- 72
I mine hills, grassland and tundra. I irrigate plains, floodplains and desert.
SJ Frank
Spamalot Co-court
Break the game into 3 stages:
1) Despotism. Because of the Despotism Penalty (every tile that produces more than 2 food/shield/gold receives -1 penalty), your choice of mine/irrigate is very limited. One basic rule applies in Despotism, "irrigate brown(plains) and mine green(grasslands)".
2) The growth period. In civ, population = power. Once leaving Despotism, your should irrigate some greens to get your cities to grow faster. How much irrigation? Well, generally +4 or +5 food per turn in each city is good. However, it is also important to promote even growth -- You want your cities to be roughly the same size. So, those smaller cities should receive more irrigation until they catch up, and those larger cities could use more mining in the mean time.
Forgetting to irrigate greens is one of the major reasons why a lot of players struggle in the Middle Ages. Those size 7 cities take twice as long to grow as smaller size (<6) towns. If left at the "irrigate brown and mine green" configuration, they would take 20 turns to grow one population! Considering that the game will probably last only 400 turns, 20 turns is a long time. Meanwhile, the AI, being the artificial stupidities that they are, prefer to mine/irrigate in a checker board fassion. This hurts them in Despotism, but helps them in Monarchy/Republic. When the AI cities are all size 12, and your cities are all size 8, even if you have the same amount of land, you're only 2/3rd as powerful as they are.
3) Full size cities. Once cities reach their size limit, which is usually size 12, you could go back and mine some more. You could eliminate the extra food in each city, because they are no longer needed, in exchange for more production.
1) Despotism. Because of the Despotism Penalty (every tile that produces more than 2 food/shield/gold receives -1 penalty), your choice of mine/irrigate is very limited. One basic rule applies in Despotism, "irrigate brown(plains) and mine green(grasslands)".
2) The growth period. In civ, population = power. Once leaving Despotism, your should irrigate some greens to get your cities to grow faster. How much irrigation? Well, generally +4 or +5 food per turn in each city is good. However, it is also important to promote even growth -- You want your cities to be roughly the same size. So, those smaller cities should receive more irrigation until they catch up, and those larger cities could use more mining in the mean time.
Forgetting to irrigate greens is one of the major reasons why a lot of players struggle in the Middle Ages. Those size 7 cities take twice as long to grow as smaller size (<6) towns. If left at the "irrigate brown and mine green" configuration, they would take 20 turns to grow one population! Considering that the game will probably last only 400 turns, 20 turns is a long time. Meanwhile, the AI, being the artificial stupidities that they are, prefer to mine/irrigate in a checker board fassion. This hurts them in Despotism, but helps them in Monarchy/Republic. When the AI cities are all size 12, and your cities are all size 8, even if you have the same amount of land, you're only 2/3rd as powerful as they are.
3) Full size cities. Once cities reach their size limit, which is usually size 12, you could go back and mine some more. You could eliminate the extra food in each city, because they are no longer needed, in exchange for more production.
VladTepes
Clown Prince of Wallachia
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2003
- Messages
- 478
I try to strike a balance. If the city has a lot of empty grassland, I mine. If it has hills, I irrigate. If you want a settler pump, then irrigate (obviously). I just don't like to wait 15 turns for an ancient unit or have a size 3 city with a 20 turn growth, or one where you're constantly scrambling to prevent riots.
Tomoyo
Fate
I tend to be one of those people that doesn't irrigate the grass when out of despotism... But I try to make up for it by building lots of workers early on, which go back into the cities once I finish improving my land... (not all of them, of course)
I do not irrigate grass after Despotism either. I wait till I need the food to keep growing and that may never happen.
Pentium
Digital Matter
I do irrigate grass. Fast growth -> More $ -> More science.
onomastikon
Dual Wielding Banjos
Wacken: How exactly do Scientists work? Do they put exactly 1gp into science research, or a portion? I ask because if you have 300 cities, I would guess that the vast majority of them do not put any money into science at all since all your science bar will be red with corruption.
The scientists put in a set amount which is not effected by corruption or any favtor that could hinder or benefit them. So what you get is simply the total amount of beakers that each scientist produces each turn with no additional bonus or loss.
Pentium
Digital Matter
Note that in Civ3, they produce 1bpt, while in C3C they produce 3bpt.
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