[C3C] Why are granaries underrated on higher difficulties?

[Marcitko]

Hello again,

It seems that at the higher difficulties good players avoid building granaries except for a few settler factories during the expansion phase. Is this an accurate assesment? I also don't, guess I picked up that tip ages ago and never questioned it again.

But today I'm thinking: why is that?

I think it's accurate to say that non-corrupt worked tiles win games. Granaries double the speed of worked tiles increase. Especially post size 7, growth without a granary is darn slow under most conditions and getting to size 12 twice as fast is surely important. We could even sell them at size 12 and build them again when hospitals become available.

There is also the aspect that humans focus on expanding as fast as possible so by the end of the expansion phase AI cities are much larger. Maybe it would make sense to 'catch up' by prioritising granaries in core cities after the expansion phase.

So, why do good players avoid building granaries at higher difficulties? Could it be that this is suboptimal or am I missing something?

Thanks.

 

[justanick]

Higher difficulty means higher corruption, which makes the shields for building them more scarce. Aqueducts are more critical, as may be courthouses. So when do you have the liberty to invest into a granary and when will worker finish their jobs and can join cities without granary? If on average 2 workers join a city, then it only need to grow till size 10. Building a granary a size 7 will not pay off as you save only 60 food at the expense of 60 shields and 1 gtp.

There is no clear case in favour of spamming granaries, but their is no clear case to be really stingy about granaries. There however is much context to consider.

 

[Spoonwood]

Maybe it would make sense to 'catch up' by prioritising granaries in core cities after the expansion phase.

I've done this on Sid with plenty of capital flowing from AIs.

 

[BlackBetsy]

You know, it's interesting, because 100% the right choice for a Scientific Great Leader early in the game is Pyramids, for free granaries. But in general, the cost of a granary in shields is 2 settlers, and city growth is ultimately the better way to grow population.

 

[templar_x]

growing core towns past size 7 naturally mostly appears inefficient (and slow).
workers from anywhere, especially an <size-7 worker factory, only cost 10 food (and 10 shields)!, and can be joint to your core towns at will.
no granary building in that core city can beat that with regard to efficiency... and speed. and i guess, that is about 50% of the answer to your question.
t_x