Why Must Resources Deplete???

[Red Horse]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

 

[ecuwins]

Good to know. I never really pondered the question. I have seen Iron appear just outside my territory which obviously had been connected elsewhere. In fact it saved my butt one time -- I was the Ottomans, early industrial age, only had saltpeter no iron. Then Iron miraculously appears -- hello Sipahis.

 

[psweetman1590]

You don't need iron for sipahis. You need horses. Looks like you're still going to have to wait a while to dominate the world.

 

[ecuwins]

^^To my dismay I realized this. At least the Iron let me get some cannons (frigates too) so I could liberate the horsies from their oppressive keepers.

 

[TheOverseer714]

I have had rubber deplete once, it really upset me, as I know it's not supposed to. It was in a regular game too. I got another source, so I recovered. In another game, I had one oil source, so I parked a bunch of workers there and a cavalry and hooked it up at the begining of each turn and pillaged it at the end of the turn. Resources only deplete on the IBT, so I always had oil and finished with a good score.

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

Wow, I never thought of doing that to avoid depletion. Are you sure it works?

 

[Aabraxan]

Once my empire gets large enough that I can afford to do so, I try to leave at least one source of as many of the strategic resources as possible unhooked.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Yes, it works quite well, just make sure you only road the square, as each improvement costs one "pillage point" for a normal unit. It can be a pain, but if strategic resources are scarce, it is vital. It really only applies to iron, uranium, and oil, those are the frequent ones to deplete. The value of oil to me became truly apparent in a game where I was the Iroquois in the modern age and all opponents were gone except the Maya. I had all the oil, they had none. They had 5 times my military, but were limited to obsolete units and poor man's modern units. Imagine using only TOW Infantry and Mobile SAM's against Modern Armor and Mech Infantry. Can you say turkey shoot?

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

I will have to try that one day. But wont the automated workers just screw the pooch by railroading the square?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

^^^ Yes, they would, but there is an easy solution to that.

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

What is this easy solution of which you speak?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

Don't automate.

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

But then I end up with a thrice-as-long turn time, and it's pretty boring. I just automate.

 

[gmaharriet]

But then I end up with a thrice-as-long turn time, and it's pretty boring. I just automate.

Automated workers waste a LOT of turns making foolish moves. When I stopped automating workers (almost 3 years ago), I was immediately able to move up a level in difficulty with no trouble.

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

OK guys, it may be wiser, but I'm just a tad bit too lazy, so I just use innumerable amounts of them to make up for the lack of efficiency.

 

[Lord Emsworth]

At least use Shift-A, so that your workers merely automatically improve virgin terrain. And keep back some that you retain control over.

 

[Whoman69]

Saltpeter will also deplete and (I think) uranium. Any resource which depletes will reappear somewhere...you just can't count on it being in your own territory.

That always sucks, especially when you just conquered territory to get it and it depletes right back into your enemies' territory.

 

[pickle]

just had it that the turn after i discover refining, my only source of oil depletes off the continent

 

[Whoman69]

IMO if you are the first to bring out a resource then it should be in your territory. How would a civ develope a science based upon a resource they could not possible get access to?

 

[D0NIMATRIX]

Well, you could have guys in foreign countries learn about it, but otherwise that makes no sense.