Worker Improvement For Desert Tiles?

[BadHorsie]

What do you think about desert tile upgrades? At the moment, all you can build is a fort (who's going to do that?), or a well if you're lucky enough to find oil. It also annoys me that you can't improve oasis tiles.

I was thinking maybe desert would have just 1

I know technically, this may be slightly unrealistic, but I think it would be good. We already have mountains for unworkable tiles.

Oasis could be brought down slightly to 2 2 maybe?

 

[Junglecutter]

infact, deserts can be irrigated using the "center pivot irrigation" method

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation

 

[Feyd Rautha]

I think with Electricity or perhaps Plastics you should be able to irrigate standard desert tiles. That is the only improvement I would allow, however. Seeing as you can already irrigate freshwater deserts (i.e. ones around Oases) I would think this wouldn't be too much of a stretch, but some may disagree.

0 food 0 hammers is what I would stick with though. Oases are fine the way they are.

 

[ronnybiggs]

Considering towns and trading posts have been historically built around oases, I would think you could build a cottage on it. Maybe have that with two and one or two to start off which a cottage could add to.

People also mine in deserts, but for that you could just put gems there and have that improved.

 

[BadHorsie]

Seeing as you can already irrigate freshwater deserts (i.e. ones around Oases).

Are you sure? I'm sure I deliberately checked this and couldn't irrigate the desert around an oasis tile...

 

[BadHorsie]

0 food 0 hammers is what I would stick with though.

I didn't think of giving it no base food or production I'd agree.

 

[winddbourne]

Working deserts is needed, but I'd prefer it to be a civilization trait rather than a general thing. Something similiar to the agricultural trait in Civ 3 but with better balance.

Let "desert" civilizations have a slight food bonus from desert tiles, but only after improving those tiles with farms, mines, etc . . . then if I take those tiles I get the standard bonus for those improvements . . . until said civilization razes the terrain.

Like agricultural it would make many otherwise untenable locations viable, but unlike that unbalanced trait a city taken by "culture" from an desert civilization wouldn't starve, and taking the desert city wouldn't be complete suicide.