Finding a city on resources

[KeiserSose]

I remember a thread from here (or maybe civfanatics) about finding a city ON a resource tile. It gave a description of the advantages you'd receive, and IIRC it said something about finding on a ""COW" as being great for health or food or something?

I can't find it now but I wonder if anyone has any idea about this?

[Quillan]

It's not that great. If the city is sitting directly on a resource, then you automatically gain access to that resource as soon as you have the technology that would allow you to build the mine/pasture/plantation/farm needed. You don't gain any of the other benefits of it. Gold, for instance, provides something like 7 commerce with a mine. If you build a city on the gold, you'll have the gold for happiness and trading purposes, but lose the 7 bonus commerce.

[Atomation]

A city built on gold does receive +1 commerce immediately and forever, though, so sometimes it is worth it , especially if its your capital or second city .

[rewster1]

For some resources, it can make sense. +hammer minerals on plains tend to be ok as city sites because the plains mineral mine is about as productive as a hill mine, so it's an even trade, gives you +1 production in the city center, and makes it impossible to pillage the resource.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Atomation
A city built on gold does receive +1 commerce immediately and forever, though, so sometimes it is worth it , especially if its your capital or second city .

You'll alway get alot more by actually mining the gold though. I wouldn't recommend ever building a city on top of a resource.

[Blake]

The uh, city tile output for founding on a resource is a little complicated.
Basically the city tile will produce 2-1-1 or higher if a specific factor or production is higher on the tile.
The exception is floodplains, which ALWAYS produce 2 food, even if the floodplain has a resource on it. It's probably more clear by example:
Grassland + pigs : 3-0-0, a city founded on the tile will be 3-1-1 (as the food is higher than city default)
Elephants on plains: 1-2-0, city will be 2-2-1.
Copper on plains hill: 0-3-0, city will be 2-3-1.
Cow on Floodplains: 4-0-1, city will be 2-1-1, because it's floodplain.
Plains wine on river: 2-1-2, city will be 2-1-2.

Here are resources which are worth founding under some or most circumstances on:
Sugar on grassland.
Elephants on plains.
Wine on river.
Mineral resources or stone on plains hill.

Elephants on plains is the best to found on, you "lose" 1 hammer and 1 commerce by not working the camp but pretty much any other improvement will give better returns than that (especially like mines or cottages).
Elephants on grassland is not good to found on, you lose 2 hammers and 1 commerce.

Sugar plantation is only 1-0-1, which is very weak as far as improvements go. I mean, that's the same as an un-upgraded windmill. So grassland sugar are good to found on (especailly since sugar can't be improved at the start of the game).

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Willem
You'll alway get alot more by actually mining the gold though. I wouldn't recommend ever building a city on top of a resource.

Not if it is something like dye, which gives you a measly +1 with a plantation. In this case you are better off building on the resouce. It saves you several worker-turns, if nothing else.

[The keeper]

But founding on oil does not give you oil.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Not if it is something like dye, which gives you a measly +1 with a plantation. In this case you are better off building on the resouce. It saves you several worker-turns, if nothing else.

Sorry but you're mistaken, Dye gives you +4 commerce with a Plantation. You're way better off not building on top of it. It's one of the best cash crops in the game.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by The keeper
But founding on oil does not give you oil.

That's because you need a different tech to drill a oil well.

[raguas]

Unless I'm mistaken, if you found a city on oil, you will get the oil resource once you found the requisite tech (combustion).

[JimG]

In my current game the only coal I could get to is on a scratty little island that would never produce enough food to work any mine, so I just dumped the city on top. That did mean I could start building railroads elsewhere immediatly rather than waiting for the mine & road to be built...

[The keeper]

I am almost positive that I had a city that was founded on oil (obviously before I could see oil).

Even after I got combustion, I did not have any oil.

I could be mistaken though, I dont have that save anymore.

[Willem]

Originally posted by The keeper

I could be mistaken though, I dont have that save anymore.

I don't see why Oil would be the only exception. It stands to reason that you can access it with the proper tech.

[Hermann the Lombard]

There is another reason to build on top of a resource, especially against human opponents: the resource can't be pillaged, and if the city is on a river leading to the sea it can't be interdicted either. That's not as important against the AI, but if the resource is on or very near a border it may still be useful to claim squatter's rights.