I finally bought Civ4

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Forests grow on there own in an unimproved tile adjacent to an existing forest (may grow on roaded/railed tiles). No planting on your part (that was Civ3). If you were chop-happy to clear them yourself, you can go without them.
Build workshops (-1 food) when you switch to State Property (communism, +1 food for workshops & watermills).

Or irrigate them all and use the whip (I'm kidding!)

will forests ever grow out into adjacent tundra squares? I've seen plenty of forest on tundra squares but so far it has refused to spread into the neighboring empty tundra squares.

I have the option of chopping the whole forest down to allow moving irrigation from a tiny river among the tundra forest suares but it would be nice to be able to keep some of that forest for a few more hammers.

[Jaybe]

Mountains represent peaks, ... impassable areas/obstacles. If they are joined only at a diagonal then you have a mountain pass. Get used to it! I did.

Re irrigating tundra forests: Just be aware that you can irrigate tundra ONLY if it is adjacent to a river (even post-Civil Service). I haven't noticed whether forests will grow on tundra or not. Forests grow so rarely, especially in the last 660 turns of a marathon (those 660 turns are 1 year each).

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Mountains represent peaks, ... impassable areas/obstacles. If they are joined only at a diagonal then you have a mountain pass. Get used to it! I did.

Re irrigating tundra forests: Just be aware that you can irrigate tundra ONLY if it is adjacent to a river (even post-Civil Service). I haven't noticed whether forests will grow on tundra or not. Forests grow so rarely, especially in the last 660 turns of a marathon (those 660 turns are 1 year each).

Ok, looking back at my game I guess you can irrigate lundra next to a lake as well. I hadn't considered that they might follow a different set of irrigation rules.

[Geronimo]

In my game I didn't build very many cottages or workshops, or waterwheels.

How critical are these to an empires maximum productivity?

They are hard to experiment extensively with since they take so long to reach their maximum production.

Most of my cities had a fair amount of hills and forest nearby. Are workshops only really needed for cities that lack hills and forests?

With a whipping economy is it best to skip cottages and workshops entirely?

[Jaybe]

How are you going to generate commerce without cottages or lots of specialists? Mostly fools never build plentiful cottages.

Workshops, on the other hand, I rarely build unless I'm running state property. Only in high-food/low-hammer cities.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Jaybe
How are you going to generate commerce without cottages or lots of specialists? Mostly fools never build plentiful cottages.

Workshops, on the other hand, I rarely build unless I'm running state property. Only in high-food/low-hammer cities.

I got my commerce by beelining hardcore for a triple shrine setup in my first city.

never had an income shortfall even with the sliders set to pure culture/beakers in an empire that covered almost 60 percent of the planets landmass with 3-4 dozen cities and even when not running state property.

Now this was on cheiftain.

Perhaps when I play another game on a more challenging difficulty I'll find it much harder to establish such a triple shrine city?

[Jaybe]

Having shrine(s) is nice for keeping gold in the coffers, but it does not help your research once it is at 100%. Research is funded by science specialists, trade routes and the tiles worked by your cities.

Large coastal cities with harbors for trade routes, cottages grown to towns for tiles.

For when you move up to Warlord difficulty & beyond.

... Don't wait to change your habits until they are so ingrained in your playstyle that it becomes impossible!

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Having shrine(s) is nice for keeping gold in the coffers, but it does not help your research once it is at 100%. Research is funded by science specialists, trade routes and the tiles worked by your cities.

Coastal cities with harbors for trade routes, cottages grown to towns for tiles.

For when you move up to Warlord difficulty & beyond.

... Don't wait to change your habits until they are so ingrained in your playstyle that it becomes impossible!

That's precisely the kind of information i was looking for.

thanks