Cities Built on Resources

[Supr49er]

What happens to a resource if you build a city on it?

You get the resource, but do you get the bonus?

Example 1: Found a city on a hill. Later iron is revealed
Example 2: Found city on horses. Revealed after AH.
Example 3: found city on silk/dyes/spices etc.

Seems at least the resource can never be pillaged.

[Ming]

I don't think you get the bonus... just instant access to the resource when you get the tech.

And yes, it does keep the resource from being pillaged (but not from having the city razed )

In MP games, it sometimes is a great strategy to plop a city right down on the strategic resource if the resource is located between some civs. There is nothing worse than losing a resource in a culture battle. Putting your city on it keeps that from happening.

[wodan11]

Most resources give a "base" bonus (usually only +1 of something), and then they give a much bigger bonus when it has the improvement. When you plop a city on it you get the former but not the latter.

Wodan

[Supr49er]

Originally posted by wodan11
Most resources give a "base" bonus (usually only +1 of something), and then they give a much bigger bonus when it has the improvement. When you plop a city on it you get the former but not the latter.

Wodan

So you can get screwed if you build a city on a "hidden" resource.

[wodan11]

Originally posted by Supr49er


So you can get screwed if you build a city on a "hidden" resource.

I'm not sure I'd say you are "screwed" if you miss out on a couple of hammers by building right on Iron or Uranium or something. If it's the best city site it's the best city site.

The alternative is to build on the second best city site, which would mean you're probably missing out on working 2-3 tiles, which is a lot less desirable than losing out the Iron bonus.

Wodan

[snoopy369]

As Wodan says, you get the bonus that it gives unimproved, if the bonus is greater than the raw city tile min.

You always get 2/1/1 from a city tile (F/H/T) no matter what. If the underlying tile has more than 2 or 1 or 1 individually, you get that number instead; so founding on a plains hill (unimproved 0/2/0 or 0/2/1) gives you 2/2/1.

So a horses plains tile I think gives you 1/2/1 raw; your city would still get the 2 hammers, so 2/2/1.

Generally it's not a huge loss, but if you can safely avoid it you should.

[pikesfan]

But do you still get access to the resource itself, such as the horses, iron, spices, etc.?

[Nugog]

Yes.

[ColdPhoenix]

I'll sometimes build a city on top of marble or stone in the early game. They can get decent production in the city tile (especially if on a plains hill) which is useful for a young city, also quarries take a while to build and so it can give you a quicker start on some of the early wonders.

[Horace]

I dont because stone & marble give you a sweet tile to work in the early game. Its worth spending the time to quarry it imo.

[ColdPhoenix]

It depends on the situation, what the other tiles around the city are like and so on, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. In a new city early I'll be working more food tiles than hammer tiles and whipping out units and buildings. If the stone/marble is on a plains hill then there will likely be another plains hill in the fat cross, that mined will still be a decent hammer tile for when the pop limit is reached or you want to slow growth. The bonus production from the city tile with be used every turn from foundation of the city while the quarried rock may not.

[rah]

If its a stategic metal or stone and there's a real lack of food around it i'll build on it. Otherwise I usually don't.

[TriMiro]

Note that you will not get any bonuses or even access to the resource unless you have the corresponding tech. You cannot build a city on silk and get the +1 happy before the calender. Same goes for stone, marble, wine and all the resources that you can see from the very beginning but cannot use until a specific tech.

[Krill]

anyone ever built a city on a stone or marble plains hill before and worked agrass/forest game tile before? And seen just how fast you can build a worker?

[Ming]

I've done that as the Inca's... it was my second city.
Worked like a charm.