Lowdown on Trade? Help a n00b!

[SpiffLA]

Hi guys, I know this a total noob question. I've never played Civ terribly in detail. Anyway, my question is this. Trade agreements. I can't seem to find a definitive answer on how this works. Let's say I have a town with 3 fur tiles near it. I link them with roads and whatever construct is needed to utilize them. So I have 3 furs. Does the one city get the benefit from this? Do all the cities get benefits from these furs? What exactly are these benefits? Let's say I trade 1 fur for 1 silk. Doesn't 3 fur already give me +3 happiness or only 3 furs = 1 happiness.

Another scenario is let's say I have a iron resource with a mine. And let's say I've decided to trade that iron resource with another civ for one of their resources. Will I still be able to use the iron to create military units that require iron? How long do these trades last?

Sorry for all the questions. I have looked at a couple of sites and none of them have a "tutorial" guide on trades.

TIA

[jbp26]

-whether you have 1 fur resource or 10 doesn't matter, it still only provides 1 happy face.

-the fur will provide happiness to any city linked to it by viable traderoutes- so roads, rivers, and ocean traderoutes.

-trading one of those furs for one silk means 1 happy from the fur, 1 happy from the silk.

-if you have only 1 single iron resource, and trade it away, you no longer have access to iron and cant build units requiring it.

-i think trades last a minimum of 10 turns (not 100% sure on that), after that you can cancel them at any point.

[snoopy369]

X furs = 1 happiness

All cities gain from it if they are connected to the city with the fur via roads/other trade routes (rivers/coast/ocean depending on your having the tech).

If you trade your only copy of a resource, you lose use of it.

Until Corporations, there is no purpose to having multiple of one resource. Corporations give you a bonus (depending on the corporation) for each copy beyond the first you have of a resource (in Beyond the Sword).

[Supr49er]

Welcome SpiffLA.

Any connected cities will share all resources.

Do NOT trade your single instance of a resource.

In general, trade surplus resources for those you need, especially in a different category. (food, health, happiness, commerce, etc.)

[SpiffLA]

Wow. Thanks everyone for the quick response! I'll have to start using it more. The game I was playing yesterday had 3 furs and I've been hoarding them.

[snoopy369]

There are reasons to trade your single instance, particularly in a MP game. For example, trading a single instance of sheep for a wheat you don't have is a net even trade; in a MP game this can encourage someone to be your buddy, and in a SP game this does the same for the AI.

[Supr49er]

Originally posted by snoopy369
There are reasons to trade your single instance, particularly in a MP game. For example, trading a single instance of sheep for a wheat you don't have is a net even trade; in a MP game this can encourage someone to be your buddy, and in a SP game this does the same for the AI.

That's true.

But he asked about trading his single source of iron . I can't see a case where I would do that.

[Lord Avalon]

Originally posted by SpiffLA
Wow. Thanks everyone for the quick response! I'll have to start using it more. The game I was playing yesterday had 3 furs and I've been hoarding them.

Hoarding furs can be justified by a desire to piss off PETA.