Does a road have to have a worker on it to get increased food & production?

[Rick Elkins]

Just one of those things I've never been clear on: whether the square where a road or railroad sits has to have a worker on it in order to get increased food and production from having built it. I know that a farm, net, etc. gives no benefit unless a worker is on it. What about roads?

[MadWoodster]

Under normal CTP rules I don't think they give any benefit, but if you set them up so that they did, you would need a worker on them.

[Rick Elkins]

The reason I thought that there was a food/production benefit under normal CTP rules is that when you click on the "make road" icon (after clicking on the PW "hammer" icon, and right before you actually click on the square where you want the road to be built) there is an indication of how much food/production the road will provide, just as this indication occurs when one clicks on the build-farm icon, build-net, etc.

[wheathin]

Those stats for food and production are for the square as a whole - check it and you should see that the "value" of a road changes from square to square, and seems to mimic the underlying improvements.

The road itself provides no added benefits.

[Rick Elkins]

Thanks for the info.

But I think roads SHOULD give extra food/production. After all, in the real world, a road on a farm allows equipment and supplies to come in that boost food and production on that farm, not to mention speeding the transport of the food produced so that less spoils and thus goes to waste.

The same concept applies to roads to the sea where nets are used, which help speed fish to market before they go bad, and to mines to bring in equipment and move ore, etc.

[MadWoodster]

Here's how to make roads produce more food by editing the file terrain.txt:
Go to the terrain you want to edit, then go down to road1, then add the following flag
ENV_FOOD 5
to get a boost to food 5, the reason some of us don't like this is because then everyone starts putting roads all over the map making it a mess. To add production add the following flag
ENV_SHIELDS 5
I'm not definate I've got the names right for this flags so check for the equivalent in the file.
To add to railroads go to road2
To add to maglevs go to road3

Hope this helps,

[wheathin]

Rick, true that roads (and RR) do boost the productivity of farms and such. But I prefer the CtP method because it keeps the map looking more attractive. I hated the way Civilization maps looked when you just put a railroad across every square - endless black grids. Ugly as sin.

Also, if you increase the gold/food/production of the roads, you will need to rebalance much of the game. Terrain values, unit and facility costs, tech costs, etc... Note also that the AI may not realize the added value of roads, and thus decline to build them.

[Rick Elkins]

Thanks for the help. I'll try modifying the files in an experimental game.

As for the ugliness of an endless black grid of railroad tracks, I see your point. Sometimes I even regret entering the modern age, as the buildings suddenly look less attractive!!