Harvesting resources

[SkiRich]

I just noticed that I can harvest sea resources like fish, which removes the resource and adds a ton of food. For instance one said 350 food.
Does this food get stored somewhere and used up or is it perpetual? Or maybe one time?
If so whats the point, why not just plop down boats?

[Suisight]

When you harvest the resource, it is gone and instantly used either in your food storage (which, when filled, adds a pop) or in the running citty project (for production). If no project is selected, it is stored and used for the next project you select.

One should do this (same with features like woods) when you know you are going to remove it anyhow. For example when you want to build a district or wonder (or you build a farm/mine on a tile with wood). Note that there is no harvest done when the resource or feature is removed by a wonder or district! Also, sometimes you want to get a quick boost on population of production (finish a wonder?).

Make sure you have Magnus established in the city the harvested resources' tile belongs to for +50% on the base yield. It used to be +100% but they reduced it because it was too good. It is stilla avery powerful ability, as you can get a huge boost in the early game.

Doing good micro on your builder/governors and feature removal is one important skill set in Civ6.

[tempest.of.emptiness]

It is a one-time boost. You sacrifice the yield increase that the resource + fishing boat would give to the tile to get a large amount of food now, which translates to faster population growth.

My personal opinion is that it is best used when you need the tile for something else, like a district or wonder. However, there may be circumstances where the population growth now is better than the extra food over time. For example, if it was a difference of 2 food on the tile, then it would take 175 turns to get that much out of the tile, and a pop would have to work that tile. If you harvest the fish then you get all that food now, and your pops can be working other tiles.

[Paulytnz]

Our city's workable range extends out to just 3 tiles while our cultural borders from each city extends out to 5 tiles.

What this means is that any resources that are just outside our city workable tiles are perfect for harvesting. I make sure to harvest all of these for the bonuses they give.

Yes we can build more cities to reach them but this is not always do-able or even worth it. Many Coast and Ocean tiles are good examples where we can't build another city to actually reach them and thus are perfect for harvesting.

Hope this helps somewhat and gives you a tip as to when and why you may want to harvest. :)

[Exemplar]

Originally posted by SkiRich:

If so whats the point, why not just plop down boats?

As was said, if you want to put district or wonder in the tile, but also, (and harvesting increases at later independent ages, you get way more in atomic era than classical) if you don't anticipate your game to last 80 to 100 more turns, it's better to get the (x) up front than the fixed amount each turn. I mean, get 300 now, or get + 3 food for the 80 more turns the game lasts is 240 (i guess you miss 1 gold, too and 1 production if you have sea pantheon, with fishing boat, and the neighboring resource could adversely affect fisheries and harbor income, but eh, cross those bridges when you come to them)

[SkiRich]

All good info thanks.
Just to clarify, is the harvest stored or used?
Sounds like used immediately.
I have seen that with production being completed.
But I want to know about food.
Does food get stored or used immediately and when you hit max use but have more food does that push pop growth fast?

[Suisight]

Originally posted by SkiRich:

All good info thanks.
Just to clarify, is the harvest stored or used?
Sounds like used immediately.
I have seen that with production being completed.
But I want to know about food.
Does food get stored or used immediately and when you hit max use but have more food does that push pop growth fast?

Food is stored. Always, also the regular income is stored. But you can not use it in any other way than maxing it out for pop (or using it slowly when you do not produce enough).

The harvested food pushes your growth in the way that you 'skip' rounds: If you make 5 food per round and harvest 100, you get 20 rounds worth of growth.

[Paulytnz]

Originally posted by SkiRich:

All good info thanks.
Just to clarify, is the harvest stored or used?
Sounds like used immediately.
I have seen that with production being completed.
But I want to know about food.
Does food get stored or used immediately and when you hit max use but have more food does that push pop growth fast?

Used right away. Most time for food you will see the increase in population right away. Sometimes not so however if the city already has a big population but it will still count towards the next increase.

So I guess the answer is both lol. It is stored but in most cases used right away if the harvest amount is enough to increase population. If not it sits there and will still help the growth.

I harvest all Marsh tiles for example which give food and you can see the population rise if not right away the next turn or so. Especially if I am harvesting multiple Marsh tiles.

[Suisight]

Originally posted by Paulytnz:

Used right away. Most time for food you will see the increase in population right away. Sometimes not so however if the city already has a big population but it will still count towards the next increase.

So I guess the answer is both lol. It is stored but in most cases used right away if the harvest amount is enough to increase population. If not it sits there and will still help the growth.

I harvest all Marsh tiles for example which give food and you can see the population rise if not right away the next turn or so. Especially if I am harvesting multiple Marsh tiles.

It depends on the definition of 'ues' and 'store', as the use for food is being stored until one has enough for pop growth... And yes, the amount harvested is usually very high and fills the storage immediately. Always use Magnus in the city when you harvest! Can't say this often enough ;).

[tempest.of.emptiness]

It might be more clear to say that the food is applied immediately to the stockpile of the city, and if that causes the stockpile to fill then a new pop is immediately produced and any overflow becomes the new stockpile as progress toward the next pop.

[Paulytnz]

Originally posted by tempest.of.emptiness:

It might be more clear to say that the food is applied immediately to the stockpile of the city, and if that causes the stockpile to fill then a new pop is immediately produced and any overflow becomes the new stockpile as progress toward the next pop.

Yeah I think that's what I was meaning to say, thank you lol.