Okay to settle on top of resources?

[City Builder]

Hey,

Game has me curious if it's okay to settle a new city on top of a resource?

Reason that I ask is that the game has never suggested that I settle right on top of a resource and usually sticks the suggestion one tile away. But settling right on top of the resource would get me usually one more resource than if I settled one tile away as the game suggests that I do.

So, it has me wondering if there is some penalty or some other detriment to settling a new city right on top of a resource. Resources being like horses, cows, ivory, etc.

Thanks

[PirateLei]

The detriment is that you can't improve that resource, meaning you won't get what you could've gotten had you improved it instead of settling over it. I would only ever do this if it was something I really need and my continent doesn't have it so I go ninja another continent's uranium with a settler if I don't have a great general to make a citadel.

[City Builder]

Ah okay. I guess I just assumed that building a city on top of the resource did an automatic improvement of the tile.

Thanks very much

[crashcat123]

I've always heard that if you settle on a resource it auotmatically gives you the resource. I've never tried it myself though.

[Drenus]

Messaggio originale di crashcat123:

I've always heard that if you settle on a resource it auotmatically gives you the resource. I've never tried it myself though.

Confirming this, if you settle a city directly on top of a resource, it counts as having a worker build improvement on it, but i think Tech requirements still counts, (need calender tech for some luxuries, for example) before you benefit from it, not sure on that tho

[Aeoukie]

Yes your right drenus i settled my second city on top off some oranges early game. I figured I had destroyed them by settling but once the requirments were met they were added to my trade supply.

[Salabencher]

I know this is a old post but I just wanted to confirm that settling on top of something like Iron added it to my resources.

[cuavas]

Messaggio originale di Salabencher:

I know this is a old post but I just wanted to confirm that settling on top of something like Iron added it to my resources. :NATO:

Yes, the resource is added to your trade network as it would be if you improved it, but you don’t get the other benefits you’d get from improving it. You don’t get the additional production that an iron mine would give you (just the iron itself for unit maintenance), or the additional gold that a citrus plantation would give you (just the happiness or additional tradable copy of the luxury).

An exception is that with Indonesia, when you settle your first city on a landmass (other than the capital), if you settle on top of a resource, the unique luxury produced by the city replaces the tile’s resource. If you settle on iron and the city produces nutmeg, the nutmeg replaces the iron, and the city cannot be razed.

[Damsteri]

Settling on top of a 6 iron deposit was popular strategy back in 2010-2012 in vanilla version of the game. Back then iron was revealed in the same technology that allowed you to build swordsmen. You wanted to get iron superfast to be able to be early with your swordsmen (which were more important back then than nowadays). Settling on top of a iron deposit was easy shortcut in unlucky situation when you didn't have any iron on your capital area (or other cities).

There is one resource that is handled differently, it's Marble. You get marble as a resource when you have researched the required technology (as with other str/lux resources), but you get the marble's wonder bonus (+15% production to ancient/classical era wonders in BNW) immediately when you settle on top of it, making capital on marble tile very attractive option.

[Stefan]

For vanilla (no mod), In many cases, yes.

You should settle plantations, followed by camps, whereas mining resources are settled more rarely. When not to settle on resources:


1. Salt, since it gives great improvement and is easy to improve.

2. When the resource can be part of your pantheon or some other benefits. If you have several gold or silver, a mint will give you gold bonus; if you have several wine plantations, a monastery might be a good thing to pick with your religion.


Benefits of settling a resource:

1. Once you research the tech, you receive the lux, meaning that you can settle faster;

2. You don't have to worry about the resource being pillaged;

3. A resource that is found in difficult terrain can take time to improve. For example, plantations in jungle or marsh require not only the plantation tech (calendar), but also masonry (to cut down the marsh) or iron (to cut down the jungle) -- but by settling the resource, you terraform the land, so you only need the calendar tech to access the resource.

Unless there's a strategic reason for not settling a plantation, you should settle it, especially if it's by the river, since a plantation will only give you +1 gold, but if you move from your starting point, which is also next to a river, you will be able to improve that starting point with a farm, giving you +2 food with Civil Service.

[K E N N I]

Most resources make high-yield tiles when they are improved, which you would lose when settling on top. These are all strategic and bonus resources, as well as some luxuries, most notably salt. I wouldn't settle on those unless I'm gaining another good tile in the 3rd ring this way.

On the other hand, most luxuries don't make for amazing tiles, so settling on top is perfectly OK. It even saves you some worker labour time, but that's a negligible advantage in the long run.

[Matthew]

I try to settle on top of calendar luxuries whenever possible. Everything is going into food, production, culture GP, and science GP for most of the game, so I rarely ever actually work the tiles. Settling on top of them ensures I at least get some of the gold.

Camps are kind of the same, but if I have a lot of camps I try to get that +1 food religion pick. Even if I can't hold it for the entire game, having it for the early part is still good.