Base square resource production

[Degrumo]

To be clear, when I say base square, I mean the one which the base itself occupies, where terraforming isn't possible, and even if you build it on existing terraforming, you won't get extra resources. Are base squares always 2-1-2 production, with possible production improvements being rivers (+1 energy), recycling tanks (+1 each), landmarks (+1 of one), and special resources (+2 of one)? What are people's thoughts on building on top of special resources in particular? I tend to play with blind research and tech stagnation, and therefore can't guarantee quick access to uncapped resource production, tree farms, and hybrid forests. I'll dabble with a borehole on a special. But I haven't done this on my most recent playthroughs, and didn't notice things to be different. I've told myself it'd be a good idea to dabble with farms in rainy squares with nutrient specials early on, but I never bother, and nutrients are uncapped first anyway. I've tended to avoid placing bases on resource specials, but maybe this is a needless restriction. It seems it may be a good way to get a base to immediately work two strong squares, if you were to place the base on a resource special, and within range of another resource special.

[Geo]

IIRC, its possible to alter the  base square production in the alpha(x).txt file, but besides the means you already summed up, that's the only way.
Personally, I tend to avoid settling bases on top of a resource. I feel the production increase with an improvement more then makes up the initial benefit of settling on top.

[Degrumo]

I feel the production increase with an improvement more then makes up the initial benefit of settling on top.

Examples?

[Nexii]

I think only condensor on nutrient bonus would qualify, since it's a multiplier
Minerals/energy it doesn't matter

[bvanevery]

Settling on top of a nutrient or energy special in flat terrain is correct play.  You'll gain all the nutrients or energy, and the mineral content of the square will be improved by your base.  If such a square is not a good spot for other reasons, then it is best to plant a forest on it.

At sea, settling on top of a minerals special is correct play, as you will get the mineral bonus in addition to your base's minerals.  However, specials are often part of a "diamond" cluster of 4, so it may not be the optimal placement.  I've played many games where I've settled each special individually, so that cities are rather much closer together than they would be on land.  This is fine from a food standpoint, as kelp produces a lot of food.  However from a territorial control standpoint it wastes a lot of control potential, and in some games that actually matters.

[Fibonacci]

Energy bonus squares at 2000+ elevation would be 5 energy with solar collectors, 3000+ 6 energy, and another +1 energy if you place a river. Tack on another +1 if you're at +2 economy rating, and yet another +1 if you have the merchant exchange. If you can manage all this, I'd definitely recommend working it instead of settling on top of it. If it's flat and arid crawl it to your capital. If it's at least rolling and moist work it until it's feasible to crawl the energy to your capital. 5 to 9 energy from a single square before Environment Economics is nothing to sneeze at.

Playing from a  perspective, I'd be quite happy to work such a tile in my 3rd or later city. With how early I get Free Market running, a 6 energy tile is basically a technician and a librarian before I can conveniently get to 5 population. The exceptionally rare 9 energy tile would be like having a third specialist. More importantly, this much energy makes it practical to get a golden age pop boom going via psych. A size 4 city with a children's creche, recreation commons, running democracy and 6 psych can pump out a lot of colony pods. Either to make new bases, or push other bases to size 5 so they can go all specialists.

A nutrient on a flat arid tile? Either forest and work it if it's also available to swap occasionally to another base, or settle on it if there's just going to be one base in range.
A nutrient on a rolling and moist or better tile? Farm it tack on a condenser ASAP. There are big turn advantages to an immediate 4 nutrient tile that can become a 7 (or more if you manage to luck into this in the jungle).

Bonus mineral? Again if it's arid or moist and flat either forest it if it can be swapped to benefit two different bases at times, or settle on it. Rolling and moist, probably still better with a forest now, and mine/road it later to harvest 5 minerals from the forest and make a 1 nutrient 5 mineral square. Rolling and Rainy, mine/farm/road that puppy. 2 nutrients and 5 minerals is a great workable tile. Rocky? You can't settle it without flattening, and you shouldn't. Mine/road it for 7 minerals.

Now if it's a coastal mineral or energy, consider if you'll want to borehole it. An early Weather Paradigm can make this a wonderful tile to work rather than settle. If you already discovered Ecological Engineering, and you're not far from Environmental Economics anyhow, consider whether you want to make an adjacent tile that's worse into a borehole instead.

[Degrumo]

Started a fresh game, and my pod landed in a river. I opened a pod one tile down the river that yielded an energy bonus. So my first base's square will nicely start at 2-1-5 from the beginning. Time will tell if it's a red herring I suppose.

[Geo]

Did you start as Morgan by chance? 

[Degrumo]

Did you start as Morgan by chance? 

University. The downside appears to be that the island is tiny, and I've got 3 factions very close. Intense rivalry and random personality settings are in place.

[Induktio]

> What are people's thoughts on building on top of special resources in particular?
> I tend to play with blind research and tech stagnation, and therefore can't guarantee quick access to uncapped resource production, tree farms, and hybrid forests

A very important consideration is that a resource bonus provides free production cap lifting for that one resource, in one tile. If you settle on a resource, you waste that extra ability, so often it can be a suboptimal play. Even more so when tech stagnation is enabled.

Early on it's very powerful to place forests on nutrient resources, so you'll gain a production boost from self-sustaining 3-2-1 tile when every resource is scarce. At early/mid game it's maybe worth it to build boreholes on mineral/energy bonus resources even if you lack all the production cap lifts. Also condenser-farms on nutrient bonuses work well. Later on if you have all the production caps lifted, then settling on a resource is pretty much a non-issue.

[bvanevery]

Energy bonus squares at 2000+ elevation would be 5 energy with solar collectors, 3000+ 6 energy, and another +1 energy if you place a river. Tack on another +1 if you're at +2 economy rating, and yet another +1 if you have the merchant exchange. If you can manage all this, I'd definitely recommend working it instead of settling on top of it.

Aren't you going to get a lot of those bonuses in your city anyways?

If it's flat and arid crawl it to your capital. If it's at least rolling and moist work it until it's feasible to crawl the energy to your capital. 5 to 9 energy from a single square before Environment Economics is nothing to sneeze at.

True of the original game.  In my modding work, supply crawlers aren't allowed until late game.  Actually Tree Farms are pushing into late game nowadays as well.  Crawlers also cost a minimum of 50 minerals, to curb people's tendency to belt them out to make a super capitol.  The Will To Power mod is even more extreme, I don't think it allows supply crawlers at all?  Either that or they're so late that I've never gotten them.

A very important consideration is that a resource bonus provides free production cap lifting for that one resource, in one tile. If you settle on a resource, you waste that extra ability,

Not for food or energy, that I recall.  Pretty sure they get fully worked.  The problem with settling on a mineral on land is you don't get the benefit of a mine on it.  Guess I'd have to start a test game to verify settlement food and energy, but "getting capped" sure doesn't square with any memory I have of any city I've made.

[Induktio]

> Not for food or energy, that I recall.  Pretty sure they get fully worked. The problem with settling on a mineral on land is you don't get the benefit of a mine on it.  Guess I'd have to start a test game to verify settlement food and energy, but "getting capped" sure doesn't square with any memory I have of any city I've made.

What? Bonus resources lift production caps in each case for the resource that is represented by the bonus, for that one tile. This ability is irrelevant for base tiles, because they have always uncapped production from the moment game begins. It's really easy to check in the editor. Rocky mine + mineral resource + road (it's needed for the full bonus) would yield 7 minerals, so I guess that's one of the biggest boosts a bonus resource can give before restriction lifting. Plus it's a lot faster to build than a borehole, which would yield 4 extra production + 2 extra production from the bonus resource if built on energy/mineral tile (before production caps are lifted).

[bvanevery]

base tiles, because they have always uncapped production from the moment game begins.

I think the important thing is that base tiles have uncapped production.  So I think there's no reason you wouldn't settle on top of a nutrient or energy bonus.  You immediately get its full production.  Guess I'll have to check compared to farms, solar collectors, and soil enrichers.  I don't generally consider Condensers because I'm almost always doing a "forest and forget" strategy, even with Tree Farms coming a lot later now in my own mod, and forests being a bit more expensive to plant.  They're still worth it.

If it doesn't turn out to be as optimal as a fully improved tile, there's still the logic of getting most of the bonus benefit immediately, without having to do any work.  Absolutely critical at the beginning of the game.  Dunno about later in the game, not convinced anything really matters later on.