Civ IV Colonization - Terrain, Resources & Improvements

Base Terrain
Terrain Features
Resources
Improvements
Summary

BASE TERRAIN

Image	Name	Base Output	Other
	Coast	1 Food	Movement cost: 1 MP
	Desert	2 Ore	Movement cost: 1 MP +25% time to build improvements
	Grassland	3 Food 3 Tobacco	Movement cost: 1 MP
	Ice	2 Fur	Movement cost: 1 MP +50% time to build improvements
	Marsh	2 Food 3 Sugar	Movement cost: 1 MP +25% time to build improvements
	Ocean		Movement cost: 1 MP
	Peak	3 Ore 1 Silver	Movement cost: 2 MP Defensive bonus +25%
	Plains	3 Food 3 Cotton	Movement cost: 1 MP
	Tundra	2 Food 2 Fur	Movement cost: 1 MP +25% time to build improvements

TERRAIN FEATURES
Terrain features must be considered on the basis of what terrain type they are on. For example, grassland with forest will produce less food and tobacco, but yield plenty of lumber and some fur. Cutting down the forest will leave a basic grassland terrain, removing the possibility for lumber and fur but increasing output of food and tobacco.

Hills are found on various base terrains and change output to +3 ore and -1 food. Cotton/tobacco does not grow in hills even though it may be a hill with grasslands/plains. Hills may be covered by forest/jungle as well.

Tiles next to a river get a +1 base output, so look to settle near rivers whenever possible.

Image	Name	Exists on	Output changes	Movement
	Forest	Grassland Plains Marsh Tundra Ice	-2 Foo/Sug/Cot/Tob +6 Lumber +3 Fur	Movement cost is 2 Defensive bonus +50%
	Hills	Grassland Plains Desert Tundra Ice	-1 Food +3 Ore No Cot/Tob	Movement cost is 2 Defensive bonus +25%
	Ice	Ocean		Impassable terrain
	Jungle	Grassland Marsh	-2 Sug/Cot/Tob +4 Lumber	Movement cost is 2 Defensive bonus +50%
	Light Forest	Grassland Plains Tundra	-1 Foo/Cot/Tob +2 Lumber +2 Fur	Movement cost is 2 Defensive bonus +25%
	River	Potentially on all land tiles	+1 base output for all	Penalty for attacking across river, unless attacker has the Amphibious promotion

RESOURCES
Some tiles have resources on them. These tiles produce vast amounts of a particular material, especially when there's an expert in that field working the tile.

Image	Name	Adds to base output	Other notes
	Banana	+2 Food	*Cutting down jungle will remove banana Use Expert Farmer for max yield
	Corn	+3 Food	Use Expert Farmer for max yield
	Cotton	+2 Cotton	Use Expert Cotton Planter for max yield
	Crab	+3 Food	Use Expert Fisherman for max yield
	Deer	+2 Food	*Yields no food on Ice terrain Use Expert Farmer for max yield
	Fish	+4 Food	Use Expert Fisherman for max yield
	Fur	+2 Fur	Use Expert Trapper for max yield
	Iron	+2 Ore	Use Expert Ore Miner for max yield
	Silver	+2 Silver	Use Expert Silver Miner for max yield
	Sugar	+2 Sugar	Use Expert Sugar Planter for max yield
	Tobacco	+2 Tobacco	Use Expert Tobacco Planter for max yield

IMPROVEMENTS
Units equipped as pioneers are able to improve land to increase its output. Experts in the field, the Hardy Pioneers, build improvements 100% faster than regular pioneers. Improving a tile costs a little gold. Building a farm, lodge or mine, will increase the base output of a tile by +1. Building roads will reduce the movement cost of a tile to 0,5 MP. Pioneers are also able to cut down forests and jungle for free.

Image	Name	Increased Output	Other notes
	Farm	+1 Fo/Co/Su/To	Can only be built on flatlands Pillage yields 5 gold on average
	Lodge	+1 Lumber/Fur	Can only be built on forests/jungle Pillage yields 5 gold on average
	Mine	+1 Ore/Silver	Pillage yields 5 gold on average
	Road		Reduces movement cost to 0,5 MP for that tile
Other
	Ancient Ruins		May reveal goody when explored Use Seasoned Scouts for better results
	Burial Grounds		May reveal goody when explored Use Seasoned Scouts for better results
	Ruins		Razed/abandoned settlements

SUMMARY
To calculate a tile's potential output, simply add together the base output, then multiply by 2 if the tile is worked by an expert. Additional bonuses for Rebel Sentiment and Founding Fathers come on top of that.

Let's say you plan on growing tobacco on grassland with a river and a tobacco resource:

So in the somewhat extreme example above, a base output of 7 may actually end up at a total of 24,5 tobacco from one tile.

To find out which other Founding Fathers provide increased materials production, go here.

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