How do I increase food output with farms?

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Author Topic:   How do I increase food output with farms?

Darts posted 03-23-99 03:28 AM ET
The manual says that farms increase food output by one and the computer opponents start building them right from the beginning.
Nevertheless my farms do not increase the output. What am I missing, a certain technology or what?
Hunterseeker posted 03-23-99 04:29 AM ET
Before you have discovered a certain technology( I'm not clear what technology) your food production cannot exceed 3. So building farms in those areas do not produce more food.
Darts posted 03-23-99 04:53 AM ET
But even on squares with only 1 or 2 food the farms won�t improve the output.
MrSmily posted 03-23-99 04:59 AM ET
Look for moist squares (green) to put farms on not dry arid ones (brown).
Spartan Frank posted 03-23-99 09:43 AM ET
Also try clicking on the box that shows the terrain, it should show you what values are there without enhancements and with enhancements (farm, mine, solar).
Darts posted 03-23-99 10:51 AM ET
That`s the point. On a fairly green square with 2 food, it says without farm:2 and WITH farm ALSO 2.
absimiliard posted 03-23-99 10:57 AM ET
No, no, no. I bet I know what the problem is.
You are mining those areas right Dart?
If so, when you mine you get a -1 food for that square. So a moist square (1 food) with a farm (+1 food for 2 food) and a mine (-1 food for 1 food total) will net you the same nutrient resources as an un-mined, un-farmed moist square. The advantage you get? +1 minerals in that square. The moral of my story?
Don't mine squares that you use to produce food. Use solar/farms instead. Mine rocky areas, or just use forests.
-absimiliard
Plato90s posted 03-23-99 10:58 AM ET
In order to produce 3 or more nutrients per square, you need to research a more advanced ecological technology. Can't remember it off the top of my head, but you need a different tech for nutrient, mineral, and energy to get each to 3 or above.
Did you notice a black rim around the nutrient output in a farmed rainy square? That's the indicator that you COULD be harvesting more if you had the right technology.
Darts posted 03-24-99 05:06 AM ET
Ok boys, this is what happened:
Since all your answers didn`t tell me anything new I tried again. For some reason the terrain box never shows the possible food improvement but in case of minerals and energy it does. So I built farms anyway and guess what, they improved the food output. Of course I tried that earlier (during the first games) but clever as I was only on sqares that had a food bonus (3 food). So the food couldn�t be increased since at that point I wasn�t aware of that "certain technology".
After all it seems to be a little software problem.
And the moral is "even no answer is an answer" and "you can win the first three levels easily without farms".
Cort posted 03-28-99 01:44 AM ET
When you Shift-Right-Click on a square, it tells you the height and stuff on the square. On the display window (where you see the height and stuff), left-click and the display will switch to display how much food, production, and energy the square gives you, including with farm, mine, or solar.
Dvorak posted 03-28-99 06:05 AM ET
The nutrient bonus doesn't count toward the max of 2 without tech.
Actually, there's a bug such that you can build a condensor on a rainy farmed square with a nutrient bonus to get 1.5*(2+1+2)=7 nutrients.
You can do the same with rocky+mine+road+mineral bonus to get 7 minerals even if you don't have the tech to normally get more than 2.
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Author	Topic: How do I increase food output with farms?
Darts	posted 03-23-99 03:28 AM ET The manual says that farms increase food output by one and the computer opponents start building them right from the beginning. Nevertheless my farms do not increase the output. What am I missing, a certain technology or what?
Hunterseeker	posted 03-23-99 04:29 AM ET Before you have discovered a certain technology( I'm not clear what technology) your food production cannot exceed 3. So building farms in those areas do not produce more food.
Darts	posted 03-23-99 04:53 AM ET But even on squares with only 1 or 2 food the farms won�t improve the output.
MrSmily	posted 03-23-99 04:59 AM ET Look for moist squares (green) to put farms on not dry arid ones (brown).
Spartan Frank	posted 03-23-99 09:43 AM ET Also try clicking on the box that shows the terrain, it should show you what values are there without enhancements and with enhancements (farm, mine, solar).
Darts	posted 03-23-99 10:51 AM ET That`s the point. On a fairly green square with 2 food, it says without farm:2 and WITH farm ALSO 2.
absimiliard	posted 03-23-99 10:57 AM ET No, no, no. I bet I know what the problem is. You are mining those areas right Dart? If so, when you mine you get a -1 food for that square. So a moist square (1 food) with a farm (+1 food for 2 food) and a mine (-1 food for 1 food total) will net you the same nutrient resources as an un-mined, un-farmed moist square. The advantage you get? +1 minerals in that square. The moral of my story? Don't mine squares that you use to produce food. Use solar/farms instead. Mine rocky areas, or just use forests. -absimiliard
Plato90s	posted 03-23-99 10:58 AM ET In order to produce 3 or more nutrients per square, you need to research a more advanced ecological technology. Can't remember it off the top of my head, but you need a different tech for nutrient, mineral, and energy to get each to 3 or above. Did you notice a black rim around the nutrient output in a farmed rainy square? That's the indicator that you COULD be harvesting more if you had the right technology.
Darts	posted 03-24-99 05:06 AM ET Ok boys, this is what happened: Since all your answers didn`t tell me anything new I tried again. For some reason the terrain box never shows the possible food improvement but in case of minerals and energy it does. So I built farms anyway and guess what, they improved the food output. Of course I tried that earlier (during the first games) but clever as I was only on sqares that had a food bonus (3 food). So the food couldn�t be increased since at that point I wasn�t aware of that "certain technology". After all it seems to be a little software problem. And the moral is "even no answer is an answer" and "you can win the first three levels easily without farms".
Cort	posted 03-28-99 01:44 AM ET When you Shift-Right-Click on a square, it tells you the height and stuff on the square. On the display window (where you see the height and stuff), left-click and the display will switch to display how much food, production, and energy the square gives you, including with farm, mine, or solar.
Dvorak	posted 03-28-99 06:05 AM ET The nutrient bonus doesn't count toward the max of 2 without tech. Actually, there's a bug such that you can build a condensor on a rainy farmed square with a nutrient bonus to get 1.5*(2+1+2)=7 nutrients. You can do the same with rocky+mine+road+mineral bonus to get 7 minerals even if you don't have the tech to normally get more than 2.