*This page last updated: 20 May, 2013 20:54 PST.
General Notes
- Tile improvements are structures built on map tiles, primarily by Worker units. They improve the production output of a tile, provide access to a resource on the tile, and/or offer other benefits.
- There are also improvements that can be constructed by Great People, and at least one unique unit (the Roman Legion) can construct some tile improvements.
- Roads are no longer required to connect resources to cities, only to connect cities to the capital for trade routes.
- Roads and railroads have per-turn maintenance costs.
- Pillaging a tile improvement provides a modest amount of gold.
- When a tile improvement is Pillaged by a unit, it the improvement is still there, but in a damaged state (the cursor hover tooltip says, for example, "Mine (Pillaged!)"). It takes 3 turns for a Worker to repair any pillaged road or improvement.
- Naval improvements (Fishing Boats and Oil Platforms) are destroyed when pillaged.
Tile Improvements
Ancient Ruins
Notes: These are the new version of the old Minor Tribes or "Goody Huts" that give bonuses for discovery in the early game. The goody options are all positive, and never negative:
- Ancient treasure which provides gold to your civilization.
- A map of the surrounding area.
- Reveal the locations of nearby barbarian encampments.
- Weapons upgrades. The unit which enters the tile is upgraded to a more advanced unit (a warrior might become a spearman, for example)
- Survivors from the earlier civilization. They move to one of your cities, increasing its population by one.
- A one-time boost to your culture.
- On the easier difficulty levels, ruins can also provide you with free settlers and workers.
Encampment
Familiar to any veteran of the series, barbarians are back, and similar to Civ III, they spawn from camps that can be destroyed for a cash reward. As before, camps can appear in any area that is not under the sight of any civilization. Barbarians in Civ V will not found cities, and will raze any city they capture. If barbarians capture Workers or Settlers, they will bring them back to the Encampment where they can be recaptured. Encampments on the coast can produce naval units.
Farm
Technology: Agriculture
Yield: +1 Food
Duration of Construction: 6 turns
Improves: Wheat. Can be built on: Grassland, Plains, Desert
Notes: It appears that Farms can now be built even where there is no access to
fresh water. However, the Civil Service technology gives an additional +1 Food bonus to
farms that are adjacent to lakes or rivers. Farms can be built on Hills if that
hill is adjacent to a river.
Roads
Technology: The Wheel
Duration of Construction: 3 turns
Notes: Increases movement speed of units, and connecting a city via roads to the
Capital establishes a
"Trade Route." Each tile of road that
you construct requires maintenance of 1 gold per turn. Units do no benefit from
roads or railroads in enemy territory, as in Civ IV. Roads can be removed by a
Worker; this action takes 2 turns.
Railroads
Technology: Railroad
Notes: Greater speed increase for units. Connecting a city via railroads to the
Capital proves a production bonus. Each tile of railroad requires maintenance of
2 gold per tile. Railroads replace roads, and also provide the functionality of
roads (as in connecting a Trade Route).
Fishing Boats
Technology: Sailing
Yield: none
Improves: Fish, Whales, Pearls
Camp
Technology: Trapping
Yield: none
Duration of Construction: 6 turns
Improves: Ivory, Furs, Deer
Mine
Technology: Mining
Yield: +1 Hammer
Duration of Construction: 6 turns
Can be built on: Hills
Improves: Iron, Gold, Silver, Gems, Coal, Uranium, Aluminum
Notes: Mines can be built on any mine-able resource, or on Hills terrain to
increase Production.
Pasture
Technology: Animal Husbandry
Yield: none
Duration of Construction: 7 turns
Improves: Cattle, Horse, Sheep
Trading Post
Technology: Guilds
Yield: +1 to +2 Gold
Duration of Construction: 8 turns
Can be built on: Grassland, Plains, Desert, Tundra
Notes: Gods & Kings provided a new graphic for the Trading Post, and it is now available with Guilds (a new Medieval era
technology) instead of Trapping.
Plantation
Technology: Calendar
Yield: none
Duration of Construction: 5 turns
Improves: Bananas, Dye, Silk, Spices, Sugar, Cotton, Wine, Incense
Quarry
Technology: Masonry
Yield: none
Duration of Construction: 7 turns
Improves: Marble, Stone
Fort
Technology: Engineering
Can be built on: Grassland, Plains, Desert, Tundra, Snow
Notes: +50% defense.
Lumber Mill
Technology: Engineering
Can be built on: Forest
Yield: +1 Hammer
Duration of Construction: 6 turns
Oil Well
Technology: Biology
Yield: none
Duration of Construction: 8 turns
Improves: Oil
Offshore Platform
Technology: Refrigeration
Yield: none
Improves: Oil
Notes: Created by Work Boats on a marine Oil resource.
Citadel
+100% Defensive Strength for any Unit stationed in this Tile. Any enemy unit
which ends its turn next to the Citadel takes 3 damage.
Notes: Special Fort-like improvement created by a Great General.
Academy
Yield: +5 science
Can be built on: Grassland, Plains, Desert, Tundra, Snow
Notes: The Academy is now a tile improvement, rather than a city building. It
can be created by sacrificing a Great Person. The icon is an abacus.
Landmark
Yield: +4 Culture
Notes: Special improvement created by a Great Artist.
Manufactory
Yield: +3 Production
Notes: Special improvement created by Great Engineer.
Customs House
Yield: +4 Gold
Notes: Gold-boosting improvement built by sacrificing a Great Merchant.
Moai
Technology: Construction
Yield: +1 Culture, plus one for each adjacent Moai. +1 Gold after the research
of Flight technology.
Notes: Unique Improvement for Polynesia. May only be built on the coast. Adds culture.
Provides +10% Combat Strength bonus to friendly units within 2 tiles.
Terrace Farm
Technology: Construction
Yield: +1 Food, and an additional +1 Food for each adjacent Mountain tile.
Notes: Unique Improvement for the Incas. May only be built on Hills. "Terrace
Farming developed in mountainous areas simultaneously around the world,
including Bali, the Philippines, Chine and Peru. These skinny, stepped fields
are cut into hill and mountain sides, preventing the run off of irrigation water
and providing space for arable land, usually where none was previously possible.
The Incas in particular were masters of terrace farming, and erected large,
drystone walls to hold their terraces in place. After building the terrace's
shape, the Incas then constructed systems of canals and aqueducts to provide the
terraces with constant water, increasing the land's fertility. The ancient
Incan's terracing techniques were so successful that modern Peruvian farmers
still employ them in their farms today."
Motte and Bailey
Technology: Engineering
Yield: +100% Defense
Notes: Unique Improvement for the Normans in the 1066 scenario in the Viking DLC.
Can be constructed by a Norman Swordsman in the same time it takes a Worker to
construct a Fort. Any unit stationed within a Motte and Bailey receives a 100%
defensive strength bonus. Additionally, any enemy unit which ends its turn next
to a Motte and Bailey takes 3 damage. (This is the same benefit as a Citadel.)
Polder
Yield: +3 Food
Technology: Guilds
Built on: Marsh, Floodplains
Notes: A unique improvement for the Netherlands. It increases food production
in Marsh or Floodplain tiles. Polders do not produce Tulips, as
erroneously claimed in a few foreign previews. A "polder" is an
agricultural area of land reclaimed from marsh, lakebed or the sea, surrounded
by dikes (and a windmill to pump the water out as it seeps back in).
Holy Site
Yield: +6 Faith.
Notes: An improvement created by a Great Prophet. It adds +6 Faith
production to the tile. This yield can be improved with Piety social policies.