11-05-2001 19:57									#1
	Tile Improvements, Tile Management, and Tile Makeup Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

More often than not, growth and production is based on how well you use land, not how much of it you have.

If a tile represents a 100 x 100 mile section, then each tile should be treated similar to a city. I think tiles should contain their own subsections which would show the tile's makeup. Then one tile would not necessarily be one terrain type. Terrain could then be drawn more realistically and the land used more efficiently. Look at mainland Britain. That little island is home to numerous mines, factories, farms, hills, rivers, etc. Yet compare the land to the Earth maps in Civ2. You can't build an Empire using those ten squares of land. But in its prime, the British Empire controlled most of the world. From North America to the South Pacific to India.

Tile Improvements would then be built similar to buildings in a city. It would be possible for one tile to have an iron mine, a pig farm, a bridge, a power plant, a radar station, an airbase.... you get my point? Then the tile's resources would be transported to the city for usage. And as better technologies are discovered, more production of commodities would be allowed. Then most of the game wouldn't be about building tons of settlers and building tons of irrigation.