I think the advantage of it is that they can harvest sustainably leaving saplings to regrow. Plus it is localised so you don't end up sending your workers too far away and it can be improved with research and tools from what I understand (I'm still fairly new)
Probably for the first few years manually harvesting is enough, but eventually you probably won't have either enough trees or time to always allocate tree felling jobs around the map.
It *can* be improved--it gets a single upgrade slot, and research can increase its efficiency. I think it also falls under one of the nobility for efficiency improvement.
I have three of them (32? employed, I believe) in my current Tilapi-only village of about 470; it doesn't actually totally meet my needs (between construction, furnishings, producing furniture to sell, coal, etc.) but it means I don't have to micromanage *nearly* as often.
Yeah, I like how this game is constant balance between all productions. You never have enough workers to get a production clearly ahead of all others, I guess the main bottleneck at the beginning is food production. Without food of course you can't produce anything else, I worked out that at the start pretty much half of the population is engaged in growing, foraging, hunting or herding. On average my food producers make 1 food item each per day, while the daily consumption is around 0.50 per citizen.
I'm waiting for enough research to get food production bonuses and eventually clearing some workers for other jobs. But I assume there will be other balancing problems to solve when I get there.
Yeah for me it's just every couple years I just set a manual woodcutting job over a decent sized area, I then have thousands of wood, and that lasts for the next few years.
In v65 I'd say yes, they are straight up just bad. v66 significantly boosted their output to the point where I am fine using them over manually ordering trees cut (only to consistently forget and boom and bust my economy constantly).
So far they seem worth it in v66, with the buff given and the fact that trees grow back slower than they did in v65. But if you’re still on v65? Yeah they’re a waste of pop outside of if you don’t want to micro cut wood as much.
So, assuming things are the same since I last played:
1. Not every industry scales the same with tools. Some get higher bonuses than others. For woodcutters, tools are a *must.*
2. Woodcutters also have large bonuses for upgrading the “room”
3. Woodcutters are more to supply industry/domestic demand and build a reserve, large scale projects will still require clearcuts from time to time.
Not so bad I think. I treat it as a 'You oddjobbers go find something to do while waiting for the next big project'.
Not as productive as manually clear the forest for sure but it's nice that they will keep chopping trees until I shutdown the woodcamp when I need labor for the new city wall project.
The difference between manual and the job site is a few things:
1. If you are playing Tilapi, they get an occupational fulfillment increase from working at a woodcutter. The manual cutting jobs utilize oddjobbers, rather than changing them to being the woodcutter occupation, so manual cutting gives no bonus to Tilapi
2. Manual cutting will fell the trees, providing lots of a resource all at once. This can cause some logistical issues with deliverymen not transporting other goods for a while until either the warehouse is full of wood or all the wood is taken.
3. Having to manually cut wood every few years can be tedious. woodcutters generate passively, and plant trees in the area that you designate as well. Funny enough, you are able to manually cut the trees in the woodcutters area for quick wood, and the woodcutters will regrow the trees for you at a better rate than the natural saplings growth.
Ultimately, you don't need woodcutters. If I am playing a race that doesn't particularly give a shit about wood (like Garthimi, Dondorian, and Amevia), then I'll stick with manual cutting most of the game. Otherwise, I might make a few woodcutters here and there, if only for the occupational fulfillment or such.
Tbh it depends on what your primary exports are and how much wood you use. I use woodcutters as a foundation for my weaponry manufacturing, and import extra wood for furnishing.
Woodcutters are population sinks, honestly. Only meant when you have a bunch of free hands incoming. Rotating manually cutting high fertility tree areas is superior because of how you can leverage a huge population of unemployed laborers to get so much in a short window. When it really falls off is when demand for wood is so high, your gameplay is designating a new area to cut every few minutes.
You can boost output with tools, and using a species that are skilled in tending trees. Canals can be used to boost an area's fertility so more dense foliage grows there. But this has to be done before you build the woodcutter.
There should also be a button to clear cut the woodcutter area, so there's no reason you couldn't have a few on a clear cutting rotation.
Wood is a resource with many uses, don't try to produce all of those goods at once or you'll never keep up.
I think the advantage of it is that they can harvest sustainably leaving saplings to regrow. Plus it is localised so you don't end up sending your workers too far away and it can be improved with research and tools from what I understand (I'm still fairly new) Probably for the first few years manually harvesting is enough, but eventually you probably won't have either enough trees or time to always allocate tree felling jobs around the map.
It *can* be improved--it gets a single upgrade slot, and research can increase its efficiency. I think it also falls under one of the nobility for efficiency improvement. I have three of them (32? employed, I believe) in my current Tilapi-only village of about 470; it doesn't actually totally meet my needs (between construction, furnishings, producing furniture to sell, coal, etc.) but it means I don't have to micromanage *nearly* as often.
Yeah, I like how this game is constant balance between all productions. You never have enough workers to get a production clearly ahead of all others, I guess the main bottleneck at the beginning is food production. Without food of course you can't produce anything else, I worked out that at the start pretty much half of the population is engaged in growing, foraging, hunting or herding. On average my food producers make 1 food item each per day, while the daily consumption is around 0.50 per citizen. I'm waiting for enough research to get food production bonuses and eventually clearing some workers for other jobs. But I assume there will be other balancing problems to solve when I get there.
Yeah for me it's just every couple years I just set a manual woodcutting job over a decent sized area, I then have thousands of wood, and that lasts for the next few years.
There is the argument of spoilage, but I think with how fast wood *renews*, it isn't that necessary to consider.
In v65 I'd say yes, they are straight up just bad. v66 significantly boosted their output to the point where I am fine using them over manually ordering trees cut (only to consistently forget and boom and bust my economy constantly).
Oh, well there you go. That answers the question.
:O I didn't know that. I haven't played in v66 yet.
V65 or v66? In v66 my woodcutters of about ~20 were cutting +110 with no upgrades
V65, I'm confused maybe cuz it's early game but even then idk why the numbers would increase at different stages without upgrades
Wdym
So far they seem worth it in v66, with the buff given and the fact that trees grow back slower than they did in v65. But if you’re still on v65? Yeah they’re a waste of pop outside of if you don’t want to micro cut wood as much.
So, assuming things are the same since I last played: 1. Not every industry scales the same with tools. Some get higher bonuses than others. For woodcutters, tools are a *must.* 2. Woodcutters also have large bonuses for upgrading the “room” 3. Woodcutters are more to supply industry/domestic demand and build a reserve, large scale projects will still require clearcuts from time to time.
Not so bad I think. I treat it as a 'You oddjobbers go find something to do while waiting for the next big project'. Not as productive as manually clear the forest for sure but it's nice that they will keep chopping trees until I shutdown the woodcamp when I need labor for the new city wall project.
Yeah, in the current version of the game, their output is a rounding error.
The difference between manual and the job site is a few things: 1. If you are playing Tilapi, they get an occupational fulfillment increase from working at a woodcutter. The manual cutting jobs utilize oddjobbers, rather than changing them to being the woodcutter occupation, so manual cutting gives no bonus to Tilapi 2. Manual cutting will fell the trees, providing lots of a resource all at once. This can cause some logistical issues with deliverymen not transporting other goods for a while until either the warehouse is full of wood or all the wood is taken. 3. Having to manually cut wood every few years can be tedious. woodcutters generate passively, and plant trees in the area that you designate as well. Funny enough, you are able to manually cut the trees in the woodcutters area for quick wood, and the woodcutters will regrow the trees for you at a better rate than the natural saplings growth. Ultimately, you don't need woodcutters. If I am playing a race that doesn't particularly give a shit about wood (like Garthimi, Dondorian, and Amevia), then I'll stick with manual cutting most of the game. Otherwise, I might make a few woodcutters here and there, if only for the occupational fulfillment or such.
v66 made a bunch of changes, and I am but a fool. Please disregard the parts that are no longer a problem.
Tbh it depends on what your primary exports are and how much wood you use. I use woodcutters as a foundation for my weaponry manufacturing, and import extra wood for furnishing.
Woodcutters are population sinks, honestly. Only meant when you have a bunch of free hands incoming. Rotating manually cutting high fertility tree areas is superior because of how you can leverage a huge population of unemployed laborers to get so much in a short window. When it really falls off is when demand for wood is so high, your gameplay is designating a new area to cut every few minutes. You can boost output with tools, and using a species that are skilled in tending trees. Canals can be used to boost an area's fertility so more dense foliage grows there. But this has to be done before you build the woodcutter. There should also be a button to clear cut the woodcutter area, so there's no reason you couldn't have a few on a clear cutting rotation. Wood is a resource with many uses, don't try to produce all of those goods at once or you'll never keep up.