My 10yr old son and I play MP Hotseat with 6-8 AI.
Last week he was trying to move an injured scout to a forested hill before healing. Seeing some birds taking off a few tiles to the north, he told me he thought a lion or some other "barbarian" must be moving there, so he moved in another direction.
I was dubious, as I hadn't seen it, so we saved the game and went back to the most recent autosave. Watching carefully, I noticed the birds just as he had said. We moved his scout to the north and sure enough, there was a lion.
I then went to an EARLIER save and tried to manuever the scout to get to the area where we had seen the birds earlier (in real time - later in game time) and the lion SEEMED to be at the tile at the time we saw the birds.

Anyone else notice this before? I have been unable to reproduce it, and didn't think to save the autosaves before we went to another game.

If real, this would be a valid tactic of keeping eyes open to detect enemy movement at a distance. It would seem that it would work for any units in forests at any era.

I noticed the birds too. They also appear when you enter a forest, but i have seen this only when exploring early in the game. I suspect that birds appear randomly, not every time a unit marches in that tile. If you notice this in the early game it can save you a turn on a barb invasion, but it could be an animal (that can't enter borders) or a scouting unit of another civ. I don't think that would be a huge help anyway, it doesn't save much in any case. Good observation though.

I don't think this can have a big strategic impact, but it is certainly an intereting observation.

[QUOTE=mucco]I noticed the birds too. They also appear when you enter a forest, but i have seen this only when exploring early in the game. [QUOTE]

It happens all through the game(there just arent many forests or alrge unexplored areas later on), could be usefull as a slight advantage.

Starbuilder, please tell your 10-yr old that Frank is impressed!

wow, that's a cool find. I'd never noticed it.:goodjob:

:hatsoff: My 10yr old son and I play MP Hotseat with 6-8 AI.
Last week he was trying to move an injured scout to a forested hill before healing. Seeing some birds taking off a few tiles to the north, he told me he thought a lion or some other "barbarian" must be moving there, so he moved in another direction.
I was dubious, as I hadn't seen it, so we saved the game and went back to the most recent autosave. Watching carefully, I noticed the birds just as he had said. We moved his scout to the north and sure enough, there was a lion.
I then went to an EARLIER save and tried to manuever the scout to get to the area where we had seen the birds earlier (in real time - later in game time) and the lion SEEMED to be at the tile at the time we saw the birds.

Anyone else notice this before? I have been unable to reproduce it, and didn't think to save the autosaves before we went to another game.

If real, this would be a valid tactic of keeping eyes open to detect enemy movement at a distance. It would seem that it would work for any units in forests at any era.

Isn't it amazing what kids see and we miss. My boy loves the game and it amazes me how much he spots. I started him out with the tutorial (he spent hours on it), showed him the ropes on Settler and he has made it to Noble on his own. When he watches me play he spots things before I do.

Cheers to a new generation of Civers.:hatsoff:

I've always noticed birds from moving my OWN unit into a tile, but it never occurred to me that enemy units did it too. Nice find! And out of curiosity, might it only be triggered the first time the tile is entered? Not necessarily every forest tile, but say there is a 25% chance of birds flying out of a forest tile the first time it is entered?

That's what I love about this game, even compared to Civ3 - the level of detail is so amazing, it really draws you into the experience.

The end result is that you didn't go where you wanted. Perhaps the alternative was just as appealing? In any event, though I hadn't noticed that either, the best remedy is prevention. If you want your units protected, to where most if not all of the animal barbs don't matter, always end the unit's movement in covered terrain, preferably wooded hills. To move in such a manner is about as convenient as jumping every time you sees birds scatter, but I think the end result is better.

Also, though it doesn't seem instinctual to this game, you can also attack the animals with a high degree of success (scouts can't of course). For me, I pretty much ignore the animals, as usually ending up in cover terrain suffices for a high survival rate, but the bears still have to be respected until you're throwing axemen out there perhaps. Attacking the non-bears just makes the issue that much easier, but make sure and check those odds.

I had spotted it once when moving one of my units in (only playe dthe demo up until now) but never thought of using it for observation - wonder if it happens when any unit moves into an unoccupied tree'd square?

Nice observation!

Birds also revealed enemy movements in Medieval Total War.

i never noticed the birds