I've played like more than 20 full games in BTS, trying several approaches (diplomatic, warmonger, culturalistic, etc) and in NONE, I repeat NONE, of them I was able to build the Hanging Gardens.

what's so special with it that the AI builds it on every game?

if getting Mathematics in time is a problem, try an oracle slingshot by researching writing at the same time or before the turn you complete the oracle. Then select math as your free tech.

Also, play an industrius leader and try chopping/whipping it as quickly as possible.

Frankly, the HG aren't that important in my games and I rarely build them.

Thnx, iit is not that I am EAGERLY waiting to get it, but I'm puzzled for not getting it at least once. That was my doubt...

You might find this interesting - http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2647.

Realms Beyond just completed a game where the goal was to complete all 34 World Wonders. Good information around dates for completing the WWs. A test game after we were done revealed the AI built it around 820AD.

Note that your mileage may vary.;)

This is something that puzzles me too. In every BTS game I played I never got the HG. Mathematics seems to be the first thing the AI goes for.

You are building an Aqueduct first, right?

Odd. I wait to build the Gardens until I have enough cities to get real benefit from them (it?) and only very, very rarely has some AI civ beaten me to it. This is at Monarch level, mostly on large pangaeas.

The Hanging Gardens are nice to have (It's a specialist extra in each city. Problem?) but I can't figure out how to build it either in Bts. Not yet, that is.

The Hanging Gardens are nice to have (It's a specialist extra in each city. Problem?) but I can't figure out how to build it either in Bts. Not yet, that is.

Not a specialist but +1 health in all cities and +1 population in the cities you already have - which is why I wait until I have several cities.

I don't see heres the problem!
1st: Maths;
2nd: Aqueduct;
3rd: Hanging Gardens;
4th: conquered the near by civs enemies!!! (OK the last one, only if the AI build it 1st).

Not a specialist but +1 health in all cities and +1 population in the cities you already have - which is why I wait until I have several cities.

+1 population can be exchanged to +1 specialist in each individual city, right?

That's funny, I ALWAYS, and I mean like every game, end up building the HG. I play on Prince though.

Never get the Oracle, either, unless I specifically plan to get it.

There is a almost fool proof way of getting HG:
-Oracle MC
-Chop/whip quickly a forge in a city that does not hold the Oracle and hire a engineer ( IIRC correctly you need to do it in max 6 turns after building the Oracle, for the GE GPP surpasses the GP GPP from the Oracle )
-Tech to Maths and chop/whip a aqueduct in the city that will get the HG
-GE rush the HG

+1 population can be exchanged to +1 specialist in each individual city, right?

Kinda.
Its not a permanent +1 population.
But +1 pop at the time the wonder is built.
You still have to keep him happy and feed him.

Eg. If you have a city built in the middle of the desert that with a population of 2 and dosnt have enough food resources to grow anymore. There are no more tiles which can generate more food, so even if it could grow it would then starve back down to 2pop.
Now build the Hanging Gardens somewhere in your civ, your desert city will spring up to 3pop, then starve down to 2pop.

Not that great of a wonder, nice if you are playing on a low to mid range difficulty and have time to delay it and wait until you have 7 or more cities that all can support a greater population but arnt growing fast enough. Then build it.
But for +1health in all my cities I'll pass. I dont find health that big of an issue outside a floodplain ravaged city. At least not until factories and oil arrive.

I just built it on Emperor... Dunno if it was close, I didn't chop and the computer beat me to the Oracle. I had stone tho, that was probably it (not Industrious).

Strange... What level do you play?

Playing on Monarch, I build it at least three times out of four when I attempt it, and I don't even beeline to maths...
But I only attempt it when I do have stone. And I generally play archipelago. On that setting, the AI seems to put much more emphasis on the Colossus and the GLH.

Strange that you have problem getting the HG, I get it in 1/2 of my games on emperor, and then I don't really go for it from the begining. I guess it just siuts my way of teching, I almost allways go for oracle sometimes math sometimes monarchy sometimes alphabet for the free tech. I can often get the HG without taking math ad free tech....

I don't really got any good advices to get it but a great production city is important.

Strange that you have problem getting the HG, I get it in 1/2 of my games on emperor, and then I don't really go for it from the begining. I guess it just siuts my way of teching, I almost allways go for oracle sometimes math sometimes monarchy sometimes alphabet for the free tech. I can often get the HG without taking math ad free tech....

I don't really got any good advices to get it but a great production city is important.

Usually get it too, prob. because I beeline to the Oracle then research Math and Currency, followed by Sailing.
Home city gets Oracle, then Hanging Gardens, then Hagia Sophia.
Second city, if coastal, gets Colossus then Moi statues.

Kinda.
Its not a permanent +1 population.
But +1 pop at the time the wonder is built.
You still have to keep him happy and feed him.

Eg. If you have a city built in the middle of the desert that with a population of 2 and dosnt have enough food resources to grow anymore. There are no more tiles which can generate more food, so even if it could grow it would then starve back down to 2pop.
Now build the Hanging Gardens somewhere in your civ, your desert city will spring up to 3pop, then starve down to 2pop.

Not that great of a wonder, nice if you are playing on a low to mid range difficulty and have time to delay it and wait until you have 7 or more cities that all can support a greater population but arnt growing fast enough. Then build it.
But for +1health in all my cities I'll pass. I dont find health that big of an issue outside a floodplain ravaged city. At least not until factories and oil arrive.

Still... I extra specialist. As you say, I too wait until I have a number of cities... It takes some time to research maths anyways.

... But who does actually build desert cities? :p

I would agree that the AI goes for Hanging Gardens a lot more so in BTS compared to Vanilla. In fact, in Vanilla it seemed to be the "leftover scraps" Wonder that the AI never went for. Also there is the fact that many of the AI beeline for Math before other techs like Alphabet, IW, CoL or Monarchy, that human players may be prioritizing.

I like to build HG as it helps generates engineers which can lead to more wonders.

Specialists? I thought the advantage of the HG was that you could build it one productive location, and then whip it back in all the unproductive locations.

- O

I like to build HG as it helps generates engineers which can lead to more wonders.
Indeed. That's its greatest advantage. The rest is just... nice.
I'll skip this wonder if I don't have stone, anyway.
And when I have stone, I'll rather build the Pyramids, if there's still enough time.
But on archipelago, the utmost priority is to build the GLH.