So, just how often does this happen to everyone? To me, this happens ALL the time. I have my eyes on a future city location, and I'll be darned to see in game after game how the AI manages to get there to build a city within 2 plots of that site ONE turn before I was going to build there with my settler.

The same goes with wonders, although it's usually 1-3 turns left on the build time. I still find this close enough considering you might have just spent 20-40 turns on building a wonder, only to see the AI beat you with a turn or two.

Mighty frustrating? Yes. Actually, sometimes it is so annoying it can kill the game for me. It happens way often too. How about for you?

Yup it happens, but don't blame AI for your own failure. You just need to be faster, in whatever you are doing.

Since you're actually the first one to move every turn, you can blame noone but yourself :)

It's true, it's my own fault, usually.

I played a game last night. The computer managed to build a city on the most desired plot the turn before I would build it. A few turns later, they completed the oracle 2 turns before me. Got annoyed and made a new game this morning. I decided to skip building the oracle entirely, but nobody ever build it this time, and since my capitol was pretty large and could build it on 18 turns (epic), I decided to give it a go and even began to chop down a couple of forests. Two turns left to complete it and I thought for myself: "I BET the AI will complete it next turn".. and what happens? "The Oracle has been built in a far away land". AAArggGHhH!!

Should I laugh or should I cry? Next wonder I'm building, it gets built by an AI 1 turn before I'd complete it.

Then i suggest you maximize production at the cost of some food squares from time to time, or even consider rushing the wonder when you're able to. With slavery its even easier :)

The AI often posts a unit (chariot/archer etc early game) where it intends to settle. That is a sign that you need to whip/chop that settler faster to beat him to the spot. :)

I've seen it mentioned before but really annoys me when I rush the wonder in question, saving like 8-9 turns (marathon), and then the AI builds it on their turn during that same phase. Can anyone point out an article or post that details the order of activities during a turn (i.e., growth, production, movement, etc...)?

It does give a nice bit of gold, however, which basically funded my empire through a couple of wars (ironically, I think I was trying for the Statue of Zeus).

Rarely happens to me :)

On Immortal, the AI will beat me to most wonders anyway, so I dont bother (except for great library, and I always get it). And when I badly want a specific city-spot, I'll take it right at the start, even if it is far away from my capital. Great spots pay off. Just plan ahead, beeline to the things you REALLY want, and skip the others altogether.

You can always cheat... save every turn, use slavery, and if you're one turn away from completion, then the AI beats you to it, just go back a turn, and whip that wonder to completion.

That'll teach those AI civs from trying to steal your wonder!

Okay... everyone throw tomatos at me now for suggesting to cheat! Whatever makes the game fun for you!

In that game the wonder was actually an afterthought. I picked up the tech, saw only a couple of civs had it, and decided, why not? Figured I'd slow build it until I could whip and if I missed it before the whip fine, got gold for my trouble which I need anyway. It was the fact that I did the whip and still lost (would have preferred the people or being able to whip something else) that bothered me. Almost wish buildings (or at least wonders) for all civs where completed before movement phases began.

You can always cheat... save every turn, use slavery, and if you're one turn away from completion, then the AI beats you to it, just go back a turn, and whip that wonder to completion.

That'll teach those AI civs from trying to steal your wonder!

Okay... everyone throw tomatos at me now for suggesting to cheat! Whatever makes the game fun for you!

http://throw-a-tomato.com/logo.jpg

What I get beat to by one turn the most: Goodie huts.

Whenever I'm building an important wonder, I will rush it the second I am able, population be damned. If you wait, the AI won't:)

I'm always amazed how the AIs seems to just have settlers in reserve lying around, ready to claim a city site at a moment's notice. In all kinds of scenarios, they seem to have settlers at the ready. I'll be in a big war with one of them, and when the dust settles, they are finding city spots. Are they constantly building settlers, even when in a war? Who knows. Maybe I need to shift my strategy but I'm usually only building settlers when I actually decide I need them.

I did actually see a few settlers wandering around my allie's territory late game last game, and wondered what the heck they were for - I guess this must have been it! So I guess they really do have them just laying around...

This has happened to me so much (Wonders especially) that I'm always paraniod and will rush in every way, as if I'm about to lose the race.
Slavery? Check.
Rush with gold? Check.
Chopping? Sure.
Great Engineer? You bet.
I figure the long-term benefits of (whatever Wonder) will always outweigh my short-term, short-sighted, possibly needless rushing... :p

In almost every single game I've played, at least once per game, the AI gets to that sweet city spot 1 turn before me at least once!

The other day, I had a small continent to myself and was enjoying a large lead in score, and here comes Jao, populating my southern coast with all the port cities I intended to create!

The kicker is, despite no strategic resources gained, he colonozied them!
Few things are as maddening!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Actually I take that back--when your ally lands on your continent, on the one tiny square you were planning to colonize eventually, and founds a city...
...well, THEN it's time to enter the worldbuilder! :p

edit: @ OP: i guess this shows that we're thinking correctly, like the AI.... just got to improve our flow!

I have come across this many times. In my last game I could not believe that a wonder I was building with just 2 turns left I was beaten to, as I was the first to get the tech. So I rolled back to check. I went into world builder and checked all of the AI's - only one was building it with 12 turns to go. So great engineer was the next obvious thing - nope she didn't have one. Rush - nope not enough cash. Slavery, could be but when I checked her city after the build - same size...............I think I'll just go fishing. It just does stuff to make it harder for you.

I've seen it mentioned before but really annoys me when I rush the wonder in question, saving like 8-9 turns (marathon), and then the AI builds it on their turn during that same phase. Can anyone point out an article or post that details the order of activities during a turn (i.e., growth, production, movement, etc...)?

It does give a nice bit of gold, however, which basically funded my empire through a couple of wars (ironically, I think I was trying for the Statue of Zeus).

Ive read a game or 2 of obsolete and before he rushes a wonder he always checks f9 on the best city's and wonders page to check there if it will get build in the IBT .
Im not sure if it works since ive never rushed a world wonder but obsolete seems sure about it .

I accept I am not going to complete every wonder I try to build. I therefore have three types of wonder.

A) Don't really need the wonder, don't have a hope of beating the AI, expect to lose the race, and I am just building it for the cash it will generate when I lose the race.

B) Would be nice to have the wonder as it fits in with my strategic plan, and I start building it with the hope that I will win the race. I will maximise the city production of hammers, I won't trade the tech and I will rush when it is close to completion. That said, I won't use a great engineer on it.

c) OMG I must have this wonder as my entire game depends on it. I will use a Great Engineer on it. If I don't have one, then I will change my govt so that I can rush it via slavery or cash. I will leave forests uncut in preparation for building it. If my city cross shares resources with another city, I will deprive the other city of resources and starve it if necessary. If I can rush the wonder with cash, then I will zero science, and maximise cash throughout my empire. The micro second I can rush build it, I will do so, no matter how expensive it is. If having done all of the above the AI still beats me to it, then I will go kick the cat and have a really good sulk.


Regards - Mr P

Remember that you move first, hit "end turn", then the AI civs move in turn, and only then do the "end turn" messages come up. So if you're going to finish a Wonder next turn and get the dreaded "The xxxxx has been built in xxxxx" it means that the AI was one turn ahead of you, by fair means or foul.

Always happens to me with settlers, and it's always 1 turn exactly! Not two, not five, my settler pops, runs, and gets denied! I suppose I could move faster, but when I do I skip preparing the new city's defenders so when I settle it, the barbs take it and raze it. Seems I can't win...

My latest strategy is to expect the AI to do this, and once he does, take that city by force!

I don't know but reading though this one thought occured to me regarding the city. Have you placed a 'guard' (military unit) to protect your spot? You know to keep the opposition from getting it, or if he does, attack it and take it over.:lol:

Forget the cities and wonders. In my first Monarch game, Jao beat me to a space race victory by ONE TURN!!!

In almost every single game I've played, at least once per game, the AI gets to that sweet city spot 1 turn before me at least once!

The other day, I had a small continent to myself and was enjoying a large lead in score, and here comes Jao, populating my southern coast with all the port cities I intended to create!

The kicker is, despite no strategic resources gained, he colonozied them!
Few things are as maddening!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Actually I take that back--when your ally lands on your continent, on the one tiny square you were planning to colonize eventually, and founds a city...
...well, THEN it's time to enter the worldbuilder! :p

edit: @ OP: i guess this shows that we're thinking correctly, like the AI.... just got to improve our flow!

All I can say is that every time I am the sole player on a continent, and an AI settles a couple of cities on it, it's like a gift. Just wait until they develop, then grab them where they're ripe. You will win that war, your units will get xp, and you'll get the cities. Win-win!

All I can say is that every time I am the sole player on a continent, and an AI settles a couple of cities on it, it's like a gift. Just wait until they develop, then grab them where they're ripe. You will win that war, your units will get xp, and you'll get the cities. Win-win!

I like to think that way too sometimes, it's just that the AI has a tendency to build their cities a plot or two off of my desired locations, and then I'm too perfectionist to keep them!

Well here is a few tips:
1. DO NOT build a wonder in a city that has low pruduction. It may seem something that everyone know but even I sometimes think "maybe I will build it here. well it will take 50 turns but I dont have any other city to build this"
2. Start building the wonder at the same turn you get the rght teach for it.

Any way It happens to me a lot in teach like meditation and other teach that the first one to get there get a GP or a new teach.

Ive had both the wonder and settler thing happen one turn before me as well all too often. So much with the wonder that i rush it when I'm within 3 or 4 turns, because i KNOW I will get beat with a turn left. I find it hard to believe the AI doesn't cheat when it comes to this, especially when I got beat to Stonehenge, the Oracle, and the Pyramids all one turn before completion in the same game. And that early in the game, before Open Borders, and before espionage is a factor I have to believe something is up.

I hold the paranoid belief that somewhere deeply hidden in the program is a code fragment which gets called whenever you and an AI civ are racing for the same objective, and sometimes during combat. In plain English it would read something like "If (player = human) then (loss = certain)".
And does the same thing ever happen between two AI civs ? For example, even when I can see into every AI city I have never seen two AI civs racing each other for the same wonder or for Space. Also, if it does happen between two AI civs or by chance you just pip an AI civ at the post, does the loser get an "I hate you !" diplo modifier ? A human player with normal emotions definitely feels annoyed when the AI scrapes home first, as witness this thread.

All the purists will say that it an't happen, that the AI just plays at the higher levels with a weighting on all things a little in its favour. Do we really think that Fraxis removed all of their logic from Civ3 where the AI just did things to make it harder based on the difficulty level - NO WAY. It would take a mastermind to program the AI logic to compete with Humans, there has to be some AI logic in there to just simply help it.

As mentioned in this thread previously I have seen this rushing of Wonders with no penalty by the AI in the flesh. You can easily test this out. When you get beaten but one turn, reload the game a few turns eariler go into world buidler and check out the AI's position, you eventually see what it is doing.

It happens and its all about making it more balanced based on the difficulty level you are playing.

Combat win/losses as the various difficult levels is way more frustrating - when you loose 7 out of 10 battles consistantly where the odds are between 60-80% in your favor on Emperor Level, damn it pisses me off.

Also, if it does happen between two AI civs or by chance you just pip an AI civ at the post, does the loser get an "I hate you !" diplo modifier ? A human player with normal emotions definitely feels annoyed when the AI scrapes home first, as witness this thread.

I love that idea - a -5 dip modifier for the AI if you beat it to a wonder/city spot/tech that grants a free bonus on first discovery by less than 3 turns... :) I know that's how I feel about the AI's when they do it to me - "What, I can no longer continue construction of my wonder?? I was going to finish next turn! That's it - someone's going to pay!"

EDIT: Note that the 'someone' who pays may not be the offending civ, though - sometimes they're too hard to reach, in which case I rampage through my neighbor's land to vent my anger... :) So, upon thought, that sort of random psychotic behavior may be difficult to code - oh, wait, they did it for Monty and Shaka already!