Is it just my imagination? Or....

[TheOverseer714]

I find that on many random maps, the very resource necessary for the UU of my tribe is either absent, or some distance away. Is there something buried deep in the programming code to cause this or is it just my imagination?
Something else I have noticed is that barbs seem to attack my units and installations by preference, even when there are poorly defended workers and settlers of an AI tribe right nearby that should be easy meat. My imagination or something else?

[psweetman1590]

The resource thing is sort of your imagination. It's about as random as the random number generator that decides the outcome of battles.

The barbs, however, have a strict set of behaviors. See, unless you change something in the game files, the barbs will only attack on a NW-SE axis. They will ALWAYS attack units on this axis no matter what the odds are of them losing. If a unit is not on this axis, the barbs ignored them.....

Unless the unit is non-combat (artillery, settlers, workers, explorers). In that case the barbs will always go after those units without regard for the axis of attack. The non-combat units must be one turn away for barbs to go for them.

It should be noted that when moving to attack a unit on their axis, they are not necessarily confined to that axis. In other words, they can move in any direction they need to to attack a unit on the axis. However, next turn the axis is reset to their current location, and their target may not be on their new axis. Sort of batty if you aske me, but it means I can manipulate the barbs into attacking my neighbors fairly easily, so I like it.

[Aceman101]

With the resource thing: I always have at least 2 of every resources in the game. The reason being because I wage war a lot and take most of the territory off the AI's. If you have a big area, your chances that you will get a resource is greatly improved.

When playing on small maps there aren't as much resources as their are in large/huge maps. So the smaller your map, the less resources.

Another factor that can cause less resources to show up is how many AI civs are playing. If you have included all the AI's in the boxes then there will be many more resources, especially on huge maps .

The main thing to get more resources is to get more land. If you have a continent to your self, your likely to get at least one resource of each type (not including lux resources). Unless you are controlling a very small continent. If that is the case, then you should conquer another continent.

The second most important thing is how large the map is. If you play small/tiny maps then you pretty much have to conquer your continent and another continent to get a shot at getting all the resources within your borders. Again, this does not apply to those small continents.

And lastly the third most important thing is how much civs that are playing. If you want as much resources as you can get, include all the AI's in the box.

So to sum it all up, if you were playing a huge map, had a reasonably large empire and had all civs playing, you are very likely to get at least one of all strategic resources.

And I see psweetman has answered your other question .

[Pyrrhos]

I've seen the barbs ignore me and go after the AI units instead, even if they have not been on the NW-SE axis and mine have. Infallibly when this has happened, I've been well behind the AI. When I'm ahead, the AI will rather go after my units.

If I'm behind, there will usually be little barb activity close to my terrritory. The more ahead I am, the greater the barb activity.

Could this be part of the "balance and checks" used to insure a closer game? The same thing that will cause the AI to conclude that anything other than my "Territory Map & Medicine" for its "Territory Map" is "grossly unfair"?

[civverguy]

Its just your imagination.

[Aceman101]

^ You sound like you don't believe anyone! Some people have had some weird stuff happen to them in civ.

[Sashie VII]

That's just bad luck. There's nothing in the code to cause it, it's just pure RNG playing tricks on you.

So keep it happy

EDIT: RNG stands for Random Number Generator.

[Aceman101]

What does RNG stand for again???

[MAS]

Originally Posted by Aceman101

What does RNG stand for again???

Random number generator! But its actually a pseudo random number generator. (pRNG)

[Aceman101]

Ok, then.

[psweetman1590]

But its actually a pseudo random number generator. (pRNG)

Ummmm, no? The numbers really are random....

[drakdan]

They are psuedo random. Check wikipedia for full details, but in short machines can't truly be random, they can just operate on algorithms so complex they appear to us to be random.
So it's technically not random, but you'd never know the difference regardless.

[psweetman1590]

Pah! Now THAT'S what I call hair splitting.... If following an alogrithm gives you a number that is unpredictable, and just as likely to be one number as another, I'd call it random.

[Tomoyo]

If it follows an algorithm, then by definition it is predictable.

[MacBaldrick]

Which is why if you retain the seed (i.e. start) number of a pRNG you get repeatable 'random' numbers.

Real random number generators are often based on physical measurements which are driven by random or chaotic processes - common ones being electronic white noise or the tumbling balls of a lottery machine.

[psweetman1590]

Only if you know what the algorithm is. To simpletons like me, it is entirely unpredictable. If you want to go look up the algorithm and use it to find out whether you're going to win or lose every battle, that's your business.

[Desertsnow]

It's probably just lousy luck.
Otherwise, in addition to map size, as Aceman pointed out, resources are inversely proportional to the number of civilizations in the game. There are n resources per civ that you have at the start. (Or maybe not necessarily exactly n? If there's a random factor, someone please point that out.) If you are playing with fewer than max opponents, resources will be rarer.