[BUG] City States Break When Generated Next to Players

I recently started a new huge Earth map only to find that the computer had decided to place the city-state of Sidon right next to my settler. Or, to be precise, to generate a settler for Sidon right next to my settler.

If I found a city there (which bumps their settler a hex away) this completely breaks the AI and renders the city-state a complete dud who does not start a city or do anything at all. The lone settler stands there motionless for the remainder of the game and does not operate at all.

I got a notification for meeting Sidon as soon as the game started but it would not bring up the panel for them (the interface can be brought up under the diplomacy menu, however). Declaring war then moving my warrior over the settler delivers a notification that Sidon has been eliminated but no trace remains other than the now captured worker.

Admittedly a very rare occurrence, especially on a huge map. Failing to found a city on the first turn lets the city-state found their town and operate normally though.

I saw something similar today (.621). I started a new map, and immediately used a mod that reveals the map, so you can see the starting units (I was testing something). I noticed in one hex (nowhere near me) there appeared to be two civ-state settlers occupying the same starting hex. One had a round unit flag, different from other settlers. Maybe an indicator of a unit in a over-occupied hex? Anyway, I press next turn, the normal settler starts a city, the other one just sits there, not moving. Makes me wonder if this doesn't happen quite regularly, but is usually not seen by the player.

I have seen this in several games, and not just when they start next to the human player. If the city state settler can't found a city right where they start, they will wander the earth forever like a lost soul. In my current game I put 20 civs and 28 city states on a large map (there was still plenty of space where they could have spawned though) and the victory screen says there are only 46 votes. No-one has died yet so I guess there are two Fail States wandering around somewhere. I will try to remember to post a save when I have finished with this game.

It sounds like the algorithm that assigns starting spots to city-states is buggy and is capable of placing them on already occupied spots.

i see i was playing earlier today and the americans declared war on Sidon ( 6th turn ) i have already met the americans & they could have powned me so im staying neutral. *3 turns later * i see a Sidon settler being chased by 4 american warriors & scouts i was like wtf? so i sent a scout to chase them but i lost them so *2 turns later * i see the Sidon settler being cornered by the americans from my galley. T_T they didn't stand a chance

This is also true for AI players such as other City States

Came across an interesting bug today. Started a new game, large Earth map. Starting position was on the Nile, with 3 city-state starting settlers visible. I captured one settler with my warrior, and moved my starting settler such that the other 2 were only 2 hexes away. These remaining settlers do not appear to be able to move, 3 turns in. Initial autosave attached, I'll post updates as the game progresses a bit.

Moderator Action: Threads merged.

I guess the save could be interesting for the devs.

The_J said:

Moderator Action: Threads merged.

I guess the save could be interesting for the devs.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the merge, didn't find this thread with my search. As an curious update, if your cultural borders expand and push the stuck settler into a legal settling spot, it will immediately do so. This led to the case of maritime Oslo situated in the middle of the Sahara desert, in my game. Not sure where all that food came from, but my people enjoyed the sand fish quite well!

clearbeard said:

As an curious update, if your cultural borders expand and
push the stuck settler into a legal settling spot, it will immediately do so.

Click to expand...

Nice observation, and quite useful.
Seems they did the performance optimization at the wrong point. A check every round would probably not have been soooo performance sucking.

This is ridiculous I started a game the other day on a huge map with 14 city states and I got 2 city state settlers right next to me, as in I killed them both with my warrior in the first turn before i built my city. I restarted after that but I dont see why on a huge map where I reduced the # of city states I still get 2 spawning next to me and each other.