AI Drafts cities into oblivion

[Isak]

This may be a MOD bug....but I really don't think so.

Apparently the AI is not concerned about the number of citizens in a city when it decides to draft. Thus it may perform a draft, even if there is only one citizen in the city, in effect disbanding the city.

I have just reviewed a savegame (for the DyP mod) where this happened, and looking at the savegame, there really is no other explanation IMHO.

In the game the Greeks have the city Athens - 1 population, 1 Hoplite defending. According to the Multitool, the citizen is content and working as a laborer, the city produces 5 food (no hunger) and the city is building an archer.

Then I press next turn - the city disappears, and where it stood there are now 2 Greek hoplites instead......

Has anyone else ever seen this happen? As I said it could be a bug in the MOD, but I have a hard time imagining what we might have changed that would make the AI disband it's own city through a draft, like it obviously has.

 

[God]

The AI does this like crazy after Nationalism. My advice is to raze all large cities, because they are most likely drafted to hell.

 

[chiefpaco]

A city can not draft unless it is at least population 7. Perhaps the AI pressed the "abandon city" button.

 

[Isak]

Originally posted by God
The AI does this like crazy after Nationalism. My advice is to raze all large cities, because they are most likely drafted to hell.

Thanks, Big G. - I guess this would be a good way to deal with the side-effects of drafting, but I was actually more concerned with the AI's ability to compete, if it doesn't have any hesitation to disband it's own cities in order to get a unit.

Originally posted by Chiefpaco
A city can not draft unless it is at least population 7. Perhaps the AI pressed the "abandon city" button.

I thought there was a minimum limit too, but abandoning a city shouldn't give it a free Hoplite, should it?

 

[Isak]

I guess the AI could also be using Forced Labor to rush the production, thereby killing the last citizen.

But whether it is through Draft or Forced Labor, my concern is still the same - shouldn't the AI stop using these options once a population of 1 is reached ?

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

you can't force labour if the cities gonna disband. tried it

 

[Isak]

Originally posted by Mongoloid Cow
you can't force labour if the cities gonna disband. tried it

Yeah, that's human player rules - but is it AI player rules too??

 

[joycem10]

"Yeah, that's human player rules - but is it AI player rules too?? :

Good point.

 

[Evincar]

Originally posted by Isak
Yeah, that's human player rules - but is it AI player rules too??

Of course not!!! I'm eager to see Zouave and Lt Killer writting here

 

[MuddyOne]

Perhaps it is just abandoning it so that you don't get it. Players give away cities so that the AI won't get it. Maybe the programmer didn't think of giving it away but did think about destroying it

 

[Zouave]

What do you want me to add?? I've said for months the AI cheats like crazy, is dumb, sets its own rules, and screws the human in various subtle ways. It's like playing against an evil ******** person.

 

[Isak]

Originally posted by MuddyOne
Perhaps it is just abandoning it so that you don't get it. Players give away cities so that the AI won't get it. Maybe the programmer didn't think of giving it away but did think about destroying it

Could be - but there is only a not too threatening worker unit near it - basically I think you're right that it is doing this excessive draft/forced labor because it "feels" threatened, but it seems a bit dumb to abandon a city when there isn't even a unit close by. I would wait 'till the enemy was at my doorstep.

Zouave: Yeah, it's apparently not much smarter than the AI in a game of Solitaire

 

[cat98]

C'mon Zouave! Admit it, you love this game!

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Originally posted by Evincar


Of course not!!! I'm eager to see Zouave and Lt Killer writting here

hey, throwing the two of us into one pot is not really nice!

Seriously, the AI has different rules, especially because it is really hard to program one that can give a human a good run for the money while sticking to the same rules! The point is that if you program two sets of rules, and one of them is supposed to look like the other does from the other side, you may make mistakes - and this drafting/rushing to death may be one of them!

 

[WarlordMatt]

Yes this happens to me alot. Usually after I capture a city from a civ with nationalism, it is full of citizens saying, "Hell no, we won't go!"

 

[Isak]

Originally posted by WarlordMatt
Yes this happens to me alot. Usually after I capture a city from a civ with nationalism, it is full of citizens saying, "Hell no, we won't go!"

Yes, but my point here is that there are no citizens left to yell that....The city completely vanishes from one round to the next and the AI Civ isn't even given a settler...

It looks like the AI pushed the draft button once too many, and there was no-one around to tell it, that would be a bad idea. The civ only had 3 cities - then it fires the self-destruction button on one of those cities, and is left with two - that's not a good idea.

Let me also clarify that I don't give a hoot about realism (in this particular case) - It is the fact that the AI is doing something which can in no way be of any kind of benefit to it, that bothers me.

If I state that it is IMHO a bug, not just a problem, will that make anyone from Firaxis respond.... I wonder...

 

[WarlordMatt]

Oh ok then. Nevermind!

 

[Isak]

BUMP!

Can someone from Firaxis please comment on this?

Will the AI willingly disband a city through draft or forced labor even if no threat is imminent.

Please read the first post for clarifications.


Best Regards
Isak
Chairman of the CTSTPAI

(Committee to save the poor AI)

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Ai've watched for this for a while now, and though i have to admit the Ai never really hads a chance to go down to size one, I do not hink it is the usualy AI behaviour. So it is far more probably - I think - that we see a rare case of abandon city by the AI here - but as sumthinelse has shown the AI production turn DOES NOT come directly after it's movement turn, and maybe this screws this up, too?????