Anyone else having to deal with the AIs makiing mad settler rushes? I'm talking about them just sending settlers out and founding new cities across the world, with no intent or thought of building a cohesive territory? Is this new AI behavior? I had to restart my first 3-4 games because of the AIs surrounding my capital in new cities in the first 10-20 turns. Even in the game I'm currently playing, both Atilla and William just seem to have founded 3-4 cities scattered across the world. I've never seen this behavior in the AI prior to BNW.
I have. This is nothing new. AI loves to settle in your face before filling in the area around their lands...this is particularly noticeable on Immortal+
Most people seem to be seeing the opposite occurring. The AI seems to be staying small more because of their happiness issues. You may have got some more expansive AI or something.
Ya well that has been par for the course for me even in G&K. It is a sore point for me, and it is the reason I go to war. I understand trying to grab that gold that is in my 3rd ring to be, but sending the settler 40 tiles away seems bad. Are you sure you did not see this quite often in G&K?
My first game was an Earth map with all of the new BNW civs (I was portugal). NO ONE was in a hurry to settle. In the industrial/modern era at least 66% of the map is unsettled! I would settle it, but there aren't too many good spots around me, and I'm doing just fine with my Mesopotamian paradise.
This is what I've seen. Last night I was playing a game with AI Iroquois, and even the Iroquois stayed small.
I saw something similar in G&K if I gave early embassies (I learned not to do that), at least the settling near me to jump on resources. I don't recall ever seeing this kind of weird scattered-across-the-world cities before, though. Maybe it's a weird function of the world geography/city-state placement? Maybe weighting of certain terrain favorable to certain wonders (Petra and Neuschwanstein come to mind)?
I've seen both so far in my first game. Egypt and the ottomans went tall, while Babylon went wide very, very early.
This is absolutely bonkers in Scramble for Africa. I literally saw a string of unprotected settlers come down from Italy (It had to be one every second turn, I swear) to settle right in my face, so I declared war and captured them with my mounted units lol. It seems like in Scramble for Africa the AI just ****s out settlers and nabs as much land as possible.
Don't have BNW yet. but, in G&K, they love settler spam too. I killed/captured 4 or 5 american settler in a few turns. when I destroy their main cities, realized they have many many cities across the map. one in far east, one in far west etc. nothing new, I think.
That one reminds me of a war with the Inca. They were sending their settlers crossing my borders through the sea when we were at war (presumably to settle on the other side of my empire). That sea was filled with drowned settlers.
yep, I got a pic on my steam account where i'm at war with somebody, and they walk a lone settler literally one tile beside my manned city lol