AI Recommended City Locations?

[Gotrilliten]

How do you guys feel about the City sites that the computer recommends? It seems like it seems to factor in resources you aren't able to see yet sometimes. Is this true, and if so, do you sometimes take the chance on taking a recommended location as opposed to the site you were originally going to take?

 

[Ghpstage]

I'm pretty certain they don't take account of things you can't yet see, its just that from a players perspective the cities are often so awful you need to do mental gymnastics to even attempt to comprehend them

 

[lymond]

I ignore them completely except as knowledge of where the AIs are liking to target their own settlers.

 

[babar]

Apparently they can't see future/hidden resources/tile yields, and they are often inexplicable, but sometimes I am actually swayed by the blue circles. They can be reasonable, particularly when the choices are sufficiently limited, and on occasion I have to admit they are marginally better than my instinctive spot.

 

[Strickl3r]

How do you guys feel about the City sites that the computer recommends? It seems like it seems to factor in resources you aren't able to see yet sometimes. Is this true, and if so, do you sometimes take the chance on taking a recommended location as opposed to the site you were originally going to take?

afaik that's true. They factor ressources in the fog, don't know about Oil and stuff though.
But i turn them off, like any other ingame recommendation.

 

[rah]

The only use for me is that sometimes it give me an idea where the shore line is since they seem to favor coastal location. My favorite one was where it appeared on an island across the sea from my starting position.

 

[jordiflor]

I would also say it can view resources under fog. So many times I wondered why the hell it is blue-circling a tile, just to discover after I settle somewhere else that that blue circle's BFC had a juicy pigs hill.
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure it cannot see unrevealed resources. I can vaguely remember I settled once on a blue circle which eventually turned out to be home of a herd of horses.

 

[Gotrilliten]

But i turn them off, like any other ingame recommendation.

... I just now realized you could even do that . That's awesome, as the adviser pop-ups are extremely annoying.

 

[Strickl3r]

... I just now realized you could even do that . That's awesome, as the adviser pop-ups are extremely annoying.

hehe, you're welcome

 

[Quibblesome]

One of my biggest complaints is that they value coastal cities WAY too much.

"Ignore the food! The sea is only 2 squares away!"

... go there...

no food. D:

 

[Kallikrates]

I don't know. Many of the blue circles are reasonable, but many are simply idiotic. Accordingly are some of the AI cities, especially barbs.
Even worse than overvaluing coast (something I am guilty of myself, I guess), the blue circle frequently suggests settling spots one tile away from the coast...

 

[happyturtle]

"And lo, though the people were weary and their hearts longed for rest, they followed the blue circle through the wilderness, leaving behind the hills of pig and the fields of grain unto lands of tundra and the icy spray of a cold and barren shore."

 

[Windsor]

Even worse than overvaluing coast (something I am guilty of myself, I guess), the blue circle frequently suggests settling spots one tile away from the coast...

First you say that you shouldn't overvalue coast, then you say its really bad to settle one tile away from coast. What is it?

Personally I settle a lot more cities one tile away from the coast than I used to. As you said, coast isn't that hot anyway.

 

[Kallikrates]

Settling one tile away from coast usually gives you 3+ coast tiles you cannot improve by a lighthouse, Moai statues, dike or whatever. Settling on the coast gives you access to lighhouse, harbor etc. and you can build ships. coast tiles may still not be as good as many others, but, especially if you are FIN they are not that bad in the earlier game, with the additional boost of trade routed by harbor, coastal cities are often quite decent, although in the long run, grassland cities will of course be better with cottages or workshops.
So I usually either go for coast or for two tiles away to avoid any coast tiles, if possible. Of course there are exceptions and many cities are settled with 3+ desert or tundra tiles, just because it is unavoidable, so clearly there are worse locations than 1 tile frome the coast.