[Civ 1.0.1 - Patch 3] [Win 11/Steam] - independent village vanishes, leaving behind "owned" tiles that can't be improved/claimed (repeatable bug)

[99-percent-sure]

I've had the spontaneous disappearance happen one time (that I observed) since the 1.1.0 patch (no mods installed). I was playing in early-middle Antiquity, and the village was only one tile. The hostile independent attacked me before I could finish befriending it, and in defending myself I killed its units. No more enemy units spawned, and the village disappeared maybe 8-10 turns later with no provocation from me. I tried it a second time and stood by the village to prevent any AI unit from dispersing it, but it still disappeared (and no, it wasn't a coastal village). It just went "poof."

I then replayed the game and left one hostile unit alive. Another hostile ranged unit then spawned in the village, and it did not disappear. It seems like the problem is when the village gets down to zero units, it's unable to spawn a new unit (which seems like a bug to me), which can cause the auto-dispersal of the village. Clearly, this issue occurs frequently enough that they should be able to organically observe it during Civ VII game testing. I've also seen it once since the patch where a village seems to have auto-dispersed (I wasn't nearby, or involved with whatever happened to it), and the spot where the village used to be located was labeled by the map as still belonging to that village, even though no borders were visible there any longer.

Before the last patch, I had it happen a couple of times with the expanded borders being left behind, while the village center tile was clear. I learned that the leftover borders will block you from placing anything on those tiles even if they're within the three-hex radius of your town center, but once the age ends, the leftover borders vanish and you can work with them during the next age.

I've also observed situations where the AI attacks/defends against the hostile indie settlement, and doesn't disperse it after killing all the village's units even though it's standing right on the village center. I've then gone in and dispersed myself after the AI left (no more village units spawned), and gotten the bonus yield from doing so.

 

[Timothy001]

I had one disappear last night. Patch 1.1.1, no mods. AI had killed all their units. A few turns later they disappeared, but left the border outline.

 

[Tuvok694]

This should be the number one candidate for an immediate hotfix. Maybe I'm naive but I just cannot understand how the developers set their priorities.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

This should be the number one candidate for an immediate hotfix

For a hotfix you basically need an easily reproducible problem affecting a lot of people and a simple solution, presumably this one doesn't meet one or more criteria.

 

[Tuvok694]

For a hotfix you basically need an easily reproducible problem affecting a lot of people and a simple solution, presumably this one doesn't meet one or more criteria.

Thank you for answering. Probably I am just a confused guy who wants to play a strategy game based on reliable rules. I liked the concept of the "independent people" from the beginning, but this bug makes every in-game interaction with them a mere lucky gamble. I imagine, the developers have actually played their own game before release, and it's very unlikely that none of them saw some city states disappearing.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I imagine, the developers have actually played their own game before release, and it's very unlikely that none of them saw some city states disappearing.

It depends on the exact circumstances that trigger the bug they might not. I've played 350 hours and not seen it. It could be some strange combination of hardware for instance and if they're all on the same company build they never trigger it.

 

[Yzman]

It depends on the exact circumstances that trigger the bug they might not. I've played 350 hours and not seen it. It could be some strange combination of hardware for instance and if they're all on the same company build they never trigger it.

I get it basically every game it seems. Seems.to happen when I am befriending a IP and I think the AI tries to disperse them.

 

[Pfeffersack]

I wonder if that has been fixed with the new patch? It mentions a fix in regard to IPs no longer vanishing, when there last a unit has been killed...maybe that unintended vanishing caused this issue. The intended (and now by the patch introduced) procedure is that you have to take the central district by bringing its HP to 0.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

It depends on the exact circumstances that trigger the bug they might not

Here's a classic example of a weird bug:-

The Exploration Age tutorial can now be bypassed or dismissed when the user deletes their Scout Unit during the Antiquity Age.