Does anyone know what determines whether you get a free settler?

[ummmm........]

Sometimes you start a game with two settlers, thus getting a free, unsupported settler to begin improving your terrain.

I know you get free techs based on the relative inferiority of your starting position, so I wondered if free settlers were linked to something as well . . .

 

[ElephantU]

You always get a second settler when you play Deity; other times it seems most linked to having a bad starting location. Have not seen any definitive analysis as to what is "bad" - poor terrain, closeness to other civs, tradeoff with free techs, small island, etc. If you want to do some testing...

 

[ummmm........]

I never play Deity; always Emperor . . .