[FIXED] Military city states give you outdated units

DaveGold

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I've regularly found that military city states give you outdated units. Over about 50 turns the city state can give you an anti-tank gun, then a longswordman, then an infantry. I've been given scouts in the 1400s. I've no idea at all why this should be happening but it doesn't feel like a feature. How bad do the units have to be for it to be a bug?

In the attachment the city state has given me a longswordman in 1940 when I'm building the spaceship. The previous unit it gave me was an anti-tank gun which seems much more reasonable! Both city state and myself have mechanized infantry on this screenshot, the mech being the top level upgrade for a longswordman.
 

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Never seen this happen. I usually get anti-tank guns and once scouts in the industrial era.

edit: nvm, i see you have the tech. I think it could be a bug. But never seen this myself. I got a scout once though, in the industrial era.
 
I got a scout once too, and this was in the modern era.

I guess that's a free 10 gold at least.
 
Here's another one. Warrior given by a city state at 100 AD. The city state is using pikemen and I'd much rather have one of those.
 

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Not really a bug though. My impression (haven´t actually checked how it works) is that city states give excess units. (I usually give em back - unless it´s an extra I can use.)
 
It's not an excess unit. The city state can have none or six units of its own and still provides you with units on schedule, and its own units are better!

If you're just giving the unit back it shows it must be broken. You'd never give the culture or food from the other city states back, it's much much more valuable.
 
Ok moderators. Just how bad do these units have to be before it's a bug?
 

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It honestly doesn't need a save game. Run any game with military city states and they will give you a poor unit at some stage.
 
I agree.

@The_J: ally with a militaristic city state, you´ll see it for yourself.

It's not an excess unit. The city state can have none or six units of its own and still provides you with units on schedule, and its own units are better!

If you're just giving the unit back it shows it must be broken. You'd never give the culture or food from the other city states back, it's much much more valuable.

No, I give em back, ´cause I don´t need em. (Early on it might be handy to get some extra units, but once your production is up, why bother?) At the moment I largely ignore city states ; they won´t make me win faster and why should I continually spend cash on that?

Anyway, if it happens consistently (which it doesn´t), it might be a bug. The problem rather is that it´s random; now you get a good unit, then you don´t.
 
@The_J: ally with a militaristic city state, you´ll see it for yourself.

Thanks for the advice.
You forgot that i refuse to buy Civ5 due to steam binding and that i'm therefore not able to check anything.
 
I believe that the units you get depend at least to some extent on the average tech level of all players; at least with barbarians this is the case.. When I was the only player left they constantly came with destroyers, paratroops and infantry, whereas when there was even 1 AI left all they had was warriors and perhaps a swordman.
 
I believe that the units you get depend at least to some extent on the average tech level of all players; at least with barbarians this is the case.

I'm sure that in 1802 there were no nations still working with archers, if you look at one of my examples.
 
Here it is again on version 621. Pikeman given to me by a city state in 1842. The previous two units given to me by Edinburgh were both infantry! I've got another military city state ally and that has given me two pikemen in the 1800s as well.

Can't this get put down as a bug yet? I can see no reason why a city state should be giving you pikemen if it is capable of giving you infantry.

(Notice also that the city state hasn't got any units of its own. Where have they all gone?)
 

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@DaveGold,

First, I want to say that I appreciate the time you've spent pointing out bugs and other flaws in the game. Let me discuss why the moderators ask for save games even when, such as in this thread, it seems obvious that the game behaves as described. One reason, but not the only reason, we ask for a save is just to have a second pair of eyes look at the game. However, another reason is that it's much easier for one of the Firaxis developers to fix a bug if they have a save file. By asking for a save file up front, we can have the bugs fixed faster and more easily. So, when we ask for a save file, it doesn't mean that we disbelieve you. We're just trying to have the bugs fixed faster.

I'm playing a game right now where I'm allied with a militaristic CS and am way ahead in tech. Perhaps I can supply an appropriate save. If so, I'll move this to the Confirmed Bugs thread, but list it as a possible bug. Firaxis will (we hope) review it and decide whether or not the behavior is appropriate.

ETA: Well, I went back to my game and the very next turn I was gifted a Crossbowman from Dublin. Screenshot and save file from the previous turn attached. Dublin also has a Pikeman and a Horseman, both of which are stronger units (and I can build Musketmen and Cavalry, for example). Would the other posters consider this to be an example of what's being discussed?
 

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I have been in software support myself and know how helpful extra data can be. I also know long it takes for me to load back an autosave, verify the bug is exhibited the same way again, post it up, then reload my original game. It's not at all quick on low spec PC. I am posting up bug reports as goodwill to the community and my goodwill is often not matched by my patience.

I think that if you play on from that position Petek you will probably get another crossbowman in 500 or 700 years time. That would be the problem.
 
Actually, I received a Pikeman next. I sure understand about how long it can take to load and test a game. I was in the same boat until last Thursday, when I replaced my 5 yo system with a new one.

Moderator Action: Moved to the Confirmed Bugs forum and listed as a possible bub.
 
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