Forward settling is out of control

[PlayAsPericles]

I always play on huge maps with less than the pre set number of civs so plenty of space for everyone to settle and explare but after the spring path EVERY SINGLE GAME i get some civ that forward settles right on a border tile. I am not a warmonger but inevitably it ticks me off to no end and i have to wipe that city out. One of the thigns i LOVE about civ is the multiple ways to get a victory but this game seems to want to force war far more often than prev civ games and as someone who practically never goes the warmonger route having to constantly declare war because of froward settling is kinda ruining the enjoyment of the game for me a bit.

 

[Sherlock]

I always play on huge maps with less than the pre set number of civs so plenty of space for everyone to settle and explare but after the spring path EVERY SINGLE GAME i get some civ that forward settles right on a border tile. I am not a warmonger but inevitably it ticks me off to no end and i have to wipe that city out. One of the thigns i LOVE about civ is the multiple ways to get a victory but this game seems to want to force war far more often than prev civ games and as someone who practically never goes the warmonger route having to constantly declare war because of froward settling is kinda ruining the enjoyment of the game for me a bit.

Word.

 

[mcaswell64]

It is annoying, but I don't find it to be that big of a deal. Since it usually happens early in the game when warmongering penalties are low and I haven't met many civs, I'll almost always take the city or cities. This of course cripples my closest neighbor and makes him my eternal enemy, but that almost always happens anyway.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The AI are programmed to forward settle. It's designed to stir up conflict.

I find the best way to deal with it is to take out the Settler before it settles. There's less warmonger penalty if you don't capture a city. Plus you get a free settler to do with as you please.

Alternatively, you can push out a bunch of your own settlers and create a front line of cities (and mountains) that your rival will have to bypass in order to settle good spots behind it. You can then blockade their settlers.

 

[whyidie]

On King I have had games where if I settle close to the AI they will settle elsewhere if there is space. Need to do it fast though, pretty much as soon as I reach 2 pop I switch to settler production to mark out the boundaries.

Have seen this with Poland, America, and Rome. I don't settle right in there space, but close enough that I get the "you settle too close" message. I leave a little gap so its not an outright DOW then backfill the gaps between the border town and my cap.

On levels above King I haven't been able to pull this off as the AI takes the spots much quicker than I can.

This usually works until around medieval/renaissance period at which point they'll settle anywhere they can, including between two of my cities.

 

[NN23]

I haven't found his capital on the map and he still decides to settle right next to my capital.
This is why we can't have relatively peaceful games in civ 6.
I hope you choke to death on that fufu you constantly offer Mvemba.

 

[agonistes]

The AI are programmed to forward settle. It's designed to stir up conflict.

I find the best way to deal with it is to take out the Settler before it settles. There's less warmonger penalty if you don't capture a city. Plus you get a free settler to do with as you please.

Alternatively, you can push out a bunch of your own settlers and create a front line of cities (and mountains) that your rival will have to bypass in order to settle good spots behind it. You can then blockade their settlers.

What Eagle said. If it matters to you, set up some forward scouts to snatch settlers, or at least react to them. Don't DoF with anyone either. AI loves to use it to forward settle.

 

[Leyrann]

Are you aware that less than an hour before you made this thread, someone else made a thread about the AI forward settling?

Moderator Action: Threads merged -- Browd

We also have a funny screenshots thread, by the way.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I like it when the AI builds cities for me. Occasionally they put one in the wrong spot and I have to torch it, but not too often.

 

[NN23]

it must have slipped me. i posted this in a hurry

 

[Ovidious]

So I am not the only one annoyed by this forward settling I see. Man does this bug me, no matter how few Civs and how large a map, they've got to beeline to my borders and plop down cities. And when I take them out, I am under either permanent war or denouncement. I am at the point of naming this version of Civ "Civ Denouncement"

 

[bmrigs]

This is why it is sometimes a curse when you send out your scouts too far and come into contact with another civ.

 

[Kyro]

Sorry no peacemongers allowed in Civ 6(6 is actually War in disguise).

How can they deter peaceful play without forcing the AI to piss you off? Forward settling is the 3rd best way to encourage war behind clumping start positions together and making warmongering extremely profitable.

"Oh but you can play peacefully" If you're thinking this you completely missed the point.

 

[Leyrann]

Sorry no peacemongers allowed in Civ 6(6 is actually War in disguise).

How can they deter peaceful play without forcing the AI to piss you off? Forward settling is the 3rd best way to encourage war behind clumping start positions together and making warmongering extremely profitable.

"Oh but you can play peacefully" If you're thinking this you completely missed the point.

To be fair though, you can. You'll probably have to defend from a war or two early on, but if you expand properly and don't take cities after the Classical Era, you can get along with people fine and just slide towards a cultural or scientific victory, with at most having to defend from a war or two by a neighbor if you have captured one of their cities. I've done so on Emperor. And afaik Victoria does it on Deity.

 

[Victoria]

It really annoys me too, it is just 1-2 tiles too close to be right.
At least with mvemba his is slow with military/wall build so a ripe target

 

[NN23]

Sorry no peacemongers allowed in Civ 6(6 is actually War in disguise).

How can they deter peaceful play without forcing the AI to piss you off? Forward settling is the 3rd best way to encourage war behind clumping start positions together and making warmongering extremely profitable.

"Oh but you can play peacefully" If you're thinking this you completely missed the point.

I don't mind going to war, based on my experience Mvemba is a backstabbing piece of $h!t even if you spread your religion to him, but this type of extreme forward settling makes no sense whatsoever. It basically forces you to go to war before turn 25, instead of doing a little empire build (settle a city or two near your capital, construct some buildings or districts) and then play more aggressively if you wish to do so.

I also think that the AI should mimic this, even the more aggressive ones which i think will give them the ability to get a decent sized army and make waging wars a lot more fun. This is simply annoying and ruins the early game experience of exploring, planning where to build your next cities and districts. That's just my opinion.

 

[gunnergoz]

It's an AI, and it's not designed to be helpful to your plans. Of course it will do infuriating things: it is just a way to fake that there's someone actually playing against you and you're supposed to pretend that it knows what it's doing.

 

[bbbt]

Ideally for me, the AI should be programmed to consider forward settling as an agressive act. So it does the math of "is this someone I'm willing to go to war with". And if yes, it sends a settler with a number of military units and forward settles - as an explicit provocation it's ready to defend.

 

[Eliminator_Sr]

Interesting - I haven't really noticed much extreme forward settling by the AI. On high difficulties though it's probably a good tactic and it's one that I use often against the AI as it puts pressure on their empire and makes it easy to get units up near their borders quickly.

I like it when the AI builds cities for me. Occasionally they put one in the wrong spot and I have to torch it, but not too often.

I agree with Egon on this one. I think you just have to adjust your strategy and look at it as an opportunity to absorb a city quickly with minimal investment. After that you can likely get a quick peace treaty with some bonuses which makes it even better and then play as peacefully as you want.

 

[CaptainUnknown]

I agree with Egon on this one. I think you just have to adjust your strategy and look at it as an opportunity to absorb a city quickly with minimal investment. After that you can likely get a quick peace treaty with some bonuses which makes it even better and then play as peacefully as you want.

And with the new patch you get less warmonger penalties for capturing little cities.