Goodie Huts Key or Not

[The Rook]

Isn't there a way to remove them permanently by editing some program files? In Civ3, you could easily modify difficulty-related bonuses.

Probably, there seem to be numerous ways you can edit cIV, I'm afraid I don't know much about the modding side of the game though.

 

[Revenant27]

Oh my bad, i didnt realize that the ai got free scouts, I just moved up to prince, so all my experience is on noble.

 

[BurN]

I don't like goody huts at all but I leave them on for the sake of playing default. And it would kinda hurt civs that start with a scout. But AI with 2 scouts & 3 archers vs my warrior? Ugh..

I voted "bad", though I leave them on.

 

[morchuflex]

Oh my bad, i didnt realize that the ai got free scouts, I just moved up to prince, so all my experience is on noble.

On Noble, the game is fair: noone has any advantage.
On Emperor, however, the AI starts with 5 units: 1 settler (like you), 1 worker, 1 Archer and 2 exploration units: scouts if the civ is expansive, archers otherwise. And it gets even worse on Immortal or Deity.
Considering that archers simply laugh at animals and barbarian warriors, the AI is likely to get 4 or 5 huts while you'll barely get one, AND they'll even get better outcomes from them (when you go up in difficulty, you are more and more likely to get barbs or useless maps instead of the much coveted free techs or lots of gold).

 

[MyOtherName]

Plus you do get free wins against barbs

Huh?

 

[CivCorpse]

Mmmmmm @ goody huts. I get all tingly when I pop a tech or some juicy gold. I think the toughest decision in the game is not deciding who to attack, where to settle or what tech path to take...it is determining if you should try and sneak your warrior past that bear for the hut.

 

[cabert]

Plus you do get free wins against barbs so that first hostile might not kill you. I play at Warlord and I love seeing a hut and beelining my warrior over too it. I get more annoyed when my scout gets eaten by a bear than a hut that spawns hostiles.

the free wins against barbs aren't happening on higher difficulties, making huts a real problem on higher difficulties.
I quite often passed huts with my warrior, to avoid barbaric activity.
OTOH, you can play with barbs out, and thus make the outcome always positive, regardless of who pops them.

 

[Gooblah]

Tribal Villages are good for their bonuses (like the time I popped BW, then IW, then MC from successive huts), but are not game-changing. You can lose the Scout/Warrior you popped, which only saved you a few hammers, etc/.

So yes, they are nice, but no, they are not "key" to winning.