How can you tell which tiles belong to the Natives?

[morchuflex]

Hello.

I've just spent one hour RTFM'ing, and as usual the manual contains pretty much everything you would have figured out by yourself, and little else.

So, is there a way to tell which tiles are free to be settled and which are not? Since native settlements don't have visible boundaries, I can't tell just by looking at the map, and that's quite irritating.

 

[snoopy369]

I believe the 9 square radius around each native camp 'belongs' to the natives. (IE:
XXX
XNX
XXX
)

 

[stbabylon]

What snoopy369 said

You can try by just seeing where you can build a colony, as long as your SC (as I saw someone say it: BFC, SC BigFatCross, SmallCross) is not over a part of theirs, all is cool.

 

[much2much]

Yeah just the 9 squares. If you build a city right next to theirs they will charge you heaps more too. All settlements only work the 8 squares around them even if they have big borders too.

 

[stbabylon]

Btw, your first settlement is a freebee. No charge. You can build it right next to a camp.

 

[much2much]

Btw, your first settlement is a freebee. No charge. You can build it right next to a camp.

Great tip thanks! This is great because they always have the best spots. I was noticing they always give me the "You're just a small bunch of nomads" when I overlapped them at the start but I was never game to build right next door.

 

[morchuflex]

I believe the 9 square radius around each native camp 'belongs' to the natives. (IE:
XXX
XNX
XXX
)

I wish this was the case but it's not. I've just had natives ask for money when I tried to settle 2 tiles North of their camp.

 

[weidbrewer]

I wish this was the case but it's not. I've just had natives ask for money when I tried to settle 2 tiles North of their camp.

Yes...but then your territory overlaps theirs - Let's call you C and them N:

X X X
X C X
XXXX
X N X
X X X


So, there, you have the spot two above them, but you're still sharing territory.

 

[morchuflex]

Yes...but then your territory overlaps theirs - Let's call you C and them N:

X X X
X C X
XXXX
X N X
X X X


So, there, you have the spot two above them, but you're still sharing territory.

So, IIUC, I have to pay whenever my territory overlaps theirs, even if the tile on which I found my colony is NOT within their territory?

 

[nbcman]

Yes...but then your territory overlaps theirs - Let's call you C and them N:

X X X
X C X
XXXX
X N X
X X X


So, there, you have the spot two above them, but you're still sharing territory.

In the original game, you could settle like you have described but you could not work the overlapping tiles until you payed the natives-or got Peter Minuet. Now you have to pay immediately?

 

[morchuflex]

In the original game, you could settle like you have described but you could not work the overlapping tiles until you payed the natives-or got Peter Minuet. Now you have to pay immediately?

It would seem so...

 

[Phobic]

In the original game, you could settle like you have described but you could not work the overlapping tiles until you payed the natives-or got Peter Minuet. Now you have to pay immediately?

maybe not if you have peter. check the pedia.

 

[ZippyRiver]

I don't have the game yet, but in the original the big natives (aztecs) had a 2 tile boundry whereas the mid level and small native nations only took up the 9 tile. Might still be in the game design.

 

[Zhahz]

If you view a map in the world builder (ctrl+w, probably a button for it somewhere) you can see native influence/boundries. I was just checking out what the map/scenario scripts generate, not studying the natives, and what I saw was mostly village + 8, just like a settlement. I might've seen some oddities like "culture" bleeding beyond that when villages are close to each other. Plus dunno if their "culture" grows over time to push their boundries (seems unlikely) but...

So, IIUC, I have to pay whenever my territory overlaps theirs, even if the tile on which I found my colony is NOT within their territory?

...seems like in my last game Aztecs demanded cash for what I thought was a settlement in wide open space (well away from any villages) and they DOW when I refused to pay (something you can often get away with as french...but less so vs aztecs and not that time! It was my 5th or 6th settlement and I had never paid for land.).

 

[Polobo]

Apparently some of the tribes have BFC, not just SC.

While the first settlement gets a pass when you found the next settlement if even a single tile overlaps they will also ask for payment for the overlap from the first settlement.

 

[PaintItBlue]

if you hoover over the tile in question, like in civ 4 van. it wll show you 100%(nation name) in the tool tip

 

[morchuflex]

if you hoover over the tile in question, like in civ 4 van. it wll show you 100%(nation name) in the tool tip

You're right, thanks.

 

[Ambreville]

I noticed that the tribes' borders are visible in World Builder. Is this just another bug?

 

[morchuflex]

I noticed that the tribes' borders are visible in World Builder. Is this just another bug?

Probably not: you're just not supposed to fiddle with worldbuilder, you lowly cheater.

 

[Ambreville]

Probably not: you're just not supposed to fiddle with worldbuilder, you lowly cheater.

I wasn't fiddling -- I was trying to understand some of the workings of the game, such as whether or not the general placement of Civs in the scenario map was correct or bogus (it was indeed bogus based on other threads I read this morning). I discovered the Indian borders in WB as a result of that.

Since you can mouse over the land to see its apparent population mix, the borders might just as well become apparent, especially after you've actually made contact with the owning Civ (at least the local tribal leader).