Question About Settlement Limit

[y10]

I've been playing my first game on the March patch. I seem to recall that in my previous games, when I transitioned from Exploration to Modern, my settlement cap would increase by three, but in my current game, it only increased by one. Does anyone know if this was rebalanced in the latest patch (I didn't see anything in the patch notes about this), or if there are other factors that affect how much the settlement cap increases from age to age? As a side note, I saw in a Civ youtube video, a player who had a settlement cap of 18 in Exploration and managed to increase the cap to 35 by the Modern. To my knowledge, there are only six settlement cap increases in the tech and civic trees in the Modern era, so I don't know how this would be possible. Unfortunately the video had a lot of jump cuts, so I wasn't able to see how he did it.

 

[Krikkit1]

Settlement limits follow a few rules

Each Age yoi have a base and then can have different things that increase it (civ abilities/civics/techs, leader abilities /mementos/attributes)

The base each era is
3
8
16
UNLESS you ended the previous age with an amount higher than that

So if you ended Antiquity with a total Settlement Limit of 10, then your Exploration Base is 10 (and all bonuses are then added to it)

This means that leader/attribute/memento bonuses can get counted multiple times because they become part of the new base and then get added to it because they persist…unlike boosts from civ/techs/civics.

It’s messed up and hopefully they let the bases just be the new base.

 

[y10]

Thank you for your response.

 

[Fluffball]

Settlement limits follow a few rules

Each Age yoi have a base and then can have different things that increase it (civ abilities/civics/techs, leader abilities /mementos/attributes)

The base each era is
3
8
16
UNLESS you ended the previous age with an amount higher than that

So if you ended Antiquity with a total Settlement Limit of 10, then your Exploration Base is 10 (and all bonuses are then added to it)

This means that leader/attribute/memento bonuses can get counted multiple times because they become part of the new base and then get added to it because they persist…unlike boosts from civ/techs/civics.

It’s messed up and hopefully they let the bases just be the new base.

Do you know if it is settlement cap from previous era or number of settlements?

e.g. if I end antiquity with 11 cities but a settlement cap of 10 would i start exploration era with a base of 10 or 11?

 

[Krikkit1]

Do you know if it is settlement cap from previous era or number of settlements?

e.g. if I end antiquity with 11 cities but a settlement cap of 10 would i start exploration era with a base of 10 or 11?

10…since you can go way over the cap and start over the cap

 

[ColPaladin]

I found the settlement limit in the first 2 eras about right. I can just get up to the max cap if I try. THEN, in modern era, it's just ridiculous. I think it's like 19 or something for me (and the most settlements I have ever had was 10). Just an insane jump. Why even bother putting a Settlement level cap if it's going to be so sky high.

 

[y10]

I found the settlement limit in the first 2 eras about right. I can just get up to the max cap if I try. THEN, in modern era, it's just ridiculous. I think it's like 19 or something for me (and the most settlements I have ever had was 10). Just an insane jump. Why even bother putting a Settlement level cap if it's going to be so sky high.

I have the opposite problem in the modern age. I like to go for domination victories, but the computer never seems to adopt and ideology (or adopts on really late in the game), which means I have to capture 10 settlements, but I only have 6 settlement limit increases in the modern age.

 

[Yzman]

Do you know if it is settlement cap from previous era or number of settlements?

e.g. if I end antiquity with 11 cities but a settlement cap of 10 would i start exploration era with a base of 10 or 11?

It should be 11. You never start over a cap.

 

[y10]

In my current game, I did start the Modern age over the cap. I'm not sure if it's a bug or it's intended though.

 

[Krikkit1]

In my current game, I did start the Modern age over the cap. I'm not sure if it's a bug or it's intended though.

Hopefully intended. The base Cap ought to start the same for everyone (and then they add their attribute/leader/mementos they carried over as well as new civ/civic/techs)

 

[Fluffball]

I'm happy with being able to start over the cap, if that's the choice I make. The important thing is to know so I can make effective decisions.

 

[Calcifer]

You can start an age over the cap if you were over the cap at the end of previous age. Say you ended antiquity at 9/8 (playing Rome for example), you could start exploration still at 9/8 assuming you don’t take any bonuses from memento/leader/attributes/fealty.

 

[Krikkit1]

I'm happy with being able to start over the cap, if that's the choice I make. The important thing is to know so I can make effective decisions.

If they kept the bases at 8 and 16 (no higher) the only way your settlement limit could be lower in the next age is by playing Mongols or Fealty.* Leader/memento/attribute bonuses carry over, and the basic civs+civics+techs can’t get you higher than 16.

*or removing a memento but that is a choice to reduce your limit.

 

[Smegger213]

Yet another game mechanic that does not make sense. I just ignore the cap and deal with it. I think I am at something like 26 to an 18 limit in the Modern Age in my latest play through. Its yet another garbage mechanic in this game.

 

[Fluffball]

The tab which tells you what you have earned\unlocked in this era should include basic information for the next era like;

How many units you will keep
What you settlement limit will be
How much science\culture\gold\influence you will have at the start of the next era

This information should be available while choosing a new civ also.


As it is we are supposed to making decisions to set us up for the next era, both during the final phases of this era and while choosing the path for the new era...which civ and momentoes...using guesswork, manual counting and doing the math ourselves or simply saving, seeing what happens and reloading once we have that basic information.

I know all this information is subject to the choices you make during and at the start of the next era. e.g. you can pick a momento that adds settlement limit but how can I make a reasonable decision if I should or need pick that momento if I don't know what my settlement cap will be in the first place. Do i need to pick it as i will start overcapped or maybe it is a waste picking it as I already have spare capacity?

If I am going to be carrying over a lot of science maybe I pick a science based civ for example to lean into it or maybe my science output is low so I pick a science based civ to make up for it.

This is just another aspect where the era system (while i have grown to like it as a general concept) really makes me feel detached from my 'empire' and the game in general.

I usually feel invested in my empire as well as the AI leaders/civilisations and grew to love or hate certain civs/leaders due to their character but everything just seems so throwaway and samey with civ 7.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

So if you ended Antiquity with a total Settlement Limit of 10, then your Exploration Base is 10 (and all bonuses are then added to it)

This means that leader/attribute/memento bonuses can get counted multiple times because they become part of the new base and then get added to it because they persist…unlike boosts from civ/techs/civics.

Ah, that explains my game with Xerxes and Corona Civica where I seemed to have an extra 2 settlements.