The AI needs to focus builders!

[civfan_999]

The single best (and also, I expect, easiest) improvement that the developers can make to the game play of the AI is to make them focus builders. The AI will go through the entire game with cities that only have one or two tiles improved. I've seen 15-20 person cities with 3-5 tile improvements. This makes the AI fall insanely far behind. Their production and food simply cannot have a chance of keeping up with a human player that is effectively using builders.

The AI also should focus repairs. Often, I will pillage something and they still won't have repaired it 100 turns later.

I suggest something like, after turn 40 if any population are working any tiles that are unimproved and there isn't an active builder then a city needs to start development of or immediately purchase a builder that turn. This needs to be combined with, once the builder is built/bought the builder should first focus on repairing all damaged tiles within a XX turn walking range and then should immediately use all its charges to improve tiles that the city will choose to work after the improvement is complete.

 

[Naokaukodem]

In Deity I had an eagle warrior in a corner of the map and pillaged enemy campus multiple times. I would have pillage more if only my health was recovering faster, because the AI was repairing the damage in no time. But it was Deity and in vanilla ai focuses more on science i believe.

 

[civfan_999]

I always play deity gathering storm (with various NFP modes enabled). I have never seen the AI effectively repair or effectively build. I will take cities in the late game that haven't developed their luxury resources and will have half the population working unimproved tiles. I have pillaged mines or farms that remain unrepaired at the end of the game.