The Blue Circles....

[Redcoat Captain]

Hi all,

When looking for a place to build a new settlement, how important/useful is it to pay attention to the Blue Circles (suggested build tiles) that the computer gives you?

Some of them have popped up in really awful places, and the more i play the more i tend to ignore them and build where i think is best.

Is there something im missing though, should you always build in these zones? Does it take into account the location of resources you've yet to uncover? Or the proximity to Civ's you have met yet? I can understand why it sometimes gives you great suggested spots and other times really poor ones?

 

[AndrewN]

Some here say ignore them, but in my opinion you should look at why a particular spot is highlighted, there may be something you have missed. Normally I don't change my mind but I do on occasions.

As far as I know, the spots are only highlighted based on the information available to you (although they may use information hidden in the fog of war). I have noticed that the spots will change when you have built another city so part of the decision process is the distance to other cities.

 

[Racsoviale]

I have realized that the blue dots rarely take into consideration the first border pop, which tends to make me hesitant to utilize them. Furthermore they seem to (usually) only focus on food/growth, which makes sense regarding what I have read about how the AI almost always focuses on growth instead of other resources. I use them, but more as some kind of guideline(like the piratecode yarghh). Keep in mind that they also seem to suggest spots which later will contain some sort of strategic resource(oil, uranium, aluminium).

 

[Conqistador]

I ignore them, although if my own "dotmap" matches their location, then I will use that spot.

 

[Bushface]

I always give a glance at the blue rings, which sometimes draw attention to what I thought was just a desert tile but is actually a flood plain (showing just a touch of green in one corner, mostly obscured by a boundary). But only a glance: I have my own ideas as to what and where I want to develop. And if I have just moved a worker to a grass tile, to be farmed, I feel I can safely ignore the two blue rings on plains hills which already have mines and rails.

 

[babybluepants]

It might be fun to play a game where you only found cities in the nearest blue circle... Or, maybe not...

 

[sabo]

I never take the computers suggestion because I agree with Racsoviale that the computer largely bases the blue circles on food, I've seen times where suggested city builds are one tile away from where I would build. I don't think it takes into account the fat cross later on and doesn't account much for resources, just food.


babybluepants
It might be fun to play a game where you only found cities in the nearest blue circle... Or, maybe not...

Yeah, maybe on chieftan

 

[nbcman]

It might be fun to play a game where you only found cities in the nearest blue circle... Or, maybe not...

@ babybluepants

There have been succession games that the players followed the AI's suggestions. See sand01 - The Computer Knows Best for more info.

 

[Volapyk]

The blue circles can be useful, as they are placed using information not always available to the player. they are placed regardless of visible terrain, meaning they can be used to indicate where there might be resources in a region you have yet to explore.

Not sure on this, but I think it also takes into consideration resources you can't see yet, such as oil and horses and such. Not 100% sure on this, but I'm fairly sure I have seen blue circles out in the middle of nowhere, where there later turned out to be oil.

 

[Crusher1]

Blue circles are typically bad imo which is why I have had them turned off for years now.

 

[Iranon]

The blue circles can't be all that helpful if you generally know what you're doing, because the game...

a) doesn't know why you found it in the first place (do you want commerce, production, excess food for GP farming in a new city, secure a resource or just block off an AI?)

b) doesn't know what you want to base your overall city placement on. Ideal 20-tile-cities in the late game? Maximum number of cities eventually, in the tightest possible grid? No concern for either but for immediate advantages (not needing border pops, being on a plains hill etc)? Minimising a border to a particular AI (choke point to be safe) or maximising it (for a crushing backstab)?

 

[Belisar]

they are placed using information not always available to the player. they are placed regardless of visible terrain, meaning they can be used to indicate where there might be resources in a region you have yet to explore.

True, ressources just outside the fog have an influence.

Not sure on this, but I think it also takes into consideration resources you can't see yet, such as oil and horses and such. Not 100% sure on this, but I'm fairly sure I have seen blue circles out in the middle of nowhere, where there later turned out to be oil.

Pretty sure this is wrong, unknown ressources don't influence the placement and oil showing up later is coincidence.

There is also an unrealistic bias towards coastal for your capital (at the start of the game), you can have a ton of ressources at one side and coast at the other side and the circle will direct you mercilessly towards the coast.

 

[arikajohnson]

To me, it usually depends on my vision for how I want to build my civilization. Am I looking for protection right now or a nice resource? Also, sometimes, I think, "Oh, I can just swallow that resource with my cities boundaries later." I'm still trying to get better at this game though, so that's just my opinion. Sometimes I will start a city in a blue-circle tile and sometimes I'll look for something better.

 

[sydhe]

The computer seems to give heavy bonuses to defensive squares, to the point that it just loves to found a city one space away from the sea (meaning you can't build a lighthouse, harbor or customs house) or river (ditto for dikes, levees and the health bonus). I'm looking for the food squares as well, so emphasizing that's not a problem.

 

[capnvonbaron]

^^ What sydhe said. I've noticed that a lot too. I ignore the blue circles almost all together... I can't say there has been a single time I've actually built a city in one. I think the AI civs place their cities based on those guidelines, which is why 90% I either burn their cities on capture or at least contemplate doing so and spare it for some wonder or shrine it holds. Or just gift it to a third-party for diplo points

 

[Scoottr]

Blue circles won't appear on a rescource. So it does place them thinking ahead of ones that you can't see yet because of your low tech level.

I always take a look at the area the circle appears in because of the above. Plenty of times I've thought 'that is dumb' and dropped my city next to or near the blue circle and ended up having horses or iron pop in that location I now have my city.

 

[Rusty Edge]

The blue circles can be useful, as they are placed using information not always available to the player. they are placed regardless of visible terrain, meaning they can be used to indicate where there might be resources in a region you have yet to explore.

Not sure on this, but I think it also takes into consideration resources you can't see yet, such as oil and horses and such. Not 100% sure on this, but I'm fairly sure I have seen blue circles out in the middle of nowhere, where there later turned out to be oil.

The blue circles can't be all that helpful if you generally know what you're doing, because the game...

a) doesn't know why you found it in the first place (do you want commerce, production, excess food for GP farming in a new city, secure a resource or just block off an AI?)

b) doesn't know what you want to base your overall city placement on. Ideal 20-tile-cities in the late game? Maximum number of cities eventually, in the tightest possible grid? No concern for either but for immediate advantages (not needing border pops, being on a plains hill etc)? Minimising a border to a particular AI (choke point to be safe) or maximising it (for a crushing backstab)?

The computer seems to give heavy bonuses to defensive squares, to the point that it just loves to found a city one space away from the sea (meaning you can't build a lighthouse, harbor or customs house) or river (ditto for dikes, levees and the health bonus). I'm looking for the food squares as well, so emphasizing that's not a problem.

That's pretty much the way I see it. My favorite city sites tend to be capitals, mine or captured. For my first city, I usually build next to the circle, prioritizing according to my intentions for that particular game/civilization ( usually the best coast or river position I can see at the time. For my subsequent cities, I try to appreciate why the blue circle is where it is first, in case there is something I overlooked, then do what I want to do. I don't ignore the blue circles, but I don't often settle on them , either.

Usually most of my cities are captured rather than settled anyway.

 

[arikajohnson]

Sometimes, I'll ignore the blue circles and create my city somewhere else, but it won't be a productive square. Like, I'll choose that city and have to choose my first thing to "build," but then I'll realize that that wasn't such a great place to get things going because my production isn't very high there. It'll take 30 turns for a warrior instead of the 15 turns it may have taken somewhere else. So, I am trying to learn how to pick plots with better production yield because I like to get my cities production going very fast (barracks, military units, temples, granary, and at least one wonder soon.)

 

[Jaroth]

If only there was a way to disable the two recommendations within the city production popups.

 

[charon2112]

Blue circles are typically bad imo which is why I have had them turned off for years now.

How do you turn them off?

Sometimes the blue settler circles tell me to build a city almost on top of another city. Which is never a good idea, as far as I know...