Suggested city sites

[uberloz]

What's the general consensus about the blue circle city suggestions?

Are they infallibly the best site for your city?

Do they "see into the future" of undiscovered resources and take those into account?

Are they simply showing the best site for the initial city size? i.e. the first nine tiles.

Do they represent maximum potential ( growth, resources, etc. ) for a city placed in that location.

Is it unwise to not follow the city placement suggestions of these circles?

This has probably been addressed before, but I thought maybe perhaps peoples perspectives, or the game mechanics may have changed, especially with the addition of the Warlords expansion.

Please feel free to post comments. I didn't intend this as a poll only thread.

Thanks in advance for any upcoming contributions.

[Arrian]

I turn that off. No, they're not always good recommendations.

For the specific mechanics, Blake must know how it works (and IIRC he's changed it in his mod to work better).

-Arrian

[DaveV]

I play with Blake's latest improved AI mod, and the circles are very good suggestions. But they are pretty much concerned with optimizing an individual city rather than the overall empire, so sometimes I put my cities in a different spot (but I need a good reason).

As I understand it, the blue circles see only what you see: they can't see invisible resources, nor fogged squares.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by DaveV

As I understand it, the blue circles see only what you see: they can't see invisible resources, nor fogged squares.

Is that true? Quite often the blue circle amde no sense to me until AFTER more of the board was uncovered.

[zeace]

Before Blake's AI the circles were more likely to be bad locations than good. Now I find that I usually at least consider the spot. I still don't use the circles to make my decision, but it does clue you in to how the AI makes these decisions.

Another nice trick from the circles is sometimes you can use them to figure out where an AI is likely to build its next city. Sometimes you can adjust the location of a city to prevent an AI from building near you. Other times you can send an army to meet the settler when he gets there

[sjm]

They're pretty good, and have certainly been improved by the new AI. Previously it was more like the blue circle was an indication of where not to build. I now actually find myself building on the blue circles. But it's definitely true that you don't want to trust them blindly, as they don't really take into account the rest of your empire or other potential city sites.

[couerdelion]

Yesterday it offered me a non-coastal capital site with access to fish and clams in the fat cross

[eris]

Before Blake's AI, I did what I wanted to regardless of the blue circles. After Blakes's AI, I have to stop and convince myself why my idea is better than that blue circle. I am probably still wrong, but at least I have given the subject due consideration.

[rah]

I'm kind of in the same boat. From ignore to "why are they saying there when I want to settle in the next space over"

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

I was told that the circles don't take hidden resources into account. Since then, I've felt much better about ignoring them (putting a city on a plains hill instead of a jungle, moving over a tile to have water access, etc.).

[Addled Platypus]

just like paying attention to the build que


not always