autorazing cities...?

[guermantes]

Hi,

Is it only barb cities that get autorazed when I 'capture' them if they have population 1, or would a brand new Spanish city be razed if I try to capture it?

Should I wauit until pop 2 or until there is culture in it?

Thanks!

[Unimatrix11]

From what i have heard, any city that NEVER was pop 2 gets auto-razed.

[Fleme]

Above statement makes sense to me. I've wondered about this myself.

[Marcusem78]

If a city pops a culture cross, it wont be razed. Also, if it is any size above 1. This is the pattern ive recognized.

[snoopy369]

I'm not sure about the culture expansion, but definitely it's accurate to state that a city will not be autorazed if it at any point in the game was size 2 (even if it was poprushed or killed down to 1), barb or otherwise; and most size 1 cities will be razed, barb or otherwise (not sure about the culture pop, I've never seen a city with a culture pop but always size 1 be taken that I am aware of).

[KMadeleine]

it's all about population. if it never got above population 1, it will autoraze. i have tested in BtS about culture, even if a city gets a natural culture expansion, or uses a great artist to get several rings, if it never got above population 1 it goes poof. snoopy369 is right about cities that did grow to population 2 at some time giving you the option to keep them, even if they're currently size 1.

Marcusem78 you used the phrase "This is the pattern i've recognized." i've done tests in worldbuilder. if you're going by actual tests i'm really curious about how our tests were different, i know often my silly WB tests leave something out.

i guess if you play with that cities never autoraze option on even size-always-1 cities stick around? i've never played with it, AI city placement messes with my pretty dot maps.

in Warlords (i haven't checked for BtS, but don't have reason to think it's been changed), i know that whether you get the chance to raze a city that was once yours is in fact related to culture. let's say you once owned the city of Timbuktu, and then Monty captured it. you had earned 100 culture in it. i *think* the magic number is 25% culture but can't swear to it, i'm half awake and it was a while ago that i read about it. there is *a* magic number tho.

if Monty has not yet earned the magic number of culture yet, some percentage of the culture that you once had in that city, then you have to keep that city, you don't get asked whether you want to or not. if he has earned that much culture in Timbuktu in the time he's had it since he captured it, then you do get the "Install a new governor? Burn baby burn!" box.

[The Priest]

That's very useful. I had never quite got to the bottom of it myself. I had thought that the reason some size 1 cities autorazed while others didn't was something to do with culture, but I can believe KMadeleine's explanation.

In fact the two almost overlap - cities currently size 1, but which have been size 2, are by definition going to be well-established compared to most size 1 cities, and therefore are also goin to be ones with the culture. Not doubting that its the size to do it, but it does explain why some of us thought it was to do with culture.

One question though - how on earth did anyone discover this. How do you know if a city had been size 2 at an earlier point? And it still surprises me that the computer boths to record this.

[snoopy369]

I know if a city was size 2 and then an archer was whipped

[Blake]

Originally posted by The Priest
One question though - how on earth did anyone discover this. How do you know if a city had been size 2 at an earlier point? And it still surprises me that the computer boths to record this.

The max population is definitely recorded .

[joncnunn]

On the AI messes with my dot maps; that was largely solved in BTS by the series of Solver's patches that were incorporated into the base game.

Now if your empire is already much biger than the AI your conquering (and especally so if this conqest is on another landmass), the optimum city placements for you are more spread out than it was for them.

[Marcusem78]

i was wrong about the culture pop... even cities that culture pop the borders will be autorazed if they never increased in size... saw it just the other day in my last game. I apologize for any confusion I may have caused...