Where does the AI build Cities?

[Skulb]

What terrain does the A.I. use for cities?

Obviously plains and grasslands are tops for the A.I., but does the A.I. ever build anywhere else AND is there a terrain slot it avoids altogether (other than ocean)?

Does it build first on grass and only later on hill and forest?

OH, and I read somewhere it "Knows" what the fertility of a square is and settles or fails to settle an area if the fertility is zero.

I'm CERTAIN this has been addressed, in whole or in part, elsewhere. I just can't remember where.

[Skulb]

And

And you're all bastards.

[GhostOfDisco]

I don't know. I know Eivind IV placed his "grassland" and "plains" terrains in the tundra and artic slots in Medium Aevum (sp?) so that the AI wouldn't go on a colonizing spree...

[Harry Tuttle]

The AI will build on tiles with high fertility. I don't know if there is a scale, but I'm sure such tiles as tundra, glacier, and desert rate pretty low. As Ghost of Disco said you could simply switch the graphics around to achieve what you want.

If you want to read a discussion on fertility check out my Gold Gulch thread from a few years ago. I changed the fertility on a map to only allow an AI to build in two areas, each with different kinds of terrain. It's a useful tool, especially with expansionist civs.