Free cities

[Mercantile]

DaveV, i didn't know you could do that

I view anything but the dreaded Warrior Code and barbarians as a plus from huts, but there is no doubt in my mind that random cities are often poorly placed.
Disbanding hopefully far enough away from my empire to have "none" status is ideal and then BAM! put the city where it would normally be placed.

I think this is done to guide you into making contact with other civs sooner than perhaps one normally would. Some games i do not pick up Horseback Riding until late, somewhat hampering my exploration if i don't get enough fast units or any for that matter

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Do you wish to trade blows or goods? I offer both.

[Julius Brenzaida]

quote: Originally posted by Ming on 09-18-2000 11:19 AM As pointed out, it's amazing how a free city ALWAYS seems to just miss the key special resources

It's not amazing, it's mathematics. The pattern of resource and the pattern of huts are designed in a way that makes in impossible to have more than 2 resources in the radius of a hut.
Nothing to do about it.

[BlackJack]

Yeah, it's amazing how that advanced civ is just one or two squares away from the prefect spot. Anyway, I disband it too and build another where I wish it had been. What gets hard is when it's got the bunch of improvements somebody mentioned - sell them or make do with the bad location? And I think even worse, you continue exploring and discover new units attached to the city you're in the process of disbanding - again, keep it and make do, hustle 'em back and disband, or just watch them disappear? ... Oh, well ....

[Jim W]

quote: Originally posted by Julius Brenzaida on 09-19-2000 05:08 PM Yes you are right. Advance Tribes are only founded on plains and grassland. And so, Nomad Tribes are only discovered in other type of terrains. Mainly (I think) ice and forest.

I have several times found Advanced Tribes on Islands or Seacoasts. They are always, as has been noted, just a little off from taking proper advantage of all the nearby specials.

Jim W

[Chainsaw]

BlackJack:

If the city´s location is OK for starting a colonization of the area you´ve found the city, sell everything you don´t need. (I often find size three cities with e.g. granary, temple and marketplace.)
Otherwise, sell everything. That way, you can by off that disbanding settler for that money and you even get a surplus.

[Longfistking]

Beyond the chances of getting a free city in a hut, I've always wondered what the chances are of getting a more "developed" city. Sometimes it seems that early in the game you might get a city with a temple and marketplace, and later in the game--when you're hitting the last of the huts--you get one with more improvements. I think I've hit a couple--mind you, out of hundreds of games--where the city had a library or the city was building an aqueduct. I might be wrong about that. Has anybody gotten a lot of improvements in a free city, or strange combinations of improvements?

[SCG]

quote: Originally posted by Longfistking on 09-20-2000 09:21 AM I might be wrong about that. Has anybody gotten a lot of improvements in a free city, or strange combinations of improvements?

thought I'd provide this link to a similar discussion -hut knowledge

late in the game (never did track down the triggering tech), i've gotten cities from size 1 up to size 4 with anywhere between 0 and 4 buildings (temple, granary, marketplace and library)

[Longfistking]

Yeah SCG, I just read that topic thread you pointed out, thanks. I swear that later in the game--say when I'm into building airports and such--that I've run across a size 6 or 8 city with lots of improvements and a defender in it, at least once in a blue moon. Maybe it's the same programming in the game that causes the AI to keep up with you on techs and wonders. It doesn't happen enough in my games to test it out, but next time I find one I'll report it.

[Mercantile]

is there a basis for cities with improvements? I have received cites with temples , markets and libraries. Never knew why or how, they must have been in awe of my glorious empire

[Bohlen]

quote: <font size=1>Originally posted by Dino the Dinosore on 09-20-2000 12:43 PM</font> The found city is NEVER on a shore, just exactly one sqaure away of it.

Not true in my experience. I have gotten a free city on the coast.