Roads and aliens

[Elowan]

I bought the Strategy Guide. (OK - call me a loser).

Anyway - it suggests that since your opponent cannot use your roads - whilst at peace - that a good strategy is to build roads in the perimeter tiles to prevent 'straying' into your territory.

What say you about this?

[Jaybe]

Unless you have a Right of Passage agreement, you cannot use another's roads. If you have roads on your border, you can easily move units there to block potential "trespassers". Even "excess" workers can block movement of non-hostile units. The roads make it easier to shuffle your blocking units around.

It is also advisable to road your coastlines, so that when a hostile naval unit shows up, you can bring your bombardment units to bear on it.

[joncnunn]

Elowan, your misunderstanding the Strategy Guide.

All "cannot use your roads" means is that if they stray into your territory (weather at peace or war) they don't get the advange of road movement inside your territory.

The same thing applies to rail.

[vmxa1]

It is not a good idea early in the game as you can not afford to have worker waste time on improvements you do not need. It may make sense if at war. If you are strong they will not cross your culture border with exploring troops, they will send settlers if they know of open land. These can be demanded back. Never give out your maps if any open land is available to prevent this trick. Later in the game, is the time to consider roading to the coastal tiles that are not going to be worked as you can spare the workers and are more in need of quick access.

[wilbill]

Originally posted by vmxa1
they will send settlers if they know of open land. These can be demanded back. Never give out your maps if any open land is available to prevent this trick.

Guess I need a little clarification. I'm pretty sure I read in one of the "AI Cheats" threads that the AI knows the location of all the human player's cities and troops. AI behavior makes me think it also knows the location of barbarian villages, resources, stuff like that. Does it not follow that it knows where there's open land? And if the AI "knows" the map then isn't selling or trading a map giving it something of no value in exhange for something of value to me? Or am I mistaken about this?

[Elowan]

Originally posted by wilbill


Guess I need a little clarification. I'm pretty sure I read in one of the "AI Cheats" threads that the AI knows the location of all the human player's cities and troops. AI behavior makes me think it also knows the location of barbarian villages, resources, stuff like that. Does it not follow that it knows where there's open land? And if the AI "knows" the map then isn't selling or trading a map giving it something of no value in exhange for something of value to me? Or am I mistaken about this?

I have seen the AI making a beeline to an area that I know for a fact they have not seen before. If I immediately head in the same direction - sometimes I can beat them to the barbarian village.

On the other hand - I've seen the AI completely ignore a goody hut sitting just outside a city boundary.

I never trade territorial maps because when I have - the AI will immediately send a settler/warrior stack toward an open area inside my territory.

[DaveMcW]

The "AI cheat" is that they have no fog of war. But they can't see anything in the blackness, that's why they need to trade maps.

[wilbill]

DaveMcW, thanks. Makes sense.

[candybo]

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Elowan


I have seen the AI making a beeline to an area that I know for a fact they have not seen before. If I immediately head in the same direction - sometimes I can beat them to the barbarian village.

On the other hand - I've seen the AI completely ignore a goody hut sitting just outside a city boundary.




... They are, I believe, greatly attracted to the actual barbarians, not necessarily to the hut, as such

[badams52]

For some strange reason, usually when I open up that goodie hut that the AI ignored near his territory, more often than not I seem to get barbarians out of it. I think maybe once of the many times I've entered those huts, I got a science advance. Maybe it's just bad luck on my part, but it just seems to me that the AI knows those huts will produce barbarians and avoid them. Of course, this never happens if one of the AIs I'm fighting against is Expansionistic.

[ducki]

Huts are not hardcoded, so the AI won't know it makes barbarians.

You can test this for yourself by saving a game immediately before popping the hut. (You must have Preserve Random Seed on)

Pop the hut. Note the reward.
Reload. Wait 1 turn. Pop the hut. Note the reward.
Relaod. Wait 2 turns. Pop the hut. Note the reward.

If you do not have Preserve Random Seed on, you can skip the Wait a Turn bit, since you get a new Random Seed every single time the game needs a Random Number.

Preserve Random Seed ensures that if you want to show someone something, you can load from a save, and as long as you do everything exactly the same, the results will be identical.

I hope that was clear.