Why do city start tiles vanish?

from Elemental Forums

It seems like when I start a city, sometimes other city-capable tiles that are several squares away lose that capability.  At first I thought the icons were just disappearing- when I play for a long time, similar graphical issues arise, like the icons at the top of the ledger and the lines between connected research topics.  But I just noticed that if I take a pioneer to those areas, their ability to settle is gone.

I assume this has something to do with distance between cities, but what's the actual rule at work here?  What kind of measurement do I have to go by to make sure I don't step on my own feet anymore in this regard?

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Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

5 for tiny, 6 for small and medium, 7 for large maps.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

yeah, it's a minimum distance thing. Any tile that's within a certain distance of another city is barred from construction, even if it's fertile. 

 

I really find the current system strange though. It seems fairly arbitrary which sites are considered fertile enough. There's plenty of grassland tiles which aren't, and plenty of desert tiles which are. 

I don't really understand the design decisions at work here. I guess maybe it suits the game design to have vast uninhabitable areas, so that the entire world isn't covered in cities. But i really wish it were possible to choose which city harvested resources go to.

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Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting NanakoAC, reply 2
yeah, it's a minimum distance thing. Any tile that's within a certain distance of another city is barred from construction, even if it's fertile. 

 

I really find the current system strange though. It seems fairly arbitrary which sites are considered fertile enough. There's plenty of grassland tiles which aren't, and plenty of desert tiles which are. 

I don't really understand the design decisions at work here. I guess maybe it suits the game design to have vast uninhabitable areas, so that the entire world isn't covered in cities. But i really wish it were possible to choose which city harvested resources go to.

The grassland tiles that can't be inhabited play into something else I find odd- invisible forests.  When I played my first game as Tarth, I didn't realize terrain mattered because they don't suffer from impaired movement.  Now, as Gilden, I find I have to check tile types because forest and plains look identical.  I know the game can chug a bit once things get moving and there's a ton to keep track of, but a few trees would help so much.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

That sounds like you have the missing tree bug. Run the game in administrator mode once and that should rectify that problem.