Cities and water access

[Helvellyn]

I know people say that settling your city on a tile with access to water provides Happiness but it isn't showing any difference when I play. Whether the tile I set my first city on has fresh water or not the Happiness always shows as +5. When I build a town then the Happiness shows as +3, again irrespective of whether I build it on a tile with water or not. I've tried this over multiple games and tried experimenting with different leaders/cultures but it still doesn't seem to make a difference.

[TheNightglow]

hey so I m not going insane^^
I really can not tell any difference between a city with and without fresh water, though I also didnt know that water is supposed to increases happiness, does the game tell you that anywhere?
I dont think I ve ever seen anything in the game that tells you what fresh water is supposed to do at all

[Larkis]

From my understanding you need water in there influence area. So you dont need to have waer on the sme tile, but on the tiles around.

[TheNightglow]

Originally posted by Larkis:

From my understanding you need water in there influence area. So you dont need to have waer on the sme tile, but on the tiles around.

influence area...
like within 1 tile of the center for the initial city expansion?, or within 3 tiles for the total city expansion?, or as soon as the city has fresh water within the borders it counts?

[Kidkiedis]

Originally posted by TheNightglow:

hey so I m not going insane^^
I really can not tell any difference between a city with and without fresh water, though I also didnt know that water is supposed to increases happiness, does the game tell you that anywhere?
I dont think I ve ever seen anything in the game that tells you what fresh water is supposed to do at all

Suitable place for a settlement should be on a (not navigable) river, or should have a tile with "wet" in description in nearest hexes (oasis, lake, swamp). And it doesn't get a bonus, it gets -5 happiness penalty if those requirements are not met, i.e. no source of water nearby.