[DanQ] "[TheLimey] what do you think the chances are of implementing hotseat in a future release/patch?"
[DanQ] Was just waiting for you to finish, Mark {grin}
[StSwithin] real, real good, we hope :) right mrogre?
[DanQ] For those who have joined us recently, go to #aposuggestions to ask q's
[mrogre] I knew that was the next question :-) (Hotseat and PBEM are the same feature, really). I think it depends mainly on how many people ask for it. We can't promise anything right now.
[mrogre] ...
[DanQ] Just a brief intermission of sorts before our next topic...
[DanQ] ... in the form of who will be able to stay after the official portion of the chat is over.
[DanQ] This is in case you did not get your question asked during this time period.
[DanQ] Neglib, mrogre
[DanQ] Amzel
[[ATVI]Azmel] I can stick around a bit
[DanQ] and St. Swithin will be around nayone
[DanTheMan] I'll be here.
[[ATVI]PingEnvy] I need to go pickup NOLF and get some lunch. :(
[DanQ] I was getting to yo, Amzel, tisk tisk ;D
[MarkG] Ok, moving to AI, right Dan?
[DWhite] I'll stick around
[Neblig] Is NOLF out already?
[DanQ] Yes, moving along...
[[ATVI]PingEnvy] yep. :)
[DanQ] Question #1:
[DanQ] "[NemoXX] do they still do that "no i dont want to trade maps" then next turn ask you to trade?"
[DanTheMan] No.
[[ATVI]Azmel] I can't guarentee they will never do that, but if you saw this in an early review, it's definately been fixed.
[[ATVI]Azmel] ...
[DanQ] Question #2:
[DanQ] "[XXX-13382378874728] What have you done to make the artificial intelligence more "human"."
[[ATVI]Azmel] I think the biggest change has been make the personality settings for each AI more pervasive in game play and diplomacy.
[[ATVI]Azmel] Our diplomacy system also does a better job of showing you the personality of each AI. This makes it feel more human.
[[ATVI]Azmel] ...
[DanQ] Speedy reply!
[DanQ] Question #3:
[DanQ] "[TheLimey] does the computer recognise combined attacking? How about naval invasions?"
[MarkG] btw, i need some "how to increase redard" tips....
[MarkG] regard...
[[ATVI]Azmel] I'm not sure what you mean by combined attacking exactly. It certainly responds to Armies of combined units amd attacks from multiple stacks.
[[ATVI]ltjohn] markg- diplomats throw a mean party
[[ATVI]Azmel] The AI also takes into account diplomatically when you are part of an alliance that is stronger than it's alliance.
[MarkG] unrelated question: [stratesford] Can you marry the ai female leaders?
[[ATVI]Azmel] ...
[DanTheMan] ltjohn - actually, they "..hold.." a mean "..reception.."
[[ATVI]ltjohn] doh- sorry bout that
[[ATVI]Azmel] Well, that's a question for Tony I think... he worked on our Alexander scenario... :-)
[[ATVI]Azmel] How to increase Regard is a good question, should I answer that?
[MarkG] yes please
[DanQ] Sure, go ahead Azmel
[Neblig] How to increase regard - Avoid settling on the same continent, give other players your map every 10 turns or so, use Diplomats to Hold Receptions, Make pacts and stick to them.
[Neblig] ...
[[ATVI]Azmel] The best way is to move from a state of war, to cease fire, and then from ceasefire to peace and then to an alliance. Attaining peacetime status is the best way to increase regard with most AI.
[DanQ] Question #4
[DanQ] Sorry, thought you were done Azmel!
[[ATVI]Azmel] Giving gifts helps as always and also you should make sure to not do things to annoy the AI by treaspassing or pirating, etc.
[[ATVI]Azmel] ok, done :-) ...
[MarkG] btw, Alexander's Scenario: how do you "make" your son? :)
[DanQ] :)
[Neblig] To make a son, first you have to find a wife.
* DanTheMan looks wildly in both directions, pulls at his collar.
[DanQ] rofl!
[DanTheMan] where do babies come from, Neblig?
[Neblig] There are four wives available in the Alexander scenario (because he's real picky)
[Neblig] :-)
[Neblig] You find the wives throughout the course of the scenario.
[DanQ] OK, question #4...
[DanQ] Well, 'my' #4 {grin}
[DanQ] "[stratesford] Does the ai colonize the sea as well as a human player?"
[DanQ] OK, maybe we'll have to come back to that question after the official portion is over.
[DanQ] Topic #4: Customization
[[ATVI]Azmel] The AI will definately colonize the sea.
[DanQ] Question #1:
[DanQ] "[NemoXX] can the menus display more than 9 civs? if we, unofficially play with more than 8 civs?"
[[ATVI]Azmel] As good as the human? Well, depends on how good the human is. :-) ...
[[ATVI]Azmel] One more point about regard: regard can increase through gifts, but the trust of an AI can only increase over time if you keep your word and get involved in pacts with other AI. A long history of war and back stabbing will make it hard to get treaties until a good amount of time has passed.
[DanQ] Oh, thanks Azmel!
[StSwithin] yes, the AI colonises sea a lot better than a human, especially if that human is pingenvy
[[ATVI]PingEnvy] Hey! I can build sea colonies with the best of 'em. =)
[mrogre] More than 9 civs is not supported officially of course, so I make no guarantees, but I believe you should have no problem playing with more. Again, no promises, and just as in CTP1, you have to fix the text files by hand to do it.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] is there going to be a sprite editor avaliable online?
[Neblig] no sprite editor
[Neblig] ...
[MarkG] even online?
[StSwithin] unless you count 3DSMax
[mrogre] Sprites for CTP1 will still work, the tools we released for that are still available.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] so, one can use the ctp1 sprite editor to do sprites for ctp2?
[MarkG] (just want to be sure :))
[mrogre] That is correct.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] ok, what about the map conversion utility we had heard off?
[DWhite] The map conversion untility mention was a simple tool that converted bmps to our text map import format.
[DWhite] It's really basic and will be made available online after release.
[mrogre] We support an import/export format that's very similar to CTP1's, as well as an expanded format. I have a BMP->import format converter, and I want to post the format of the other file so that other people can write programs to export to it, but I'm not planning on doing that latter program myself.
[MarkG] COOL
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] last question on customization:
[MarkG] [The_same_Borg_still_has_proble] can you add terrain or terrain improvement graphics?
[[ATVI]PingEnvy] Along with some support documentation for using the tool, SLIC2 docs, and potentially some other additional resources.
[MarkG] next topic: COMBAT
[mrogre] Everything that's displayed on the map other than sprites comes from one huge specially formatted file. The tool to create it is quite hard to use, but I'll consider releasing it when we're deciding what those "other additional resources" are.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] thank you....
[MarkG] a note to everyone: as you can see i'm alone on the handling so the chat, so be patient... :)
[MarkG] COMBAT
[MarkG] [NemoXX] who can attack underwater cities?
[MarkG] (i guess you mean units)
[DWhite] Underwater cities can be attacked by any unit that is designated as an underwater attacker, like subs and PT boats. Or any land unit through an Undersea Tunnel.
[DWhite] ...
[ATVI_Lacuna] Sorry guys, have to go. Cheers.
[MarkG] [DarthVeda] I have a question: what is the max number of units in the game?
[MarkG] (if one exists)
[mrogre] 2 to the 28th power.
[StSwithin] minus 1
[MarkG] :)
[MarkG] [XXX-13382378874728] What does the televangelist say when making his combat against a opposing city? How have you changed the televangelists from the last game, if at all?
[StSwithin] I think he says, "The church needs your donations"
[StSwithin] or something like that
[DanTheMan] The Televangelist also has a new attack - Faith Healing.
[MarkG] lol, didnt knew that...
[MarkG] which does?
[Neblig] The graphics for the televangelist have changed too. No more TV Head :-)
[Neblig] ...
[Neblig] Faith Healing raises happiness om exchange for gold
[Neblig] in not om
[MarkG] didnt that already exist?
[DWhite] The Cleric had a very similar attack called "Sell Indulgences"
[MarkG] i see, right
[MarkG] [stratesford] What are the new attack untis (if any!) ?
[StSwithin] KRAKEN
[DanTheMan] Dreadnaught
[StSwithin] Moray Striker
[DWhite] There are several new units. Most of them are future units and Underwater units.
[MarkG] [NemoXX] are there still 3 rows of stack units - like before?
[DWhite] All those just mentioned are Underwater Units.
[DanTheMan] ftr - the cleric still has the sell indulgences attack.
[DWhite] We also have land units like the Hover Infantry.
[DWhite] ...
[StSwithin] there are flanking units, ranged units, and front row attackers
[StSwithin] flankers attack from the sides, ranged from the second row, and front row from (take a guess)
[mrogre] We also have catapults.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] do battles consist of more "turns"? it looks that way
[mrogre] Battles actually consist of a lot more turns, but you don't see every turn unless you adjust the combat speed to 1 in the advanced options window.
[DWhite] The combat simulation has a lot more turns interally but we sort of "summarize" the represention to speed up display.
[mrogre] You can also adjust it to show fewer.
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] last question, i think saw that there is a historic units.txt?
[[ATVI]Azmel] not sure about that, what do you mean by historic?
[DWhite] That file was in the beta, but I don't think it's in the shipping game anymore.
[mrogre] That's a leftover from CTP1. Hopefully we remembered to remove it :-)
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] there's a historicunits.txt inside the gamedata folder....
[MarkG] ah! :)
[MarkG] ok, my last big topic: mayors
[MarkG] do they work? :)
[MarkG] and how?
[[ATVI]Azmel] yes!
[DWhite] Very well actually. =)
[Neblig] and how!
[DanTheMan] mayors ROCK.
[Neblig] yes
[MarkG] what's the "default" seeting?
[DanTheMan] If you don't like micromanagement, mayors are your best friends.
[[ATVI]Azmel] The mayors use essentially the same logic as the AI. So human's can do as good as an AI by using Mayors.
[DWhite] You can set each Mayor on or off for each city. And specify their priority.
[[ATVI]Azmel] Better if they customize their build lists
[MarkG] some previews mentioned problems? or are just reviewers dumb? :)
[DanTheMan] no, just reviewing pre-release builds. :)

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