Solver: What are you working on currently, what are you projects now?
WesW: I would like to implement a few more things to Ctp2; to see if I can complete the vision I had for the game. I think we have already accomplished about 98% of what I set out to do, though, so I am not in a rush right now to finish anything. My main wish is that more of the old-timers here, and those who helped with the early play-testing, would get the mod and enjoy it like we are now.

Solver: Is interface really the weakest point of CtP, as people tend to say, or something else is?
WesW: IMO, the weakest point of both Ctp games was the game-balancing, which is also the hardest thing to do once you get the executable written. This is what got me into modifying the game, and it is one of the things that I am most pleased with in the Medpack I and II. We have found limits to what the AI can do in both games, but it is still much superior to that found in the Sid games.
As far as the interface, I think that it works fine in both games once you get used to it, and the interface in Ctp2 is much better than that in the original. Everyone who complains seems to want the city screen from Civ 2, where all the necessary info was displayed at one time. First of all, I am sure that the basic design was one of the things that Activision had to stay away from as a result of their court agreement with Microsoft. Secondly, there is more stuff to display in the Ctp games than in the civ games, and I wonder if it would have been possible to show it all even if you could use the Civ 2 design.

Solver: Will any of those ideas that came new in Call to Power series now be the standard in civ? For example, the Trade system in CtP is no doubt better than in Civ 2.
WesW: I do not know if Sid will be able to implement the Ctp innovations in Civ 3, since I am sure the court agreement works both ways. Given that the Ctp team had to be careful what names they gave their units and buildings, I doubt that Activision would let Sid copy Ctp's trade system. I wonder if this is why Sid announced that he would continue to let settlers be used to make tile improvements, rather than using the Ctp-style public works concept. I was really disappointed when I heard about the settlers, since the public works system is so much better, for a number of reasons.

Solver: Please describe the CtP AI, and compare it with AI of CtP 2.
WesW: This is a hard question. I think that the performance we have been able to achieve with the Ctp2 AI is a step above that of Ctp1, but that is largely due to the availability of new text settings and the improved and expanded SLIC language. In Ctp1, we were finally able to get an AI that could keep up with an experienced civ player with only 10 to 20% bonuses at most. This is much better than what you see in Civ 2, and the AI is doing it in a bigger and more complex game than Civ 2.
In Ctp 2, for example, I could have the AI play to the strengths of its cities as far as gold and science were concerned, and alternately concentrate on deficiencies in the areas of production and growth. This is what the human does, and it is a major step up from the way things were decided in Civ 2 or Ctp1, where the AI was programmed to try and make up for deficiencies in all categories.
For example, in Civ 2 and Ctp1, if a city was producing little gold or science, the AI was programmed to build banks and universities to try and make up for the deficiency. As you can see, this is a stupid approach. You should only build those improvements in the cities which are producing the most trade or commerce, depending upon which game you are talking about. Alternately, the cities which were naturally producing a lot of trade or commerce, where banks would provide the greatest effect, these cities would be the least likely to build a bank or university, since they were not deficient in those areas.

Solver: After the absolute failure of CtP 2, do you think that people will play it still, even with the MedMod?
WesW: I would not call Ctp 2 an absolute failure. The higher management at Activision seemed determined to make it one with one bone-headed decision after another, but the major short-coming of the game as released was its poor play-balancing. Not only have we corrected the play-balancing to most everyone's satisfaction, we have added many things which set the modded game apart and far above anything else out there, in my probably biased opinion. I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything, just bear in mind that since I understand the mod's effects and changes to a greater depth than anyone else, I have a more complete understanding of just how much has been improved than anyone else
As far as playing the game, just look back at the comments posted above. If you want to check, there are many more just like them in the various mod threads.

Solver: What is important to become a great CtP player?
WesW: That is something that people need to find out on their own. I mean, we all play the game to get better and give us an intellectual challenge while playing in a game setting that is as realistic as it can be made.

Solver: How good / experienced are you as a player? Or, do you just spend all the time making mods ;)?
WesW: I am a pretty good player, but I am sure there are better players than me out there, since my focus has been on improving the game and fixing the areas that were lacking. I always play on very hard, and I don't even know if I could win on impossible level. I hope that the game presents a severe challenge to even the most experienced player on the hardest level. I always play about halfway through, and make notes on things that need changing, then put them together with what other people tell me, or with the latest files from my partners. Then I have to start another game to see the effects of those changes. I have not played a game of Ctp2 yet into the Modern age.

Solver: What do you think all strategy games miss, currently?
WesW: I think that Sid is doing a good job addressing the effects of culture and perhaps ethnic identity from what I have heard of Civ 3 so far. I think that the way conquered civs eventually become indistinguishable from there conquerors is one of the biggest things.
Historically, either the conquered have broken away or been conquered by someone else in time, or else the conquerors were assimilated into the conquered people. Take the Mongols. Kublai Khan largely assumed Chinese culture and tradition after being raised in China by Chinese tutors, and the Chinese eventually assimilated the Mongols among them. The Mongols who stayed in the Middle East converted to Islam and sided with the other Muslims against their brethren in later years. The Russians finally drove the Mongols off after they acquired firearms.
You don't see these types of things in a typical civ game. Militarily, Ctp2 is way ahead of Civ 2 in both reality and complexity, and the Medpack has made big strides over Ctp2, but there are still some things that are lacking. The multiple veteran grades of SMAC are a pretty good step, but morale and supply lines are not addressed at all the civ games, and these things are crucial in actual warfare. As is the dedication and will of the soldiers to their cause.
Trade is still not handled correctly in any of the civ games. It will be interesting when we see how Civ 3 handles this.
With Dale's Diplomod, diplomacy is fairly realistic now in Ctp2, but there are still a lot of things that could be improved, mostly through more code in the executable.

Solver: What are you doing when not busy with CtP?
WesW: Not as much as I would like to be doing. People who know me personally here will know what I am talking about. Hopefully in the coming months I will be doing more of the things that more other people do. This summer I am recovering from a couple of operations I had to try and combat some chronic health problems. They are why I have had so much time to spend on mod-making the last couple of years. If things go well, maybe I won't have much time to even play computer games by the time Civ 3 is out ;).
Contrary to what many people may think, I consider my time spent on the mods to have been put to fairly good use. I have developed social and managerial skills that should serve me well when I get into the business world, since I would like to get into team-oriented management positions. I have already seen how my experiences with the mod have enabled me to enter school projects with a different attitude than I used to have.
I witnessed some of how companies work from my observations of Activision during the beta testing, and I have found clues to other things from digging through the text files. I have experienced the tendencies of projects, such things as the devil really is in the details, and how your progress gets slower and slower the closer you get to the finish. From the way most games fall behind schedule and end up being released unpolished or downright unfinished, I wonder if an Industrial Engineer might not be able to do a lot of good if he were hired to set up procedures and ways of doing things that are used in other industries. The way the game industry started out as a cottage industry, I wonder if their methods have ever really been studied by a professional in industrial management.
Fooling with the game files has given me something to do which I seem to be good at, and the compliments that I have received have helped me through some trying times these last couple of years. I have also made some good friendships during that time, and there are things which I have shared with people I have never laid eyes on that I would be hesitant to share with anyone that I have met in person. Everyone that I have worked with on the mods has given their best efforts, and I have never had anyone say they would do something and then back out of their commitment. I think this says a lot for the people who frequent Apolyton and also for the feeling you get when you are a part of a team which is making something special.

Well, I guess this will teach Solver not to give me 20 questions to play with ever again ;). I hope that you found this informative and that perhaps it will inspire you to try out the modpack, or to undertake some mod-making of your own.

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