Solver:	To rate the Artificial Intelligence (AI) briefly, is it overall better than in CivIII? And, is the SMAC problem of having game concepts that the AI is ignorant of gone?
Sirian:	This AI raises the bar to never before reached heights, in numerous areas. Soren won't like me hyping it like that (he prefers low expectations, which get surpassed, to high ones that are not met!) but I think it's true. Let me repeat... I lost my last game of Highlands on MONARCH. As for the AI's ability to make use of all the game's features...There are so many features, I'm not 100% sure I can answer yes to that! Seriously. We have Always War, Always Peace, twenty map scripts – most of them with scads of custom map options. There are all manner of subtleties to religion, civics, great people, wonders... As I mentioned, the AI is stronger on oceanless maps than oceanic ones. There are other areas where its performance is better or worse. The AI can compete at Domination, at Space Race, at Diplomacy. I'm not sure it can do what it takes to win by Culture, though. Overall, however, the AI is competent at every major element of the game. There are no elements where it is clueless, only ones where it is stronger... or not as strong. Actually, I take that back. There is one area of the game where the AI is not competent to deal with a feature: City Elimination! That feature is in place for multiplayer and is meant to be used in human-only games. You -can- use the AI with that setting, or use that setting in games vs the AI, but it lacks the strategic oversight to understand that its entire survival is at stake if it loses control of X number of cities. Other than that, however, the AI can make use of every game feature, of which I am aware.
Solver:	In the beta team, you were the leader of the SP testing group and you are, I take it, a player that enjoys single player mostly just like I do. Given that, what do you think about the CivIV multiplayer?
Sirian:	I'm a versatile guy. I spent seven of the last ten years playing more multiplayer games online than single player. I've been on ladders, even been to the top of some of them. I like faster resolution of games, though. For instance, a game of Descent, a battle between players may last minutes or seconds. That is my multiplayer speed! Games that take hours to unfold are not my usual fare. I enjoy the single player side of Civ more than the MP side. I can take a nice long, leisurely game and explore the map, explore the variety, the situations, play long games and relax. CivIV multiplayer is a lot of fun, though. For one thing, it's faster. The automation is better, on things like city governors and workers. My play session counterpart, Friedrich Psitalon, came in swearing that no automation would ever replace the need in Civ to "twinge" the tiles, to micromanage cities. Then at one point, when he started to realize that it was possible, he questioned if we should go that far, if it might upset the balance, and kill the fun of Civ MP by making it too easy to have a robust economy. That concern was short-lived, though. Once he got a taste of competent automation, he found that he enjoyed having the ability to focus on the strategic elements. In fact, instead of weakening his game, he actually got stronger. Turns out strategy, and not micromanagement, was his strong suit anyway. I'm too slow at playing Civ to be a competitive multiplayer player, though. I've got the wrong set of habits built up. To do my job, I have to pay attention to an enormous number of minor details, and I'm so used to doing that now, I find I cannot unplug from it, cannot unwind. Some of the faster “timer” settings are out of my reach. "Blazing"? *wide eyes* I can't handle the pace. I'm usually the last player to finish his turn in games with longer timers. On the normal timer, though, I can play and have a great time. In fact, CivIV MP is a load of fun, and I will be playing some MP here and there. The team games are more my speed. I don't have the right habits to play free for all successfully. I suppose I could learn, but I do better in the team games when I know who is the enemy and who isn't. Team games are a load of fun. If you've ever played Warcraft III in 4-vs.-4 team ladder games, this has the same kind of flow to it. You build up a little, and the action starts. It may start really quickly if the other side sends probes and skirmishers, or tries a rush attack. I can't help talking about the maps, sorry! One more bit... I took some inspiration for some of the scenarios (Oasis map, for instance) from the Warcraft III team maps. Getting reasonably fair map situations going is key to providing a fun and smooth team game. I played at least one multiplayer game of CivIV almost every week, and most were team games.I'm not the pre-eminent authority on CivIV MP, but there is a lot more to it than many SP players may imagine. In addition to human v.s human games, it is also fun to play human-vs-AI team games. You can get some friends or family members together and cooperate vs. a team of AIs. There's more to CivIV MP than I can describe. I encourage everybody to explore the options. You may find one that you enjoy enough to play over and over!
Solver:	Now, let us move to the last batch of questions. Sid Meier contacts you and asks you to be the Lead Designer on Civ 5. Your response?
Sirian:	That's a very interesting hypothetical!
Solver:	You think it's only a hypothetical?
Sirian:	At this point, yes. The thing is, I still do not have all the requisite programming skills. Firaxis is a big believer in the Designer-Programmer as team leader. That's the formula that worked for Sid and Jeff. It is still working for them now. For me, personally, there is a limit to how much coding I want to do. I enjoyed programming the map scripts (in Python) but I would not have the endurance to code like that for years on end. Sometimes, at crunch times, the programmers really get put through a meat grinder. I'm not sure my health could hold up to that! I've got no major health problems, but several minor ones that don't respond well to extreme stress. At the moment, I'd simply have to say no. I'm not quite ready for the job. By the time is job is ready for somebody to take it, though, who knows. Never say never.

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