Apolyton Civ4 PREVIEW (By Solver) - Part 3 online

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Actually, on the matter of the AI again, one very intriguing 'side-effect' of the changes made to the game seems to be this: wheras AI civs used to ally against you to PREVENT you from winning, now the can ALLY to increase their chances of WINNING against you! It may seem like a small thing, but I reckon thats going to be huge. Of course, by the same token, it sounds like YOU can ally with other AI civs to increase your own chance of victory!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Actually, I just thought of something else I would like to ask: given the fact that the AI knows how to develop its cities, is it fair to say that you will often find an AI civ which has at least as much-if not more-gold than you (both in total and per turn)?
Oh, another question about resources is can you see every deposit of a resource-in the world-once you have the requisite tech, or only stuff which lies within your own borders?
As for the issue of resources, this is one area where I REALLY feel it needs to be changedI love that resources are in the game, but I really think they need to 'break out' of the binary mindset. A resource deposit should have a numerical value which determines the number of cities which it can support, if you exceed that number, then some element of your cities (health, production, income happiness) starts to drop. This way, there is an underlying driving force for larger civs to pursue resources which they actually already have (they simply don't have enough). It is also another way to reinforce the whole 'bigger is not always better' philosophy of this game. This is just my opinion, though, and hopefully it is something which can be modded.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[Harrier UK]

Re: Apolyton Civ4 PREVIEW (By Solver) - Part 3 online

Sorry - duplicate post. See below.

[Harrier UK]

Re: Apolyton Civ4 PREVIEW (By Solver) - Part 3 online

Originally posted by MarkG
Third and final part online!

http://civilization4.net/3/171/313/

Strange - not mentioned on the HOME page. Even 3 hours later??

[Zhahz]

"I could actually talk forever about the AI, but this preview is already long enough, and your eyes must be bleeding"

I'm not sure this is possible until release day or so.

Thanks for all the terrific info and insight!

[Aro]

Thanks a lot, Solver.

[Shogun Gunner]

Solver, this is really good stuff. Pretty good writing style too.

One question regarding game mechanics.

When interacting in the diplomacy mode, is it possible to view other screens of information regarding your civilization, intelligence of your oppponents, and the map?

In Civ3, sometimes you would have an AI contact you with an offer, and due to the way the diplomacy screen is structured, you would be unable to flip to other screens or the map to see if it was really a good deal. If you didn't accept the offer when made, sometimes it was impossible to get the AI to make the same deal later (maybe they traded the resources to someone else for example).

Has this changed? The diplo screen looks pretty much the same in structure and concept.

[hexagonian]

What strikes me about Diplomacy is that it reminds me of the EU2 diplomacy model.

This is very good news indeed. A nice touch is seeing exactly your standing with other civs, and seeing exactly what your deals will do to relations. (very EU2)

And the civics...we all have been comparing it to SMAC (and rightly so) but a valid comparison can also be made with EU2 again.

Any game that mirrors that gem will have a lot going for it. What an incredible atmosphere.

This game is looking better and better...

[Strollen]

Solver thanks for the informative preview/review. (You lucky dog!!)

An overall question you said that Civ IV is the best ever. Which is certainly good news, but generally in games (and certainly in the Civ series) version 3.0 is better than 2.0 which is better than 1.0 etc.

Did you find the improvements of Civ 4 compared to Civ 3. Greater than the improvements from Civ 3 to Civ 2, or about the same or less?

How many games did you play total? What was the average length of time, i.e. are Civ IV epic games quick than Civ III games?

Finally what difficulty level would you recommend for our first games? I generally win at Emperor and can win with luck a Demigod.

[alva]

Finally what difficulty level would you recommend for our first games? I generally win at Emperor and can win with luck a Demigod.

Chieftain.

Did you find the improvements of Civ 4 compared to Civ 3. Greater than the improvements from Civ 3 to Civ 2, or about the same or less?

Solver isn't a great fan of Civ3, so I would say definatelly.

How many games did you play total? What was the average length of time, i.e. are Civ IV epic games quick than Civ III games?

Didn't he say he started testing somewhere around april or may, should be ample time to play enough games to make an educated comment.

When interacting in the diplomacy mode, is it possible to view other screens of information regarding your civilization, intelligence of your oppponents, and the map?

I would really, really doubt that. Let's hope they included some usefull info on the screen itself (should be doable when it comes to tech trade for example, say how many breakers the tech, the AI is offering is worth, compared to the one he wants from you).

[ajbera]

Solver, you mentioned blocs based on religion. Are other civs inclined to like you because of similar civics too? What about disliking you for certain civics?

Thanks again, not just for the preview, but for taking time to satisfy our fiendish need for information. You (& Mark, & Civrules & Thunderfall, etc.) rock.

[Protra3211]

Thank you Solver the preview made me want this game all the more.

In Civ3 I felt that the AI was quick to gang up on the human player even if you tried to maintain peace.
I understand that there will be AI personalities that will want to fight or threaten you. But I hope that you have time to work out diplomatic relations in Civ4.
Im glad to see more detail will be given on how the other AI factions see us. This will reduce problems.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Can you, say disobey UN resolutions?

I hope not. It'd make voting for some resolutions almost useless if you can just ignore them at will.

Though there should be some fun modding of UN resolutions . I can't wait .

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


I hope not. It'd make voting for some resolutions almost useless if you can just ignore them at will.

Though there should be some fun modding of UN resolutions . I can't wait .

I understand your point. But there could be diplomatic penalties for violating UN resolutions. Like, every nation goes to war with you or something. Or places embargoes on you and such.

[playshogi]

I haven't heard much about alliance victory which I think was mentioned in the very early previews. I'm not talking about the multiplayer team game where players are allied from the very beginning. But, an alliance formed during a game. For example, I might be capable of building the spaceship, but with a weak military, I would need a strong ally to protect me so we form an alliance and win together if I successfully build the spaceship. Is that in the game, or am I making no sense whatsoever?