Apolyton Civ4 PREVIEW (By Solver) - Part 3 online

[GeoModder]

I suppose granting gold to a civ destroying enemy improvements is a strong intencive for the AI to do so.
As a player, I can imagine a tactic in which my army simply destroys some borderline improvements of a civ I'm at war with just to fund the maintenance of my latest city.

[Solver]

One question for Solver: have you seen a friendly AI turn the tables on you and perform a successful sneak attack against you when you were not expecting it? Or are they 'faithful' ?

It is possible for an AI to backstab you. However, it really depends on a number of factors, like the AI personality - Montezuma is more likely to backstab you than Gandhi, and also, of course, whether the AI would have anything to gain from it. Just like it doesn't declare war without a reason under normal circumstances, it won't decide to backstab you without a good reason.

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Well, I have to say that if diplomacy and the AI are even HALF as good as what Solver is saying, then I am going to be as 'happy as a pig in mud' !
I do have a few key questions for Solver, though, when he gets time to answer.

1) You mention that the AI puts a genuine value on what it has. I assume this means cities as well? Also, under what circumstances is the AI likely to give/trade you a city?

2) How well does the AI use naval forces and air forces? Does it use them to attack your cities? Bombard your improvements? Land large-scale 'beach-head' invasions? Sink your own naval invasion forces? I REALLY want to know about this aspect of AI behaviour !

3) One thing you haven't mentioned is the 'availability' of resources. How frequently did you see resources appear or disappear from the map? Did resource disappearance seem to follow a specific pattern-perhaps tied to how large your nation was?

4) With city health, I assume that it is possible for a city to not simply 'stop growing', but actually start to go into population decline-is that correct?

Thanks for a brilliant preview Solver, the 2-weeks until the game arrives here are going to be a sheer NIGHTMARE now!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

Actually, one thing which seems curious to me is this. Although I think its great that you can 'Gift' units to another civilization, I would have preferred to be able to do it in the same way that we 'traded' workers in Civ3 (i.e. move them to your capital, then trade them in diplomacy). The only problem with such a system in previous games was the 'abuse' factor, yet Solver's description of the AI and its power to value items makes it sound like this would be FAR LESS of a problem-so I am curious why the didn't make unit 'trading' a part of the overall diplomacy screen. Could you imagine it 'declare war on civX and I will give you 4 cavalry units' reply 'you have GOT to be kidding, you're offering me cavalry when I have tanks already-grrrr' -1 to future attitude with that civ ! Hopefully this is another thing which can either be modded in OR that the designers will release in a future XP!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[Solver]

1) It also means cities. Basically, most of the time, the AI won't trade cities with you. Under normal circumstances, it will be out of the question. It may, though surrender a city as a part of peace agreement - better yet, it might ask you to give a city up when negotiating piece. One thing that absolutely blew me away when I encountered that, was this - Asoka had a city on my continent that I finally surrounded with my culture, and I was expecting the city to flip. To Asoka, the city became a liability, he was paying maintenance and stuff, but the city wasn't any useful. And then, he came and gifted me the city!!

2) The naval AI is an interesting beast. It's not quite as good as the land-based AI, but it's, just like every otheraspect of the AI, lightyears ahead of what we have seen so far. The AI will land forces and attack you thus - it might land one ship full of troops, or two, or more. Depending on the circumstance, if the waters are safe, the AI might even not escort its transports, and thus get to you faster - or it will escort the ships if it needs to. It certainly will attempt to sink your navy, and this time around, you actually need a naval defense. It's amazingly annoying when the AI starts pillaging your seafood!

The aerial AI is rather effective, but I have experienced it far less than naval AI, I haven't fought many modern wars. I know for a fact, though, that the AI is capable of putting Fighters on patrols when it needs to, and that it's capable of doing bombing runs against you.

I've also had my butt handed to me by AIs located on other continents, through sheer force of their armies.

3) Resources do not disappear. Or at least if they do, I am completely unaware of that. Likewise, they won't really appear much. If you have a Mine, there's a small (like, really small) chance that you might discover some resources on that tile, but generally, resoruces are where they are.

4) Of course, it can also start starving. Suppose your city produces as much food as it uses. Then growth is stagnant. However, if the city also has unhealthiness at that point, it will be losing food in the foodbox and go into starvation.

[Solver]

You know, that sort of unit trading could work without de-facto unit trading in the diplo screen. It could be like "gift me X units please" request. The current diplomatic system is very versatile. There's a lot of potential to it. With how it works, a lot of exciting things can be managed under it.

I also like how there's a difference between tribute demands and requests for help.

[littlechief]

I just can not wait!

Can the U.N. make a resolution agianst another civ?

[Solver]

No, not specifically. Resolutions apply to all civs now.

Then again, the UN is yet another thing with great potential for adding more . Civ4 is not only great in its own right, but it has game mechanics that can be built upon in mods and expansions - combat, diplomacy, etc.

[Lorizael]

Do game mechanics force you to follow UN resolutions?

[Solver]

Well, if a global Civic X resolution passes, then you are forced to adopt the civic.

[Lorizael]

Can you, say disobey UN resolutions?

[Verenti]

OKay, You mentioned that Aquaducts and Hospitals are now Health buildings. Does that mean its working off a more CTP system for population growth (Aquaducts reduce unhapiness from overcrowding) rather than the old Civ model of Aquaducts are required to grow past nine pops?

[Solver]

Can you, say disobey UN resolutions?

I don't know about later changing back from enforced civics... haven't encountered the situation.

OKay, You mentioned that Aquaducts and Hospitals are now Health buildings. Does that mean its working off a more CTP system for population growth (Aquaducts reduce unhapiness from overcrowding) rather than the old Civ model of Aquaducts are required to grow past nine pops?

Yeah, it's more like CtP. There is no hard limit of needing building X to grow past size Y. Health limits your growth, and Aqueducts help your Health, that's how it works now.

[conmcb25]

Solver

The enhanced diplomacy looks great! And another great review

My question is this:

How does the reputation you develop work with other CIV's in MP?

Is it turned off somehow? Im asking because this has been a problem in past CIV versions where the reputation gets in the way of humans wanting to make an agreement.

Thanks

[yin26]

Solver:

Great work, by the way.

Is there ever a time when the human player is considered a common threat to all the AI, triggering a pile on? I'm thinking in terms of a conquest victory, as it makes sense that in a peaceful victory scenario you might not get enough AIs mad at once, etc.