Would you recommend Warlords?

[Adagio]

What are you waiting for? Install it now

[Solver]

Damarcus, it adds quite a lot. Some of the more noticeable changes are better attacks by the AI and that the AI can reach Cultural Victory.

It's not the final version and not perfect, but it is considerably more solid than the vanilla AI (which is also damn good in itself).

[mkorin]

I know I'll get flamed for this and meaning no offense to Blake, but I really dislike his patch. I know he spent a lot of time and made a lot of changes, but in my opinion it made the game almost unplayable. Sure, the AI researches better and puts there cities better, but without some way to steal research this makes the AI almost unbeatable at the tougher levels. The armies fight just as stupid as they did before, that is were the time should be spent. Also, the 2.08 patch didn't address most of the issues that have been posted on this board more times than I can think. IT is not my intent to restart those debates, just to let people know Warlords can still be played and you miss almost nothing by not upgrading to 2.08. Again, Blake if you see this, no offense intended, just a difference of opinion of what should have been addressed.

Mike

[Solver]

Well, Blake's mod isn't final, that's one thing. Another thing, I don't really understand what your complaint is. You acknowledge that the AI does better economically. If it does, then what's the problem?

[Jaybe]

Sure, the AI researches better and puts there cities better, but without some way to steal research this makes the AI almost unbeatable at the tougher levels.

Isn't this a GOOD thing, to be forced to play a lower level because of the strength of the AI (and less high-level AI bonuses)?

[Krill]

Blakes AI mod =| 2.08. If you upgrade to 2.08 and use Blake AIs mod the game is by far more balanced, with a smarter AI. Still not as good as a talented human on the higher levels, but anything up to Emperor is beatable by most players, and maybe deity (Don't know if Aeson still plays CIV anymore though, adn there are probably people as good as him playing CIV somewhere).

[mkorin]

Originally posted by Krill
Blakes AI mod =| 2.08. If you upgrade to 2.08 and use Blake AIs mod the game is by far more balanced, with a smarter AI. Still not as good as a talented human on the higher levels, but anything up to Emperor is beatable by most players, and maybe deity (Don't know if Aeson still plays CIV anymore though, adn there are probably people as good as him playing CIV somewhere).

Maybe I'm wrong, but if you look at the thread for the 2.08 patch. All the AI lines say per Blake. I assumed this meant that Firaxis incorporated his mod into 2.08. If so, I hope he got some $$$ for the hard work. If not, my problem is with the patch, not Blakes mod. Either way, my problem is that the AI is more unbalanced against the player than it needs to be. I agree the AI needs to play smarter to make a better game. However, the way to do this is to address where the AIs main faults lie, not in what is in the patch. I play the game to enjoy myself. I find I've lost the enjoyment to the game when I add the patch. Mostly due to the unfair bonuses and programmed resources for the AI. Notice I didn't say cheats. Obviously, there has to be a difference to have harder levels. I wish the focus had been on areas that the AI is lacking (tatics and strategy of their armies for one).

Mike

[Solver]

2.08 includes an earlier version of Blake's fixes. Blake's mod, as it is now, has most improvements from after the patch was released.

But I don't see how you can lose enjoyment with a better AI... you can always lower the difficulty level. Blake's changes, in the patch and in the mod, have attempted to do precisely what you want - improve the AI by addressing its weaknesses, not by adding bonuses. Blake hasn't added a single bonus to the AI.

If it's too hard and you're no longer enjoying the game... drop a difficulty level down

[Jaybe]

The Warlords 2.08 patch I downloaded on 10/31/06, and had to go through weeks of quality control before release. That is 3 months older than Blake's latest Better AI. Better AI is substantially better than 2.08, even though it is still in beta status.

Hopefully the AI will be even better in BtS.
Crosspost. (That's what I get for spending too much time thinking & researching.)

[mkorin]

Originally posted by Solver

If it's too hard and you're no longer enjoying the game... drop a difficulty level down

I normally play at Prince/Monarch but found I had to drop to whatever is before Prince and then it was too easy again. However, since I incorrectly equated Blake's mod with 2.08 and that is not true, I'm willing to try it again. Can someone give me the path to his latest mod and instructions to install. The one time I tried to install a mod, I screwed up my Civ to the point of uninstall, re-install.

[Solver]

Well, I was the same. I was comfortable at Prince, but had to go back to Noble for a few games before returning to Prince. Made me a better player .

The mod is here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=178407

It hasn't been updated for a while, but the end result still is an AI much stronger than in vanilla and even notably stronger than in 2.08.

[Jaybe]

There is a whole forum at CFC:
Better AI forum

Check out the Installation Instructions & Better AI Latest Version threads (Stickied).

You will ultimately end up at SourceForge.net Better AI files

[Solver]

That's definitely the number one mod I wish I could contribute to. Unfortunately, my programming skills do not extend to AI coding, so there's an area I can't really do anything in.

[mkorin]

Ok, I downloaded 2.08 and the Better AI mod. I just moved from Prince to Monarch and won my first game. I'll downgrade to Prince and post results, ie my opinion.

Mike

[Solver]

Please do