Steamroll

[MxM]

I just realized that the simplest and the most realistic way to prevent from steamrolling is that everyone on the continent and even on neighboring continents, including city states with the danger of being steamrolled should declare war to the steamroller at the same time. With penalties for negative happiness to combat (which may need to be increased) it should be no problem for the others to kick the steamroller back to the stone age.

[Arrian]

Hmm. Interesting. I don't have the game yet, but I remember one of the problems of pre-Civ5 AI wars was the stagnation. They'd slaughter each others armies but not accomplish much (usually). An AI juggernaught was pretty rare.

Now it appears things have swung in the other direction - perhaps too far.

-Arrian

[Guynemer]

I just realized that the simplest and the most realistic way to prevent from steamrolling is that everyone on the continent and even on neighboring continents, including city states with the danger of being steamrolled should declare war to the steamroller at the same time. With penalties for negative happiness to combat (which may need to be increased) it should be no problem for the others to kick the steamroller back to the stone age.

That exact situation has happened to me, twice, in my current game. Multiple AIs declaring war on me on the same turn. Though I wouldn't exactly call myself a steamroller; I had only conquered two-city Russia and one city-state. Of course, after the first multi-AI war, I had taken significantly more land (mostly from Aztecs, also from Iroquois).


Also, regarding AI conquering overseas, China took an overseas city-state shortly before joining the latest all-out war against my Ottoman Empire.



Speaking of the Ottomans: what the hell is their special ability? How do I "convert" barbarian ships? LOVE their Janissaries, though: they keep their auto-heal ability after you upgrade them, so I've got auto-healing infantrymen rolling up on China now.

[MxM]

Speaking of the Ottomans: what the hell is their special ability? How do I "convert" barbarian ships?

Just attack it with your ship (or may be archer). If you win combat, there is a chance that it will convert.

By the way, I love Ottomans AI. In recent game they were attacking a city state with whom I was friend, and teasing me "or look, we attack your friend". And when I demanded to stop the attack, they say, that I do not have military units to back up my demand (it was true). And voice acting was superb, so fitting during all those interaction, it no mater that I do not speak Turkish (or whatever they spoke at the time). I really felt as if the is artificial INTELLIGENCE.

[Fidel]

That exact situation has happened to me, twice, in my current game. Multiple AIs declaring war on me on the same turn. Though I wouldn't exactly call myself a steamroller; I had only conquered two-city Russia and one city-state. Of course, after the first multi-AI war, I had taken significantly more land (mostly from Aztecs, also from Iroquois).

It is not actually the same thing. Ganging up is sometimes necessary, but butchering one civ after another seemingly unaffected by the supposedly massive penalties for large empires is another. My gripe with this is the following: Jon Shafer proudly said that his fav strategy is to win as a small empire. I obviously misinterpreted this to mean that steamrolling is out (another clue was a slightly different victory condition for Domination). However, small cultural empire is a sub-par strategy, since it presupposes that no one steamrolls you. If, however, you decide to steamroll and ignore unhappyness, no one can stand in your way. Conclusion - ignore both game mechanics and realism and go for a miserable behemoth.

[MxM]

If, however, you decide to steamroll and ignore unhappyness, no one can stand in your way. .

But that's the point of my post - they should be able to stand. If AIs see that one AI is getting dangerously large, then everyone and their dog should declare war on it. And because high unhappiness should have penalties to unit ability to fight, they should win.

Conclusion - ignore both game mechanics and realism

Well, I am not sure that it is unrealistic. I mean US scientific output is much higher than that of Netherlands, is not it? But Gameplay>>Realism.

[Fidel]

Uh, India has a billion and a half people, it is not beating Germany in research. We can go back and forth on this one, but from the gameplay perspective there has to be some check on bullies.

[MxM]

Uh, India has a billion and a half people, it is not beating Germany in research. We can go back and forth on this one, but from the gameplay perspective there has to be some check on bullies.

That's only because they behind in technologies and that does not allow them to build special buildings like libraries and universities (Civ V terms).