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[tniem]

Re: connor's brief commentary. .

Originally posted by connorkimbro
There are all quotes from the Soren Johnson interview. .

Johnson: We're ready for something new. The RTS genre is stuck in a rut now.

Does this mean that you WILL do an RTS game to revive it, or WON'T do an RTS game for fear of poor sales?

Yeah and will the genre still be in a rut when BHG releases whatever they release? I mean they are a company that still is mainly a TBS company what are they going to come up with that is really different from what the TBSers at BHG have? Or what RTSers have been doing for years? I mean I would look forward to something new and original but what is it going to be?

Oh and something that is pretty interesting to me, before the interview, there is a large thing about online MP games. So even the biggest TBS game in a few years is preceded by the omnipresent MP. And it isn't even included.

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by jsw363
I wonder how the AI cheats FOR the player. It must be REALLY good if they have to balance it like that. Maybe it won't make stupid diplomatic decisions anymore...

This was a clever thing to note. Yes, indeed, even on Chieftain one would not assume it to be necessary to cheat against the computer.

[Matthew]

If they didn't or don't fix the tribute problem someone will likely win at Diety with a single size one city, no colonies, on the second or third night after the game get's released.

Until computers are sentient, or at least several orders of magnitude better than they are today, there will be no way that a computer can present much of a challenge at a game like civilization without "cheating". In fact, cheating isn't even a good term here. The computer isn't competing with you. It is presenting you with a challenge, so as to make the game enjoyable.

[Grumbold]

If the player is doing well, ally with other AI nations and attack player until eradicated. How hard is that? In Civ II the computer was unable to recognise a bad bargain and reject it. The same mistake must not be allowed to flourish in Civ III.

[Grim Legacy]

Originally posted by jsw363
I wonder how the AI cheats FOR the player. It must be REALLY good if they have to balance it like that. Maybe it won't make stupid diplomatic decisions anymore...

This is nothing new. Cheating in favor of the player occured in Civ1 already; the AI civs would need more grain to grow their cities and more shields to build anything for example. On the tougher difficulty levels this is reversed; AI civs need less to do more.

Cheating is not something I like to see. I hope it has been done with sufficient discretion this time.