Potential Multiplayer Exploits

[Ãœber KruX]

might as well start them

if you give a city to someone, they get one of their best defensive military units in the city. if you traded the same city back and forth, while moving that unit out of the city each time, you could get tons of units for free.

[notyoueither]

Giving a city away converts all pop to the people of the recipient (doesn't it?).

If it doesn't, I suck.

Salve

[Dienstag]

This has been mentioned elsewhere, and by more devious people than me, but it might be possible for you and an ally to engage in "military excercizes" (really good-natured wars) merely to try to produce some Great Leaders. I haven't seen a feasibilty study on that, but theoretically it would take 12 or 16 "enemy" cannon-fodder warriors to give you a GL (assuming you have a decent elite unit), and the same in reverse for your ally. So, for less than 200 shields, you each get a GL that's worth at least that much. Yeah, that seems like a good deal, and a pretty wicked MP exploit.

[E_T]

SSHHHhhhhhhh

[Elmer Fudd Voice] Be Very Very Quite, we don't want to delay MP by giving something to try to stop before it happens. Ha Ha Ha [/Elmer Fudd Voice]



E_T

[notyoueither]

Too late Elmer. Bugs F***in Bunny is too quick for us.

Salve

[Dienstag]

Me: "Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "No Multiplayer!"
Me: "Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "No Multiplayer!"
Me: "Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "No Multiplayer!"
Me: "No Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "Multiplayer!"
Me: "No Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "Multiplayer it is, and that's final!"
Me: "well, if you insist..."

I just had to do that, sorry.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Dienstag
Me: "Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "No Multiplayer!"
Me: "No Multiplayer!"
Firaxis: "Multiplayer!"

I just had to do that, sorry.

Figures someone else would come up with that. D*mn!

Oh well

[Dienstag]

Figures someone else would come up with that. D*mn!

Well, I'll let you have the French skunk jokes, if you like.

Actually on topic: If the whole thing about citizens' nationality changing when a city is given away works like I think it does, then I see a small exploit here above and beyond the convenience of swapping cities with your ally.

Basically, it's people-laundering (similar to money-laundering, but with people). You may not want all those inefficient foreign slaves, but what to do with them? Well, if you add them to your cities, then give that city to your ally, and than get it back, you've essentially turned a slightly useful unit of foreign population into a slightly more useful unit of local population. It works much faster than assimilation, and bypasses any added threat of culture flipping. I call this an exploit, moreso because it would never ever have occured to the AI (or, for that matter, the programmer), than because it's unfairly powerful. If you have any cultural improvements in said city, they get lost in the transfer, no? Anyway, that's yet another unexpected new possibility with MP. Any more?

[DrFell]

The way I see it there are very few 'exploits' in MP. Anything a human can do alone with a civ is legal and above board, unless it offers a crazy advantage (like the old forest bug). So forget about the AI... I never play an MP game with AIs, and I generally play without barbs. Both are for players who want buffers between the humans i.e. are afraid to fight me.

The city trading bug sounds pretty stupid. It can be very easily fixed, just make it so you don't get free units when giving the city to another human (the city should go undefended), but it can't be left in. I can just see it, two allies in a tribe trading cities 30 times a turn to build up an army of pikes, not good.

'Giving a city away converts all pop to the people of the recipient (doesn't it?).'

I don't think it does, but it's no big deal if it does. Imagine if you ally gives you most of his cities if he has to leave the game. Now imagine some newbie comes into the game and picks your ally's old civ. If they were all still the old civ's population, they'd all start culture flipping back to the newbie, which would be infuriating to say the least. All you have to do is make your opponents 'foreign' citizens stay of the same nationality when you gift the city, and make sure your own change to his nationality.

'it might be possible for you and an ally to engage in "military excercizes" (really good-natured wars) merely to try to produce some Great Leaders'

Never thought of that. There were much worse 'exploits' in civ2 (clicking to find hidden units and cities locations!), and you need an ally to do it, plus if you're building units, you're not doing much else in those cities (you could be expanding or building a proper army).

[philler]

also, the interest of a MP game is to challenge the other human player... so what would be the point of using exploits such as those to help the other human player? to get rid of the AI? well then, simply don't put any AI players in the first place!

[DrFell]

In MP there is sometimes cooperation. 'Tribes' aka 'Clans' (groups of two or more players cooperating against rival groups in a game) are one particular situation where this could occur. The only games I play which are total war are generally duels, or perhaps 3-ways.

[philler]

oh, you're right, I forgot the group vs group thing...

I play turn by turn MP games (heroes 3 mainly), with a friend over my LAN of 2 PCs, and I was figuring the same for Civ III that's why I didn't take into account group vs group games. (who would want to wait that long between turns anyway?)

[DrFell]

Well 2v2 doesn't take that long between turns. Plus you'll be doing other things between turns anyway, like planning the tech path, planning attacks, reporting anything interesting that turn, etc.

[DrFell]

In fact 2v2 games can be pretty intense at times, which is why I like em. 3v3 can get a bit slow.

[philler]

Well 2v2 doesn't take that long between turns. Plus you'll be doing other things between turns anyway, like planning the tech path, planning attacks, reporting anything interesting that turn, etc.

you're right, I've played CTP in MP and in 1 vs 1 it barely slowed the game if at all.
I guess that 2 vs 2 gives you more time to micro-manage every turn, which is probably good.

my vision is distorted by heroes of might & magic. You can't do anything but some watching between turns, so beyond 2 players the wait is unbearable. We've tried 4 players once but didn't renew the experience

I too am waiting for that MP extension. Perhaps we will face some day... or even team up.