AI questions

[Conquesticus]

The AI needs a more advanced military/intel system. It's just too easy to beat the game on deity when it can't make decisions humans can. When my battleship gets sunk by bombers for the first time, the next time one sets out to sea-it's going with carriers. The AI needs to be able to respond to new situations. If it's at war, it must be able to decide priority targets, whether it should be defensive or offensive, etc. It needs to deploy units in "task forces," just like in the real world. No more single battleships floating around when there's interceptors, etc. No more suicide attacks with one unit, that don't really inflict losses, or are even a surprise. AI needs a lot more programming for special situations.

[Guildmaster]

So you want to know what I do when I get bored to make the game more lively? You mean cheating the game allows us to do...

1) the game allows us to buy wonders! This is goofy in moy opinion, when you recieve the message "so-and-so has almost completed this-and-that wonder" you go to one of your cities and buy the thing and you will get it built before they do. It's kinda goofy I think, and I don't think it's fair.

2) Save game before I attack and if my unit dies reload it and attack again and keep going and usually I end up getting through without losing my unit. Do something about mass game saving.

3) Tactic of using GW/UN wonder to take a big city and then talk to the AI who must ask for peace. I don't think it make any sense to me to go attack so loudly leaving yourself so vulnerable to counterattack and expect the computer to want to make peace just because you have UN. And even if they break the peace, re-load the game go back in time to before they did and usually they won't do it again.

4) use of spys/caravans to sneak past everything, this was mentioned before

5) How about the incredibly stupid howitzer blitz? You make a railroad into your prospective enemy's railroad during peace and then declare war, send over a hundred or so howitzers and that's usually enough to take over every single city unless there are some not connected to the RR. And even those left behind will be so small and weak there is nothing left to mount a counterattack. Defensive units NEED to be active on defense, and not passive defenders waiting to be atatcked. A column of 100 howitzer divisions ought to be stopped by a single fighter squadron on active defense. But in Civ2, there is no such thing as active defense.

6) How about the ever cheesy tactic of taking over a whole empire by way of cheese? And by cheese I mean buying cities? I think buying cities is rediculous.

7) Allowing me to peacably sneak a settler or two into the heart of another empire and build a city, and one by one taking squares by putting a unit in the square. Byt the time the AI tells me to move the unit, I already have control of that square. I can do this until every city at the heart of his empire is down to only one square, or until I piss him off so that he attacks me keeping my reputation safe.

8) Its' way too easy to pick a fight and get away with it. All you have to do is put a few units in their territory and tell them to get out of yours. There ought to be some kind of border patrol where crossing over means declaring war, and under a democracy you shouldn't be allowed to do that. It's also too east to go to peace when you're in the middle of a war. Even congress should get to a point when they have had enough.

9) The AI never considers putting cities in strategic defensive places. All I have to do is find a mountain near the border and put a city there at a place the AI is sure to attack first. The stupid AI will never figure out that it doesn't matter what he attacks with he's not getting through, and the AI is too stupid to figure out that he can do the same thing building cities on mountains.

11) The AI wastes too much time and energy building up at the heart of his empire as if it's near the border. Usually when I storm through and take every city in only one turn I find there are more better defensive units deep in the heart away from any of the action than there are near the border where I attack first.

12) The AI does not comprehend the value of intelligence.

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Goober

[Evil Capitalist]

I like bribing cities- sometimes it's neccessary in scenarios- perhaps there could be a 'votes for integration' thing for minor nations.

[DarkCloud]

Guildmaster-
So if the person wants to cheat then he/she should be able to by
saving and then going back. If they are going to ruin the game, but have fun
doing it I think they should go ahead and do it. That is why cheats for games were
invented, was it not.

However you should NOT be allowed to buy wonders
and
The UN Wonder should be abolished.
and
Railroads in real-life do not take a person 1 million miles in a day.
Yes I know Civ 2's turns are a year long, but then the roads should
act like railroads. Railroads should only be twice as fast as roads for the movement
of your troops.
and
You should not be able to buy cities.

[Jen Dragon]

having 2 cities produce a wonder, letting one complete the wonder, then have the 2'nd city keep producing the same wonder collecting shields, then the second a new wonder becomes available switch the production from the old wonder to the new wonder and you instantly get the new wonder. You also have to do this to survive multiplayer.

[zyxpsilon]

AI defeated?
1)
Develop FASTER and keep steady unbreakable defenses...
then Attack!
2)
See #1 above.

[Shadowstrike]

quote: 1) the game allows us to buy wonders! This is goofy in moy opinion, when you recieve the message "so-and-so has almost completed this-and-that wonder" you go to one of your cities and buy the thing and you will get it built before they do. It's kinda goofy I think, and I don't think it's fair.

Hmm... buying wonders has always been one of my strategies. I think the messsage should be removed, that would throw this strategy off. However the AI should also be taught to buy a wonder from scratch, well worth the few caravans it takes to net the money should the need be great enough, i.e. Hoover Dam, etc.

[DarkCloud]

As in real life, only one city should be able to build a wonder in each civ.

No civ would be able to convert the shields for one wonder into another wonder.

[Adm.Naismith]

Darkcloud, I agree your is a "good sense" proposal: no more powerful city "combo" of wonders.

May be we can add one exception: you can build another wonder in the same city if previus is "expired".

I'm only afraid this limit will make the game less funny, also forcing any player to build a large number of cities, only for the sake of have enough room for wonders development (and raise the final hall of fame).

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Admiral Naismith AKA mcostant
[This message has been edited by Adm.Naismith (edited October 03, 2000).]

[Sir Shiva]

Aren't there cities in real life with more than one 'wonder'? I can't think of any right now, but there must be...

And I think buying wonders should be scrapped... You would still be allowed to buy caravans which you could use to finish the project..
Switching between wonders should be out too...

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-Shiva
Email: shiva@shivamail.com
Web: http://www.shivamail.com
ICQ: 17719980