Archers, what are with these things?

[Neekirul]

Maybe I just got some buggy version of the random number generator.

Now I have muskets slaughtering infantry and cities with a 5 unit garrison rebelling on me.

[Jamski]

Well if the (fortified) muskets are attacked by infantry, then it's about 50/50 IIRC. And as to the question about a garrison of 5 units, try using 50 and still getting a culture flip.

Raze and rebuild my friend, raze and rebuild. Or build lots of culture buildings. The garrision is a _VERY_ small factor in this equation.

-Jam

[Dis]

I "practice" ethnic cleansing to prevent culture flips. I hate using such tactics...but oh well.

[Jamski]

Originally posted by The Pioneer
@WoA I usually play in Regent. I havn't really tried any higher levels.

Yeah, I play Regent as my "Standard" game, when I don't want to go too mad. If I don't want to win everytime (which is fun) then I play at Emperor. Deity is just no fun, and Monarch is a kind of compromise. Try playing at Emperor to see how those pesky archers can make or break the game...

-Jam

[Dis]

Yes archers can be devastating. That defense of 1 is misleading. I swear the offensive value of a unit comes to play when defending. I think it is some kind of hidden code. Taking out warriors is easier than taking out archers.

[Jamski]

Originally posted by Dissident
I think it is some kind of hidden code. Taking out warriors is easier than taking out archers.

Now I thought I was paranoid. But, and its a big but, it seems that archers always hit me one time first when I attack them. Same with longbows. Now this _MUST_ be a hidden code.

-Jam

[alva]

If so, I'm sure someone would have found out.
Many test have been done, and the numbers(defense-offense) are correct.

[Jamski]

Yeah, but we're just being paranoid. And we all know that the random number generator is _NOT_ random. It is only semi-random. This means that it _COULD_ be biased.

My computer hates me...

-Jam

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by War of Art
Yeah, but we're just being paranoid. And we all know that the random number generator is _NOT_ random. It is only semi-random. This means that it _COULD_ be biased.

My computer hates me...

-Jam

I don't think your computer hates you. It's probably rather indifferent actually. And by the way, that's pseudo-random, and for all intents and purposes it is random.

A Veteran Archer attacking a Regular Spearman fortified in a town has a 50% chance of victory. Assuming the Archer destroyed your Spearman losing just a single hitpoint and is thereby caught on flat terain, your Regular Horseman will destroy the Archer 75% of the time.

[Jamski]

Sure, but not 50% or 75% of _MY_ time !

No, I believe the random number generator is fine, it's just my bad luck that means the AI makes its 50% chances and I don't make mine. I was the same as a kid in D&D. If I needed to roll under 18 on a d20 I'd _ALWAYS_ get a 19 or 20. Sure it's just random numbers, but I never get the good ones.

Example. I attack 5 spearmen with 5 archers (in open not vet) and the next turn the computer attacks 5 of my spearmen with 5 archers. Of these 10 fights between archers and spearmen 5 should be won by the archers, and 5 by the spears. Right. But in my case I lose 4 archers and kill one spear, and the computer then kills 4 of my spearmen for only one lost archer. This is why I get paranoid and say my computer hates me.

But I still win in the end

-Jam

[edit sp and grammar]

[Kingof the Apes]

Oftentimes seeming RNG bias toward the player is overlooked. For example, I once held a small town from about 40 Immortals with about 15 samurai.

[Jamski]

Ah so YOU have all MY good luck. My flying assassin-hamsters are on their way now.

Maybe every copy of Civ3 has a twin. In one copy you get "good" random numbers, and in the other copy "bad" random numbers. The two together produce an even statistical distribution...

Hmm.

-Jam

[Dis]

I do think the random numbers are affected by other things (see my early post about army size and # of enemies). I cannot prove this.

but your numbers should average out to what they should be over the course of the game. But I admit there can be times where you have 20 turns of bad luck in the war. Or if you are fighting too many enemies the entire war can be bad luck. But bad luck may reverse itself later in the game like say in the modern age when you have a better prepared army.

[Jamski]

Originally posted by Dissident
But bad luck may reverse itself later in the game like say in the modern age when you have a better prepared army.

I think the preparedness of my army affects my luck. I believe in "Civ-Karma", where there is no randomness. When I attack an isolated spearman in a town, with a warrior, he wins, is promoted to elite, counterattacked by an archer and produces a GL. When my stack of cavalry attacks one pikeman, he kills them all, getting promoted to elite in the process. See I abused my good luck with the fluke in the first example, and the computer punishes me later when it really hurts. I'm _sure_ that machine is trying to get it's revenge on me. But I can always unplug it !

-Jam

[DGFan]

Originally posted by War of Art
I'm _sure_ that machine is trying to get it's revenge on me. But I can always unplug it !

-Jam

So you think that the RNG in CivIII operates in a similar fashion to NHL ref's? We should investigate this theory