Tweet
Alot of talk goes on about what can and can't be done in PBEM games. This is an exploit that is not. Its alot of hooting and hollering that doen't get anywhere until people get up set. Perhaps it is time to delve into the definitions of what is what. What can be done and what can't be done. I will begin by breaking down some of the known exploits into three distince categories.
Category I: Bugs.
I am not an expert on bugs so I won't get into this category much more than defining it and stating a couple of examples.
A bug is a programming flaw that does not directly deal with units, builds, tech or gold.
Examples: The infinate production bug (I am not familier with how its done other than that it can be done). Loading a PBEM in single player mode to view other civs (done by re-opening a PBEM from the quick menu when already playing). I am sure there are more, but I can't think of them at the moment.
Category II: Gameplay Exploits
These are exploits that are caused by playorder or other unexpected results steming from the fact that this is a single player game adjusted for multiplayer.
Examples: Artillery Exploit (Player 1 plays his turn by firing a catapult at player 3's unit. The turn get sent to player 2, who is allied with player 1. Player 2 then attacks player 1's undefended catapult, and then uses that catapult to fire on player 3's unit a second time in one turn. The catapult was just fired twice in one turn when it was designed to only be fired once per turn. Worker Exploit (Similar to the Artillery Exploit except player 1 moves his worker (using its movement point) then player 2 comes along, takes it over, and proceeds to use an additional movement point (one that was already used). Fortify All Exploit (If you have a stack of units that you right click on, you are given the option to "fortify all" even if you have units that have expended its movement point.). In all of these examples, units are allowed to use more than their programmed movement points. Continuing with the movement concept, there is the "Warp Units" exploit (You are fighting a two front war. You have just taken over one of player 3's cities that is far from your core and have lots of units in that city. Player 4 is closing in on your capital. If you gift the newly captured city to player 2, who you are allied with, all the units that were in the city you gifted are instantly transported to your capital, regardless of distance or water). You have just allowed your units to exceed the distance that they were designed to travel. Now if player 2 now gifts back the city you gave him, the cities citizens are automaticly switched to player 1's nationality, greatly reducing the chance for cultural flips and decreasing the unhappines. This is not how the game was designed to play.
Category III: Strategic Exploits
Strategic exploits are ones that are not do to bugs or gameplay, but deal directly with the strategy you choose to play.
Examples: Leader Farming. You send warrior after warrior to an allied civ on flat terrain and unfortified. That civ you sent the warrior to then has a superior unit go and kill the weak warrior in an attempt to get a promotion/GL. This just keeps getting done until all surviving troops are elites and at least one GL is made. Garunteed Golden Age. This is similar to the Leader Farming in that one civ who is allied to another, saves a single warrior to get killed by the second civ when it UU has already been made obsolete (ie: saving a warrior to go get killed by an allied War Chariot in the modern age, there by triggering Egypts GA in the modern age with an ancient age UU victory.
Please feel free to argue my category concepts (or anything I posted above). I am only doing this in an attempt to better clairify what is an "Exploit".
PS- I have tried to keep my personal opinions out of this post. Not to sure how successful I was, but I tried.
Category I: Bugs.
I am not an expert on bugs so I won't get into this category much more than defining it and stating a couple of examples.
A bug is a programming flaw that does not directly deal with units, builds, tech or gold.
Examples: The infinate production bug (I am not familier with how its done other than that it can be done). Loading a PBEM in single player mode to view other civs (done by re-opening a PBEM from the quick menu when already playing). I am sure there are more, but I can't think of them at the moment.
Category II: Gameplay Exploits
These are exploits that are caused by playorder or other unexpected results steming from the fact that this is a single player game adjusted for multiplayer.
Examples: Artillery Exploit (Player 1 plays his turn by firing a catapult at player 3's unit. The turn get sent to player 2, who is allied with player 1. Player 2 then attacks player 1's undefended catapult, and then uses that catapult to fire on player 3's unit a second time in one turn. The catapult was just fired twice in one turn when it was designed to only be fired once per turn. Worker Exploit (Similar to the Artillery Exploit except player 1 moves his worker (using its movement point) then player 2 comes along, takes it over, and proceeds to use an additional movement point (one that was already used). Fortify All Exploit (If you have a stack of units that you right click on, you are given the option to "fortify all" even if you have units that have expended its movement point.). In all of these examples, units are allowed to use more than their programmed movement points. Continuing with the movement concept, there is the "Warp Units" exploit (You are fighting a two front war. You have just taken over one of player 3's cities that is far from your core and have lots of units in that city. Player 4 is closing in on your capital. If you gift the newly captured city to player 2, who you are allied with, all the units that were in the city you gifted are instantly transported to your capital, regardless of distance or water). You have just allowed your units to exceed the distance that they were designed to travel. Now if player 2 now gifts back the city you gave him, the cities citizens are automaticly switched to player 1's nationality, greatly reducing the chance for cultural flips and decreasing the unhappines. This is not how the game was designed to play.
Category III: Strategic Exploits
Strategic exploits are ones that are not do to bugs or gameplay, but deal directly with the strategy you choose to play.
Examples: Leader Farming. You send warrior after warrior to an allied civ on flat terrain and unfortified. That civ you sent the warrior to then has a superior unit go and kill the weak warrior in an attempt to get a promotion/GL. This just keeps getting done until all surviving troops are elites and at least one GL is made. Garunteed Golden Age. This is similar to the Leader Farming in that one civ who is allied to another, saves a single warrior to get killed by the second civ when it UU has already been made obsolete (ie: saving a warrior to go get killed by an allied War Chariot in the modern age, there by triggering Egypts GA in the modern age with an ancient age UU victory.
Please feel free to argue my category concepts (or anything I posted above). I am only doing this in an attempt to better clairify what is an "Exploit".
PS- I have tried to keep my personal opinions out of this post. Not to sure how successful I was, but I tried.
)
Comment