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**CerberusIV** · February 15, 2003, 18:32

1) The AI "knows" the map once it has been revealed and what units are where. This is the only acknowledged cheat.

Either don't let the AI have your map or get used to it. You can use this to manipulate the AI into marching back and forth without getting to actually attack a city.

2) Look at the terrain and experience modifiers. An archer attacking a fortified spearman on grassland isn't 2 against 2. The spearman gets a bonus for being fortified and a 10% defence bonus on grassland. Defensive bonuses are higher in cities.

Use bombardment units to weaken defenders. Use fast units that can retreat and survive. Make sure you are using veteran units (build barracks) as they are significantly stronger than regulars. Sometimes you will just lose. Be prepared for it and have a plan 'B'.

3) I don't think you can slow the game down.

4) Any game is beatable I suppose, it depends how hard you are prepared to go at it. If you can cope with Regent/Monarch that is quite reasonable - that is the level I play at and enjoy.

**Sheik** · February 15, 2003, 18:35

1) Computer civs usually attack cities that are badly defended. If I load in the same game and move units about thereby weakening a different city while strengthing the one previously attacked, they attack the weakened city instead.

Right click on their unit stacks and you too can see how many they have on the tile.

2) Is there something in the game that gives computer players superhuman strength? I can easily lose 5/6 units of superior attacking strength and higher tech to theirs while they don't lose any. A bit akin to the archer shooting down my bomber!

A stroke of bad luck or improper unit placement on your part. Although sometimes it seems like the AI has a battle advantage (and maybe it does) remember that the grass is always greener on the other side.

3) Can I stop the game constantly dodging around to the next unit instead of fixing on the fight in hand? I don't like losing but I suppose that I might as well watch it!

Check prefrences and see if you have anything you could change. Otherwise I have no idea what you are talking about.

4) Somebody said they completed diety!!!! Didn't they have any opponents!!!

Many people beat Diety regularly and yes they play with oponents. What level are you playing?

BTW Regent is considered the fair level.

**Inverse Icarus** · February 15, 2003, 21:46

Shiek, that doesnt work in cities

**Sheik** · February 15, 2003, 22:57

Shiek, that doesnt work in cities

They should add that in the next patch.

**WarpStorm** · February 15, 2003, 23:38

No, they shouldn't. This information is available if you are willing to pay for it. This is as it should be.

**vmxa1** · February 16, 2003, 00:23

JanB the board if replete with the means to play the game and beat it at any level. I prefer EMP now, but I have beat Deity many times, it is just not as much fun.
Most people do not manage tiles and workers well and give up too much. See master Crackers post on that subject. He has links to the article all ove the board and it can be found at Civfanatics.
You need to view battles as a continuim, over the long haul better units and tactics will win, in the short term bad rolls can cause some battles to go badly.
Over whelming forces and combined arms will get the job done.

**PLATO** · February 16, 2003, 03:18

No, they shouldn't. This information is available if you are willing to pay for it. This is as it should be.

Warpstorm: I agree. I do think that the AI should have to pay also to see this info. Perhaps that is what needs to be addressed in a future patch.

I agree with JanB that the AI being able to identify your weakest city is an unfair advantage when you have to pay to see all their cities to be able to determine which is the weakest.

**vmxa1** · February 16, 2003, 04:32

It is a small thing and can be used against them if you like. Anyway the designers felt the AI needed this boost and are unlikely to address it.
Any serious tweaks to the AI are going to require a ton of testing and I am sure that is not in the budget.

**WarpStorm** · February 16, 2003, 11:16

vmxa1 is correct. Soren, the main AI programmer on CIv3 has said that this is the one area where the AI 'doesn't play by the rules'. He said it was too hard to get the AI to effectively wage a war without it. They don't have the ability to remember troop movements through the fog, compile intelligence data, and make good conjectures on where the axis of the war is going.

I don't see this ever being changed in Civ3.

**Theseus** · February 16, 2003, 17:02

JanB, try the Strategy forum.

We'll help.

**JanB** · February 16, 2003, 17:44

Thankyou

Thankyou for all your helpful comments.

1) I hadn't realized that swapping territory maps gave computer civs such an advantage. No more!

2) Good idea about giving them the run around and I will try this.

3) Obviously I need to use the defense bonus of hills etc. Have been wooly about this.

4) The computer doesn't 'watch' battles but goes to the next unit awaiting instructions so that I'm never where it's at. Could this be changed?

5) Finding civs such as Babylonian & Persian very aggressive despite not being militaristic. Seems worse in multiplayer which is almost constant battling.

What happened to culture?

Overall, I find computer civ aggression is worse in multiplayer although I have only played a game or two so no vast experience!

I must read the strategy forum and work on my fighting tactics and try to improve. How could I have thought that I hated Civ?!

**Mad Mariner** · February 17, 2003, 10:46

Im pretty new to the civ series having spent the last 200 yrs or so playing the command and conquer games, the thing that finally put me off these games was the AI cheating, it seems it was the only way the designers could actually make it give a human player a decent fight (even then it was rubbish), now getting to the point, i wanted to check this issue when i started to play civ lll so i started a game on deity as the scandanavians learnt a couple of techs then stuck a trainer on the game so i could get navigation to see how the AI was getting on, they were located pretty close to me and wow! they were huge!!! i had about 3 cities whilst they had all completely covered the HUGE landmasses they were sited on how is this possible? Would i be right in assuming this is another example of the AI cheating to be able to give u a half decent game? It would be a shame if this is the case coz the game seems pretty decent from what ive seen of it so far. Can anyone suggest any games that the AI is superb WITHOUT cheating that are worth a bash?

**WarpStorm** · February 17, 2003, 10:52

MM, have you tried Civ3 at Regent where it doesn't cheat much (only the aforementioned map cheat)? You say you started out at diety using a trainer. The AI gets a major price break on all purchases at that level. Try working your way up.

**Mad Mariner** · February 17, 2003, 12:15

Nope aint tried regent yet but thanx to ure advice im now gonna give it a go, im not too bothered about the map cheat its more fun for the Ai to seize the resources then for little old me to go and bash em off the tiles, will regent be a challenge tho?

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Artificial Intelligence or Plain Cheating?

Artificial Intelligence or Plain Cheating?

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