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A new beginning...
First, I'm totally against cheats.
And that's why this thread could be very important. The latest Civ with MP has many problems. There are just so many things you can do that most people would consider blantant cheating. I'm sure AC and CTP have the same problems. These cheats occur because the designers just didn't think how some people might abuse or stretch the rules.
I see the purpose of this thread as an opportunity to review all the cheats that we currently know. Let's make sure that any new version of Civ is designed by people who know HOW we are currently abusing their games so they can design some protections in. Granted, any new game will have it's problems, and people will find ways to abuse the rules. But, by pointing out some of the things they have failed to correct in the past, maybe they will be more careful in the future. Now, we know that this will be a whole new game, and many of the features or ways of doing things will hopefully be changed. So, many of these may not even matter in the new game. But again, lets tell them how the current rules are being abused. Our insights can only help when they are figuring out how to do things right.
So let's help them to design a game that has far less loop holes to begin with.
Here is a summary of what has been discussed so far:
PEAKING AT THE MAP
In CIV MP, you can load a net game as a regular game and use the scenario editor to bypass any password and view the entire map.
This can be done during a game if you have two computers, or between sessions
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Just do what they do with the cheat menu.
If there is any civ passworded, it will not allow you to use the cheat menu. This shouldn't hamper scenario designers, because they wouldn't use any passwords while designing a scenario.
INFINITE MOVEMENT TRICK
In MP, if you give a unit to somebody after you move it, and he gives it back, it can move again. This can be repeated so any unit can move as much as you would like.
SOLUTION
Make is so a unit can only move once in any given year/turn
AIRBASES
Airbases provide additional shields and food when built within a city radius. They are also instant rails. Plus, they can be put in a line to stop enemy air units and nukes from getting through.
SOLUTION
Make sure they don't provide any extra's. Make people build roads/rails in the same square if they want the movement bonus.
Allow enemy units to fly over airbases - put an option on the comand menu that allows for landing or attack.
COVERING GROUND UNITS WITH BOMBERS
This makes the stack impervious to ground attack since ground units can't strike the bomber.
SOLUTION
There have many solutions proposed for this one, and it really depends on what combat system will be used in the new game. We just want them to be aware of this, so they don't make the same mistake again.
HOME CARAVAN TRICK
You can reassign a caravan to any home city by using the city menu instead of the command menu. It says in the rules you can't do this.
SOLUTION
In MP mode, this has been fixed. Vs the AI, you can still do it. (unless they fixed that in the latest patch) Again, who knows how trade will work in the new game. The point here is that if you say something can't be done in the rules, check out all menues that allow for such an action to make sure you have caught them all.
SHIP CHAINING
By using multiple ships, you can move a unit around the world in one turn. (that's realistic)
SOLUTION
One solution was to disallow any transfer of a unit from ship to ship. This might not be the best solution because there are legitimate reasons beyond chip chaining to do this. Again, they should be aware that this type of cheat has been available to us in the past and should be checked in the new game.
THE FOOD CARAVAN TRICK
This is when you can send multiple food caravans from the same city to the same city, and only still have one food trade route estabished. (only -1 per turn, but the target city gets a full food bin or new pop for every caravan arriving)
SOLUTION
Again, who knows how trade will work in the new game. But again, if something like caravans are used, they should check out what happens when multiple caravans are sent from the same location to the same location.
RUSH BUYING UNITS IN A STEP PROCESS TO SAVE MONEY
I don't see this as a cheat. But since it doesn't work that way for city improvements (a correction made from civI to civII) some claim that it is.
SOLUTION
Again, who knows... just be consistant, or point out that the option is available.
That covers what was discussed already in the other thread. Let's hear some more. I need your help.
We ask that if this is the first time you post to the thread, please start you post with that fact.
We are keeping a list of all those that contribute to our threads, and that would make life easier on us.
The Following People have already posted suggestions:
Ecce Homo
EnochF
Carolus Rex
Theben
Again, thanks for your help!
Let's roll!
First, I'm totally against cheats.
And that's why this thread could be very important. The latest Civ with MP has many problems. There are just so many things you can do that most people would consider blantant cheating. I'm sure AC and CTP have the same problems. These cheats occur because the designers just didn't think how some people might abuse or stretch the rules.
I see the purpose of this thread as an opportunity to review all the cheats that we currently know. Let's make sure that any new version of Civ is designed by people who know HOW we are currently abusing their games so they can design some protections in. Granted, any new game will have it's problems, and people will find ways to abuse the rules. But, by pointing out some of the things they have failed to correct in the past, maybe they will be more careful in the future. Now, we know that this will be a whole new game, and many of the features or ways of doing things will hopefully be changed. So, many of these may not even matter in the new game. But again, lets tell them how the current rules are being abused. Our insights can only help when they are figuring out how to do things right.
So let's help them to design a game that has far less loop holes to begin with.
Here is a summary of what has been discussed so far:
PEAKING AT THE MAP
In CIV MP, you can load a net game as a regular game and use the scenario editor to bypass any password and view the entire map.
This can be done during a game if you have two computers, or between sessions
POTENTIAL SOLUTION
Just do what they do with the cheat menu.
If there is any civ passworded, it will not allow you to use the cheat menu. This shouldn't hamper scenario designers, because they wouldn't use any passwords while designing a scenario.
INFINITE MOVEMENT TRICK
In MP, if you give a unit to somebody after you move it, and he gives it back, it can move again. This can be repeated so any unit can move as much as you would like.
SOLUTION
Make is so a unit can only move once in any given year/turn
AIRBASES
Airbases provide additional shields and food when built within a city radius. They are also instant rails. Plus, they can be put in a line to stop enemy air units and nukes from getting through.
SOLUTION
Make sure they don't provide any extra's. Make people build roads/rails in the same square if they want the movement bonus.
Allow enemy units to fly over airbases - put an option on the comand menu that allows for landing or attack.
COVERING GROUND UNITS WITH BOMBERS
This makes the stack impervious to ground attack since ground units can't strike the bomber.
SOLUTION
There have many solutions proposed for this one, and it really depends on what combat system will be used in the new game. We just want them to be aware of this, so they don't make the same mistake again.
HOME CARAVAN TRICK
You can reassign a caravan to any home city by using the city menu instead of the command menu. It says in the rules you can't do this.
SOLUTION
In MP mode, this has been fixed. Vs the AI, you can still do it. (unless they fixed that in the latest patch) Again, who knows how trade will work in the new game. The point here is that if you say something can't be done in the rules, check out all menues that allow for such an action to make sure you have caught them all.
SHIP CHAINING
By using multiple ships, you can move a unit around the world in one turn. (that's realistic)
SOLUTION
One solution was to disallow any transfer of a unit from ship to ship. This might not be the best solution because there are legitimate reasons beyond chip chaining to do this. Again, they should be aware that this type of cheat has been available to us in the past and should be checked in the new game.
THE FOOD CARAVAN TRICK
This is when you can send multiple food caravans from the same city to the same city, and only still have one food trade route estabished. (only -1 per turn, but the target city gets a full food bin or new pop for every caravan arriving)
SOLUTION
Again, who knows how trade will work in the new game. But again, if something like caravans are used, they should check out what happens when multiple caravans are sent from the same location to the same location.
RUSH BUYING UNITS IN A STEP PROCESS TO SAVE MONEY
I don't see this as a cheat. But since it doesn't work that way for city improvements (a correction made from civI to civII) some claim that it is.
SOLUTION
Again, who knows... just be consistant, or point out that the option is available.
That covers what was discussed already in the other thread. Let's hear some more. I need your help.
We ask that if this is the first time you post to the thread, please start you post with that fact.
We are keeping a list of all those that contribute to our threads, and that would make life easier on us.
The Following People have already posted suggestions:
Ecce Homo
EnochF
Carolus Rex
Theben
Again, thanks for your help!
Let's roll!
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