Civ 6 is intended to be "win your way". The AI is just there to play the characters in the story of how you decided to win. That's how Firaxis is marketing the game, and those of us hoping for something different didn't pay enough attention to the marketing pitch for Civ 6.
Inevitably for such a mainstream game, FXS must try to cover multiple bases. I agree one goal has been this “play it you way” goal. But there has also been a “play the map” goal, which is the complete opposite goal - if you have to play the map, then you can’t really play it your way.
I don’t think the the poor AI is deliberate, and instead FXS do want a challenging game. But they’re not able to deliver.
I don’t think the issue is lack of resources or attention either. People keep talking about one dedicated person working on AI. To me, that sounds like a lot of people focusing on one task. And I also don’t think having a dedicated AI person would mean they don’t get support from other people at FXS.
My guess is that the AI is so poor because (1) it’s hard to get AI right, and (2) Civ makes it particularly hard for the AI because of all the various systems. There are some really good posts above - too many to quote - which make this point better. To get AI right FXS need the right people, and then need to get lots of other things right including organisationally. In fairness to them, that’s not easy, and there are lots of other things they’re being asked to deliver on too. I expect this AI stuff is frustrating for them just as much as it is for us.
Yay, this topic again
Yes, I agree. And I’m sorry I’m jumping into this topic again. I’m just cross about things.
For what it’s worth, I am making two slightly different point. First. That is: rather than just “fixing” the AI, I really think FXS should make the game hard at Prince.
It’s just my opinion. But I think the game would be much better - and would pull in way more players - if the game was hard out of the gate. The game should mess you up at Prince. The Darksouls (...yay, I’ve mention an almost modern game!) or MegaMan (doh!) or arcade Gauntlet (...okay, that’s deliberately anachronistic). Some games are popular precisely because they are hard.
To be clear, the game would still need to be accessible - so, intuitive controls, easy to understand systems, lots of guidance. And you would need an assist mode - eg you can play Rome and they are really, really punchy, you can start with extra settlers and Builders, Gilgabro starts as your Ally etc.
But Civ should be getting reviews on Steam like “Man, this game just wrecks you! Ghandi is the
worst”.
I know, I know. I have nothing to back this up with. No research. Maybe I’m wrong. But I really think that sort of difficulty would drive sales. And players that don’t want so much challenge would still be okay because they could play lower difficulties or play with an assist mode.
Second, and lastly, I also think FXS need to think of challenge more generally. It’s not just about AI (meaning how well the computer plays the game).
As I said in another thread: I think the games problems are deeper than the AI.
Core problems include:
1. Your opponents all start at the same time as you. This is the source of the whole snowball problem. Can you imagine any other game where you’re opponents basically never got more powerful. This is, more or less, how the game currently works absent some isolated Civ running away with the game. The game would be much more interesting if you started with some Civs already ahead of you and established (ie you’re the new guy on the block), and then later you had new Civs, some behind you (like you were) and some that rapidly expand (like America).
2. You’re never required to actually manage your empire. Your only threats are external.
3. You can’t lose, absent losing all your cities or someone else which is fairly extreme. So, you’re never under pressure, you can always grind out a victory, and you never get any feedback on how well or not you’re playing.
RnF basically fixed none of these issues. Even loyalty and Eras don’t create any empire management.
The game is designed like Monopoly. Once you’re established, there’s no one that can stop you.
OMG this is the third [er, fourth]
time I’ve mentioned Monopoly on this forum. Unbelievable.