PolyCast Episode 222: "Fully Charged"

Ready to go. The two-hundred-and-twenty-second episode of PolyCast, "Fully Charged", features regular co-hosts Daniel "DanQ" Quick, "Makahlua", Philip "TheMeInTeam" Bellew and "MadDjinn" with first-time guest co-host Yan-Jie "Lord Tirian" Schnellbach. It carries a runtime of 59m59s.

The summary of topics is as follows:

- 01m08s | News
Details about the Winter 2015 patch for Civilization: Beyond Earth is revealed.
- 29m28s | Forum Talk
Whether being able to construct magrails should be a priority in CivBE, and a case for being able to embargo oneself in the game.
- 37m55s | Senate
How to utilize the Civilization: Beyond Earth espionage mechanic to its full potential (recorded for Episode 220).
- 45m13s | Miscellaneous
Surprises and reasoned supposition how every sponsor in CivBE is to be behave (recorded for Episode 220).

- Intro/Outro | Miscellaneous
What one panelist is distracted by and then what they no longer seem to have much of an interest in.

Recording live before a listening audience every other Saturday, PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; listeners are encouraged to follow the show on Twitter, and check out the YouTube channel for caption capability. Sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution, ModCast on Civ modding, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.

I'm really enjoying Polycast and have a couple of comments about this one. In order of importance...

There is no random personalities option in BE. I hope it will have the option eventually and can forgive the assumption that it does, but it doesn't as of yet.

AIs that have tendencies counter to their apparent personality (such as KP not caring to expand) may be intentional to guard against predictable/extreme behavior or runaway situations. It seems counter-intuitive, but ponder what would happen if the stars aligned.

I can appreciate an AI that doesn't care about victory as much and it makes sense from a personality standpoint. I myself enjoy playing the game, not rushing toward a known victory condition, but making decisions based on the most pressing need for my playstyle. Seems logical that some AIs would play the same way.

Keep up the good work!

legalizefreedom said:

There is no random personalities option in BE. I hope it will have the option eventually and can forgive the assumption that it does, but it doesn't as of yet.

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True, and an omission that remains puzzling.

I can appreciate an AI that doesn't care about victory as much and it makes sense from a personality standpoint. I myself enjoy playing the game, not rushing toward a known victory condition, but making decisions based on the most pressing need for my playstyle. Seems logical that some AIs would play the same way.

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I understand where you're coming from. That said, I do believe that in a game with victory conditions the game's AI sponsors (civs) should be working towards one that while consistent with their personality (and situation from game-to-game), is progressive with respect to the victory mechanic.

I'm really enjoying Polycast[...] [..] Keep up the good work!

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How long have you been listening to the show?

DanQ said:

I understand where you're coming from. That said, I do believe that in a game with victory conditions the game's AI sponsors (civs) should be working towards one that while consistent with their personality (and situation from game-to-game), is progressive with respect to the victory mechanic.




How long have you been listening to the show?

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I would assume an AI would always be at least heading in the direction of a victory, and the flavor would just determine how high a priority it was for them. Some are high, some are low. A good example may be a civ so focused on other flavors it can't see the forest for the trees. I see a similarity to civs favoring one victory condition over another, but again I would expect progress toward a victory to be in their behavior somewhere.

I discovered the show here on the forums around the release of BE, but I'm working my way back through the catalog. I'm sure they are still relevant back to at least G&K.

legalizefreedom said:

I discovered the show here on the forums around the release of BE, but I'm working my way back through the catalog. I'm sure they are still relevant back to at least G&K.

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I am always encouraged to learn of new(er) listeners going back through at least some of PolyCast's episodes archive, particularly those from one or more previous seasons. Enjoy the collection.