AI turn/movement - how long

[Orion66]

Hi



Civ3 had one really huge disadvantage. On bigger size maps and when the game was in more advanced stadium we had to wait a LOT OF TIME to make AI its turn. It was SO annoying for me that I stopped palying Civ3.

How will it be in Civ4 ?

 

[Willowmound]

Who knows, what do you think?

 

[Khaim]

Actually, it seemed that a lot of the time waste was watching the AI pointlessly shuffle its units around. Really defeated the point of intelligence- I knew that I should want to know where the AIs units were, but it wasted so much time every turn that I would do the opposite and try to have as little sight as possible into their territory.

Hopefully Civ IV will either let you skip watching the AI under certain conditions, or will have an AI that's a bit smarter about moving. In particular, if it uses the same stacking features we have, it won't be nearly so annoying.

 

[Orion66]

I read somewhere that Firaxis has improved this. But in NONE of reviews this aspect is explained.

 

[bhoffarth]

It's really hard to say what Civ IV will be like in that regard. I know that I really enjoy playing on large maps and if it is the same as it was with Civ III, then I'll not play nearly as much. It is a bit surprising that this issue has not been discussed somewhere before. Certainly, Firaxis has been made aware of the situation and tried to fix it. I have heard nothing about this situation from any of the previews/reviews that have come out so far. Sometimes I would actually read a book while I waited for the AI to finish its turn, however, that really took away from the fun of the game. The suspension of disbelief was too well erased by the change in activities. For now I'll just pretend that it will all work wonderfully from day one.

 

[agar]

Seems like the mechanics will help take care of that. Fewer cities, fewer units, less time for the AI to waste.

 

[dairymann]

Actually, it seemed that a lot of the time waste was watching the AI pointlessly shuffle its units around. Really defeated the point of intelligence- I knew that I should want to know where the AIs units were, but it wasted so much time every turn that I would do the opposite and try to have as little sight as possible into their territory.

Hopefully Civ IV will either let you skip watching the AI under certain conditions, or will have an AI that's a bit smarter about moving. In particular, if it uses the same stacking features we have, it won't be nearly so annoying.

I'm actually pretty sure there's the option to not animate enemy moves in Civ and I'm pretty sure holding down Shift speeds everything up too.

 

[King Jason]

I'm actually pretty sure there's the option to not animate enemy moves in Civ and I'm pretty sure holding down Shift speeds everything up too.

There was, it was the "show enemy moves" option. Turn it off and it doesn't auto-zoom you to every unit the enemy moves. Makes turns fly by actually, even in the late game.

Of course it still took a while, but I had one person saying it took LITERALLY a 20 minute wait for their turn to come up again in the late game.

If anything, I've never had more than 3-5 minute wait with maxed civilizations on a Huge map completely covered in cities.

 

[Vael]

Considering the map size for Civ 4 was reduced it'll probably be worse than Civ 3. I suspect those who enjoyed playing on Civ 3 256x256 maps will be in for a very rude awakening.

 

[The End Is Nigh]

I read somewhere that this problem, although not 100% fixed, was to some extent tackled. You will still have to wait for a bit of time at the later stages of the game, but not for as long as you had to wait in CivIII.

 

[Kinseek]

Actually, it seemed that a lot of the time waste was watching the AI pointlessly shuffle its units around. Really defeated the point of intelligence- I knew that I should want to know where the AIs units were, but it wasted so much time every turn that I would do the opposite and try to have as little sight as possible into their territory.

Hopefully Civ IV will either let you skip watching the AI under certain conditions, or will have an AI that's a bit smarter about moving. In particular, if it uses the same stacking features we have, it won't be nearly so annoying.

As been said; there are option in civ3 to turn this of. You can choose to either turn of the animations, or the focus of the units (meaning you could turn of the animations, and you would get a quick glance at the move the AI did)

Civ 4 I think will probably have similiar options, as well as notifying you of enemy locations each new turn with a red text "enemy spotted near xxx", saw it in one of the screenies.

I read somewhere that this problem, although not 100% fixed, was to some extent tackled. You will still have to wait for a bit of time at the later stages of the game, but not for as long as you had to wait in CivIII.

I think Civ4 calculates the next AI moves constantly during your own turn, as opposed to calculating it only when you are done with your turn. (or was I thinking of a another game?)

 

[CdGGambit]

Fewer cities, fewer units (actually smaller map size as well), will help. But units now move in armies if you recall, so you'll see the whole stack move instead of one unit at a time which should speed things up.

The whole 50 unit stack of modern armor moving one a time was rather annoying even with animations off.

 

[dairymann]

Regarding the map size thing, is there an actual limit on the map size or is it just other factors that influence it like maintence costs, etc?

 

[Vael]

I think Civ4 calculates the next AI moves constantly during your own turn, as opposed to calculating it only when you are done with your turn. (or was I thinking of a another game?)

You're thinking of Galactic Civilizations.

 

[CdGGambit]

The actual largest map size has been stated to be slightly smaller than Civ3's largest.

Regarding the map size thing, is there an actual limit on the map size or is it just other factors that influence it like maintence costs, etc?

 

[Mujadaddy]

Let's also remember that the AI algorithms are not THAT significantly changed, while the processor requirements ARE alot more robust.