This is fun, and I appreciate your feedback. Let me try and answer some of your comments
"I can't believe you said with a straight face that the AI in Civ2 was on par with that in Civ3. "
Why not, could you say it the differ?
"I have checked out other games besides Civ3. And believe me, the AI usually sucks, and usually (in games like C&C) it has the advantage of having its bases already built and therefore having half its job done for it by a human. "
I too have played C&C, which installment were u referring to? The first C&C was decent, Red Alert had its fame, but the rest after that was really terrible. As I remember, C&C was fun because you could play with vs another human player, but playing against its AI was only to past time with and not really any fun, for me at least.
"Technology has advanced, yes, but do not expect Civ3 programmers to have reproduced the human brain in the past 3 years. "
... I think you're being over dramatic.
"I guess you're one of those glass half empty people.... it's not what the game has done, it's judged by how much it has failed to live up to the unrealistic expectations you have created in the intervening three years. "
Hmm, actually I just speak my mind, and tell truth where I see it.
Btw, why are you keep repeating 3 years, and how do you know how long I've hoped for this game? If you meant the years it took to make the game, it would be 7 and maybe more.
"You are not what we economists would call an Enlightened Consumer. You judge the product not by comparing it to what is available, but according to your lofty estimates of what you think it should be."
Yeah, okay. Getting back to the point here... Let me tell you, whom seems to be very satisfied with the AI of this game, that this is really not that big of deal, to me, but crucial to the game, especial one that depends on its AI for playability. Just think about it, its like chess, what happens when the computer game of chess starts to cheat because the better players are fed up with the game cause it's too easy?
Well, no, Civ3 is not chess, it is a lot more complex of a game. But, seeing the reason of the game is its AI vs player concept, Sid and the boys at the company "should" have made it a priority.
But, sadly, they did not; they took the old Civ2 gaming engine and slapped in Civ3 after making some insignificant changes.
Now, there has been few speaking out against some of the game's follies, like me for one. But I still play it. Even though its not as I had excepted. Maybe that's good, gives me time to stop playing and use that time to do other things.