Absolute WORST THING in CivIV

[Angryfanatic!]

Whenever my friends and I have a game we all play on settler difficulty. This is great because it means we all get the benefits without any of the penalties, which means it's still all about skill and we can have a game set to the fastest speed and still have plenty of time with the modern and future tech units that we love before time runs out. This likewise means we can have shorter games without feeling dissatisfied with our overall progress. Just now I thought it was a good idea to get in some practice against the AI under these same conditions, only to learn that it's impossible to change the AI difficulty! I havn't been this pissed in a long time. I want a game that's balanced that still goes quick, that gives me a lot of elbow room, but not at the expense of my opponent. If we can have that in multiplayer against humans, why not the AI? Please, someone PLEASE tell me if there's something I'm missing, or if there's some mod available that makes this possible. I simply refuse to play another game on noble.

 

[Ramesses]

It really makes no difference whether you play as a Settler against Settler AIs, or as a Noble against Noble AIs. The relative difficulty difference is the same - zero.

 

[Angryfanatic!]

There IS a difference. Even if the other guy is settler we've noticed you still get benefits. He just gets them too. Technological research goes much faster for one, as well building and unit construction. We have SEEN it. Anyone who gives it a try, settler vs settler, will see it.

Edit: For example, on settler v settler, we typically achieve flight well before the 1800s, while on noble it's usually much later. The game ends on noble before all technology is developed. On settler, technology ends first.

Edit: nobody has a relative advantage, but the settings DO apply, and on multiplayer that's a great thing. It means you have a quick game that spans all the eras, with a lot more toys to play with along the way.

 

[Ramesses]

There IS a difference. Even if the other guy is settler we've noticed you still get benefits. He just gets them too. Technological research goes much faster for one, as well building and unit construction. We have SEEN it. Anyone who gives it a try, settler vs settler, will see it.

Edit: For example, on settler v settler, we typically achieve flight well before the 1800s, while on noble it's usually much later. The game ends on noble before all technology is developed. On settler, technology ends first.

Edit: nobody has a relative advantage, but the settings DO apply, and on multiplayer that's a great thing. It means you have a quick game that spans all the eras, with a lot more toys to play with along the way.

Well if the only thing you're concerned about is game speed, then just set the game speed to Quick. A casual game on that mode should take about an hour, tops.

Disclaimer: I have never played a Quick game, so I cannot guarantee that this is correct. Nevertheless, this is the best solution I can offer.

Edit: If you're also concerned about the game ending at 2050, just disable Time victory.

 

[Skallagrimson]

That's not the worst thing in civ.

The worst thing in civ is the barbarian horde stack of 15 spearmen when the only resource you have hooked up is horses, and both of your 2 cities are in their rampage path.

 

[Crime Doesn't Pay]

or a culture victory by mansa musa one turn before your space ship wins the game.

 

[BakingTheArt]

or Global Warming.

 

[TheLlama]

Or the diplo system...

 

[Skallagrimson]

Come to think of it, I've changed my vote to the global warming.

It's just plain beyond stupid.

 

[Camikaze]

Start a game and save it in worldbuilder. Then go to the text for this open the text file for this save and under everyone leader's section, change Handicap=HANDICAP_NOBLE to Handicap=HANDICAP_SETTLER.