allsirgarnet
Chieftain
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2009
- Messages
- 16
Hello. This is my first thread and I'm sure this subject has been dealt with before, but I think I have some new info. The source was a mathamatical forum I happened upon by chance and specifically an ex Firaxis team member who worked on the programing for Civ 4.
Now in reading the many threads which have touched on the Civ 4 AI cheating at for example noble level, many posters have stated that the only 'cheat' the AI gets as an advantage is very cheap upgrades of its units. Well below is a list of a lot more of the cheats the AI gets at noble level...
Animal/Barbarian combat bonuses
No Unit support
Better Unit upgrades
No Inflation
No War Weariness
Complete map and resources
On finding this info it explained a lot of things I had often considered in Civ 4, such as why building the Statue of Zeus seemed to have little or no effect. Well you can now see why. You can also see that the cheats listed enable the AI to creat vast empires at will, protected by huge armies which themselves can be very aggressive and yet still have an efficient economy to allow decent research.
Now I do enjoy the game and have enjoyed all 4 civs in their time, but this cheating does spoil the game for me because it subverts the real strategies the AI players should be following.
Example...
During a noble level game as Japan, I created a city in the Korea area. Knowing that China might be 'touchy' over this I provided a decent mixed garrison of about 16 units, longbows, macemen etc. When the inevitable war started my defences held... and held and held.
Over 125 turns of war later, in which endless enemy armies from China and its allies (France, Germany etc) just threw themselves at my city and died, I gave up the game in abject boredom! On the last turn I made, they were still turning up in droves from all over the world.
Now my point is this.
IF the AI had not had the following cheats...
No Unit support
Better Unit upgrades
No Inflation
No War Weariness
...then a proper war could have been fought in which the AI would have acted normally and in a more human and sensible way, and the game wouldnt have evolved into a waste of my time.
I have no problem with enemy powers ganging up on me as a player, but the cheats in effect wipe away any meaningful strategy both they and I might use or create. What then is the point I ask?
It seems crazy to me that programmers can spend so much time working on REAL AI, and then not realise that the cheats they use to enhance it completely subvert their efforts. The Statue of Zeus seems a perfect case in point in that IN EFFECT, the only 'player' it effects is the human player as the AI players are immune.
Anyway...
I hope you found the more extensive list of Civ 4 noble cheats interesting and worthy of comment.
Regards
ASG
Now in reading the many threads which have touched on the Civ 4 AI cheating at for example noble level, many posters have stated that the only 'cheat' the AI gets as an advantage is very cheap upgrades of its units. Well below is a list of a lot more of the cheats the AI gets at noble level...
Animal/Barbarian combat bonuses
No Unit support
Better Unit upgrades
No Inflation
No War Weariness
Complete map and resources
On finding this info it explained a lot of things I had often considered in Civ 4, such as why building the Statue of Zeus seemed to have little or no effect. Well you can now see why. You can also see that the cheats listed enable the AI to creat vast empires at will, protected by huge armies which themselves can be very aggressive and yet still have an efficient economy to allow decent research.
Now I do enjoy the game and have enjoyed all 4 civs in their time, but this cheating does spoil the game for me because it subverts the real strategies the AI players should be following.
Example...
During a noble level game as Japan, I created a city in the Korea area. Knowing that China might be 'touchy' over this I provided a decent mixed garrison of about 16 units, longbows, macemen etc. When the inevitable war started my defences held... and held and held.
Over 125 turns of war later, in which endless enemy armies from China and its allies (France, Germany etc) just threw themselves at my city and died, I gave up the game in abject boredom! On the last turn I made, they were still turning up in droves from all over the world.
Now my point is this.
IF the AI had not had the following cheats...
No Unit support
Better Unit upgrades
No Inflation
No War Weariness
...then a proper war could have been fought in which the AI would have acted normally and in a more human and sensible way, and the game wouldnt have evolved into a waste of my time.
I have no problem with enemy powers ganging up on me as a player, but the cheats in effect wipe away any meaningful strategy both they and I might use or create. What then is the point I ask?
It seems crazy to me that programmers can spend so much time working on REAL AI, and then not realise that the cheats they use to enhance it completely subvert their efforts. The Statue of Zeus seems a perfect case in point in that IN EFFECT, the only 'player' it effects is the human player as the AI players are immune.
Anyway...
I hope you found the more extensive list of Civ 4 noble cheats interesting and worthy of comment.
Regards
ASG