anyone know how the computer decides ?

[carlsberg]

Hi

I used to play civ I on a Mac many years ago and I've just found a version for PC that runs on XP so I'm getting back into it and it's hard to concentrate on work while I keep thinking about what'll happen if I ..... etc

i've tried later versions of Civilization but it's the first version that i prefer

Now that i work in web programming I've been thinking about how amazing the computer decisions machine is. Maybe it just gives you that impression but if you run seven civilizations they seem to have differences in overall behaviour but still expanding in a coherent way - is it random or all pre-programmed or a mix ? Some of the civs in a game will be pathetic and you sometimes find complex war situations involving several countries - how is all this stuff decided ?

I'm a really low-level player in as much as I always get hammered in the higher difficulty levels and I don't really have strategies i just send units round trashing cities and trying to conquer the world as quickly as i can - but the more I play it the more i appreciate work that's gone into how the enemy is managed.

has anyone seen any stuff on the interweb that describes Sid Meier's approach to the game engine ? it would be an interesting read !

 

[Urtica dioica]

Regarding differences in AI behavior, if you haven't read it, here's a good place to start, not that I know what "Aggression," "Development," and "Militarism" mean...

Some concrete decisions an AI might make would be:

1. Whether to build an improvement/caravan, a defender, an attacker, a settler, or a spaceship part.
2. How to set the luxury-tax-science ratios.
3. What government to use.
4. How to use the units it's built.
5. How to negotiate.
6. How to prioritize techs.
7. When to rush a build.
8. How to use citizens, or what squares to work.

I suspect most of what the three parameters do is decide what to build and how to change the luxury-tax-science ratios. Most of the AI's decisions seem to be the same regardless, just depending on the resources at hand. The only interesting variable for most of the heuristics it needs would seem to be its attitude toward its neighbors.

As for your getting hammered on the higher difficulty levels, here's a strategy for you:

• Build lots of settlers.
• Build lots of cities with those settlers.
• Make your many cities produce hordes of chariots.

That's all you need. Anything else is just for fun.

 

[Kunelly83]

I can agree with this. Most of the times I have played I can see those types of behaviors...ESPECIALLY with the Mongolians! I would have to say the behaviors posted in that link are SPOT ON.

I know the maps are completely random and the resources included.