Beard Rinker
Warlord
This suggestion is way out in left field.
What about an API so users can write their own AI opponents. Lets face it, the weakest part of this game is the computer opponent. If the user community was unleashed on this task, I'm quite sure a few more challenging AI opponents would emerge. Even if they were no better, each AI would have its own algorithms therefore would respond differently under similar circumstances. A winning strategy against one AI wouldn't necessarily work against others. Ultimately, it would be nice to be able to plug in several different AI opponents and play against them.
I realize the easiest way to improve the opponents skill is to make it multi-player, but I just don't see how this is feasible without significantly modifying the game. A typical game plays for about 50 hours and I've had some civ 2 games last literally 6 months. I'm hard pressed to complete the game of the month in one month so I can't imagine playing against human opponents and trying to coordinate that.
What about an API so users can write their own AI opponents. Lets face it, the weakest part of this game is the computer opponent. If the user community was unleashed on this task, I'm quite sure a few more challenging AI opponents would emerge. Even if they were no better, each AI would have its own algorithms therefore would respond differently under similar circumstances. A winning strategy against one AI wouldn't necessarily work against others. Ultimately, it would be nice to be able to plug in several different AI opponents and play against them.
I realize the easiest way to improve the opponents skill is to make it multi-player, but I just don't see how this is feasible without significantly modifying the game. A typical game plays for about 50 hours and I've had some civ 2 games last literally 6 months. I'm hard pressed to complete the game of the month in one month so I can't imagine playing against human opponents and trying to coordinate that.