Difficulty level

[Zaldron]

That said...

I'm going to play a few more games at Emperor level, but will probably try Prince out of curiosity. It's quite possible that with the AI spending its gold, Prince may be the new Emperor (certainly the new King).

This, almost exactly. I just got a game handed to me by Washington launching before I even had rocketry.

 

[Thalassicus]

It's quite possible that with the AI spending its gold, Prince may be the new Emperor (certainly the new King).

I removed or reduced several AI bonuses to compensate when I added this feature. I might not have lowered the bonuses enough, however.

After finishing this I'm very puzzled why it's not already in the game. I put it on the todo list a year ago, but delayed because I assumed it would be complicated, require core access, or take a lot of time. After all... if it were easy to do, it would already be in the game, right...?

It wasn't until recently I realized it's not that hard. The algorithms were just 200 lines of code and ~30 hours of work. It's very simple compared to the 10,000 lines for map generation, or the ~150 hours I spent on the opportunity system. I wonder what the AI's normal purchasing algorithms look like?

 

[Txurce]

I removed or reduced several AI bonuses to compensate when I added this feature. I might not have lowered the bonuses enough, however.

After finishing this I'm very surprised it's not already in the game. I came up with the idea over a year ago, but put it off because I assumed it would be complicated, require core access, or take a lot of time. After all... if it's easy to do why wouldn't it be in the code already? It turns out the algorithms are very simple... just 200 lines of code.

That is weird.

With regard to having lowered bonuses enough, I think you have to define "enough" for yourself. Yes, I would like to feel more competitive than I currently am on Emperor playing for Science (where I dread to try a true tall strategy). But I keep telling myself that the ideal may very well be playing on Prince - where the bonuses may be just fine. In other words, maybe you shouldn't adjust solely for players' egos.

I do wonder if tech has been slowed too much, regardless of difficulty level. I agree that the ideal is for games to take longer. But I feel like I need more to do while going through the final stages. On the other hand, what I may have to do is deal with increasingly belligerent AI in a narrowing field. That may be what the game is supposed to be about, and most of us have never encountered it because we win shortly after the AI wakes up to the threat. (In my current Babylon game, they are awake as of t220, and I have a long way to go.)

Again, I'm bringing this up for general discussion, and wouldn't recommend major action one way or another until some of us have played a few games trying for the tougher VC's.

Are you still able to blow away the AI in Conquest before their bonuses start to snowball?

 

[Thalassicus]

I'm not a good judge of difficulty settings, because I have more experience with the inner workings of the game than most people. I rely on yall for those decisions.

 

[albie_123]

Conquest on King is still breezy once the neighbourly militaristic AI's have been dealt with.

I'm finding the peaceful victory conditions harder now, since the AI can compete with me, and in many cases outrank me. It's not to the point I need to drop a difficulty though.