Do you think this "smartass" move is "cheating"?

[Nimek]

Yes i confirm your fix by adding bBlendIntoCity is working. Now great spy i able to enter enemy city during wartime.

Should be added to v44 or/and a patch for v43 since it is bugfix

 

[Leodim]

Yes i confirm your fix by adding bBlendIntoCity is working. Now great spy i able to enter enemy city during wartime.

Should be added to v44 or/and a patch for v43 since it is bugfix

Actually would be better to add a separte tag from this one which is for criminals (unless it exists and I missed it) like a "bRivalCity". To avoid other criminal stuff that could cause bugs to GSpy with future changes.

My bet would be just register it and add it to CvUnit::canEnterPlot logic (not tested) :

Spoiler v43.1 code (lines number must have changed on my local sources) :

CvUnit::canEnterPlot
Near start:

if (!bVisibleEnemyDefender && !isSpy() && !m_bRivalCity && isNoCapture() && !isBlendIntoCity() && pPlot->isEnemyCity(*this))
{
return false;
}

and near end:

//City Minimum Defense Level
if (!bHasCheckedCityEntry && !bIgnoreLocation && pPlot->getPlotCity() != NULL && !isSpy() && !m_bRivalCity
&& !isBlendIntoCity() && (!isBarbCoExist() || !pPlot->isHominid())
&& GET_TEAM(GET_PLAYER(getCombatOwner(pPlot->getTeam(), pPlot)).getTeam()).isAtWar(pPlot->getTeam())
&& !pPlot->getPlotCity()->isDirectAttackable() && !canIgnoreNoEntryLevel())
{
return false;
}
return true;

That's the main idea at least I suppose.

 

[Nimek]

I have found another smart ass move using spies. Pay a city to revolt and attack. During revolt all defensive bonus of city is gone.

Problem is making city to revolt is cheap and I don't think AI is using this very effective strategy.

 

[Leodim]

I have found another smart ass move using spies. Pay a city to revolt and attack. During revolt all defensive bonus of city is gone.

Problem is making city to revolt is cheap and I don't think AI is using this very effective strategy.

I forgot about that. I should use it more

More seriously : yes, this should be way more expensive OR not remove city defenses OR only halves them. Obviously needs a change of some sort.
I like the "only halves them + slighlty more expensive maybe (because it already ruins a city for a turn besides defenses impact)" personnaly.
I didnt check how its cost scales with eras, pop, etc. (besides usual reduction cost).
Thoughts?

 

[Nimek]

What i thought is. Revolt should reduce defenses to minimum level that you can reach using realistic city siege option.

This way you will be attack the city during revolt without bombarding city defenses

 

[Nimek]

What i thought is. Revolt should reduce defenses to minimum level that you can reach using realistic city siege option.

This way you will be attack the city during revolt without bombarding city defenses.
It is desired since you pay for revolt you paid also to make city gate open...

 

[MLG Samantha]

I think that if you have to ask if it's cheating, then it's definitely cheating. But that's okay. Sometimes the only way to win is to cheat. I do the same thing sometimes in Dawn of Civilization but with normal spies instead, usually when I'm playing as Polynesia

 

[Thunderbrd]

I don't think it's a smartass move to use spies to destroy defenses the round before an invasion - I think it's one of the things that a highly espionage based strategy can accomplish and there are sacrifices to be made to use such a strategy. Also...doesn't always work because sometimes you might find some cities are almost impossible to get spies into for a round+. That the AI doesn't use it or consider it much is just another AI deficiency.

 

[Somebody613]

I don't think it's a smartass move to use spies to destroy defenses the round before an invasion - I think it's one of the things that a highly espionage based strategy can accomplish and there are sacrifices to be made to use such a strategy. Also...doesn't always work because sometimes you might find some cities are almost impossible to get spies into for a round+. That the AI doesn't use it or consider it much is just another AI deficiency.

I think the point *was* that "AI doesn't do it", no so much that "it's a great tactical abuse of the game rules".
I mean, Merging Units is a good example of how the human player can use a feature much more flexibly than the AI will ever do.
Namely: Merge a unit to the max, grant it a General, then SPLIT it into several lesser units that now have a significant XP boost, *as if* each of them was granted a General.
Basically, that's an example of "cheating" in regards to Generals - and while it's 100% accessible to the AI as well, it will NEVER do anything like that, because it has no idea it CAN be done.
Or boosting "focused growth" units by granting Generals to OTHER units in the same tile, basically "splitting the boost by half between them".
I'm 101% sure that the AI would only ever do this by a sheer pure coincidence and NEVER as a real tactic - very much unlike the human player doing it absolutely deliberately.
Would that be "cheating", though?