How much feasible is implementing espionage system?

[player1 fanatic]

Idea:
Civ5 keeps player in a lot of dark regarding other civilizations.

What if you are able for some sum of gold or gp/turn to get more info of them.
Like number of units, tech level, general disposition toward other civs, policies they have, their happiness levels, etc...

Is this info, like similar player info kept in some variables, that could be read and put on new UI screen?

I think it would be great idea, if it could be implemented.

 

[lemmy101]

This would be possible if you kept it really simple, I'm sure it's possible to get this info from the exposed lua functions.

If you wanted it to be any more in-depth than this, you'd probably need the C++ SDK to do a proper espionage system that was more than just a UI screen showing general information though. With the C++ code a system like this would be completely completely feasable. Until then while probably not 'impossible' I imagine it would be an uphill struggle and the results would be filled with compromises.

I'm itching to get the C++, was really looking forward to the mod tools being released but as it turns out there's very little I can do that interests me at the moment. Like yourself I'm more looking to do new 'systems', religion or some such like this that I can't see how this would be possible in Lua, especially with the scant and still WIP documentation on the exposed Lua functions. :'(

 

[player1 fanatic]

At first glance, lua could be enough, if all values used by AI civilizations can be read by it (in similar way how various F2-F6 screens work for players). If not, things can get much more tricky.

 

[Bhruic]

You could implement something like this, but you'd have to keep in mind that it'd be info the AI wouldn't be able to access in the same fashion. So basically you'd be giving yourself an advantage over an already weak AI. If that wasn't a concern, then yeah, you could do a lot with just LUA.

Bh

 

[player1 fanatic]

Well, AI would need to be recoded a lot, if it is going to use such info.

Things like refusing a luxury trade with civ, whose happiness is just below 0, if he doesn't want that civ to get more powerful. And lots of lots of other checks.

On the other hand, maybe AI already knows some of that stuff. No good way to know without checking AI code.

P.S.
If there is a gold cost involved, it's trade off, not strait advantage.

 

[klngarthur]

You could implement something like this, but you'd have to keep in mind that it'd be info the AI wouldn't be able to access in the same fashion. So basically you'd be giving yourself an advantage over an already weak AI. If that wasn't a concern, then yeah, you could do a lot with just LUA.

Bh

You're assuming the AI doesn't already know these things and have an 'advantage' to begin with. I would imagine it has access to at least some of this data, since programming the AI to infer it based on what it could see doesn't seem worth the trouble.

 

[Bhruic]

No, I'm saying that if you create a new "Spy" unit that can enter enemy lands to obtain information, the AI will have no idea how to use said Spy, and won't be able to take advantage of it at all. Essentially that means you are getting a leg-up compared to what exists currently, whether the AI has the information or not.

Bh

 

[player1 fanatic]

Heh... I was never interested in something of that scope.

More like: spend some gold, get some general info about civ.