Red Wegener
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2002
- Messages
- 64
I have been playing Civilization since Civ 1 and it is still my favorite computer game of all time so I would like to offer my suggestions for Civ 4.
I think Civ 3 went a little wrong in the fun factor. The fun from it has not been as long-lasting as were Civ 1 and Civ 2. One thing that I believe has lessened the fun in Civ 3 is the AI.
There has been a lot of discussion on Civilization Fanatics about the AI not being good enough. I disagree. I think the AI was a brilliant piece of programming. I am amazed by how well the AI anticipates the players every move. It is as good as any chess AI I have ever played against.
The brilliance of the AI however is the reason Civ 3 has been less fun. Anyone who has played chess against a good AI should know how those games evolve. The AI makes no mistakes and the player, in order to win, must match the AI move for move. This results in playing a game of stalemate. While this makes for a challenging game of chess and a mental workout, it is also very boring.
A better chess player than I may find that fun but a novice like me is just bored
I often feel that way while playing Civ 3, like I am getting a mental workout but not having much fun.
I am not suggesting that the AI should not be difficult to defeat or that it should be made easier. I am sure all of us who have liked the Civ games enjoy the mental challenge. That is what has made them so great!
I do not know a lot about programming an AI but here are my suggestions on how to improve it in Civ 4 to balance fun with challenge. The AI should have less than perfect knowledge. I realize that knowledge is the the only advantage an AI has against a player but more randomness I feel would greatly improve the fun.
Rather than having the AI only reacting to player moves, I suggest that the AI be programmed to have its own goals. For example, it appears to me that the AI in Civ 3 was programmed to start wars of expansion only in response to player expansion. There are many other examples I could give of this behavior which I have observed while playing Civ 3. This approach of the AI I feel makes the game too predictable and again lessens the fun.
On another subject, I have never liked the map generation in Civ 3. The maps are generated in a way to try to create natural borders. More randomness is better. More islands and small continents like in Civ 2 are better! The need for exploration from Civ 2 is almost completely missing in Civ 3 other than to contact other civilizations. In Civ 2 it was also neccessary to explore to find those islands to settle and to trade with caravans.
I have more suggestions but I just realized that I have given way too much thought to this already
To any developers who happen to see this post, thanks for considering the suggestions of a long time Civilization fanatic
I think Civ 3 went a little wrong in the fun factor. The fun from it has not been as long-lasting as were Civ 1 and Civ 2. One thing that I believe has lessened the fun in Civ 3 is the AI.
There has been a lot of discussion on Civilization Fanatics about the AI not being good enough. I disagree. I think the AI was a brilliant piece of programming. I am amazed by how well the AI anticipates the players every move. It is as good as any chess AI I have ever played against.
The brilliance of the AI however is the reason Civ 3 has been less fun. Anyone who has played chess against a good AI should know how those games evolve. The AI makes no mistakes and the player, in order to win, must match the AI move for move. This results in playing a game of stalemate. While this makes for a challenging game of chess and a mental workout, it is also very boring.
A better chess player than I may find that fun but a novice like me is just bored
I often feel that way while playing Civ 3, like I am getting a mental workout but not having much fun.I am not suggesting that the AI should not be difficult to defeat or that it should be made easier. I am sure all of us who have liked the Civ games enjoy the mental challenge. That is what has made them so great!
I do not know a lot about programming an AI but here are my suggestions on how to improve it in Civ 4 to balance fun with challenge. The AI should have less than perfect knowledge. I realize that knowledge is the the only advantage an AI has against a player but more randomness I feel would greatly improve the fun.
Rather than having the AI only reacting to player moves, I suggest that the AI be programmed to have its own goals. For example, it appears to me that the AI in Civ 3 was programmed to start wars of expansion only in response to player expansion. There are many other examples I could give of this behavior which I have observed while playing Civ 3. This approach of the AI I feel makes the game too predictable and again lessens the fun.
On another subject, I have never liked the map generation in Civ 3. The maps are generated in a way to try to create natural borders. More randomness is better. More islands and small continents like in Civ 2 are better! The need for exploration from Civ 2 is almost completely missing in Civ 3 other than to contact other civilizations. In Civ 2 it was also neccessary to explore to find those islands to settle and to trade with caravans.
I have more suggestions but I just realized that I have given way too much thought to this already
To any developers who happen to see this post, thanks for considering the suggestions of a long time Civilization fanatic
