Our words are backed up with "nukes".. really?

[Kokkomo]

so the other night I was playing an immortal game as cathy. I started out on my own continent.. so I went for the cultural victory as I was able to built almost every wonder I wanted without fear of early game retaliation.
Well by the modern era, I was in third place behind Greece and Pachi who had both massive empires from conquering the civs on their continents, I DOW pachi to sucker him out of some money (that guy will never take peace no matter how many turns pass btw, if he feels he can beat you he will want the world and then some for peace). To make a long story short, towards the end of the game I was playing tug with 3 of Alexander's ally CS. He finally comes to me after a century worth of denouncements with "Our words are backed up with nukes"

I was like WTH.. never gotten that reaction.. funny thing is he never DOW me.. even though he was maybe a few ocean tiles from me, and had 1 atomic bomb within reach of my naval city. Luckily, Pachi built the U.N. for me (dumb AI), and helped me get my win quicker.


Anyone seen the AI act like this before? Like continuously threaten.. and then not do anything because they have to embark etc. I know its bad at naval combat.. but you don't go saying your gonna use nukes if your not gonna use them amirite?

btw I kept playing after the win and eventually got a nuke sub close enough to Athens to hit him twice (having my own continent was awesome, but only 1 source of 2 uranium was not). I felt like I had to show him how to really back up words with nukes.

 

[Esoteric Arcane]

Since Civ 2, the AI always complained if you had nukes and they did not, or if they did, they would brag about having them, whether they would use them or not. My favorite way of making AI's happier with me, was when they asked me to get rid of them...usually by nukeing them, but I no longer had them, so they didn't "fear" me as much, always was an odd thing, but it was the civ was always scripted.

 

[binhthuy71]

I looked through the xml files and found that "Our words are backed with nuclear weapons!" is simply one of a number of insults from which the diplo engine picks at random, depending on the era and other factors. It doesn't seem to mean that the civ delivering the insult is any more likely to nuke you than they would have been. It does mean that relations with that civ have deteriorated to a certain point.

 

[Adjuvant]

Alex does this to me alot, consistently threatening, but never doing anything. Also he's one of the first to get mad if I meet him early that I "build too many cities". I suspect either... A. he pays or otherwise convinces other AI's to attack me, planning to reap if I get weakened, or B. it's a shadow of his former potential before his horses were nerfed into oblivion.

 

[smallfish]

Catherine, you and I, we could have built a Prusso-Russo empire that spans thousand thousand years. Why did you have to backstab me in the middle of our joint coalition against India? Why did you have to insult me the moment I had way more cities than you, threatening your piddly "I have nuclear weapons watch out"? Well I definitely have them too, and better still, know how to use them!

But why? Alas, I guess I shall wait for another thousand thousand years to see if your attitude changes

 

[Hambil]

Be comforted by the fact that her historical death was... not a good one. And keep in mind, with almost no exceptions, Catherine = War.

 

[pspboy7]

Yeah, if Alex is near me, he always (and I mean always) goes hostile with me, but rarely does anything other than threaten. Happens mostly because of city placements.

 

[cain3456]

"Our words are backed with nuclear weapons" goes all the way back to the original Civilization for DOS.