Player handicaps

[Tybor]

Hi,
First, I wish to thank you for this awesome mod. You have created a masterpiece - a game that I always wished for.
My questions may not be fully related to this mod but since you are the most capable moders, maybe you can provide me some tips.

I play this game exclusively on the hot seat mode with my GF and since I have better strategic and gaming experience we need to adjust our difficulty levels accordingly to provide balanced challenge for both of us.

In vanilla when you create hot seat game you could set different difficulty levels for different players. To run this mod in hot seat mode I had to use Custom Advanced Setup mod but it provides one global difficulty level instead.

I tried to give my GF a second civilization as an AI ally but it has one major flaw - It can sign peace treaty in your name even if you like to continue war, so it was very frustrating to her when she tried to capture a city and moments before success the AI ally signs peace treaty and she had to do everything from the scratch after the truce is ended. I have also tried to give her a second civilization as controllable ally but later as the game progress
her turn was taking too long as she had to control both civilization personally.

Is there a way to set different difficulties for different players while using your mod or to disable AI ally diplomacy so it cannot declare war or make peace without your permission?

 

[Moi Magnus]

No. What you can do is Disable AI active diplomacy, but for all AIs. I don't know exactly how to do it, but it is possible (in fact, a long time ago, it was disabled by default because it was buggy).
One thing that could be done is setting the AI as a Vassal of the Player. But it is more difficult (maybe possible with InGameEditor, but I'm not even sure. If not, you will need to wait for a sub-mod.)

 

[Gazebo]

Hi,
First, I wish to thank you for this awesome mod. You have created a masterpiece - a game that I always wished for.
My questions may not be fully related to this mod but since you are the most capable moders, maybe you can provide me some tips.

I play this game exclusively on the hot seat mode with my GF and since I have better strategic and gaming experience we need to adjust our difficulty levels accordingly to provide balanced challenge for both of us.

In vanilla when you create hot seat game you could set different difficulty levels for different players. To run this mod in hot seat mode I had to use Custom Advanced Setup mod but it provides one global difficulty level instead.

I tried to give my GF a second civilization as an AI ally but it has one major flaw - It can sign peace treaty in your name even if you like to continue war, so it was very frustrating to her when she tried to capture a city and moments before success the AI ally signs peace treaty and she had to do everything from the scratch after the truce is ended. I have also tried to give her a second civilization as controllable ally but later as the game progress
her turn was taking too long as she had to control both civilization personally.

Is there a way to set different difficulties for different players while using your mod or to disable AI ally diplomacy so it cannot declare war or make peace without your permission?

I'm not sure, as I did not create Custom Advanced Setup.

My word of advice is to play on the harder difficulty - she will rise to the occasion!

G

 

[Txurce]

My word of advice is to play on the harder difficulty - she will rise to the occasion!

G

That's what happened in my case. She had played some vanilla (Emperor), and I started her on King. From there she moved to Emperor almost right away.

 

[Tybor]

I'm not sure, as I did not create Custom Advanced Setup.

My word of advice is to play on the harder difficulty - she will rise to the occasion!

G

We have about 500-600 hours together in Civ V, and she can handle higher difficulties but she pose no real threat to me and that is my problem. I would like to be beaten someday
Shame if there is no way to just forbid AI ally to make war/peace decisions....

 

[Gazebo]

We have about 500-600 hours together in Civ V, and she can handle higher difficulties but she pose no real threat to me and that is my problem. I would like to be beaten someday
Shame if there is no way to just forbid AI ally to make war/peace decisions....

There is no way to do such a thing except for practice!

G

 

[Gamewizard]

Let the Wookiee win!

 

[Tybor]

Let the Wookiee win!

xD No I prefer a bit of challenge for myself. I let her win once or twice 3 years ago, I have also helped her make decisions (you know...women). But now I let her play on her own completely but we need a bit of difference in difficulty level. Its not fun when she knows that she cannot win and I know that I cannot lose

 

[Gazebo]

xD No I prefer a bit of challenge for myself. I let her win once or twice 3 years ago, I have also helped her make decisions (you know...women). But now I let her play on her own completely but we need a bit of difference in difficulty level. Its not fun when she knows that she cannot win and I know that I cannot lose

No reason for sexism.

 

[Tybor]

No reason for sexism.

Sorry but I do not feel like that was sexist at all. According to my life experience women tend to be more hesitant than men but have other advantages. To show that somebody is different is not a discrimination.

 

[Txurce]

Sorry but I do not feel like that was sexist at all. According to my life experience women tend to be more hesitant than men but have other advantages. To show that somebody is different is not a discrimination.

You did not "show" any difference -- you were just mildly condescending. ("You know... women, yuk yuk.")

 

[Tybor]

You did not "show" any difference -- you were just mildly condescending. ("You know... women, yuk yuk.")

I see. It is pretty normal in the country where I live (even women are not angry about that and even can make fun of that on their own). OK. Next time I'll try not to talk over internet the way I talk among friends.

 

[Txurce]

OK. Next time I'll try not to talk over internet the way I talk among friends.

I appreciate your good humor about it, since we aren't yet your friends, but are talking to you in a personal manner, anyway.

 

[peterw1987]

Never in my lifetime imagine woman like or have time to play some game like civizilation.
Your gf must be one of the rarest gaming gf i ocassionaly read on internet.

But generally, woman will not be as good as man in gaming, especially war and strategy game. Maybe other genre.

 

[emdash]

I thought difficulty in vanilla defaulted to the lowest when you chose two different ones? Or are you saying for handicaps playerwise, and you're cool w/ the cpu being lower?

I would feel bad playing vs my friend, girl or otherwise, in Civ haha; Civ is like a social/casual game for me. The closest I could do is have a game where it was ok to manipulate/help the cpu, but no direct attacking. I think the key is creativity. Of course, you ultimately have to check yourself, but creating handicaps for yourself is what I would do. Letting someone win sucks for everyone involved, unless it's a little kid. If you say, "I can only build x cities" or "I will limit the growth of my cities at x point...", "x amount of units" that sounds more interesting. Delete every other great person that spawns, y'know? It's fun to think of ways to punish yourself. And if you can't think of any way to limit yourself where she could win, maybe you should try comp stomps vs harder cpus and focus on keeping her alive.

Just random thoughts.

 

[FoxOfWar]

But generally, woman will not be as good as man in gaming, especially war and strategy game. Maybe other genre.

...I must be living on a different place than y'all when I live with two gamer girls. My wife could absolutely learn and play civ the degree I do, but she chooses to beat my ass in Magic instead. You know, that completely-not-strategic card game. And my sister plays Overwatch at far more serious level than I do.

Different strokes for different folks, but gender has nothing to do with it.

 

[Tybor]

Never in my lifetime imagine woman like or have time to play some game like civizilation.
Your gf must be one of the rarest gaming gf i ocassionaly read on internet.

But generally, woman will not be as good as man in gaming, especially war and strategy game. Maybe other genre.

My GF isn't a gamer type. I am. (She played a couple of games as teenager like Sims, Turok but she stopped when she discovered boys/girls things ;p). But I think Civilization V is the best game to encourage a casual girl to play with you. It is so easy to get into and building a shiny empire is very rewarding. We played Age of Wonders III together also (very similar mechanics) but she doesn't like any other games except maybe some fighting games like Mortal Kombat on PS.

I thought difficulty in vanilla defaulted to the lowest when you chose two different ones? Or are you saying for handicaps playerwise, and you're cool w/ the cpu being lower?

I would feel bad playing vs my friend, girl or otherwise, in Civ haha; Civ is like a social/casual game for me. The closest I could do is have a game where it was ok to manipulate/help the cpu, but no direct attacking. I think the key is creativity. Of course, you ultimately have to check yourself, but creating handicaps for yourself is what I would do. Letting someone win sucks for everyone involved, unless it's a little kid. If you say, "I can only build x cities" or "I will limit the growth of my cities at x point...", "x amount of units" that sounds more interesting. Delete every other great person that spawns, y'know? It's fun to think of ways to punish yourself. And if you can't think of any way to limit yourself where she could win, maybe you should try comp stomps vs harder cpus and focus on keeping her alive.

Just random thoughts.

Yes vanilla AI defaulted to the lowest or the difficulty chosen by the first player (I always picked second option for safety cause I didn't really checked if it is correct but I felt that it is what I see in game). When I set her on first player seat with Prince/King and me on Emperor/Immortal it was fun for both of us. The AI difficulty was at her level and I had some disadvantages of the higher difficulties player wise.

 

[ashendashin]

but she chooses to beat my ass in Magic instead.

And my sister plays Overwatch

Different strokes indeed. Gender does seem to play a role in inclination to the combo of war and strategy to some degree, as far as I'm aware.

Degrading internet arguments on gender aside, maybe Tybor can try using IGE to give her some buffs similar to what the AI receives on higher difficulties. Those free units at the start should help her quite a bit.

 

[Tybor]

Different strokes indeed. Gender does seem to play a role in inclination to the combo of war and strategy to some degree, as far as I'm aware.

Degrading internet arguments on gender aside, maybe Tybor can try using IGE to give her some buffs similar to what the AI receives on higher difficulties. Those free units at the start should help her quite a bit.

Thanks man ! This is exactly what I needed !

 

[tu_79]

Or, you could use a pretend handicap yourself. Set a lower difficulty and don't do anything yourself for X turns. That should scales the balance.
If she kicks your butt too easily, lessen the turns you are idle.