Team Games

[EmperorFool]

After getting reports about problems related to team-based games--any game you start with teammates or where two players sign a Permanent Alliance--I have begun a team game for testing. This thread is to get some feedback on some ideas I've had for enhancements to existing features.

First, I have fixed the bugs reported. You should now see the correct WHEOOH information (orange fist) in the scoreboard and elsewhere. I also fixed a problem with the detection of Worst Enemy for human teams: any AIs on a team led by a human would show a Worst Enemy icon when they aren't allowed to have one.

This thread doesn't apply to vassals; they do not join your team!

 

[EmperorFool]

When your teammate(s) are researching the same tech as you, the Research Bar at the top of the screen tells you the correct number of turns, but the tick marks do not take them into account.

The only time this is really important in the game is when the tech provides a benefit to the first player to acquire it (founding a religion or gaining a free tech). I haven't checked if the human player gets the benefit or if it's the player that actually completes the research, but my bet is the latter. Can anyone (Ruff) confirm this?

The bar itself is limited to 4 colored areas--including the empty area on the right end of the bar that fills up. The current areas are

• Completed (green)
• This Turn - includes overflow (light green)
• Empty (clear)

I originally wanted to add a new color to separate overflow from the current turn's research rate, but I think instead what I'd prefer to do is use the one slot available for your teammates' current rate.

I would like the tick marks to reflect this, too. We should use a color that will stand out from green well--perhaps yellow or cyan. Doing the tick marks will be a lot more work. It may still be okay if it just shows your tick marks where they will actually lie. It wouldn't show tick marks for your teammates, but it will take their research rates into account when placing your tick marks.

One thing I find myself doing a lot is telling my teammate to switch to researching my tech. It would be nice to have a feature that does this automatically every time I switch techs. You could always tell your teammate to research something else (is this ever a good idea?), but you'd never have to tell them to research your tech again. That would be nice.

 

[ruff_hi]

The only time this is really important in the game is when the tech provides a benefit to the first player to acquire it (founding a religion or gaining a free tech). I haven't checked if the human player gets the benefit or if it's the player that actually completes the research, but my bet is the latter. Can anyone (Ruff) confirm this?

This is a funny area. Some benefits go to the person that finishes the tech (GP, liberalism) while other benefits go to someone on the team (get religion). I had thought that you could control who has first bite at a wonder (let the AI finish the tech means that the human gets the first opportunity to build it) but in one game, my AI team mate finished the tech and started the wonder on the same turn (no idea how that happened).

 

[EmperorFool]

Well I think that the AIs do their thinking during their doTurn(), whereas I know that the human does its thinking before their doTurn(). And doTurn() is where and :research: get applied. It's possible that :research: is done before , in which case the AI could complete a tech and immediately start building buildings and units it enables.

This is all theory without looking at the code. That's interesting about the religion. Also, it seems that most wonders--where the effects apply to the empire--work for all team members.

 

[ruff_hi]

Also, it seems that most wonders--where the effects apply to the empire--work for all team members.

they do - good fun having an Industrious team member or two - they can knock out wonders for the whole group (stonehenge etc).