The enjoyment of playing Hotseat against yourself

[Becephalus]

So after feeling I had gotten everything I could out of playing the AI. I was beginning to tire of the game and thought I would stop until the next big patch or expansion. But before I did, I thought I would give playing a hotseat against myself a whirl.

I did a tiny map and took 4 civs. I just played each turn as though I didn't know what else was going on. Beat myself to a few wonders by just one turn. Learned what things work a little better and what things don't. Learned that fighting wars against a competent opponent is really hard (A 9 city england with over a dozen longbows and longswords got absolutely spanked when they tried to invade a 4 city persia which mostly had immortals and knights).

It also cemented my belief that trading with the AI makes the game 1000x easier. Now I am starting a small sized 6 player hotseat.

It has also been a blast. It also doesn't take as much longer as you would think because there is no AI turn delay.

Anyway just thought I would share my experience and see if anyone else does the same.

 

[JaGarLo]

Well, once I tried that with 2 civs together against AI's, but I found it way too slow the beginning (when you go exploring, meeting people, etc.).

However, I'll give it a try the set you mentioned (tiny map with 4-human players).

 

[joe80x86]

"It also doesn't take as much longer as you would think because there is no AI turn delay."

I wish that was the case for me starting at about turn 100 the delay has been getting longer and longer and longer. I hope I get my Utopia project finished because at the rate it is going (I am at turn 210) by turn 300 I will be able to eat lunch while waiting for the AI to move.

 

[ShahJahanII]

Cheap, but it gives you a sort of empty pleasure.
Like Polynesia on Tiny Islands.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Playing Hotseat against myself has always been a great fun since. like forever, for example playing Civ 3, Disciiples II, Civ 4, Civ 5... though Civ 5 somehow doesn't have the same fun as Civ 4 or 3 sadly

 

[apocalypse105]

Hotseat still has many bugs at it and it still crashes sometimes

 

[KingPhil121]

I'm playing one right now. It's a great way to see which really different strategies prevail. For instance, in this game I played as 2 players, Persia and the Aztecs, with 4 AI on oval. I had Persia do the usual thing, kill everyone , and Aztecs are going for one city culture. Right now I'm nearing turn 150, and it's pretty close. Despite the size of the Persian empire, the only way they exceed the Aztecs in gold. The war is at a stalemate, though I feel like nuclear weapons would put give the advantage to the attacker . Not sure if the utopia project will come in time.

Playing hotseat against myself reminds me of when I used to make battles with toy soldiers and lincoln logs. :]

 

[wannabewarlord]

This sounds like fun. However, my biggest critique would be the "I just played each turn as though I didn't know what else was going on", because you can't. You do know what is going on, so your decisions will always be influenced by this, even when it might not be apparent. Like when deciding between two things, knowing that your other "you" is doing A you'll probably be deciding on B subconciously. Or when going to war you know where the capital is, you know which city is weak, etc, etc. This knowledge alone makes you behave differently.

Despite this, it could still be fun, but knowing myself, I will not be able to play myself, since I would inevitably lose

 

[ense7en]

Hah, i didn't know you could do this.

Will have to try this

 

[krc]

Despite this, it could still be fun, but knowing myself, I will not be able to play myself, since I would inevitably lose

"I would even play against myself… and I would almost always win." -- Bobby Fischer

Is this one of the marks of a great chess player? (What about CiV?)

 

[Tabarnak]

Online multiplayer is better if you find suitable players. I like the idea, but i prefer compete against other players.