Played a lot of Civ? You’ll probably know that at higher difficulties, the AI clearly cheats, with them gaining extra units, tech and even cities at turn 1. This especially holds true to Civ V. But how will Civ VI change it up?
Here’s a nice breakdown of the AI system by Malaysian YouTuber GamerZakh. He’s been doing plenty of content around Civ VI, so do check his channel out for more of his work.
The gist of it is there are changes in how AI gets the bonus. Instead of getting more units, AI units are just plain stronger. Though the addition to agendas and the need to learn more of what other civs are doing via diplomacy and espionage will make it more rewarding to understand what each civ is aiming for.
Plus, the addition to casus belli, a just reason for war, will make it less annoying when an AI civ suddenly declares war. There is more likely a good reason now, though some warmonger civs may intend to do surprise wars anyway.
Announcing the Civilization VI "AI Battle Royale," live on @twitch October 19 at 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT.
More info: https://t.co/qfckNezoSb pic.twitter.com/1BtbGu6GLQ
— Civilization VI: Rise & Fall (@CivGame) October 14, 2016
Firaxis will showcase an 8-way AI Battle Royale on the 19th. Fans of Civ V had made these AI-only showdown (with only domination victory on) to be a joyous spectating experience, with a dedicated subreddit running events and summary posts each week, while some YouTube channels dabble with AI-only battles as well. The showcase event will show off how the AI in Civ VI will be.
It’s rare nowadays to see more development time being spent on AI. It’s really hard to implement a good one, only a small number of people appreciate good AI, and business-wise it’s just a better investment pouring the time and money towards graphics and marketing instead. A shame, but these folks need to make their game selling and delivered at a reasonable time and budget.
Anyways, the AI in Civ VI should at least be fun enough to battle against in normal (Prince) difficulty, so that should not be a problem. Civ VI is gearing up for launch on October 22.