[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Another freeciv testing

["Per I. Mathisen" <Per.Inge.Mathisen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 11 Mar 2002, Christian Knoke wrote:
> > autoattack gets only executed once or twice per turn (.... checking ....
> > actually once, just before end of turn)
> > thus if the spy can finish his dirty business before the turn is over, he
> > will escape unscathed.  I do not think it is unreasonable, spies want to
> > live too.
>
> /me, as a non-ics player, would very much appreciate an (all time)
> working autoattack feature. It would give me the chance to defend
> my cities efectively rather than to loose them to the next lousy
> part-time diplomat.

An all time working autoattack feature would change the game quite a bit.

Where would you draw the line? Autoattacking units, but only inside
cities? If someone patched their client to use autoattacking units
_outside_ cities, would that be cheating? What was formerly obvious as
cheating becomes an undecisive gray area. We'd have to put autoattack for
all units at all times into the client then, to ensure that all players
are equal, and no-one with better patched clients win all the time.

But perhaps that is the better solution. Add autoattack by hostile units
in as a standard server feature of unit movement, not have it as a feature
of cities. At least that way the possibility of cheating by autoattacks is
removed (a long time gaping cheating hole in freeciv).

Anyone want me to write a patch that implements this? (As a server option,
naturally.)

> Right now autoattack is just pointless.

Indeed. It hardly works at all for human players, and screws up the AI.
I'm so for removing it.

Yours,
Per

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch."
 -- Jack Nicholson