[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Fixing ICS (simply)

[Mark Metson <markm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003, Brandon J. Van Every wrote:

> This principle applies in spades to the current Freeciv.  Make an
> alliance with the first AI civilization you meet.  That's your research
> factory.  It should be corrected; for now, it's the only way to win the
> game.  With no AI ally, your research is so slow that you find yourself
> getting attacked by alpine troops when you've still got knights.  When
> you fully perceive Freeciv strategy in these terms, you do things like
> buy Marco Polo's Embassy so that you can pick and choose the best
> research alliances, so that you can stay ahead of all the silly AIs.

Does that comment apply only to the new version that has AI Diplomacy? 
Because I regularly find myself attacked by apline troops while I do not 
even have knights, due to I do not like taking the feudalism/tactics route 
and leave that until last, after having gone for industrialisation. I have 
not played the new version yet, I only recently upgraded to 1.14.1. But I 
never go for horseriding and feudalism and tactics and such, I try to go 
for railroad and industrialisation and refrigeration and build big cities 
with all the improvements. I even build granaries if I fail to get the 
pyramids (which is often asI seldom manage to start building wonders early 
in the game, I usually save up my caravans to buy womens suffrage and 
hoover dam and cure for cancer and maybe magellan's.

I usually still have phalanxes when the alpine troops come, although 
sometimes I either did branch out into gunpower or did steal gunpowder 
from earlier agressors. I find that all those attack-orineted techs just 
make it more expensive to develop the peaceful/industrial/development 
techs that the AI seems not to greatly favour. I get them off of the AI 
using diplomats or spies once I have gotten industrialisation, or maybe 
sooner if they agress too much forcing me to have to go steal gunpowder or 
tactics just to be able to defend myself.

If it is true - as I assume it probably is - that ICS is such a killer 
tactic, maybe the IA doesn't actually implement it well? Because I always 
build nice very developed cities, and am able to win againsat 14 or more 
AI civilisations most of the time.

-MarkM-

-- 
Got a website? Get 10,000+ hits a day FREE...
http://makemoney.knotwork.com/10000hits/