[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#12800) idea: barbarian level 5 (nightmare)

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

<URL: http://bugs.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=12800 >

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005, Brian Dunstan wrote:
> I have noticed that the barbarian level 4 (raging
> hordes)does not have much rage in it.  For a
> moderate to good player, they are not a major concern.

I am inclined to think the option is bugged.

> I am curious what people think of adding modifying the
> option such that a more difficult level is available.

I think we should give priority to cleaning up and fixing the existing
code rather than adding new code.

> The attached patch accomplishes this, adding barbarian
> level 5 (nightmare).Barbarians are generated each
> turn with a shield cost equivalent to twice the
> combined production of the non-barbarian players.
> This will be a major concern for any player.A good
> human player will be able to defeat these barbarians,
> but the 'hard' AI has about a 50% chance of survival.

It is an interesting idea. I think we should rethink how barbarians spawn
and act (for all values of barbarianrate) so that they are more fair (less
random in their choice of targets) and less capable of wiping out an
entire civilization. Perhaps a points accumulation counting
unexplored/fogged tiles for each player should be used as a trigger rather
than randomness.

  - Per