oh, the abuse

[Puke]

here is another bug in the ai

some people will probably think me lame for even wondering if this can be done (if they dont already) but here is a little abuse for the trade / gift functions.

if you give two people the same thing, on the same turn, it goes to the one who has their turn next. so, for example if you are player 2 and you give planet X to player 1 and 3, 3 gets it since his turn is next. likewise if you were player 1 and gave to 2 and 3, 2 would get it. you get the idea.

I have tried this in turn based and simul-move, it works the same way in both (except for when the actual transaction takes place, based on end-of-turn resolutions). so for example, if you traded planet X to player 3 and 4 in exchange for a load of stuff, player 4 would be sh-- out of luck. now, if player 4 was a human, he would probably not play with you anymore. if player 3 was a human, he would be just as lame as you, and you would deserve each other. you can see how two players could use this to swap things between them while bleeding the AI dry.

now, if youre wondering if it just cancels the trade when the second player does not get what he wants, the answer is 'no.' so if planet X was part of a trade deal, it only gets given once, but everyone who agreed to a deal still pays out for their end.

it would be *nice* if the item-transfer / trade routines checked for availability before completing the transaction, so if the thing isnt there it turns the accept into a reject and maybe adds a dialogue line for "you dont have that item to trade anymore, you treacherous prick. and stop reading puke's cheesy abuses while your at it! this means war!"

kids, dont try this at home - people will think its a troll and no one will like you

[WhiteHojo]

Puke, you sound like a man after my own heart - of course, I'm an attorney and get paid to be sneaky and look for loopholes w/in the law/framework of rules.

Very clever.

[apache]

Well, that would only be a problem if both parties accepted the trade. If player 4 does not accept the trade, then you do not have that problem. But the problem is that you can offer the same thing to two players on the same turn. I think that if you offer something to one player, you should not be able to offer the same thing to another. Or at the very least, if the first player accepts your trade, it should automatically cancel the next proposed trade if you do not control everything you proposed to trade.

[Jubala]

Puke, have you mailed MM about this? They need to know.

[Puke]

yep, reported. dont know how busy they are though. not like this is a real crucial bug either.

[Emperor Zodd]

I wish MM would post stuff here on this forum once in a while to keep us informed and to exchange ideas.