I'd rather have MM work on AI as opposed to TCP/IP

[jpinard]

Well, the reason I posted this is Mephisto and several other people have made some huge strides in fixing the AI... but it's always nice to have it be "official". This is why it makes sense to me, for them (MM) to post an AI enhancement patch based on Mephisto and companies work, and then get back to the TCP/IP.

By the way, I guarentee only .1% people will actually finish a TCP/IP game unless they are unemployed or retired. The games are simply too big and long, and most people would get bored after spending 15 hours on-line with someone. You'd have to have 2 incredibly insane people dedicated to each other in an almost sick kinda way...

[This message has been edited by jpinard (edited 10 January 2001).]

[Puke]

quote:

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Originally posted by jpinard:

By the way, I guarentee only .1% people will actually finish a TCP/IP game unless they are unemployed or retired. The games are simply too big and long, and most people would get bored after spending 15 hours on-line with someone. You'd have to have 2 incredibly insane people dedicated to each other in an almost sick kinda way...

[This message has been edited by jpinard (edited 10 January 2001).]

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funny, thats why god invented the saved game.

[jpinard]

Puke, that's not the way I meant it! To play through would take like 5-15 hours at a time! Well, on a medium-large sized game.

[Puke]

quote:

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Originally posted by jpinard:
Puke, that's not the way I meant it! To play through would take like 5-15 hours at a time! Well, on a medium-large sized game.

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yeah, but it depends on how long you are going to play for. besides, figure how long it would take to do that IP game, then multiply by 10 to get the number of DAYS for a PBEM game at 1 turn a day, and wonder why people want it. this is basically the same boat that all strat games have been in, from SMAC, to the new CIV games.. unless you want to play something mindless like starcraft or AoE, its going to take some time.

even at 1 hour a day, an IP game should take about 1/4th the time of a PBEM game.

[sogard]

As someone who has been playing a fair amount of hotseat SPACE EMPIRES IV (SE4), I am completely in the "fix tcp/ip first" crowd. The game is so good when you have a human opponant and you will never be able to create an AI (especially one that does not cheat the fun out of the game) which can give you the kind of intense and competitive game that another human player can.

Now, I realize that there are some out there that never want to have to face another human player -- they prefer to be legends in their own minds; but, what has always separated the SPACE EMPIRE games has been that the games have provided the best in space empire gaming. So please, MM, get tcp/ip enabled as soon as possible and then tweak the AIs to kingdom come. The better AIs will lure me back into solo play; but, only as practice for the real thing when I know that there is evil lurking just beyond the next known system.

[Puke]

what about serial play? when's the Last time you played a game with that, huh? its better than hotseat, you are face to face, but you have two keyBoards! they could make a serial / simultanious mode, that would rock! or how about MIDI mode? anyone remember the Atari ST? anyone here ever do a midi-maze party?

lets have that instead, i dont like the Internet anyway. why not IPX? I dont have an apple, but I can run appletalk as a protocol, lets have appletalk play!

woo-woo!

[jowe01]

Improve the AI !!! I mean the hard-coded AI algorithms, not only the text files (moders are doing a very good work on them already).

TCP/IP is second priority. I will love to play over the net, but I remember from CIV that my counterparts never showed up again after a game had to be saved,

BTW, the serial play would be great. If TCP/IP gets implemented, I hope that this serial will be possible , too.