Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatty
I would say chess though is more simple than all the possibilities in Master of Magic. While the latter offers nearly unlimited combinations of units, computer personalities for diplomacy (however little of use it is in game), spells and random dungeons (towers / nodes etc.), terrain and ressources layout while the latter three alone can heavily determine how fast and good the opponent can develop, chess offers only, how much? 20 * 20 moves for black depending on how white moves and 20 * 20 the other way around, from which it's just a matter of calculating the possible outcomes and counter-moves and choosing the most optimal outcome for continuing.
While it is getting increasingly complicated soon, I think it's still much more simple than all the available possiblities in Master of Magic.
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A chess AI can be as complicated as you want, depending on the moves in advance that you want to calculate, so much that Deep Blue was a dedicated supercomputer. Anyway you're right in part, but that only means that that the AI in MoM or Civ _would_ be good _if_ it took into account all those factors--but it doesn't.
Enemies attack you with their units as soon as they make them regardless of your defences, letting you recuperate, instead of mustering as many forces as necessary before the attack like the dumbest human player does. Computer opponents in early Microprose strategy games have all the same personality: Gengis Khan if they're stronger than you, and Gadafi if they're weaker. They didn't choose good spots for their cities, so much that often I abandoned conquered cities so I could re-found them one spot away. And even the pathfinding algorithm responsible to move your own units with the "goto" function failed very often around gulfs.
I don't doubt Microprose could have done better, but sadly these games were released before they were really ready.