View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | Date Submitted | Last Update | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0024373 | AI War 2 | Suggestion | Jan 29, 2021 12:40 am | Jan 29, 2021 1:15 pm | |
| Reporter | Alivaril | Assigned To | Chris_McElligottPark | ||
| Status | closed | Resolution | won't fix | ||
| Summary | 0024373: Restore "Destroyable" slider increase option for single player | ||||
| Description | According to the wiki, numbers higher than the default of 6/2/6 were removed due to balance concerns. Considering how user-friendly the game has otherwise been thus far, I find this decision rather baffling; if we want to make the game easier for ourselves in single player, then we should really have the option to do so. For example, I want to increase the cap by 1-2 Normal Data Centers so that I can get away with entirely ignoring the existence of co-processors; I don't enjoy needing to do the math for exactly when the increase in AIP floor is outweighed by AIP reduction. | ||||
| Tags | No tags attached. | ||||
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Actually, I'm going to be scaling back co-processors to just probably a multi-AI situation, too. The decision isn't all that baffling: this isn't a matter of making the game easier per se, it's a matter of giving the AI a lobotomy. When there is no AIP increase from the AI, then the AI just can't think and has no real budgets. I don't mind people modding in whatever they want to do, but I want them to understand the consequences of what they're doing when they do it. For example, if you choose to enable a giant friendly faction, you know you're going to have an easier time because they will carry a lot of the load. But AIP still happens properly, and so the AI looks appropriately fearsome even as you win easily. The problem with too many AIP reducers is that it seems like a way to tune difficulty, but it really is not an appropriate one: when there are too many of those, the AI looks incredibly dimwitted and the game is boring because not much happens. I then get people who complain because they don't understand that they've just shot themselves in the foot. And how could they know? It's part of a really complicated an intricate system for how the AI gains power over time. So what we basically get are people who go "the AI is bad or basically nonexistent" after lobotomizing it. Again: I'm all for customization and flexibility, and there are some lower AI difficulties where the AI is basically brain-dead already. The thing about those options is that you can TELL. When someone chooses difficulty 3 out of 10 of an AI and it is basically pants on head stupid and largely absent, I don't think any reasonable person would go "hey that game has terrible AI." They knew what they were signing up for. The problem with the destructibles and other things like that is that it affects far more than people expect, and leads to an un-fun game more times than not. And when it comes to accomplishing the same result (either you being more powerful, you being able to take more area with fewer concerns, or the game just plain being easier), there are alternative ways to accomplish all of those things that don't let anyone shoot themselves in the foot by accident. Anyhow, when it comes to user-friendliness, there's a line: there are options that let people tailor the experience in ways that they want; and there are options that have unintended side effects. The latter category I am not in favor of. For the former, I like to have as many as possible. |
| Date Modified | Username | Field | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 29, 2021 12:40 am | Alivaril | New Issue | |
| Jan 29, 2021 1:15 pm | Chris_McElligottPark | Assigned To | => Chris_McElligottPark |
| Jan 29, 2021 1:15 pm | Chris_McElligottPark | Status | new => closed |
| Jan 29, 2021 1:15 pm | Chris_McElligottPark | Resolution | open => won't fix |
| Jan 29, 2021 1:15 pm | Chris_McElligottPark | Note Added: 0060421 |
