07 Aug Empire Building 101: Mastering the Art of Trading with AI in Civilization V
Grand strategy games or 4X games tend to emphasize the player being responsible for the growth and success of an entire nation. The player in these games has control over a nation’s political policies, both domestic and foreign policy, as well as economy, trade, and military. The beauty of these games tends to be the level of decision-making one can make, and the in-depth game mechanics these games have. A 4X game can, for example, start with the player nation having nothing, no resources, no land, and a significantly weak position all the way to the player conquering most of the known world.
The Depth of the 4X Genre
Imagine a video game where one has the ability to command humongous empire sprawling nations, their armies, economies, diplomacy with other nations, as well as espionage in complete depth and detail, taking inspiration and design principles from real-life politics and economics to help create worlds that feel believable. Examples of in-depth 4X games include the Civilization series, Alpha Centauri, Distant Worlds, Galactic Civilizations, and Masters of Orion.
This is what makes these games so engaging and immersive for a lot of people, many real-life tactics can be utilized in these games as well, making them more fun to play for the average consumer. Of course a lot of thinking is required to succeed in these games because these aren’t easy video games to master. Let’s, however, look at the game that we care to discuss the most today, that game being Civilization V, also colloquially known as Civ 5 by many players.
What makes Civilization V so much better than its predecessors?
Oftentimes, video game sequels tend to be letdowns and completely unnecessary. Just ask the users of Reddit what they feel about video game sequels, and they will often talk about how many developers made too many sacrifices to make the gameplay more accessible to a wider audience. This is a huge disappointment for many players who like their games to be complex and in-depth. This is not the case for Civilization and Civ 5 in particular.
Civilization V and why it's so popular
The Civilization series, created by Sid Meier, is among the most popular 4X game series in the market, it’s a game series that focuses on creating a fun experience in a large-scale universe. The beauty of these games lies in the fact that they are all about having the most enjoyment in a world that is all about seeing your nation grow over a period of a thousand years. During this time period, the player must manage units that represent both military and civilians. The idea is that civilian units can be used to discover and develop new cities while military forces can be used to battle other civilizations. The player controls the production within their own cities to produce both new buildings as well as units. The player also handles diplomacy. The scale of the game is definitely its biggest and most unique selling point. There’s just so many ways to play this game, which means that it offers vast amounts of replayability. That’s huge in a gaming industry that overcharges and doesn’t offer the same value for money in many games. Just look at the Call of Duty series with its overpriced asking price.
Civilization V trading with AI
Much of the fun in this game comes from interacting with the advanced AI contained within the game. The AI is so advanced that it can often make unexpected decisions that can even confuse the player, making advanced plays that catch them off guard, making the gameplay more intense and exciting. There are four layers of AI the player ends up going against: one AI for tactical control, which controls individual units, and the operational AI, which controls the entire war front. The strategic AI controls the entire empire, and the grand strategic AI sets long-term goals and also determines the strategy for winning the game. These AI leaders all have unique personalities, and these are determined by a system of ten points of flavors.
Mastering the Art of Trading with AI
To understand Civ 5 trading with AI, one must understand that there are a variety of systems in the game that work a certain way. In particular, if one wishes to trade flat Gold, a declaration of friendship is needed. The most important thing to understand is that one must trade away any luxury resources. The second thing one can do is strategically borrow Gold from allies, this tactic allows one to amass more and more Gold in the early game. Not lending Gold to allies is because it makes it difficult to spend Gold when one needs to. Strategically borrow Gold from enemies, this means that when one expects to be backstabbed by the AI in the next few turns, simply borrow the AI’s Gold, and once they declare war, the player won’t have to repay the AI. Hopefully, this gives you a better perspective of Civ 5 trading with AI.
Conclusion
Hopefully, reading this article helps someone in Civ 5 trading with AI. The game can be quite complex to play for many people and the simple reason for this is the unique mechanics contained within it.