Stardock

[itlandm]

Sorry to hear the Elemental team was fired. Seriously, the game wasn't THAT poorly done, was it? They should just rebrand it "for casual players" who don't expect human-level or above AI. If they can make AI that wins a game of Elemental on the largest map, we humans have every reason to be afraid for our future employment.

Comments

[itlandm]

Elemental is not Master of Magic, but it is probably still an order of magnitude harder to code AI for than Civ4. (I have not seen the GalCiv games.) The whole dimension of magic not only has its own challenges, but interacts with other aspects of the game as well. So I would frankly be worried if the game could beat an experienced player on equal terms.

[itlandm]

I think they should delay the work on the AI, for two obvious reasons. One, they will have to redo it after the game changes that are also coming. Two, the AI is good enough for casual gamers already and the experts will want multiplayer. Make multiplayer first, then spy on the tactics and strategies used by the winners of multiplayer games and use this for the AI. All experience from MMORPGs show that no beta test can truly match the creativity of a horde of actual players who set out to win at any cost. The same will apply here. "The best techniques are taught by the survivors."