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So I started to get to know the code better, and step by step we rewrote the important parts. Which was surprisingly easy because there was a lot of low-hanging fruit to pick. And then Firaxis released the Civ5 SDK, which made it possible to see what the AI is doing and improve it. Because professional developers target a large market of casual gamers who maybe don't even notice the difference between a good and a bad opponent.īecause of the long duration of the game, Civilization isn't really suitable for multiplayer, so this started to annoy me. Image courtesy of YouTube creator Maik's HobbyzimmerĬan you talk to me about the origins of the community patch? What prompted you to attempt something this ambitious?Ĭristoph: The problem with single-player games is that the AI is mostly atrocious. In all honesty Civilization-and games like Civilization-played a major role in my childhood interest in history, and that has carried on ever since.Ĭivilization has come a long way since 1991. in Comparative Imperialism), so the series was a natural fit. Jeff Grooms: I'm a historian by trade (Ph.D. The turn based aspect is very important to me, I like to have time to think. It's just one of the best games ever, regarding its scope and the connections to the real world. Waypoint: Why'd you originally fall in love with Civilization?Ĭristoph: Well, I can't really remember, I played the first part back on my Amiga 500-and stuck with it.

(This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.) To understand what it was like to build Vox Populi, and if there was any tension over a patch that implicitly criticizes Firaxis' design, I spoke with designers Cristoph and Jeff Grooms (Cristoph asked for his last name to be kept private.) You can imagine what the response to that comment was like.

"If you're going to make a mod, make it at least possible to beat without cheating," reads one comment on the game's subreddit.

The goal was to make the AI more like a real-life player, someone who goes out of their way to try and screw you over. When looking up comments about Vox Populi, inevitably you find people throwing up their hands at how different it feels. By making the AI smarter, it's also made Civilization V more difficult.