13-07-2002 03:50									#1
	OCN and the Bloodthirsty AI Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Has anyone played with the OCN in an attempt to stimulate an aggressive, warlike, expansionist-focused AI civ?

Goal: an AI civ that will press its advantage against its AI rivals and become a very powerful civ.

Example: on a continents map, standard, 8 civs, assume 2 roughly equal sized continents, 4 AI civs on one, 3 AI civs and Human on the other.

Through the randomness of available terrain, available resources, etc., one or two of the AI civs on the all-AI continent will usually have a significant production and /or military advantage over its continental rivals. One would hope that the most powerful AI civ on the all-AI continent would press its advantage and expand through warfare / crush its continental rivals. Why does it seem that all too often, while the human is seizing the entirety of his/her own continent, the AI continent, while perhaps experiencing a few skirmishes, does not produce a monster civ, but generally 3 or even the original 4 civs, with roughly equal empire sizes?

I've read elsewhere that lowering the OCN will actually cause the AI civs to cease expanding before all available land is taken -- does it work in reverse?

I know people have played with increasing OCN (primarily in an effort to modify corruption) - my question is: does significantly increasing the OCN seem to stimulate the AI civs to expand through warfare (even against other AI civs) in an effort to reach an OCN-sized empire when the available land will not permit an OCN-sized empire without warfare?

Thanks, Catt