Proposed New Game Options

[Matt The Pirate]

First of all I gotta hand it to the programmers for all the great options and customization they built into this game so this is not a complaint. But doesn't it seem like there is a fundamental problem with the way viewing other peoples hands works? Agains human opponents you can see their hand as they are making decisions and both sides can do it so it is fair. But against the CPU the computer plays much faster than a human so it is almost impossible to keep a good leash on what he is holding. Conversly the computer gains a second advantage because he very obviously knows what you are holding no matter how fast you play. Sure you can try to peek into his hand as best you can but keeping track of all his cards impossible and keeping tack of more than one CPU player at a time is definitly not happening.

I am a beginner but as far as I can see there is no way to mediate this unfair advantage in this version of the game. I do have a few ideas of what could be done about this in future versions to make the game better.

Options:
1. Slow down the computer even if it is just during the time his full hand shows after drawing a card off his deck.

2. If you could pause the game while the CPU makes his moves you could freeze the screen anytime his hand is showing. Seems like the simplist solution.

3. You could build in an option at the setting menu called "Open Hand/Hidden Hand" applies only to games where one human opponent plays and the rest are CPU controlled. "Open" would mean the way it plays now and "Hidden" would mean when the CPU is playing you do not see any of his cards including when he draws a card; conversely the CPU players could be programmed to not know each others cards or the human players cards even though they are viewable to the human player on screen.

Note:
Option 3 can actually be added even if option 1 or 2 was built in for Open Hand games. Obviously Hidden Hand games cannot be played anytime more than one human player is involved so they would always be Open Hand games.


It would be cool because Hidden Hand games would strategically be a lot different.

Matt The Pirate

P.S. If anyone knows a way currently to mediate the problem I am talking about please pipe up.

[Matt The Pirate]

Not to mention it is annoying trying to peek into the computers hand as it flashes on and off the screen so fast but you have to do it as best you can just to compete on a semi-level playing field.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for making the CPU as hard to beat as possible but it has to be done through proper means, not what is happening here.

Now luckily this is not an overwhealming advantage for the computer since there is so much more to the game but it just seems there are some really easy ways to fix it and improve the playability as a result.

Matt The Pirate

[Insomniac74]

You have the exact same concerns I had when I was just getting into the game. There's no other card game that I can think of where all players play with open hands, since not knowing what your adversary has is part of the strategy. Information about the other players is kept from you to introduce an element of chance and risk. In Culdcept, however, there's already a LOT you don't know (dice rolls, enemy's next draw, etc) and there are many innate risks in a lot of your actions (if I level up this territory, I won't have enough G to pay that toll in front of me, if I hit it). I've come to accept having player hands viewable as a valuable, perhaps even vital source of intelligence. Without at least having a hint as to what might happen in a battle, one could spend hours agonizing over a move or choice of item, and there's already WAY too much agonizing in this game. :-) With time and experience, you'll recognize what cards the CPU has at a glance and you just might feel better about being able to see what's behind the curtain.

I guess my point is: with all the uncertainty in this game, not being able to see if your opponent has a counter amulet or evil blast in hand would possibly make Culdcept nerve-wracking than it already is. Fighting Zeneth already has me on a Pepto-Bismol IV drip as it is.

[ButchNapkins]

Insomniac is right - after playing a short while, I was able to identify the cards in the computer's hand at a glance. Showing the computer's hand also helps convince me that the computer isn't cheating. Often if you get beaten you had a chance to see it coming and possibly do something about it. I've had combats I've entered into willingly, only to have the computer play a defensive item and win because I wasn't paying attention to the cards in their hand.

[Matt The Pirate]

You both have a point and I appreciate your input. I still feel any one of the options I mentioned would improve the game and I just thought of another way to mediate the problem if you want to call it that. Just make it so that when you go to INFO, HAND you can view any player's hand. I do feel this should be simply an OPTION and not just built in. Another option would be to set the amount of time the computer takes to viewing his cards after drawing. This would actually be the best option because you would not have the option to just view his cards at any time but the computer could be set so that reading his cards would be roughly the same difficulty as reading a human players cards.

One point back in you guys favor is that you do get a very good look at each drawn card so you should at the very least have a feel of what the computer has even if you are playing against more than one CPU.

By the way, I absolutely agree that this whole thing I am talking about is not a deal breaker at all and once you have experience it becomes less and less releveant.


M the P - GREAT GAME!