# Computer cheats **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2005, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346 "2005-05-04T10:17:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346/41 "2005-05-06T19:58:35Z")
for an extremely common game that cheats like mad just load up MSHearts for a few rounds, its quickly apparent that you are playing against 1 player with 3 hands instead of 4 individual hands. other than that type of play I cant really add to the thread with the op worded like it is ---
**Author:** ![BrianJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@BrianJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianJ)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346/42 "2005-05-06T20:15:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Cite? I’ve played Civilization for years and in my experience the computer is almost rock-stupid, and has no anticipation at all of my attacks. If it bases its decisions around my moves, why does it never seem to know when my invasion forces are coming? I’ve dispatched scores of amphibious invasions and the computer never anticipates it, ever, and never reorganizes his forces accordingly. If the computer AI was basing its plans on seeing my moves, he should be killing my transport ships every time. > > I’ve seen games like that though. Years back there was a pretty well-constructed Civil War game, called North and South I think, that would have been a great game if only it wasn’t for the fact that the “simultaneous turns” were actually the computer reacting to your moves. It rendered the game impossible to beat. > > In strategy games, computer “cheating” usually refers to the AI not playing by the same rules as the player. A classic example is RTS games. in Age of Empires, for instance, the computer’s “Growth” - its ability to construct buildings, units, and such - was not subject to the same rules as the player’s (which was based on the ability to gather resources.) Rather than bothering with programming the AI to gather resources the same way as the player, they just programmed the AI to get and build things at a certain pace without regard to resources. It simplified the process. Unfortunately, the AI’s pace of “building” was far faster than any player could accomplish using the game’s human-player rules, making the AI difficult to beat, even though it actually played stupidly. Civ cheats, but not by knowing your moves, that iscorrect. It appears to know what is in your city at any given time, I think. The original civ used to know exactly where you are on the board and build towards taht. I played CIV1 on the highest difficulty once and had an enemy ship dropping units off beside my city before I even had a second city. I check ed the map using cheat mode. Sure enough its galley crossed a huge expance of water that it wasn’t suposed to be able to cross, making a beeline for my city. In warcraft I found that the computer player knows where you start and makes use of it as well. ---
**Author:** ![SpaceDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spacedog/32/9932_2.png) [@SpaceDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceDog)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346/43 "2005-05-07T10:24:46Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Sure, but it would be relatively easy to write a poker AI that could calculate the odds for its hand, compare that to the pot, and bet/fold/raise accordingly. Writing AI to consider the psychology of the human player would be very difficult, but an AI that can play perfect basic strategy would be simple applied mathematics. Briefly jumping back into this thread. There are poker playing bots and poker ‘helper’ programs which will tell you the current odds and what the mathematical ‘best play’ is. The problem is the if another human player works out that this is your stratagy they can then turn this to their advantage, you become very predicatable. There are quite a few people looking at poker AIs for various reasons, there are some quite interesting problems and approaches. One of the big universities has an on-going poker AI playoff tournament. I’ve posted the links before but I don’t have time to dig them out at the moment. Oh, and I see that **+MDI** is the same degree I did, good course that. I’d _still_ like to know if that’s what the OP was asking … ---
**Author:** ![NadaHappyCamper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NadaHappyCamper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadaHappyCamper)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346/44 "2005-05-07T16:00:17Z")
first, thanks for the responses. I am asking, in the op, if anyone board members have knowledge of computers cheating or manipulating the gameplay in "their " favor when playing against a person? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346/45 "2005-05-07T22:24:49Z")
As others have said, the computer can only cheat in a game if they are programed to cheat. For example, in Civilization 3, the AI knows the location of every resource, even before you have the tech to see the resource. Thus, in the early part of the game, when bows and arrows is considered high tech the AI will build “worthless” little towns on top desert and tundra; it turns out later that these towns are sitting on top of oil or aluminium deposits. It is very difficult to program an effective computer player, that doesn’t have access to this sort of hidden info. Civ 3 can also cheat, depending on the difficulty level. On the lower difficulty levels, the AI’s production is actually crippled - for the same size city/terrain, they take more turns to build things. On regent level, things are equal between you and the AI. On the higher levels, the AI gets production and unit support bonuses of various sorts - for example, on the highest difficulty level, Sid level, the AI builds things in 40% of the time you take (IE - it takes you 10 turns to build something, the AI only takes 4) 18 military units at startup, 2 free settlers, and a bunch of free unit support for each city. Of course this is all preprogramed - if you play at regent level, the computer can’t decide to go and instantly build units. And the AI really does need the help playing against humans - just the other day, I defeated the AI at Sid level, doing the One City Challege + Always War variants. (Basically, you can only have one city, and must declare war on any AI you meet the turn you meet them, and never make peace.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-cheats/302346.md?page=2)