People will always find a way around the game save, if they want to. battle goes poorly? Turn off the computer before battle ends, "oops a crash". Trying to code around people doing lame stuff is always wasted time, because there is either always a way to cheat around it, or people get screwed when there actually is something like a crash, power outage, etc.

Now if they had a SP game that all the data was kept on their servers....nah same thing people would still lame out and disconnect or whatever and claim internet problems. It really is not worth the effort, there is a lways a way to cheat it.

I'd rather they just code it and i get my own satisfaction knowing I played it straight. Or sometimes I might want to go back and try a different strategy. Not to win, but to just see the effect of doing something different.

 Tracking number of saves and restarts is not really a difficulty issue.

This is more of an issue for official fansites that track players on a ladder like Civilization Fanatics Hall of Fame. In fact, C4F only accepts game saves using thier own custom mod that tracks # of times saved to participate in thier single player competitions. They call it the HoF mod and update it everytime civ4 gets patched.

Stardock coders may want to put a very simple # of times saved counter and actual time saved in the saved game file to help folks that want to run competitions without making a bunch of players have to install a mod to participate.

However, its my game. If I want to replay a tough fight 50 times to learn and see what I did wrong, that's cool no matter if it is hardmode or beginner. However, I shouldn't be able to use that file for tournament credit.

edit: added and actual time saved some of these huge maps may very well take quite a bit of time for someone with a job and may require a number of saves over the course of weeks. A log of the actual time of the save would tell the difference between a player with limited time and a chronic save/restarter.

There should be an independent setting where you could allow for more AI computing. This should not interfere with the level you are playing (easy, normal, hard or whatever). The level should be influenced by how much handicap you have and how much exta stuff the AI gets.

Example:

A casual gamer would chose:

1. AI computing time: Standard

2. Difficulty level: Normal

A hardcore gamer would choose:

1. AI computing time: Excessive (up to 20 sec extra per turn)

2. Difficulty level: Whip me (AI starts with two extra soldiers and have 20% cheaper upgrades)

I'd say just different levels of AI ... playing all in one playthrough, or rather only having one shot for each possible route (and not playing through alternate endings) isn't appealing to everyone.

I wouldn't mind something like an enforced turn timer, or a city/population limit, or no reloads, although I would rather simply have more difficult AI.

Having a limited empire-size/ population to deal with sounds like an interesting limitation though.

According to http://elementalbeta.wikidot.com/starting-a-game, there is an only "Difficulty" option avaliable now.

Looking at all the replies, looks like IDEALLY at the 3rd screen, it should have following 4 options:
1. Number of Opponents
2. AI Player Skill level (assuming more difficult AI require more time, I hope so!  Something like, 10sec, 20sec, 30sec at different AI level)
3. AI Player Resource Utilization Bonus/Handicap level
- I meant for the same resource, AI is able to produce more; or AI require less experience for their heroes to gain level etc etc
4. Enable/Disable mid-game save

Will AI play more skillfully when they are allowed more time to think?  For me I don't know if SD has implemented something like this.  If no, Luckman's concern is a moot point, as there is only 1 AI skill level anyways, there is no intentional handicap.

If yes, this particular option is a gauge on how patient a particular gamer is willing to wait.  And ideally, the AI should start planning their next turn before all human players hit the end turn button (aka AI participate in simultaneous turn)