Flaws in Civilization IV

The simulation game Civilization IV focuses on testing a player’s ability to build and manage a successful society that survives the tests of outsides invaders, extraordinary forces and time. However the game is based off very superficial understandings of human nature, society and culture. For example Civilization IV allows you to train, educate, and arm your soldiers but it does not leave room for human ingenuity or technological advancement. Watching the movie 300 over the weekend made me realize this subtle flaw in the game. Everything in the simulation is based off numbers and formulas using training, technology, and numbers to determine outcomes. The movie is almost completely fictional, but it shows the important concept that pride, strength, and quality plays a role in the outcomes of militaristic pursuits.
For example during the American Revolutionary War the British were superior in training of soldiers, number of soldiers, and goods and monetary funds allocated for the war. However the Americans had a desire and dream for independence and there motivation and desire played a role that the game could not understand or use as a parameter in making the game. So after mastering game play I decided to become more aggressive in my military strategy and try to use my superior tactics and training to use my soldiers more effectively and spread them out on multiple fronts. Using this idea that superior tactics and effective training would be enough to make up for my lack of numbers due to how far my troop strength was spread out. This is when I realized the limitations of the simulation it could only tap the concrete date and information, which is perfectly fair artificial intelligence can only go so far, but this limitation really bothered me.
The issue of quality and pride are extremely important throughout the years various wars and battles have shown the importance of desire to win. Every country now knows that mercenaries are not nearly as effective as soldiers from the motherland. There is something that money can not buy and this simulation game Civilization IV can not understand or account for this. Like any game this simulation simplifies everything to make everything a simple computation. Once I understood this the game no longer really represented a challenge to me. I knew the system could not be beat, it is a dry game. Once I understood the structure of the game the fun I use to enjoy was kind of ruined. No longer did I have far off dreams or hopes of what I could do with my civilization. My different strategies in playing the game had all been on somewhat false notions, but now I am no longer playing in ignorance I know there is no way for the game to use the emotions of the citizens and other subtle factors that contribute to the success and failure of societies.
The game still is a good basis for understanding Diamond’s thesis it teaches the player why each of Diamond’s point is true. I guess I just have high hopes for modern technologies, and understand the importance of nationalistic feelings and pride during war times, and I know how much more successful well trained soldiers are in battle compared to hired help. But at least the game does not simply randomly decide the winner of a battle, which would just lead to even greater frustration. Overall the game is as fair as possible technological limitations just pose obstacles that are addressed as fairly as possible.