No and I could not possibly care less.
… Yes.
And it is rather easy to cheese if you build your deck in the right way.
I more or less think of it as ‘advanced’ blackjack/21, but also has face cards that can be used to fuck up your opponent or aid yourself… and also of course, where you can much more directly influence the odds of what you draw, as you can literally construct your own deck.
What you want, imo, is the smallest deck possible, with numbered cards that will either add up to 20 - 26 with as few plays as possible, either on their own or, by way of being aided by the effects of your own face cards that you play on them.
The King is quite useful for that last part, doubles your numbered card value.
Basically, if you can speed rush building 2 caravans before your opponent, you win.
This kind of deck is easier to construct… if you actually go out of your way to seek out cards in the… main game.
Which is honestly a brilliant way of weaving together game mechanics.
I actually had to stop myself from playing caravan in some playthroughs, because I simply had so much money, from draining every NPC that offers to play, that it functionally broke the rest of the game.
It was either ban myself from more or less an inifinite money glitch with a decently long summoning time… or, intentionally handicap myself in other aspects of the game, to keep it from being a total cheesefest.
I just find that the UI for deckbuilding is so slow that I would never really build a deck myself. I am able to win using all the cards anyway… Could be fun IRL for a few rounds maybe.
… All … the cards?
As in, you found every single card in the game?
You could not even simultaneously use ‘all’ the cards in the game… you cannot use more than one specific number/face and suit of card from the same uh, brand of deck.
I mean, I do agree with you that the UI is clunky as hell… the whole game was rushed out in 18 months after all.
Well, maybe if we ever meet in the real, we could play for pennies.
Or caps =P
All the cards the starting deck contains, or all the cards that are enabled by default…
What I mean is that most NPCs are not that hard to beat anyway, so there is no need for deck optimization.
Even in a game I love, I won’t play the card game! Caravan was no exception! I just want to talk to the hot scientist Arcade Canon and do my best to earn his affection on our journey through the Mojave. ROFL
Yes, and it was easy money. Buy everything a shop keeper owns, and then get all your money back by playing Caravan.
Ring a ding ding!
This guy/gal gets it.
I remember being honestly let down that they don’t have some kind ‘fuck you’ hostility response, or at least a canned line about being cleaned out, when you do this.
Its like uh…I think this glitch or oversight finally got fixed in Civ 5…
But Civ 4? Earlier ones?
The AI leaders do not understand interest.
Give them a lump sum of gold, ask for gold per turn on their side.
Keep doing this for a while, and you can almost always bankrupt them with loan payments to you.
Its not about making money.
Its about making them broke, crippling their operating cash flow.
They’ll love you for every deal they incorrectly assess as a ‘good deal.’
Then you can just do whatever you want to them.
IE, Neoliberal globalism, in practice, as a working strategy in Civ 4.
It’s a more advanced version of faro.
