Poor AI?

Or designed to be poor?

Hi gang,

Just wondering, I'm playing on intelligent... I think (the one up from normal). I'm invading AI planets & regularly finding planets with 2 or more squares undeveloped.. Like they've decided they're not going to build ANY factories, and just started a build list. Anyone else finding this? For the record, I am doing normal invasions, and its late game, and MOST of the worlds I invade have this, I'm pretty sure, but I guess not certain that its not all just soil enhancement/etc. I DO wonder if that AI is just limiting itself at this level by design?

Cheers,
Vesson
10,372 views 10 replies
Reply #1 Top
Only find it when I use specials when I invade (like mini-soldiers, mass-drivers) as they destroy planetary improvements. In traditional warfare, I rarely ever find even 1 square undeveloped
Reply #2 Top
Like they've decided they're not going to build ANY factories, and just started a build list.

Well, it would be useful to watch the colony few turns before the invasion (with an high espionnage level) to see if they didn't do a scortched Earth tactic: destroying production buildings when they saw they will loose the planet.
Reply #4 Top
Just having a look now with high espionage. In the Torian empire (the highest ranking empire I think) they have a BUNCH, like at least 6 or so planets just missing 5 + tiles. And I'm still getting beaten by them... DOH!
Reply #5 Top
I often noticed (on Normal difficulty), that planets I took over would often have a couple squares free and no farms. Some planets would be almost undeveloped, even though the AI took them over a long time ago; actually I assumed the AI had sold off the improvements to piss me off
Reply #6 Top
I assumed the AI had sold off the improvements to piss me off


Yes Frogboy did mention on the advanced levels that the AI would get rid of stuff just to piss you off. The longer your in orbit about the planet waiting on other ships to come the more the AI will destroy things from what I have seen. I have lost entire factory base on the hurry up and wait game for escorted troopers to arrive. On the other hand when I come screaming in at warp speed from beyond sensor range and smack the living crap outta some aiien ass with a huge fleet and massive troop transports from my federated planets I get a wonderful planet full of resources and some sorry ass aliens to work them for me...

heheh sorry about that I got a little carried away, was watcing starship troopers this weekend

Yeah the longer you take, the less productive colony your going to have, especially at levels above normal.

W/R
Suralle Straykat
Kat Lord @ Large
Reply #7 Top
I find this is often related to the issue of trying to bootstrap planets in the late game when you have only the initial colony tile, and the only factory you can build is an industrial sector. I've noted that when I pushed hard for the high end factory/econ/research techs and then sold them to the AI races, I found a lot more unimproved planets when they started culture flipping to me.
Reply #8 Top
So this means you could reduce the effectiveness of AIs by simply parking your transports in orbit and never atacking?If ypu built a transport and filled it with 10 soldiers would the AI still destroy its buildings?
Reply #9 Top
Well......if they invaded a planet of mine they might nfind a square or two undeveloped unless it is very late in the game.

I gather from this thread that one's strategy should be to fill every planet square as quickly as possible?
Reply #10 Top
If ypu built a transport and filled it with 10 soldiers would the AI still destroy its buildings?

They'd probably settle for destroying the Transport. I doubt it would destroy its buildings if the transports of a friendly Civ were nearby (and, worse, on the high levels, the AI might decide that you parking transports next to its worlds was a precursor to an invasion, and declare war on you itself).

- Ash