AI really loves to send out unescorted troop ships in 1.1 Beta

What difficulty level are you playing at? If it's normal, that's ok.... if it's tough I am worried!

Did you look to see if they are sending escorts but that the escorts are far behind the transports?

The AI might know that you don't have ships nearby and is taking a calculated risk by sending unescorted transports. Are you able to intercept and destroy those transports? If not, the AI is quickly taking advantage of your lack of defense. After all, it takes longer to properly escort a transport. In my games, I may just send a unescorted transport as quick as possible if I see an undefended planet and I know the AI is broke and can't hurry a defense.

I saw that a lot playing against "Intelligent" AIs in, I dunno, 1.1x or whatever the current release version is. I saw it again yesterday in the beta, though much less frequently. I figure the change is related to the fact that I've started stationing small warships at all colonies at all times.

Yes this is happening in my game right now, on crippling difficulty I believe.

I made a mass of light fighters before declaring war on the Torains. To my surprise I start see nothing but hordes of troop transports headed to my systems. So I hastefully split my fleets in to single fighters and rush out 2 spyships (cargo loaded with sensors).

I must of killed 50 troop transports and have yet to see an attacking ship from them... Considering they are 4 times the size of me or more I think this is sad.

Edit - I'm playing with no tech trade.

I noticed this too. Maybe the AI thinks we have a gentleman agrement not to attack each others unarmed vessels? Because it takes a lot of provoking before it will attack my transports that are heading to invade its planets.

I had the same problem. With multiple civilizations, even the dread lords. I'm attacked by mass troop transports. In one instance I killed 10 dread lord troop transports with a fast cargo ship armed with a single mark V laser until it finally escorted the 11th. I managed to kill that, and then it preceeded to send unescorted troop transports to their slaughter.

In another game the Torians declared war on me and set about 12 troop transports and 1 fleet of 6 small fighters against my 3 fleets of 8 small fighters.

Where's the advanced AI? This seems like a step down from most other strategy games.

On the lower difficulty levels the AI does dumb things like sending out transports without escort. On high levels the AI mixes the transports in with a few fighters for protection.

I've noticed that for me, at least, this always happens if I leave my fleets next to, but not occupying my colonies. They see an "open" planet and go 'ooh!'

Now that everyone mentions it, I did notice the Dread Lords sending unescorted transports in the campaign. I wonder if this bug needs to be posted in the Beta stickeys.

I haven't noticed any intelligent military strategies in 1.1 (or in 1.0 either).

At crippling level, the Arceans declare war, and many turns later I'm still in the game. Why even bother to declare war if they aren't going to take me out with a disabling attack?

Edit - I'm playing with no tech trade.

Somehow I think these tw facts are related.Maybe the AI is sending out the only ships it can.Maybe with tech trading those transports would be warships.Unless this is happening with tech trading on.

I just played a game with tech trading off. At one point, the Iconian Regufe declares war on me. I had researched Eyes of the Universe, so on the minimap, I saw a huge swarm of Iconian ships coming my way. I sent out a single fast fighter to get an idea of the size of this invasion force. Transports. Nothing but transports, stacks and stacks of them. I counted 30 in all and not a fighting ship to be found.

That scout was very busy the next few turns. A few turns after that, the Iconians meekly asked for peace.

Edit: this was on Painful

fFrom my experience in 1.1b unescorted transports are much less frequent than before, and they are effective sometimes because they have increased speed. I lost a small planet to it, the transport had 12 speed and none of my near by fleets could catch up to it.... I watched and chased it for 3 turns and it bypassed all the planets I had orbital defense on and finally invaded one that didnt (it didnt have a starport so i couldnt buy a defense ship, arghh).

I was playing on tough. I have never spotted massed transport attacks mentioned above.. every AI in the game have decleared war on me and they are sending massive fleets.. their transports are few and at least half of them are escorted by fighters, still easy to take out but I have to send a small taskforce instead of a single fighter.

I haven't noticed any intelligent military strategies in 1.1 (or in 1.0 either).

it is nearly impossible for any AI to coordinate effective attack streategies, I have not seen it in any game period . For what its worth, GC2 AIs at least put up a decent resistantce, that's already a ton better than most 4x games (Like the nearly unresponsive AI in SE4). Computers dont think, they only caculate, it's up to frogboy to code and evaulate every possibility he could think of (so in a way we are all fighting him ), since there is one of him and probably a million of us... we'll beat him/AI and there will always be tractics and streatgies someone came up with that he didn't thought of how to react to...are those called exploits?..umm

I guess maybe in another decade or two we'll be having some real computer AI but then we'll probably have stuff like skynet too and that'd suck. i think i should go to bed....

I'm playing on intelligent. What I THINK is happening is that early in the game I tend to focus more on mobile than static defenders. The computer see that I have undeffended planets, and sends transports, but doesn't think that I may have fighters zooming around. So it loses all it's transports.

Later in the game, when my deffenses are more through, I see swarms of fighters, instead, which is good.

I'm playing on intelligent. What I THINK is happening is that early in the game I tend to focus more on mobile than static defenders. The computer see that I have undeffended planets, and sends transports, but doesn't think that I may have fighters zooming around. So it loses all it's transports. Later in the game, when my deffenses are more through, I see swarms of fighters, instead, which is good.

But is it too much to ask for that the AI notices the huge fleet next to your planets and act accordingly? I certainly don't send unescorted transports just because their planet has no defenses, especially when I notice their battleships 1 parsec away.

I think the AI is just taking a risk with these transports. I've noticed them sending out transports with more engines than their warships currently have and when having to decided between a slower escorted transport and a fast unescorted one, they will go with the unescorted one.

Also, remeber that the AI doesn't move many ships back after peace is declared. So if they had a transport that was heading to a planet from a different war and peace is declared, they don't recall that transport. I've seen transports sitting in open space by themselves for large portions of the game. Once they declare war on you, that transport will make a bee-line for your nearest exposed planet.

Only the Terrans and Drengin have the fully upgraded AI in the beta - other races have the new APIs, but not the algorithms to use them to their fullest potential yet, I believe. The Drengin in my current game certainly didn't make any stupid mistakes (other than going to war with everyone else because I asked them nicely).

I've noticed this in every game on every difficulty. Single troup transports trying to invade my territory and I have long range sensor ships spiderwebbed around my territory with 1 measly weapon on them. It's a turkey shoot if any transport ship tries to come through.

Perhaps a new programming to move transports like I do always shadowed by a fleet in the same square as them. Course I also have long range transports that can move 12 squares so I can attack from afar pretty easily all the time.

Double post due to this website having terrible problems and issues, great game guys but your website/forum is rated F haha

Only the Terrans and Drengin have the fully upgraded AI in the beta - other races have the new APIs, but not the algorithms to use them to their fullest potential yet, I believe. The Drengin in my current game certainly didn't make any stupid mistakes (other than going to war with everyone else because I asked them nicely).

That would help explain it. If I get time for another game before the real 1.1 comes out, maybe I'll set up a three-way duel between me, the Terrans and the Drengin, and see what happens.

I guess maybe in another decade or two we'll be having some real computer AI but then we'll probably have stuff like skynet too and that'd suck. i think i should go to bed....

What AIs really need to challenge a human are the ability to learn, and an imagination. They day they develop those things, they WILL probabally take over the world. But at least there will be awesome computer games for us to play between shifts in the lithium mines.

The AI in "The Godfather" does learn. If I kill too many of a familys members they declare war on my family and come bombing my stores and rackets. It's called a Vendetta. And you can decrease this Vendetta value by paying the FBI large amounts of cash or blowing up a few of their shops and rackets before they get to yours. I love that game almost as much as this one I keep jumping back n forth now playing both. Gang Wars/Mafia has always been fun to me. Also the citizens in the city (NY) find out if you've been good or bad too. If you beat up women in the game other women citizens on the street will chastise you for it, some will even yell for the police and others will just run off screaming LOL I love this one part where I have a woman by the throat and she's on her knees begging for her life and one of her remarks is "I'll do ANYTHING please don't hurt me" lol Imagination really sets in here. haha Dang thing is when I let her go and she gets up, the biatch just runs off screaming lol. I shoot her in the back then for lying to me. If you liked GTA and/or Gangland you'll like "The Godfather".

Really though sending unescorted transport is just as dumb as putting ships in a fleet to protect them. Bringing transports into a fight is a bad idea no matter what is protecting them as they're simply a waste of logistics in any fleet they may be in.
What the computer should do is send in the fighters first, destroy any fleets it encounters, then bring in the transports once there is nothing left to oppose them.

I've seen it also at one notch up from normal. BUT I've also seen them escorted and they have been faster and trying "end runs" at times. (I have eyes of the universe so hard to sneak up on.)

Also seen plants wasting resources still but I need to move up 1 more notch to see if these problems go away.

I tend to have the opposite problem as the AI here. I'll send in my fleets, destroy the AI ships, then I won't have enough troops to finish the job. Seems like everytime I invade a civilization I'm short of troop transports.

Personally, I think that Frogboy was probably patting himself on the back when he coded up the AI "trick" of making really fast troop transports to sneak past the front lines into undefended planets. The problem is that all the good players have now learned to counter this by leaving garrisons. The AI just can't learn though and keeps trying the same old trick. Its pretty effective the first couple of times it happens though. Sometimes I'll strip out a garrison to add a little extra to a fleet, then get blitzed by a fast transport.

--Brad