AI Ignores Life Support?

from GalCiv2 Forums
It seems to me that the AI ignores Life Support entirely. Throughout my most recent game, 9 opponents on a Gigantic map, I was getting visiting ships from the opposite side of the map. I had all life support abilities researched by this point, and the AI was really far down on the tech tree, with only Basic Life Support researched. According the Eyes of The Galaxy, and all the Sensor Picket ships that I sent out exploring, there were also no Stations built that allowed the various teams to extend their reach towards me.

I don't know if this is a bug, or something left in intentionally, but it is kind of annoying, since they're supposed to follow the same rules as the player.
5,795 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
They could be putting multiple support modules on their ships you know.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
They could either

1.putting support modules on thei ships
2.reasearched life support techs
3.teleport there when they explore an warmhole anomaly

if they do it lategame only explanation is 2 i never noticed hey cheated with life support but then again i canb only play at huge and with no more than 2-3 civs ...
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Lifesupport is not exactly critically important for most situations. Its most useful when you are using very clustered stars, or on huge maps when you have an ally between you and your current target of choice.

But if your on standard, evenly distributed stars, and dont mind conquering all your neighbors, you can extend your range the hard way.

In my current game, I have not needed to build life support modules, just having the tech extends the range benefits of planets and starbases. I have seen the AI's use plenty of life support though. The only time I really need to use the modules is when I want to establish very long trade routes.

END COMMUNICATION

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
feh! Life support is for wimpy races! Build starbases to extend your range!

that's probably what the AIs are doing to reach that far, my opponents do it extensively.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, I too think the benefits of the more advanced lifesupport techs to be minimal. I find that on Huge and bigger galaxies that I get quite a large range of movement simply from colonization and the occasional ISB. If I really need to get across one civ to get to another, I will either absorb the closer civ (thru conquest or influence), or just build a starbase near the current extent of my empire to extend it further toward the distant civ. The only thing I have purposefully put life support modules on is scout ships.

I can see one other reason to use them. If you are trying for an Alliance Victory, and you need to get through your allies to get to a distant civ. And even then, I STILL prefer to send out a constructor and build a starbase. When the UP votes for allies sharing starbase resources, this might even make your ally smile if you plop an Econbase right next to one of their frontier systems. You get range, they get $$$

Cheers,
Reaver


Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You can 'cheat' the Life Support System yourself, actually Here is what you do:

1.) Colonize a planet or build a starbase as your starting point.

2.) Colonize another planet or build another starbase such that there is a gap in their support ranges (at least a gap for the ships you want to cheat with).

3.) Now, simply task your fleet in one sphere of support to go into another sphere of support, and they will go there, ignoring any support range limits (although they probably won't be able to attack or colonize)!

Basically, ships can only be tasked to move into an area supported by a colonized planet or starbase; the space between them is irrelevant in the calculations This can be very exploitable, if you send a very supportive constructor out across to the other side of the map and build a starbase near the enemy and then just send all of your ships there. Ships will also keep going towards their assigned target (and complete the task, like establishing a trade route or invading a planet, if they are tasked to the exact location of the planet) even if the planet or starbase that was extending the support sphere is lost.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I only use life support to extend range of my trading fleets.
As well as for my specially designed "first contact" ships.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Should've mentioned a bit more, I was at 'Advanced' spying, and I could see that the ships didn't have any life support systems, and could see they didn't have the techs, I checked, since it seemed odd they were so far away from their system, they controlled no planets, resources, or anything on my side of the map. The UP hadn't created the law that makes Starbases assist allies, and even if they had no one had allied yet by this point in the game. I also highly doubt it was a wormhole, since it wasn't just one ship, it was entire squadrons of light and heavy fighters, among other things, since they were with someone on my side of the map.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On most maps the AI's use too much life support modules. imo gigantic maps are probably the only maps that the AI should be adding range modules on there attack ships, non combats are fine as long as there not over doing it which i feel they currently are.

Ultimately the AI should be adaptive to what map it plays on as to when adding range modules is concerned. I think the AI in 1.1 has made attack ships to a very high standard but non combats need much more speed less range imo.


Lenius.