Is this a bug?

Something I noticed about the AI

Hi, I am a first time poster (no flaming me please).

I started a game vs the AI, huge galaxy, abundant on all and tight clusters. 9 Enemy races all on easiest, and I was "Team" with the altarians, while I was using a custom race. So, im sitting there, in the start, spamming out colony ships to grap as much land as possible. I had access to like, 5-6 stars and 9 colonies to be constructed, all good. Wanted more +10 class planets, only got one of those.

Fast forward like, 2 years. I've had some contact with the other races, mostly because I ran into their flagships. Research is going at a medium pace, and seeing on the map as how nobody has started to claim the HUGE cluster (like a 20% of the map, and prolly 40% of the stars on the map) I once again start spamming out colonizers (which was easy since I had claimed an economy resource). Fast forward 3-4 years. Im sitting there, with a turdload of colonies, research is like, 1-3 turns for most of the things, even advanced stuff, and I think it was that tech after the last research tech that gives a research building, cant remember its name, it was only 9 turns to research, so all was good there. This is the point where I was beginning to get annoyed. I was playing on easiest, but the enemy hadn't built one single ship yet.

In fact, 2/3rds of the races hadn't even bothered to build anything. They had planned it out on the map, but not spent anything on social production. I know they had money, the arceans had like, 15k+ from trade routes with me.

They just didn't spend 1 single dime. They just used the starting colony ship and flagship, and thats it.

Bug, or just an effect of playing on easiest?
9,480 views 7 replies
Reply #1 Top
Effect of playing easiest, and possibly bug (the AI isn't initiating properly for some reason). Play on Tough and see if it still happens.
Reply #2 Top
I dunno, tough sounds awfully... though!

Im a recovering cheat addict, the reason I played on easiest is because im used to having insane ability bonuses... Oh the curse that is the allure of the cheats

I must say though, the game is more fun cheat-free

I'll try the second difficulty level, though I fear I might get pwned
Cause if easiest diff if THAT easy... Well, that's just plain easy...
Reply #3 Top
Yeah, easiest was made not just with some AI turned off, but with extra AI to make it stupid.
Reply #4 Top
I've noticed that the AI falls to pieces on massive galaxies, even on hard difficulties. It doesn't seem to know what to do when it's not particularly pressured by other races' borders. It works delightfully on normal - largeish maps, but the biggest sizes seem to make it give up the ghost.
Reply #5 Top
I've noticed that the AI falls to pieces on massive galaxies, even on hard difficulties


Next time your in the Hampton Roads area come over for a beer or three. The AI on Crippling in huge and gigantic is a freaking... "Snow Queen in Narnia!" Works wonderful on that level at building and taking over my planets if I don't start with them... first that is.

W/R
Suralle Straykat
Kat Lord @ Large
Reply #6 Top
My bet would be a bug as Marcanthonas suggested, the AI isn't initiating properly for some reason. Not one ship other then what they were given at the beginning is not normal at any level. It has been described by others as well.
Reply #7 Top
Actually, it *does* seem to be a feature and not a bug. I upped the difficulty level one notch, meaning a few of the AI's got an intelligence upgrade. Now they actually seem to do that 10% of production they should do at the previous level, while those still in the previous level still do nothing.