I know (have read) that AI doesn't cheat but...

I would really like to know what's happening in my game

from GalCiv2 Forums
[I'm using version 1.3]

Hi all,

That's my second "sandbox" game. The first one was played at Normal difficulty and was a piece of cake, so I went for another one, but this time at "Challenging" difficulty.

Now there was a challenge, things went well with other civs being real opponents and everything. But things started to get weird when I entered in war with another civ (the Arceans) and suffered serious losses in battle with then.

I was puzzled because they had almost the same war tech as me (Laser V and shields III) but their ships had much more firepower. I that weren't enough they were *much* luckier than me in battle. The damage I inflicted was about 60% of the time 0 (zero!), 30% 1/2 and 10% 3/4. While they done against me 10% 0, 50% 2/3 and 40% 6/7 (arghh!).

So I went to inspect their ships composition and what did I find? They had a ship model, for instance, with 6 Laser V cannons but giving a total of 11 (eleven!!!) points of beam damage. How can that be!?

Putting it shortly:
The AI is really *lucky* in battle and have much more firepower (almost the double) than what its weaponry should give. If it's not cheating than it's a bug. Or have I missed something?

Can someone please clarify those issues to me? This problem is so frustrating.
5,638 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Erm, have you had a look to see if the AI has a couple of military resources or racial ability?
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
if you find it a bug, (I heard a lot of Q. from this kind) so you may send your savegame to gc2bugs@stardock.com
and report your problem, then you'll get the exact help you need
ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hmm... Can you actually double the power of your weapons just by having military resources?
In that sandbox game they in fact have at least one military resource, if I recall correctly.

About racial abilities, they are regular Arceans, I don't recall then having any military related racial ability.

Thanks for the tip.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Probably not a bug--the AI likely just has a military resource, or got a +shipbuilding event on colonizing a world. Each military resource you have can boost your attack and defense both by about 40% if you max it out.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I was just gettin ready to type that kryo

Also, did they have any military starbases nearby? One thing that the AI does to help get massive firepower is that it almost always sacrifices speed for firepower (in the case of defenders they usually have 1 move when I have played). Most of the other ships the AI designs have far less move than an equal tech player-made ship.

Also, where the AI ships high lvl? Check their HP and if it is higher than standard for the hull, that makes it tougher to kill them and they usually get an extra shot in at you if not more.

But I do have to agree, the AI has made some really painful ships lately.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


Also, did they have any military starbases nearby? One thing that the AI does to help get massive firepower is that it almost always sacrifices speed for firepower (in the case of defenders they usually have 1 move when I have played). Most of the other ships the AI designs have far less move than an equal tech player-made ship.

Also, where the AI ships high lvl? Check their HP and if it is higher than standard for the hull, that makes it tougher to kill them and they usually get an extra shot in at you if not more.


Hi LoneWolf,

No, there are no starbases nearby.

About their hitpoints, it's not a matter of having to inflict more damage to kill then. What I was complaining is that they always give much more lethal shots than my ships does, both sides having the same weaponry and shields tech. My usual shot is 0 or 1, while theirs is 5 or 6.

But I thing that I'm experiencing what kryo pointed out, although they're having more like a 90% increase in firepower and defence and not that 40%. Not mentioning their huge luck boost.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ops, sorry...
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have noticed that the Arceans have a very large advantage in every way possible in 1.3
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In v1.2 a maxed out military resource will provide a 44% boost to attack and defense. I read somewhere in v1.3 there is a new module which adds another 12% giving 56%, I have not yet played v1.3 to confirm. In my current v1.2 Metaverse game I have multiple maxed out military resources providing me with nearly 200% attack and defense bonus. Also, there are racial attack and defense bonuses and sometimes while colonizing a planet you need to make an ethical choice. In one if you make a deal with the local pirates you get a large (it varies but I have seen 57%) attack bonus to ships built on that planet.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In v1.2 a maxed out military resource will provide a 44% boost to attack and defense. I read somewhere in v1.3 there is a new module which adds another 12% giving 56%, I have not yet played v1.3 to confirm


It's 39% maxed out mining resource in 1.3. The developers downgraded it again from the final beta.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
So many things can affect the final ATTACK/DEFENSE numbers on a ship:

+ military resource mining
+ racial abilities
+ planet shipbuilding bonus
+ military starbase bonus
+ previous anomalies found

It would be cool if there was a way to drill down from the ship details window to see how the final numbers are calculated. Stardock would have to tweak the UI again, so it's hard to say if it is worth the effort.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In v1.2 a maxed out military resource will provide a 44% boost to attack and defense. I read somewhere in v1.3 there is a new module which adds another 12% giving 56%, I have not yet played v1.3 to confirm

In 1.3 the mining bonuses have been slimmed down quite a bit. The bonuses now run 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 - for a total of 34, + the intial 5%, so 39%.

Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The 11 attack rating with only 6 Laser V's does point to a combination of racial ability plus one or more military resources. I've played games where I've had 5 Laser V's plus military resources and got an 11 attack rating.

Regarding the OPs lack of success on his own attacks, there is insufficient information--what were your ship attack ratings? Did the opponents have shields on their ships and what were their defense ratings? You probably know this, but simply researching defenses doesn't do anything until you build ships with those defenses on them. It sounds like the enemy ships had shield defenses whereas the human player had none giving the lopsided victory to the AI.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi Tertullian,

Regarding the OPs lack of success on his own attacks, there is insufficient information--what were your ship attack ratings? Did the opponents have shields on their ships and what were their defense ratings?You probably know this, but simply researching defenses doesn't do anything until you build ships with those defenses on them. It sounds like the enemy ships had shield defenses whereas the human player had none giving the lopsided victory to the AI.


Yeah, I do know it.
My ships (Human) had 4 points of beam defence. I don't remember the AI (Arceans) numbers for defence but it was about the same thing.

The next time I load GalCivII I'm going to write down those numbers and gather info on AI military resources, etc.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
For the sake of clarification:

It turned out that the Arceans in my sandbox game have two military resources.
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
lol that would explain it, go kill them then you can get back to wiping the floor with the AI   
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think that military resources should be applied to a ship when it is built or upgraded not at time of attack/defense.