How do they do it?

from Stardock Forums
Does the AI buy a lot of their ships? They seem to pump out constructors and colony ships like crazy. I max my spending to 100%, though I keep the sliders at their default most of the time. By the time my first constructor is done, each AI seems to have a dozenor so starbases built. Drives me crazy, and is also why I am happy to see starbases in the diplomacy screen.
392 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
The AI starts with cash and bonus that human players do not have.

This is why I have started playing with AI set to average.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
The AI will also be constantly be altering it's spending sliders based on its needs. If it's not waring with anyone and its planets have alot of improvements to build, it'll lower it's Military spending and pump up its Social spending. Also, the AI will lease ships, but only if it has greater than
-500bc in its treasury (the same limitation the player has).
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
A human player can crank out constructors as well.

The AI knows some tricks that some human players know as well.

In the final version, sigh, it will be forced to give away some of those tricks since we've begun to add more news items to let you know what's going on.

Hint: Minor races are rich. You can extort them for cash. Take cash, buy ships.

If you look in the debug.err, you can actually see how much money is being given away in tribute.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
If you are spying on them, you will now get a lot more info in pop ups and such.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
i noticed that, the scottilingas stole all the yor's tech!
all they wanted was a planet or 2

only done on the screen, not accept or reject, guess i have to go to them directly :D

I like how espionage is heading with 3rd party help

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Do the different AI setting merely affect the bonuses that the races receive at the start, or does it actually make them smarter. I have been trouncing everyone at the average and bright settings, but seem to be WAY behind in most of my more recent games. My strategies haven't changed that much, but I find that the AIs have a massive number of early ships and techs, and their ships are usually much more powerful than mine. I love the game, but it seems like the starting balance is still a little off.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Brad,
would it be possible somewhere in the setup screens to set the wealth of the minor races. This would make a huge difference to gameplay and could be used to greatly alter replayability.

Paul.
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
I do find that the AI's seem to be at an initial advantage, which is why I go for rapid tech development and build trade goods. I LEASE those for the cash to max out my economy, drop taxes to zero and run at a large profit until I can afford to buy even more constructors. I don't have to demand everything, just bargain for a good lease and a win is pretty easy at AVERAGE level. The AI is getting tougher, though. It took me to almost the last tech to win in a 4x4 galaxy just now!

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
What difficulty level do you play at?
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
'Do the different AI setting merely affect the bonuses that the races receive at the start, or does it actually make them smarter.'

Some of both. The AI's 'intelligence' changes on most of the settings, and on many of them their starting resources change too.
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
How about mid-game advantages for the AI? Do they get any on higher difficulties? I am thinking about things like higher productivity or faster research.
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
I usually play with all of the AIs on Bright. If I get a good start, it isn't a problem. But I find that if I am forced into an early fighting situation, I am always at a disadvantage. This is especially true with the Drengin. I realize that they are probably a War Party with initial bonuses applied to Weapons, so I kind of understand, but it can throw off the balance early in some situations.