AI still needs help :(

from Stardock Forums

I've picked up the game again and been playing Hard and the occasional V.Hard AIs on medium maps, and I've noticed that even when set to Aggressive, they just don't DO much.

Early game they're fine - a horde of Cobalts or what have yous comes out and blows me up when I'm not ready for it, sometimes a whole fleet with capital ships, but every time, around the midpoint of the game, and AI seems to just 'turn off'. Like they automatically go into some sort of defensive mode. Very rarely at that point will they attack - they just seem to build, build and build. In a four-player FFA, the two AIs that started together in the second star system haven't done anything to each other, while I wiped the floor with the one in my system, because after his intial aggressiveness wore off, I was able to easily grow, more or less left completely alone, and I was able to conquer most of his systems with little more than a carrier and a few transporters.

This is also probably contributing to the late-game minidumps and massive performance slowdowns - the AIs are just accruing resources, ships, and technology, but aren't depleting each other. Defensively they aren't too bright either - I take one planet, odds are its neighbor is going to be next, but they never move to defend it. In fact, they seem to favor just one single huge fleet that takes eons to move around.

Any chance we can see the AI get a brain makeover at some point?

19,638 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

The aggressive AI goes several levels too high into upkeep early on and its resource income gets crushed.  Combined with its very poor unit choice (LF's and SF's, primarily.  It only gets away with it thanks to its resource cheating), it gets hammered mid-late game.  The other AI's aren't much better since they still spend their money recklessly on bad units and investments.  On big maps, the AI's usually bring out trade way too late, on small maps they bring out better units like LRF's and carriers too late. 

 

These issues of priorities need to be addressed before we even talk about making the AI more proactive and less reactive, or making them intelligently split up their forces.  Or better yet, how about learning not to send caps with 500 HP and no shields into battle <_<

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

 

Once you become more comfortable and experienced with the game, you might consider playing it in online multiplayer (the Ironclad Online button), which will offer you a greater challenge, more intense, more interesting, and more meaningful games, and opponents and allies with a human intelligence who won't always act predictably.

Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Unfortunately, a lot of people like me just can't make the commitment to sit down to a game for 2 hours straight, which you have to be ready for with a game like Sins. 

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

I think what sends the AI into the turtle mode is that its decision to fight is entirely based on whether it has more ships than you.  The only time it won't retreat is when you're on the doorstep of its homeworld.  Basically no matter what difficulty you're playing, the AI will always retreat when faced with superior numbers and will never attack you with inferior numbers.  So as soon as you build a bigger fleet than it has, the remainder of the game consists of chasing the AI fleet to its homeworld.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

What Israil said sums it up i think.

I created a thread like this last month.

 

Needs some work i think, and i agree with darvin, i cant sit down for the 2 hours or more to fight.

 

I find that if i know ive won, i change team and fight on behalf of teh computer, gives me a bit mroe challenge.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

I seem to recall when I was playing back in 1.05 (and I think even early 1.10?) the Aggressive and Fortifier's were really challenging to me; I would usually play 1v2 unfair, or bring a friend and 2v4 unfair and we had to struggle to survive since they were constantly rampaging our worlds and left us very little time to do anything but defend. Over time and lots of struggle the computers skills just sort of died away and I/we just mopped the floor with them.

 

Lately however (I took a break, came back the day this patch came out for entrenchment to make it beta 2) I don't even find a challenge in 1v2 unfair anymore. I just mop the floor with them regardless; so I'm half debating on just downgrading back to 1.05 until this is corrected. They had their flaws in the earlier versions, but I still found enjoyment to be had, here however I find no enjoyment whatsoever. And online is even worse for me since 90% of players I've found simply want to rush kodiaks to try and end every game by 15minutes.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Darvin3, reply 3
Unfortunately, a lot of people like me just can't make the commitment to sit down to a game for 2 hours straight, which you have to be ready for with a game like Sins. 
End of Darvin3's quote

Yeah, lots of people have said the similar things about the time issues.  In fact I've seen that type of comment so much that I've concluded that it's one of the primary reasons why many people have no interest in the online multiplayer game.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

One thing I've noticed, finishing out a 5vA V.Hard Aggressive is that the AI seems to NEED to attack with its whole fleet. With the Vasari I can see every ship they move (a hideously powerful ability), and if you watch, you just see one single, massive, uberfleet flying around. If you go to their worlds, there's no subfleets, no defenders, nothing, just one massive rapehorde. They build and build and build until it reaches a critical mass, and then they attack you with it. If you destroy it, you've pretty much smashed everything they could throw at you... the doomfleet is something I'd expect out of a turtling AI, an Aggressive AI should be sending smaller fleets to constantly probe my flanks, using alternate routes to attack distant worlds...