Does Hard AI get bonus income now?

from Sins Forums

It really seems like this do.  In vanilla Sins, I was easily able to defeat Unfair AI, and had a good chance against Cruel and won most of the time.  Now, I'm having trouble against even hard difficulty, and although I am a bit rusty, I am still using the same general strategy I always used before.  But I'm not here to complain about the difficulty.  I just want to know if they get income boosts at Hard now, because i don't remember that being the case before.  They are able to afford Titans and multiple new capital ships right after I destroyed one even with just several planets left.  And they can't be saving that much money because they put up a good fight with a sizable fleet the whole time.

15,556 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

They do get bonus income just like they always have. I'm just not sure if it was decreased or increased. The AI was improved so they are able to save resources for large projects such as getting a titan.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Greenzoid, reply 1

They do get bonus income just like they always have. I'm just not sure if it was decreased or increased. The AI was improved so they are able to save resources for large projects such as getting a titan.
End of Greenzoid's quote

Yeah, the last patch did increase their resource bonus and perhaps their competence, while the normal AI had its slight resource bonus removed.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Seriously?  Does every RTS really need to give resource bonuses to every higher level of AI?  It's nothing more than artificial difficulty.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Manick2005, reply 3

Seriously?  Does every RTS really need to give resource bonuses to every level of AI?  It's nothing more than artificial difficulty.
End of Manick2005's quote

Well you said you used to beat unfair before, it has always had resource cheats and its bonuses have not changed (at least recently). If you're having trouble with it now then that is probably mostly due to either it getting better or you being rusty. ;)  

 

And yes, one of the hardest things to get the AI to do is to manage resources well. Giving it some level of a resource cheat counteracts all the stupid things it buys so it is actually a challenge. The normal AI is technically the same as the hard AI without resource cheats... I think you'll find it is no challenge at all without that crutch.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

does the AI pick research items completely at random?


I would think you could fake a strategy out of them by supplying lists of combos (such as getting phase missile upgrades + assailants, or shield upgrades + guardians + shield restore) that it randomly picks from.

Then when it has some spare cash and has finished achieving all the previously selected combos, do a fleet expansion + pick another set of combos.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting SithLordAJ, reply 5

does the AI pick research items completely at random?


I would think you could fake a strategy out of them by supplying lists of combos (such as getting phase missile upgrades + assailants, or shield upgrades + guardians + shield restore) that it randomly picks from.

Then when it has some spare cash and has finished achieving all the previously selected combos, do a fleet expansion + pick another set of combos.
End of SithLordAJ's quote

Actually I know a few of us modders do exactly this. The AI tends to prioritize techs that unlock things like new ships and structures, as humans do. Mods like my Enhanced 4X Mod, ZombiesRus' Sins of the Fallen, and Lavo's Sins of a Galactic Empire take advantage of this by making fake ship unlock research that only the AI can access, and giving techs we think the AI should get (phase missiles, Advent shield mitigation etc.) as prerequisites.

This does lead to the AI making smarter tech picks, and is one of the few ways modders can make the AI actually better without cheats. However, it only works if the AI is in a decent economic position, which it often is not due to its basic management incompetence. Hence it is not really enough to replace the resource cheats, since without money smarter research priorities counts for nothing.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 6
However, it only works if the AI is in a decent economic position, which it often is not due to its basic management incompetence.
End of GoaFan77's quote

Sadly, that isn't even the case. In SoGE where the AI gets free research, that is 0 resource cost of any kind, it still levels off and stops researching at arbitrary moments. The AI really is broken when it comes to research.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Lavo_2, reply 7
Sadly, that isn't even the case. In SoGE where the AI gets free research, that is 0 resource cost of any kind, it still levels off and stops researching at arbitrary moments. The AI really is broken when it comes to research.
End of Lavo_2's quote

We've been here before on IM.  ;)  My AI seems to always research everything if given enough resources, although that usually also means having enough for it to max out its fleet. If I remember correctly SoGE has more than 2000 fleet supply... perhaps that inadvertently ensures the AI will never research everything because it is harder for it to max out its fleet.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

It would be better if resource bonuses were not hard-coded.

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting trigorin, reply 9

It would be better if resource bonuses were not hard-coded.
End of trigorin's quote

Agreed.  Then we might be able to fine tune the difficulty levels a little more.

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top

I wonder if it is possible to add a research that gives negative income bonus.  Give it zero cost, and place icon outside of the window such that only the AI can see it... Mmm can't resist free tech... oops DEBUFF.  :grin:

IncomePercLost sounds like a promising modifierTypeFloat.