Taking a second look

[Lord Felix]

I've complained about the AI being stupid and threatened to switch to another game. But I took another look Last night, and am pleased to report I got absolutely destroyed by the Modpack 1.60 Sergetti Fishheads. High difficulty, low bonus,restricted to colonizing one's own kind of planet,small map, all warp points not connected. Started in 3-connected-sectors area of map. Praetorians right next door glassed my first two colonies on about turn 6. Big war with them. Finally destroyed them. Had what I thought was fairly hefty fleet, 30 ships headed by four cruisers. Two turns after I colonized the Last of 10 planets in my 3 sectors, I got the dreaded message: Warp point opened--in my home sector. There followed this turn sequence: (1) warp point opens, (2) Sergetti fleet (50 ships lead by about 18 battle cruisers) enters my home sector, and insults me, (3) they declare war and move ships near all my home planets, (4) they incinerate all my home planets and destroy my entire fleet. Jeez. This was after they'd already wiped out the Earth Alliance (expert level). Revenge tonight!

[geoschmo]

That's great that the AI finally is showing some spunk. The Aaron's patches and the Modpack guys really have done a good job.

My only question for you is, if you felt the ai was weak to begin with, why would you make things worse by starting out a game with nll warppoints not-connected?

Geo

[Puke]

i dont know, I am playing a single player game on high difficulty, and the AI is not looking so hot without any mods. I blocaded 3 homeworlds on a 5 world start, each with about 8 escorts. meantime, a fleet of 11 hostile LCs is cruising about the system, not attacking anything.

This is a grit-tech game as described in another thread, so I am using missiles and these aliens (cant remember names, but they have the green flag with the X on it) are using torps. I throw a couple fleets at them with max-range/dont-get-hurt orders and figure the strategic AI will have them missile-dance and I will clean them out through attrition. no such luck, PD holds my smaller ships at bay, and their torps clean my clock.

This fleet could have easily fried all of my blocading fleets and set those homeworlds free, but they just puttered arround untill I ran them out of supplies (not even landing one hit on them) and now the enemy is out of resources and is probably going broke paying maintnance on that fleet. my blocades are still in place, and it will probably take me another 8 turns or so to get a force together that can approach those 11 LCs, even without supplies!

[Lord Felix]

geoschmo, I was using not-all-warps-connected for two reasons. First, I just think it makes for a more interesting game. Second, I kept making maps till I had one with many small and large sector Groups, continuing to play only when I was myself restricted to a tiny sector group, to hinder my own typically rabid expansion. Thus, I started in a 3-sector-group, with another race in the sector, while the Sergettis (how I hate them) started in an 11-sector-group, with another race in the sector. I think that's an advantage to the AI, not to me.

[Suicide Junkie]

I often use not all WPs connected, but then just generate until they all happen to be connected. Makes for a more natural-looking setup, since there arent any WPs stretching in wierd directions & distances to finish connecting everything.