Way to amp the enemy AI

[Griffin Cloud]

Here is a way to amp the enemy AI without messing around with too much stuff... download an AI that's pretty good first and install it.

Ok:

1) Research stellar manipulation as fast as possible while fighting your neighbors
2) Use the close warp point to completely cut yourself off from about 2/3 of the galaxy...
3) This will cause all enemy AI in the other sectors to ignore you as you have lost communication from them
4) Proceed to destroy the enemy AI around you, or do as I did, subjugate and absorb them into your empire.
5) I spent most of my time using the enemy AI I absorbed to colonize their breathable worlds across my section of the galaxy, and making them get along *sigh* they seem to get angry when near each other.
6) Choose a section of the galaxy to reopen the wormholes to...
7) When you enter their part of the galaxy prepare for only one or two enemy AI to have survived and they will be incredibly strong..
8) have fun!

[Arkcon]

I recently did something similar. I set up a TDM Modpack game, high AI bonus, not all warp points connected, cluster galaxy, and kept regenerating until I liked the map.

Each AI had its own 3 systems to grow in before they started opening warp points of their own.

It was interesting, first of all, the AI uses some insane algorithim for determining how to open warp points -- example, open a warp point in the lower right sector of a system, leading to the far upper left quadrant. Nothing wrong with that, but where did it get the idea.

I had to scramble to get master computers cause I met the Toron first, but they stayed friendly. Meh. Capturing planets was a pain, 60 shielded troops can really ruin your troops's day. Then I met the Earth Alliance, and I thought, hmmm, I'll go toe to toe with them. Their fighters vs my fighters. I got slaughtered. Too many fighters on their side despite my best efforts.

[EDIT]

And who, I say who, taught the Toron to build star destroyers? I mean seriously, we both had just met the Earth Alliance, and they're not getting along, so its *poof* bye-bye star? That's just not friendly, they should have at least told me not to be transiting the system at that moment.

[ April 14, 2004, 15:05: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

[Atrocities]

This tactic and strategy is one of the oldest in the book and still valid even to this day. Isolation + plus research + dumb Ai = a sweet victory.

[Puke]

if you want to make the AI stronger, there is an easy way that Tampa Gamer created a simple mod for a few years ago. I lost the mod, but its easy to make:

create a custom culture with high bonuses to everything. like maybe +50% or +200% to everything. Then edit the AI general files to all use that culture. Then play with a high bonus.

For even greater challenge, play with 5000 point AIs and only use 0 points for yourself. maybe take no cultural bonus yourself, or take penalites to attack and defense.

more importantly, play in a small quadrant so that you cant isolate and build up. the AI's bonus becomes useless the more you can expand.

[Yef]

My favor trick to make the AI stronger its to begin the game with 20 Empires, no neutrals, and players see all stats. Then, as I'm going making contact, I consolidate the AIs by surrendering the weakest to the stronger, as part of a roleplayed storyline, so it makes sense.

Right now I'm about turn 350, and only 12 AIs are left, most of them surrendered to the Amon'krie, who have become the biggest fish in the quadrant.

Next turn, probably next week because I have very limited time to play, I will log in as the AIs to leave only 4 of them, make peace between them, and then declare war on myself . It will be 4 HyperEmpires against my Kingdom. Oh, and I will leave the Sallega as my ally for roleplaying purposes. The Sallega only have 3 systems, so it will not alter the balance of power in my favor.

I have also come up with a few in-house rules to have a more challenging game against the AI:

1- Colonize only out of Homeworld. Using the Border systems as forward colonizer builders give you too much of an advantage when playing the AI, because the AI builds espensive colonizers with cloacking devices, shields and even PDCs, who take too long to build, and are built only out of core planets.

2- Space shipyards only on Home system.

3- No closing of warp points. Closing a warp point is the worst exploit we can make against the AI. My rule is that for every warp point I close another have to be opened in the same system. This is to allow for a sensible rearrengment of the warp point network for effectiveness sake, but not as a military strategy against the AI. So, the objective is to eliminate the creation of artificial choke points by closing warp points as a mean to channel the AI into a killing pit.

4- No mothballing. The tactic of building a mighty fleet during peace time, and mothballing it on top of a planet with ship and fleet training facilities so they are fully trained 13 months after mobilization, is way too unbalancing in the player's favor. Whatever you build, you should pay the maintenance for.

5- No sun or planet destroying. Way to easy.

6- No switching of pops to breathable planets. The AI doesn't do it. (As far as I can tell)


That's what I got so far. I'll see if I can find any other tactic that may be thought of as "unhonourable" against the AI.

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by Yef:

4- No mothballing. The tactic of building a mighty fleet during peace time, and mothballing it on top of a planet with ship and fleet training facilities so they are fully trained 13 months after mobilization, is way too unbalancing in the player's favor. Whatever you build, you should pay the maintenance for.

IMHO, I think your mothballing rule is perfectly reasonable, you should be able to afford the military you intend to have. But I just wanted to point out, that mothballed ships gain no experience from training facilities, and lose all experience thay had when mothballed. So the exploit you're avoiding isn't there.

I don't often use training facilities against the AI, unless I want to steamroll over the AI because I find that amusing as well. I do park fleets at warp points, and rotate out ships as the gain 3-5% experience. That's enough of an exploit, as the AI just doesn't do that.