And you said the AI is easy?

spacefan · #1 April 28th, 2002, 01:59 AM

Everyone has been saying that you need to give the AI a bonus to make it fair. So I decided to play my first game with the AI having a bonus.

I set my empire up as psychic, cause I was planning on capturing as much tech as possible. So I started with two warp points, and 12 possible colonies. Great system to start with.

I start building colonies, and the eee show up with a damaged ship through a black hole warp point. so I stop building colony ships and start building attack ships with missile (still escorts at this point. I started with Pyschic Tech research)

I manage to hold off the EEE, later they declare peace. Ok but while I'm fighting off a bunch of eee colony ships that keep coming through that black hole warp point, another empire Jraener I think, shows up. missile ships, they start with escorts. Either I don't know how to fight with missile ships or something, but both of my ships were cripple to destroy his. So I get frigates I'm building up. He destroys all my colonies except my homeworld(none have WP on them).

Ok, I manage to repel him, and build 3 frigates and a escort. Then I build those colonies again. I notice the construction and maintenance is giving me a loss in minerals.

I get attacked by destroyers next. (about turn 20) I had 3 frigates and a escort with missile 1, he has a destroyer with missile 2. So I lose one frigate, and destroy that way. Next thing he breaks through with 3 destroyers and I'm building more frigates. He destroys all my colonies again!

About turn 25 he has light cruisers and I have no colonies, and working on military science to get PDC, but he has enough force to take out my ships defending the homeworld, and I can't expand. So I resigned. A loss.

Is this something inevitable, that sometimes no matter what you do you lose. Or would you start up differently and not research Psychic Tech so early? normally I don't get PDC right away, but should I research for that right away? and should I go with weapon platforms right away instead of ships?

How do you start up, when playing on high dificulty with a bonus? And how do you react when you find 2 enemies on both sides of you?

Gandalph · #2 April 28th, 2002, 02:06 AM

3 Words
Defense, Defense, Defense

Tip:
Mines work well against the AI in the early game.

[ 28 April 2002: Message edited by: Gandalph ]

Master Belisarius · #3 April 28th, 2002, 03:11 AM

Gandalph said a wise advice!

You could try with medium bonus, for example, and when you start to feel that the games are so easy for you, move to high bonus again.

mac5732 · #4 April 28th, 2002, 06:11 AM

My opinion only, in beginning, design at least a smll wp, buid at least 1 or 2 on your main planets and at least one on your 4-5 resource worlds, then build your facilities. However, while your doing this, research and get mines, put some up over your planets, this should help you stay alive until you research more, also as soon as you get mines, research missle2

just some ideas mac

spacefan · #5 April 28th, 2002, 05:20 PM

I was playing on low bonus in that game and lost. But I agree with the Weapons Platform. I started another game with propulsion experts and heavy attack/defense bonusses, and built platforms early and then expanded.

I did find the Norak early. But I managed to take a bunch of their planets and then got them to surrender, which gave me Rock Colonies. That really helped my economy. But I'm in 3rd place with pretty good tech and resources (80k minerals/turn), battleships, combat support and sensors researched for all those bonuses, as well as point defense, which has helped me tremendously against the #1 race who is using tons of missile ships.

I'm fightning a war on two fronts though. I was allied with the #2 race for a long time, with their ships all over my territory, and then they declared war and wreaked havoc, so now I'm working on them mainly, and I have 2 warp points where I am defending #1.

Its a lot of fun, so I guess giving them a bonus makes a better game. It reminds me of an epic run of SE2 I had a long time ago where I ended up defending my empire at one warp point with almost 200 ships, and having battles in tactical mode that took days.

Baron Munchausen · #6 April 28th, 2002, 07:20 PM

The AI is quite tough in the early game because the 'patterns' it has to figure out are very simple. Finding a hostile AI right next to you is one of the ways to have a pretty tough game. Starting with an AI in your home system is very, very tough. Try allowing players to start in the same system some time. But by the late game when there are many planets, ships, and units to manage and many technologies to use the AI becomes confused and dramatically loses it's effectiveness. Even on the high difficulty setting with a bonus it can be very stupid. Something needs to be improved to make it able to make clear decisions in the complex setting of the late game.