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.

[Paul1980au]

This is how i got about a 255 system game with no neturals and 20 empires.

Usually encounter 1 or 2 to start with - go on the offensive if you are lucky and start with a rock race and they have gas and ice you dont wipe them out 100% get them to surrender point (invade smaller planets with troops) - then with their homeworld pop on 4000M take transports and swap their atmosphere to youre planets which are domed - undomed planets with capture enemy setlers house much more research labs etc.

Anyway by the time you have taken 2 out you can keep colonizing forward , the next techs to get are fighters, shielding and boarding parties.

FIghters are good early game esp against those with planets with missile defenses - cant target em so you can kill defensive WPs and invade with troops. - later on its harder with fighters but once you find youre fighter fleets are challanged get mines and lay as you invade each system.

Boarding parties are useful for capturing enemy ships with new technologies - get a repair ship with the fleet - repair then pull back to a shipyard for anayiseing. Also capturing their ships is good as you can repair then use without making new ships - you can reduce shipyards this way - just make sure you occasionaly rotate some ships out and get them upgraded (retrofit with new designs)

Anyway once you get surrender from inital couple of races you come up against 4 or 5 other slightly stronger ones - they can make mince of youre fighters so you need to go after shielding tech and long range shield skipping weapons (polarised phase beam is good) use heavy mounts on ships to - cruisers are good - make youre own designs with a few board parties and solar collectors (extend ship range) now you can skp their shields and keep fighters for defensive purposes ( a few WPs help to) - research cloaking early on helps to - if you have an invasion fleet (couple of carriers full with fighters - can be made in 2nd line systems away from the front - cruisers, a few escorts with point defense cannons - can take missile fire from defenses to protect transports, have a few transports filled up with ground troops) have a repair ship (add shipyard ship later on to with cargo to make fighter, mines and troops on the run) and just keep moving forward - get shipyard and resupply and miner planets first - take their edge empire planets - defend them and then pump out resupply ships etc. Then just keep moving out - backline planets can keep pop transport, colong ships and boarding ships coming.

Mid game you gotta move quick to tighten youre grip - move the weapons and shipyard techs up, pump out the ships upgrade the mineral facilities and try to defeat the larger empires or at least take a large chunk of territory. Then endgame you can use star destroyers and bigger ships with smaller escorts to mop up remaining resistance and utilise intel projects.