I hate a cheat

Arkcon · #1 January 18th, 2003, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by couslee:
The Phong pop a colony ship through the wormhole, and colonize a planet. I happen to have a fleet right there, so I detach a bomber and head over to remove him from his newly acquired planet. They have not had this planet for one full turn even.

What do I find?
2m population, which is fine, glad to see the AI is smart enough to not use full colonizers.
and a resupply depot..... HUH?

That is totally bizarre. Are you sure you're looking at the correct planet, and it has really been < 1 turn?
Seriously, this type of misunderstanding happens often.

Quote:

Originally posted by couslee:

what other cheats can I look forward to?

Well, giving the AI a bonus at startup is essentially a cheat, you give it 2X, 3X, or 5X the resource, research and intel income. But they shouldn't alter construction rate. This is the stock Phong, right? 'Tho I've never altered racial chateristics to get 1 turn resupply depots either.

couslee · #2 January 18th, 2003, 03:39 PM

when I set up the game, I gave the AI "high" bonus. But even if that affected construction, the facility should not have been built in the same turn as colonization. Yes, it's the stock Phong. I have only made a couple of minor changes to the text file, none of which would apply to this. (and not talking about the AI txt files either.)

They had owned this planet once before. Could there be left over facilities? i don't think so.

They came through the wormhole and colonized, I attacked.they had been comming through the worm hole before and not making it as far at the lower planets (wormhole at top of system). thats why my fleet was sitting there. And I am sure the planet was not colonized at the end of the previous turn (nor had it been colonized)

[ January 18, 2003, 13:40: Message edited by: couslee ]

geoschmo · #3 January 18th, 2003, 06:05 PM

couslee, the only question here is whether or not the Phong in your game have sufficent build speed to get a resupply depot in one turn. If they do then it is perfectly reasonable that the resupply depot would be built by the time you got there. Construction occurs at the end of the turn. Being that this is a single player, turn-based game, the AI ship moved to the planet, the colony was established, and the supply depot put in the queue during the turn. The construction would have occured at the end of that turn, and if completed in 1 turn would be done befor you got there. That part is not cheating. It would be impossible in a simultaneous turn game however, becasue he wouldn't have access to the build queue right away.

That being said I have never heard of the AI bonuses giving advantages in construction speed. Although I suppose it's possible. Did you modify the Phong empire setup before the game? How many racial points? In a 5000 point game the stock Phong get an extra 20% to construction rate.

And how much population did they have on the colony. If the colonizer had advanced cargo comps, or if it was a larger hull size they could have had extra population which would have resulted in higher than normal build rates.

Geoschmo

Mephisto · #4 January 18th, 2003, 06:10 PM

The AI does not cheat. Never. Trust me, I can't count the hours I have watched it.

Rollo · #5 January 18th, 2003, 07:26 PM

The AI does have a construction bonus as with production and research.
Geo , I am surprised you didn't know that

.
Other than that, what Geo described (construction at end of turn in a turn based game) is correct. The AI didn't cheat.

Rollo

[ January 18, 2003, 17:28: Message edited by: Rollo ]

geoschmo · #6 January 18th, 2003, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rollo:
The AI does have a construction bonus as with production and research.
Geo , I am surprised you didn't know that .
Other than that, what Geo described (construction at end of turn in a turn based game) is correct. The AI didn't cheat.

Rollo

I didn't play against the AI all that much in the begining, and haven't at all in a long time. Even then it's hard to tell what exactly the bonus is the AI has. I just assumed it was only for resource production, not construction.

Geoschmo

Arkcon · #7 January 18th, 2003, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by geoschmo:

quote:
Originally posted by Rollo:
The AI does have a construction bonus as with production and research.
Geo , I am surprised you didn't know that .
Other than that, what Geo described (construction at end of turn in a turn based game) is correct. The AI didn't cheat.

Rollo

I didn't play against the AI all that much in the begining, and haven't at all in a long time. Even then it's hard to tell what exactly the bonus is the AI has. I just assumed it was only for resource production, not construction.

Geoschmo

Yikes, thats a new one on me. I had no clue.

When people notice the most agressive AI's take maintenance reduction -- I always wondered if linking dieferent levels of maintenance reduction to the AI bonus would serve the AI better -- who knows that may already be happening.

[ January 18, 2003, 18:37: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

Slick · #8 January 18th, 2003, 08:52 PM

I hate to bring this up, but from the FAQ:

1.4.1 AI bonuses applies to intelligence, research and resources, exist in x2, x3 and x5. Construction rates: Low x1.5, medium x2, high x3 (Suicide Junkie, Rexxx)

Slick

Fyron · #9 January 18th, 2003, 11:48 PM

Couslee, it is not cheating. You gave them that bonus at game startup. It would only be cheating if you had no control over it. But even with those bonuses, the AIs still aren't very good opponents at all.

PvK · #10 January 18th, 2003, 11:50 PM

That's what the "Computer Player Bonus" settings do when you set up a new game. Not "Difficulty", but "Bonus". If you don't want the AI to have a bonus, set it to "None," which is the default. It doesn't get an advantage unless the player gives it one.

PvK