forceinfinity forceinfinity

AI maybe a bit too predictable?

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AI maybe a bit too predictable?

from Stardock Forums
I'm starting to find the AI largely unchallenging at I've noticed that all of them seem to follow a fairly predictable pattern. By that I mean that it seems that AI empires behave identically to one another. They all share the same research patterns.

I've found that I can wheel and deel for technologies in the same way from each empire. I've found that they almost never start a war with you of their own volition if you have a stronger military than them (in other words they dont take risks). They dont react to culture bombing if you plant a ton of starbases just outside of a sector that contains their planets.

In short, I find that the computer is rediculously easy to beat on all levels up to and including intelligent (Painful) Crippling is a little more challenging because of their bonus. But in all cases, I can keep more or less cause up technology-wise by getting as many trade goods and wheeling and dealing.

Just about all the empires follow this same behavior: If you have a sufficient military force, you can attack, make peace (while extorting technologies), attack and repeat a couple times. While they do get wise to this eventually, they could catch on a little bit faster than this on the tougher levels.

This one has been pointed out, but for some inexplicable reason, the AI doesn't exploit their starbase resources to their fullest.

The above behavior I describe is applicable up to and including the Crippling setting (AI all on Genius). I'm not in first, but am holding my own, and gradually wearing down the Acreans. The torians and Altarians are the two most powerful on the board, and they both got my back (ie... if I wanted, I could have an alliance). The Dregin aren't a factor. To borrow another poster's analogy (sorry for forgetting your name), that rolled up newspaper on the nose of the Dregin would probably break their nose.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to step up to Massachistic or something, because its a forgone conclusion that I'm going to win my first gigantic game (most likely by tech unless I get some luck on my side in some of these skirmishes)

I hope that we get this much hyped metaverse feature turned on where we can download the strategies used by players into the game AI and play it. Whatever happened to that feature anyways? It was hyped only a couple months before release and now its not there? That was one of the big selling points about this game.

SeanB
1,038 views 34 replies
Reply #26 from Stardock Forums Top
PS-- While as a programmer myself I know there's only so much unpredictability you can put in the AI, I think I was more hoping for some uniqueness among the AIs...in other words, the Altarians would favor a different strategy from the Torians and so on
Reply #27 from Stardock Forums Top
Using cheese only ruins your own game IMHO. But sadly there's always people who only think in high scores.

No problem with that, but if one uses cheese to get big highscores one should not complain about the AI not being a great challenge.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #28 from Stardock Forums Top
Dont confuse my statements with me using chese.... not to mention I'm too busy attempting to keep up with the AI militarily to cheese anywhere else.

I just dont like the idea of nerfing features because some people use exploits
Reply #29 from Stardock Forums Top
There seems 2 or 3 different arguments going on here. Can we refocus on the original one? As I understood it he was asking about the variability of strategies, in terms of:

a) human strategies that have a chance of succeeding at high difficulty level

b) strategies that the AI uses (in general)

c) the amount of strategy differences between the various AI races

I understand how metaverse scores, cheese and nerfing can relate to these items, but I don't think that was the original question. He was saying that there are small number of items under (a) and (b), and not much of (c). Assuming one could care less about the metaverse, and does not use ctrl-n to force an optimal starting position, do you think that the above is true?
Reply #30 from Stardock Forums Top
the Cuban Missile Crisis was stopped by a naval blockade. Russians that time had two choices, run the blockade and declare war, or back down.
End of quote


By the way, Americans has order to fire at the USSR transport if it will try to pass through blockade line. And captain of USSR submairne has orders to use all available weapons if Americans fire at the transport (conventional torpedo against Destroyer and nuclear warhead torpedo vs. AirCraft Carrier). So Cuban Missile Crisis was stopped just by luck, because if transport moved just 100-200 meters forward (ships can't stop instantly, so it was just luck), then WW3 started for sure.

P.S. Transport carried winter cloth for USSR soldiers.

~SDC~
Reply #31 from Stardock Forums Top
forceinfinity, the article you are referring to does not state that the PLAYERS can download the strategies from metaverse. Like Frogboy mentioned, the AI allready use the strategies from metaverse and hence fullfilling what frogboy promised in that article. The only difference is that it's done manually instead of automatic, bacause of all the cheese tactics.
Reply #32 from Stardock Forums Top
I was under the impression that each AI does have a different strategy. Why do you think they don't force?

It was clearly stated each major AI is its own entity. And indeed, each seems to employ a different strat to accomplish their goals. The Drengin bully, extort, go in the red to get war machines. The Arceans do something else entirely (and in fact, with 3, they do it much nastier, with whatever stats they reimplemented for them O.o ).

Unless you are referring to every specific. I suppose over time, as the AI's evolve, they will start to show other differences, like how their ships move.. what ships they build, etc. They are already starting to do this. Brad stated that one AI would start to favor and use Starbases much more than the other races. That is in indication that they are starting to to 'act differently'.

fleabitfox
Reply #33 from Stardock Forums Top
Its not possible (for 1 developer) to account for all the cheeze all of the people who play the game can come up with. Kind of surprized reading this thread that some have suggested that it should have been expected and accounted for in the Metaverse or the game. If a programmer knew what form it would take, it would be accounted for...
Reply #34 from Stardock Forums Top
cheese tactics are tactics in which a player takes advantage of a loophole in the game rule set - com napping in Total Annihilation

Hehe, then you fly him over his own anti-air... :D

I agree about making the game more fun for the majority of players rather than finding ways for the AI to defeat each new cheese tactic which pops up. If people don't like how the AI reacts to their cheesy exploits they should quit blockading stuff and milking AIs for peace deals. "I typed in Godmodeon and now the game is too easy, this has to be fixed! >:( " :d