Re: SE\'s Best Quality, And How to Improve It
 

That type of behavior is not going to earn you much respect around here, aside from the fact that trolling is liable to get you kicked out.

Notice the comment draws attention to the problem without singling you out. Many people have done it when they first got here.
Just take the tip and improve your posts with it.

Re: SE\'s Best Quality, And How to Improve It
 

One of the hardest things for the AI to do is change tactics. For example if it meets a race of Missilers, have it start producing ships heavy in AntiMissiles. That is the line that humans can exploit and win.

Re: SE\'s Best Quality, And How to Improve It
 

That should be possible, but the problem is that if the AI is predictable in that route as well, it can again be exploited by a clever human player.

The problem with making really good AI is programming it. It takes a great deal of time and can slow your computer to a crawl if you make it too complex.

Re: SE\'s Best Quality, And How to Improve It
 

The problem with AI is the same with human. How confident are you in your prediction.
Imagine two emperors of SE, A and B, who can see each other's weaponry.
A is making a fleet of missileship, and is now thinking about a smaller but hidden fleet to defend it. How will he choose?
Point-defense corvets, since B will build lot of fighter which are protected against missiles?
Or cruisers because B will not build fighters, as he knows A wants to build a defending fleet, so he will build cruisers with point-defense?

Thinking about it, A as another probleme: "must I continue building my missileships if B can counter them?".

In most case, B will never have to defend himself, because A will hesitate.

If B had only 2 choices, fighters or PDF-cruisers, A could crush him with high-range torpedoes, but as A and B are equals, they both stuck in the trap/coutner-trap/counter-counter-trap/...
Against a human, you will be like A and B.
Against an AI, you will encounter a quite different problem: what level of AI is it? trap? counter-trap? CCC-trap?

thebigsilly
 

Personally, I took thebigsilly's response about MOD to be a joke, and I thought it was kinda funny.

To be persnickety, if mod. is an abbreviation for "modification," then it needs a period after it. Maybe it's an acronym for "Modification Of Design," in which case "MOD" is correct. Although, commonly used acronyms often drop the capitals, as in radar and laser. In which case, "mod" is correct. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

AI vs. human
 

The problem with AIs is that (usually) they do the same thing every time. Even if you randomize strategies at the start of a game, once you figure out which AI enemies are using which strategy you've got the drop on them.

I like to play solo, so I always decide at the start of a game what my empire is going to do and then stick with it.

A favorite role-play is to pretend to be defense-only isolationists. This limits expansion and gives the AIs a head start. Inevitably, one AI gets very aggressive and demanding. Maybe they crash a warp point and raze one of my colonies. My people become incensed and outraged. Nothing but unconditional surrender will satisfy them. Depending on treaties, this can snowball into war with multiple AIs, or my people can go isolationist again.

Another role-play is to decide that my people are blood-thirsty savage xenophobes, who immediately declare war on anyone they meet and glass every colony they encounter.

Another role-play is to be as pacifist as possible (short of surrendering) while still being expansionist. Maybe use intel a lot also.

Another fun thing is to make two human-controlled empires at the start. One is normal; the other is The Ancients. You use cheat codes profusely for the latter to get them super-advanced. You seed the galaxy with undefended supercolonies, computer-controlled uberships, maybe even some heavily-defended ringworlds. Then you have them abandon everything and retreat to one system with a sphereworld, knocking out all warp connections. (This can all be done in a few turns. You can temporarily change all empires to "human-controlled" and have them do nothing until The Ancients are set up.) For the rest of the game, just hit "end turn" every time The Ancients comes up. (Impt: don't use any ministers for them!) See how long it takes you to contact The Ancients. Toss a coin to see if they're happy to see you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif (Oh, also, give them high intel points and set it all to defense. Otherwise an AI might use AI to get their sphereworld. Unless you WANT that to happen....)

Re: thebigsilly
 

Mod is not an acronym or abbreviation; it is a full word in its own right.

Re: thebigsilly
 

The AI is actually quite good at doing random things.
The trick is trying to make "random" be good for the empire rather than really bad http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

mod
 

Hey, you're right, at least according to some dictionaries. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

random AI
 

LOL. Anyone else see this article in New Scientist, about how neurotic AIs defeat rational AIs?
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/tec...top-gamer.html