Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

Agreed. There have been some threads on that. Which scales and pretenders the AI uses best. And of course some testing might be a good idea before posting it. Some fantastic options open up when you realize that you can not only build the god and scales, but you can select a full set of equipment to give that god. Surely that sparks some evil creativity to see what you can create and how that would play as an AI.

There are other things that can be done also. Adding a magic site or two. Specific ones that help to push the AI in the "right" direction. Such as, giving the AI more resources tends to push it into making more elite troops.

Also giving an extra castle or two for a head start. Extra units (kindof like giving them pre-purchased mercenaries to start the game with).

But scenario maps ARE an option, and one that we havent seen many people trying. Im all for anyone being brave enough to put one forth as "my effort to create a better badder Ermor", or Ctis, or Machaka, or Mictlan.

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

In my experience, the most important adjustment needed by the AIs is a growth scale. Also typically you pray the AI doesn't choose a large pretender, because otherwise it will blindly send him to the death match arena. Nothing is more SAD then watching a bunch of AI pretenders blindly kill each other from the arena death match. The AIs don't build SC's either so typically on a large map I'll give them a half a dozen at the start of the game. The AI almost always does poorly at research, but if you give the AI a library at its capital it can keep up with the human opponent.
In Dominions_2 I use to provide a few AIs a magic site with blood income, a few immobile commanders with blood magic, then have them start the game with specific blood spells. This allowed the AI to wisely use blood magic where it previously never even researched blood magic. I also would have them start the game with dome spells. Every weekend I have a different level_9 astral mage cast WISH so the #startspell gets fixed in Dominions_3... maybe one of these days. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

> Every weekend I have a different level_9 astral mage cast WISH so the #startspell gets fixed in Dominions_3... maybe one of these days.

It is not so much getting it fixed as making it up from scratch, in a more complicated way than in dom2. Still, wishes might come true.

Edit : removed smilie not to get peoples hopes up http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

This thread has some interesting depth and ideas in it. If (big word), it can be determined which pretenders are optimal for the AI, that has the potential to be an additional level of difficulty, ie. a best pretender level, and I see the opportunity for another super impossible level where the AI gets best pretender and two provinces with castles and maybe an extra 50 or so scale points.

I made pretenders for the AI, but they didn't perform as well as the randoms did. Of course, as I realize now, I was making pretenders that would jibe with my play style. This weekend I'm going to try immobile pretenders, good/great scales and throw the balance into rainbow magic.

Gandalf clued me into the low resource game several weeks ago and that is all I play now (resource 50%). It plays quite differently than the high resource games I used to play. The AI is certainly less self destructive because it is not fielding armies with several hundred chaff. I assume that the AI decision tree uses number of units as a key decision factor, so it seems to play a bit better. It definately builds more castles and better units, on the whole. On the other hand, it does seem to be less aggressive, probably because it doesn't have as many units. In my current game with half the AI at level 3, half at level 4 (difficult and mighty?) I am getting a good run for my money. (I am not a superstar player, just someone muddling through.)

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

Have you tried the no independents mods or maps Edratman? They force the AIs to build national troops only, which tends to increase the quality of their troops loads.

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

I haven't tried the no independents games because I like using independents myself. Some are pretty cool.

I'll go out of my way to conquer Amazon provinces because of the sacred troops and the same with giants because I like giant commanders and give them the bow of lightening with the strength enhancing boots and bracers if I can. Too bad they are not more common. They are not quite as good as the etheral crossbow, but you can do them earlier and they fire every turn.

That does raise a question, is there anyway to alter the ratio of human/non-human independents? I seem to get a much higher ration of human independents in my current map series. Based on Gandalf's advice, I make custom maps, (trying to do this from memory) 3000 X 2400 resolution, 350 to 400 provinces, mountains 95, ruggedness 85, water 15
rivers about 300. Are these settings a factor?

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

There are more nonhumans and barbarians and stuff in the early era IIRC.

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

I've been trying to figure it out for a while, but now I give up. What does IIRC mean?

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

If I Remember Correctly. AFAIK.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

JAzzepi

Re: Noob question about AI and diplomacy
 

Thanks. The clever reply was noted. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Believe it or not, I tried looking it up in the abbreviations in the back of the manual.

It's obvious to me that I'm a bit behind the curve on the acronym usage.