Re: suggestion about commanders
 

The AI is cheating on harder diff. levels? [Example: Civ3. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif ]

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

Yes.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">1. The AI still have problems with the Ashen Empire, but fortunately it is not the standard theme for Ermor.

2.The AI have learned how to gather blood slaves, use blood magic and make blood sacrifices. This was necessary as AI-Mictlan would die very quickly otherwise. They must sacrifice to get dominion.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Bah! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/blush.gif

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">if cheating is receiving quantitative advantages, then yes the AI cheats. I dont think that new (refined) algorithms are used on higher levels of difficulties (few games have ever done that, but Gal civ function like that).

what I dont know is, does the AI have access to informations it is not supposed to gather, like in Age of wonders, the AI which dont have the fog of war.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

It hardly seems like cheating (per se) for the AI to take production bonuses, if the player told them to do so in the game settings.

PvK

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

no problems too on that, I wanted to know what he means by cheating.

On the other hand I would hate to discover that AI plays without fog of war.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Play a 1-on-1 game on a huge map against an AI nation like Caelum or Pangaea, after a dozen turns it will start landing hawks or wolves on your provinces.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

He can use spies too you know. It doesn't mean he’s cheating if he starts landing arrows from afar. I'm not 100% sure but I think he can't see whole map. In one of my games I had increased my defense forces significantly and had steady patrols along borders, so they would intercept any spies. When arrows and flames started coming they would only attack commanders along the borders and in my home province. That gave me impression that he can't see whole map but as I said I can't be 100% sure. Only devs can answer that one.

Re: suggestion about commanders
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">if cheating is receiving quantitative advantages, then yes the AI cheats. I dont think that new (refined) algorithms are used on higher levels of difficulties (few games have ever done that, but Gal civ function like that).

what I dont know is, does the AI have access to informations it is not supposed to gather, like in Age of wonders, the AI which dont have the fog of war.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ah, Gal Civ, my other addiction!

I shouldn't be mistaken as anybody who has any kind of authoritative info on the AI's inner workings but, if I remember some Illwinter-posted comments from the beta-forum, the harder AIs get more design points to spend at the begining of the game and that's it. If you choose for them to have such an advantage, then they can spend those points on stronger gods, more advantageous scales, and/or better forts, but they otherwise have to play by the same rules as the player.

Circumstantial evidence from the oddball game I played Last night (I just kept having lucky break after lucky break! It was awesome! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif ) certainly indicates the AI doesn't have any Secret Knowledge at the Normal level at least.

In this game, the AI-led Ulm attacked north around a lake when my southern defenses were nothing but a sham. Northward, my Jotun armies were gathering beyond the border provinces to eventually sweep around the lake and attack. Those same armies were well able to withstand the assualt and then pressed forward to redefine the border quite substantially in my favor.

To the south, the border provinces themselves were defended to the same degree as the northern borderlands, but there wasn't anything of note beyond them. If one had fallen, the path would have been clear for a rampage or possibly even the conquest of a large part of my empire. (Did I mention I got a lot of lucky breaks? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif )There's no way the AI would have chosen to go north instead of south if it had known what lay beyond the bordering provinces!

If they did know where my military strength really lay but had chosen to assualt the northern armies before they could strike, past experiences show they wouldn't have gone about things the way they did, with a less-than-overwhelming multi-pronged attack. They were not all that threatened where they were (due to their own Dominion being stronger than mine there, plus a good degree of provincial Defence in place) so it simply wasn't time for a desperate move. The AI only makes futile assaults if you've bottled them up so thoroughly that they have no other options.