My game against the TDM AI
 

Well I started a single player game tonite to brush up on some skills. I decided to play TDM with FQM Deluxe. AI set to Hard with full bonus. I made sure I started with a small homeworld with poor conditions because I decided it was the only way I was gonna get a challange. I am in 17th place out of 20 players with 5 neutral races. Things may look bad for me but I think I still should be able to arise victorious. Though obviously I have underestimated the TDM ai or my need to brush up on basic skills was worse than I thought.

[ June 11, 2004, 07:59: Message edited by: Combat Wombat ]

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

I have discovered 2 large breathable planets and have moved upto 16th.

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

Who are your opponents?

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

I've found that a 19 AI player game is not as challenging as, say, a 12 or 15 AI player game. This is because the individual AI's end up with smaller empires and fight amongst themselves. Having less than the maximum empires allows the AI to expand more before it goes into defending its territory. With bigger empires, their construction bonus (if you give them a bonus) really begins to make a difference because they have more spaceyards. This leads to more and bigger AI ships, more and bigger AI fleets, etc. Just something to think about.

edit: Also, I have noticed that if you set up the game to allow the AI to get a bigger empire, they can more easily achieve the higher levels of stellar manipulation (and other costly techs) - and they will use them.

Slick.

[ June 11, 2004, 16:29: Message edited by: Slick ]

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

Agreed, having them build at least one in the V-Construction file will do the trick with the stellar manipulation ships.

Notice the way Mephisto has the Xiati AI Files set-up - now this is an AI I do not want to meet http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

[ June 11, 2004, 16:41: Message edited by: JLS ]

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

I feel... a great disturbance in the Force... as if billions of wombats suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced... I fear they bit off more than they could chew. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Are you sure you wanted a challenge, rather than a suicide? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Are you sure you wanted a challenge, rather than a suicide? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Lol, I tried this once, i added team mode on as well! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

I Lasted 60 turns and then had my behind firmly roasted and served on a platter http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

Well as I predicted things are looking up, I only have one thing really holding me back right now. Because of my homeworlds poor condidtions no one is reproducing so my homeworld can no longer build and fill colony ships without taking its population to dangerously low levels.

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">As always I'm humbled by your praise. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

Humility is good.

Naaa http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ June 12, 2004, 00:38: Message edited by: JLS ]

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

Once you have mastered SE4 you start to look for a better challange - a bast@rd AI is one way to go about it.

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

I have to admit that I also fell victem to underestimating TDM AI. What a wonderful surprise. I had begun by striking victory after victory in the early game, but then came my first Mid-game encounter with the Jnaraer. Wow. I suddenly realized that I had a challenge on my hands! It was a wonderful drawnout war. I eventually won, and was MUCH more careful come the End-game.

I had established a staging point that had my Warp openers and closers and several repair bases, defense bases, training etc at a homeworld. I would group my ships, warp into AI space and take a system. Warp back, re-group and do it again. Didn't take too long before I couldn't warp anymore because of System Shield facilities. During one such operation, the Eee kept sending one ship at a time through the warp point. Which were instantly vaporized. I got a combat message, thought, oh another single victem. But, imagine my surprise when a Massive Eee fleet was attempting the destroy my staging point! What a battle. Nearly an hour later, I was victorious, but my openers and closers were gone, all my support ships/bases dead or damaged and a new fleet in training in bad shape.

It was great.

Re: My game against the TDM AI
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The Bast@rd stepson aside.

Playing against Mephisto’s Xiati is indeed a thrill http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Thru the coarse of my TDM game and my affairs with the Xiati, I sense a tug to my right, and as I glance: I see a string raise out of the Atlantic Ocean and whilst the water droplets are falling back to the sea - I gaze upon my screen only to find the Xiati persona has changed http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

Mephisto has the Xiati AI so finely tuned that it is like the Puppets Master, with a string on the sword that is about to undertake its first slice - and this, is what it is all about http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[ June 13, 2004, 14:05: Message edited by: JLS ]