Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Ok so I've been at this awhile now, and while I am immensely enjoying the game and the Multiplayer aspect, sometimes I just want to have a nice game at my own pace that I can pick up and put down whenever I choose.

In other words, I want to play against the AI. Only problem is, that the AI is rarely any sort of challenge. Ive tried handicapping myself to some extent, and that works to make it more challenging but not to make the AI less predictable.

So what do you all do to a) make the AI more entertaining and more of a challenge and b) to keep from trouncing the AI through them having stupid scales/gods?

All hints welcome :)

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

A tricky request. Less predictable,.... hmm.

You could gather some mod nations you've never used and assign them to the AI, play on a No Indy (NI) map and do the usual handicap to yourself like staling for the first 4 turns.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

SemiRandom program can assign non-stupid scales and gods to AI. I don't know if it works with NoIndependents maps, but it should work with Better Independents mod.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

With semirand all you'd have to do is add the NI code (a cut and paste) after you'd made the semirandom map file.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

The following setup works for me (for fun SP games).
1. Map - Faerun adventure version.
2. Mods - BI (Better Indeps.) resources.
Feel free to give uber mod nations to AI as well.
3. Don't hire mercs. Ever.
4. Generate the game a few times until you start in a middle position. Not in corner.

Njoy :)

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Lowering the indept strength can make the AI much stronger. Try a setting of 5.

Making a copy of the .map file of your favorite map you can add commands which change the AIs. Such as pre-designed gods and scales.

One of the things I like to exploit about AIs is that I send stealth troops to where its another AI fighting and snag provinces when they both have ruined their armies on each other. There are commands you can add to the .map file which will ally AIs so they wont attack each other. If you want to try a small game like that you can login to one of these.
http://game.dom3minions.com/bin/vsAI_chk.cgi
Since AIs are in the game you can go ahead and hit START right away, or wait for more humans to join.

You can also use map commands to grant extra units and castles. If you want to try that taken to an extreme you can login to one of these games.
http://game.dom3minions.com/bin/Chaos_chk.cgi
Again you can start it right away and play by yourself, or wait for others to join.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Lowering the indept strength can make the AI much stronger. Try a setting of 5.

Making a copy of the .map file of your favorite map you can add commands which change the AIs. Such as pre-designed gods and scales.

One of the things I like to exploit about AIs is that I send stealth troops to where its fighting another AI and snag provinces when they both have ruined their armies on each other. There are commands you can add to the .map file which will ally AIs so they wont attack each other. If you want to try a small game like that you can login to one of these.
http://game.dom3minions.com/bin/vsAI_chk.cgi
Since AIs are in the game you can go ahead and hit START right away, or wait for more humans to join.

You can also use map commands to grant extra units and castles. If you want to try that taken to an extreme you can login to one of these games.
http://game.dom3minions.com/bin/Chaos_chk.cgi
Again you can start it right away and play by yourself, or wait for others to join.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

My suggestion always: design all the playing nations by yourself... yours and the enemy one(s) :) You play them for some turns to recruit some elite units/research some critical early spell/ conquer some easy indies, and then turn all the ones you don't want to play AI. It may seem boring, but you'll maybe find yourself continuing to play those nations more often than you imagine ;)

Of course you'll need to avoid blesses or SCs in need of equipment for the enemy nations, as those aren't well managed by the AI later. For them, go for good scales and/or strong mages with national paths, researchers, or natural SCs like dragons, manticores/4 armed gods etc :cool:

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

I don't think the AI has any idea what to do with dragons, four armed pretenders etc. They might be able to use a dom10 wyrm with no magic, but anything else is pretty much a waste for them.

Also the OP asked for unpredictable opponents - managing the start of the AIs makes them more predictable if anything.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Inspired by Baalz' recent guide on Niefelheim, I just added superskrattir as a recruitable unit for Niefelheim and its descendants.

--experiments
#newmonster 2479
#copystats 1652
#name "Superskratti"
#gcost 700
#magicskill 2 2
#magicskill 7 1
#copyspr 1652
#weapon 101
#weapon 149
#weapon 20
#berserk 3
#prot 18
#attack 13
#defense 13
#end

#selectnation 17
#addrecunit 2479
#addreccom 2479
#end
#selectnation 42
#addrecunit 2479
#addreccom 2479
#end
#selectnation 63
#addrecunit 2479
#addreccom 2479
#end

(For some reason that I'm still trying to work out, the troop versions appear as wolves and not werewolves.)

It's true these guys are slightly too strong--natural prot synergizes with berserk better than armor prot, and these guys get the Quickness bonus to att/def but could actually cast Quickness on top of that. I don't figure that will matter though, against the AI, because he probably won't be fielding nearly as many as a human player would. 700 gold is my wild guess at how much gold you're losing out on by collecting enough blood slaves to forge Baalz's suggested equipment.

I've been looking into Amos' angel nations recently, and Aezael's dragon nations, as opponents. I'd rather do something like this, though, which is within a nation's capabilities even if the AI usually doesn't do it.

-Max

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Another thing
When you are playing an SP game - you will get much more challenging results if you simply choose your opponents instead of letting them be random.

For example if you wish to play caelum - choose all your enemies to be fire dominion. Abysia, etc. if you choose nations that are not, make them toughter nations.

Don't choose pushover nations, like jomon or yomi.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

Dunno what you base this on, I've often found the AI send the Manticore or others on my way together with an army, surely sometimes non-optimally scripted (i.e. sometimes just put on casting offensive spells in the first turns) but generally I've had more than decent results. :)

More than letting the AI design its Dragon with 3 magic paths at 8, and than starving his neverending armies of militia in Cold-3 Death-3 dominion for sure ;)

And the answer that comes directly from the author... ;)

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

I wrote a mod, a long time ago, which added cheap ready-made thug summoning spells. Playing this with the AI made the game a bit more interesting because you would occassionally be fighting against a regular AI army but with 3-4 kitted banes or somesuch. Worked out ok - if you like I could try and dig it up again.

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

I'd like that mod, Ironhawk. As a human it's trivial to consider such thugs "off-limits" but the AI should have fun with it.

Unlike a real thug, I presume, you can't loot items off the bodies (there's no way to give summons *items* in addition to *effects*). That's probably for the best.

-Max

Re: Making Single Player more Exciting
 

I just play against all the nations of an era on huge maps. The nations designed by chance to suck get eaten by the better ones and then the AI has their capitals and their share of provinces.