Finally
 

Finally. My new copy of Space Empires IV came in yesterday. Played in nonstop from noon to about 2am in the morning. A question though. For some reason, after meeting a new culture, their response to me will be moderate for a few turns. But then, suddenly, they turn murderous and wage war on me for no real reason. Is it just my bad luck to happen to run into a couple of warlike cultures, or does this always happen?

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-------I once tried to kill two stones with one bird. I think the bird got the bad end of the deal.

Re: Finally
 

How well were you doing? If you were totally dominating the game, then you were probably the MegaEvilEmpire.
All AI players will ally to fight the MEE player (regardless if the MEE is human or AI).

If you were of a comparable size to at least one other empire, then they may have gotten upset about you attacking them, having ships in their systems, taking planets they could have colonized, all sorts of things.

Re: Finally
 

Well, I wasn't the MEE, but I did have ships in their systems as well as colonizing a few planets in their systems as well.

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-------I once tried to kill two stones with one bird. I think the bird got the bad end of the deal.

Re: Finally
 

That would do it.

Check the "Borders" map under politics. You can see what each AI considers "theirs"

Re: Finally
 

Geez. Touchy buggers.

Re: Finally
 

The AIs are hardcoded to claim any system they colonize, plus every system adjacent to the colonized system.

The AIs' mood is controlled by the settings in the individual RaceName_AI_Anger.txt files. The file is a bit cryptic, but it will give you some ideas of what the race dislikes.

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

[This message has been edited by capnq (edited 16 September 2001).]

Re: Finally
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capnq:
The AIs are hardcoded to claim any system they colonize, plus every system adjacent to the colonized system.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Which is why dead systems (asteroids, nebulae, and black holes) are helpful. Let the neighboring AI claim them; they can't colonize them until much later in the game. Expand in other directions. In the early-to-middle game, the ideal empire will have a dead system at each entry point, with an AI on the other side to provide a cushion against human players. (Good luck getting something like that! That's why it is "ideal.")

Re: Finally
 

I have also found that if you turn OFF the setting "Auto claim any system colonized" (or whatever it says), that will lengthen the time it takes for the AI to get upset. For some reason, IIRC it gets mad at you for claiming the system, not necessarily colonizing in it......