[Lighthorse]

I’m enjoying AIC Version 3.02. Started game with organic technology, increase maintenance and research technology level, and reduce repair and ground fighting capacities. Set the game for large cluster, both high levels for number of AI players and difficultly with no bonuses. Started with finite resources and simultaneous movement. No tactical movement allow, only could colonized our planet type (i.e. rock or ice or gas).
Started in the southeast corner of the cluster galaxy. Had on-going wars with two other AI races from turns fifteen to sixty. Formed a partnership with one AI race, later broke the treaty and attacked me on turn eighty or so. By turn hundred and ten, eliminated three AI races by ground assaults on they home planets, and holding my own against two of the major races.
The AI does fairly well at mining and defending warp holes and planets, use of fighters and other technologies. The largest AI fleet I witnessed so far has been eleven ships. If they lose a ship to my minefield, the next ship they send in is a minesweeper. The AI has a problem getting by a warp hole defended by fighters. One race would keep on sending ships armed with capital missiles with only a single point defense weapon on board to try to force open the warp hole. Only fought one AI race with fighters so far, that engagement I lost all my thirty fighters to his forty fighters. Had wrong orders for the fighter is why I lost that engagement. All my frontier planets have mines, fighters and weapons platforms for defense, before I start building any facilities. AI races will tried to destroyed my out laying planets and re-colonize themselves.
I never played a SE4 game with finite resources before. Interesting challenged collecting allow resources, finding enough room/planets to store your extra resources, building up your economic and always keep on expanding outwards. It’s forces you to expand quickly at first and defend your frontiers.
I have been wondering if there enough resources left, to finish this game. If all the other AI races had already colonize all the other planets, with finite resources when will the galaxy run out of resources? I’m had started construction of asteroid mining ships for both asteroids and ice / gas planets, but it only a stop gap measure.

Lighthorse