quote:
Originally posted by chewy027:
Well couldn't you at least tell the AI to attack the system capital?
No... this would require some pretty complex enhancements to the AI. It seems like the AI only sends its attack fleets to contested systems with(without?) enemy colonies in them. These systems become contested systems because they are adjacent to other AI systems. I don't think the AI knows how to attack enemy systems that aren't contested. In fact, I've seen AI empires send ships *through* my system to get to some mustering point without stopping to attack completely undefended planets.
Before you tell the AI to attack a system far removed from its borders, a logical first step would be to teach it to attack nearby enemy systems that aren't yet claimed/contested. Once you do that, then you can think about teaching it to assign them different values and attack the ones that are worth more strategically. After that, you could think about teaching the AI to use resupply ships/bases to explore a level further (in terms of warp points) and assign strategic values to those systems as well. Eventually, you might be able to show the AI how to assign a strategic value to every enemy system and determine which enemy should receive the brunt of the attack based upon strategic value. Then, and only then, you might be able to tell the AI that the capital has a very great value. Even still, it would be somewhat complicated telling the AI that one enemy homeworld four defended warp points away is a better target than a mineral rich system belonging to the same or a different enemy just one undefended warp jump away.
Hope that helps you understand where I'm coming from.