Re: Why the AI builds the Ships it does
I think I have figured it out.
The design minister creates a new design for a ship if there are new components available that that ship uses.
The build minister builds the newest available ship design of that type. (attack, etc.)
If you have a missile attack ship and a PPB attack ship, the AI builds whichever design is the newest. If you just gained tech in missiles, the design minister will have designed a new missile attack ship and made the older PPB ship obsolete. Likewise if you just gained PPB tech, the PPB design is newest. The build minister then cues shipyards to build the newest available design. If two designs are updated simultaneously (like if you gained engine tech), the most recent design is the one on the top of the list.
What this means is that the mix of ships and the number of different classes of a given ship type designed and constructed is actually controlled by the research minister!
Try a full tech game and you will see that the AI builds only one class of ship of any given type. (nothing to research)
I've only tried this with two different classes of ships of a given type (not 3)
[This message has been edited by Urendi Maleldil (edited 29 June 2001).]
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