So whats the verdict on the new patch ?

[Claymore]

Is it practically a new(and much more challenging )game???..as some pre patch were saying...or...a step along the road..with many more hopefully to be taken?

[Talenn]

Well, I had time to play my first real game with 1.27 over the weekend. So far, its better, but not astronomically so. I dont mean this as a slight at all, but I havent seen THAT drastic of a change...but again, I only have one full game under my belt with 1.27.

For the record, I played with Medium, Midlife Galaxy, Max AI player on Max AI with no Bonus, but with 1000 extra starting RPs. There were no 'Neutrals'. All other start conditions were 'default'.

I took the lead in the game at about turn 40 and never really lost it except for one brief period after a plague wiped out one of my larger colonies. I quickly recovered to 1st place and never lost the lead after that. I didnt have a great starting system and wasnt finding an inordinate amount of habitable planets. The first race I met was the Sergetti (unmodded), and despite being in a war with them from about turn 15, I was still able to easily outgrow the other players.

On the 'plus' side:

--The AI did seem to 'fleet' better. The game ended before truly large fleets were available, but it did seem to keep it's ships together more often.

--I did see the AI 'retreat' from positions that were less than optimal. Whether by coincidence or design, it was refreshing to see.

--I DID feel like I had to play a 'tighter' game this time and not just the screw-around roleplay type of game. I still didnt make use of Mines or anything like that though.

On the 'negative' side:

--The AI still feels schizo in its Treaties at times. I had plenty of the 'Offer Trade Treaties' followed 2-3 turns later by breaking it and once or twice by a Declaration of War.

--The AI is still occasionally making abysmal choices for planet types. One of the AI's worlds was a 'Mining Colony' with 12+ Mines but a Mineral Value of 4% while another world in the same system had a 99% Mineral Value, but was a 'Research Colony'. This type of stuff is FATAL to the AI.

--There is still no answer to the 'missile dance'. I was really hoping for something to be done about this as it renders tactical combat pointless IMO. Its still pathetically easy to win the game against the AI using almost nothing but Missiles. After that game, I went in and serious trashed the power of Missiles, but I havent had time to test it and see the results.

Note that 95% of that game was played without the 'Missile Dance' and it was still easily won. I simply used the MD to test and see if the AI had any answers for it yet. Also, there are no mechanics added to the game to help alleviate the problem.

All in all, so far, I'd call it a step along the right path. There are still plenty of tweaks that could be made (many suggested right here on the Forum) that could help make the AI a nastier customer. I'd like to see a few of the more glaring weaknesses corrected in the near future, but I'm sure that MM is trying to find the best solutions to them before implementing them.

Final Caveat....This is a first 'review' after one full game and one partial game. Sometimes the AI just gets a crappy 'draw' and the game is too easy. It is certainly possible that this was the case in my games. I'm going to play a few more times (giving it slightly more advantage each time) until I see where the proper challenge level is.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this subject at this time?