Extremely Frustrating AI Races

Black Cat · #1 September 5th, 2004, 04:41 PM

I`ve put about 2 weeks and over 200 hours in 10+ game starts into the Game so far playing on large-medium Maps and a medium number of AI players at medium difficult level and am really sick of the screwy AI at this point.

In my Last start, at mid game with about 25 hours into it, a major AI race who was in a Trade-Research Alliance with me with a "Brotherly" attitude turned on me in one turn, with NO prior warning, and attacked and wiped out my forward undefended systems with huge 20+ ship Fleets with the most advance Weapons available.

Natually my Fleets were on the other end of the Map facing the Race who always hated me ...

.

This flippy AI stuff goes on all the time and it really kills the Game since the AI knows where your weak and have no fleets and _always_ seems to research much faster.

Of course it`s forward undeveloped planets have about 5 bases with weapons doing 260 damage each to range 8 so thats 5 heavy mount weapons X 5 = 6500 damage per turn. Good luck taking them out.

Game over....25 hours wasted AGAIN

As an old SE III, player at least in that Version there was some consistency to the AI Races behavior and attitudes toward the human player and they wouldn`t flip so fast, so often, for no discernable reasons.

Very disappointing to waste so much time.

Ed Kolis · #2 September 5th, 2004, 05:27 PM

Sorry to hear that... but I've got to ask, ever played on PBW against *real* opponents? They're not (usually) quite so quixotic...

Mephisto · #3 September 5th, 2004, 05:50 PM

Hi Black Cat,
sorry to hear that you are frustrated. The reason why the AI turns on you is the MEE-Switch (Mega Evil Empire). You have out-scored the AI by a huge percentage and now the all turn to get you down to size. If you don't like this setting, go to your Data-Folder in SE4 (if you use a mod, go to the data folder in the mod), open the settings.txt and search for "mega". Set "AI Uses Mega Evil Empire" to "False". This should stop the erratic behaviour of the AI. By the way, if you out-score the AI by such a percentage I think you are way better then it might look to you. I'd say you could crush the AI if you keep it on.

It might seem to you that the AI knows where you have fleets and where you are weak but in reality the Ai doesn't. The AI in SE4 does not cheat and has no info that you don't have also. Trust me, I have looked over the AI shoulder for several dozens to hundreds of hours. Another tip, I'd recommend to set the AI difficulty to high. This won't give the Ai any bonus in form of resources or research points but it will enable all the AI ministers. If you set this to medium, you might cripple the AI quite a lot.

PvK · #4 September 5th, 2004, 06:14 PM

If you don't want the AI to out-research you, give it Bonus of None. I'd always you High AI Difficulty, however, as that just makes it smarter without getting a bonus. Even a Low Bonus though multiplies all of its points - most notably, research.

PvK

Atrocities · #5 September 5th, 2004, 07:45 PM

You can edit the AI Anger and Happiness files to prevent this, or at least slow it.

Many of us have issue with the sudden poltical changes the AI makes, but we have all grown used to it and now expect it.

THis is where mining your allies planets, warp points, and bases comes in handy. Also build stellor manipulation ships arm them with star killers and a cloaking device, place them on your allies star "to do research" and when they turn on you, and they will, you simply declare war and vaporize their systems until they surrender to you.

Black Cat · #6 September 6th, 2004, 11:25 AM

Thanks to all who replied with patient help and advice. Shows the high quality of folks who post here.

I will try editing the AI data files to get a more even responses from the races and also I`ll pay more attention to the stellar research tree. I`ll look at playing at higher levels as advised by Mephisto.

I think if the .." AGGAHH NO !! " level of flipping Race Relations is reduced for me SE IV would be a great game, although I wonder if I will ever think the there is some evil alive presence living in my Computer as I often did at 2 AM when playing SE III.

Intimidator · #7 September 6th, 2004, 01:38 PM

But the best advise you got (and I will give it again) is GO MULTIPLAYER.

http://seiv.pbw.cc

Inti,

Gandalph · #8 September 6th, 2004, 04:53 PM

If the politics and deplomacy aspects of the game are what you are interested in, the AI will never satisfy you, regardless of who designed it.

"Sign up for PBW"