Realism of the MegaEvil Emp...

DirkHowitzer · #1 January 24th, 2001, 06:50 AM

I was just wondering if anybody had any thoughts on the realism of the MegaEvil empire setting...Specifically I was wondering how realistic it was for this little pissant race which is ranked 15 out of 20 to keep declaring war on me just because I'm the MegaEvil. Now I realize that to make the game challenging yes the AI's should gang up on the head honcho, but this little guy is already fighting a three front war and then he decides to bite me in the you know where. Of course I promptly crushed him.;-) But wouldn't it be more realistic to have the little guys try to be buddies with the big guys? Or at least wait until they have the support of some other AI's and the rescources(not already fighting three other guys!)to have a realistic shot at such a campaign? Currently I'm trying to make the race I'm working on...(The Evil Galactic Empire under Grand Admiral Thrawn)...suck up to the head honcho until he has support. Unfortunately it seems to suck up to the big guy the whole game and I don't know how to make it realize when it has enough support to take a chunk out of head honcho...Your input please on first the realism factor and then getting my race to work...thx...

------------------

"He's dead, Jim."-- Lt. Commander Leonard "Bones" McCoy |Chief Medical Officer / USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

geoschmo · #2 January 24th, 2001, 07:05 PM

I think for it to be realistic the Ai empires would have to cease hostilities amongst themselves and all declare a united war against the MEE. That would have a bit of a realistic feel to it, as well as being a bit nasty to defend against.

Short of a coalition like that though, it does not make sense for these little podunk kings to be smacking my face while I am driving my 40 ship fleet through their little system to get to my mortal enemy on the other side.

If the roles were reversed I would be keeping my head down and hoping not to be noticed.

Elwood Bluze · #3 January 24th, 2001, 07:33 PM

Yup, if they gang up on you they need to do it for real, as in, they need to hit you hard from all over. Oh, and with the 40 ship fleet the little pissant should surrender if you dust a couple of small or tiny planets of his.

------------------
Know what a wish sandwich is? That's two pieces of bread....and you WISH you had some meat!

Barnacle Bill · #4 January 24th, 2001, 08:44 PM

I posted this in another topic, but what I'd like to see is that they all join in the "Anti-Whoever Alliance", where "Whoever" is the name of the Mega Evil Empire. There would be a message concerning this. Think NATO.

This looks like the AI empires all form a military alliance (each member has a military alliance with every other member), and won't agree to anything higher than Non-Intercourse with the MEE. Individual Alliance members can still have Partnerships with each other, but never less than Military Alliance. If you are at war with any of them when the Alliance forms, you are now at war with all of them. The MEE can offer Non-Intercourse to the entire Alliance, and it's response will be based on the "average" mood of the Alliance members toward the MEE, with the contribution of each weighted by its score. Anything you do to any Alliance member that would increase its anger increases the anger of all Alliance members. Alliance members will still individually surrender or accept demands that they become Protectorates or Subjects of the ME, but the MEE's Protectorates & Subjects will consider defecting to the Alliance as well. If the MEE gets cut down to the point of no longer satisfying the conditions to be an MEE, the Alliance breaks up and the AI empires revert to normal behavior.

Baron Munchausen · #5 January 24th, 2001, 09:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by geoschmo:
I think for it to be realistic the Ai empires would have to cease hostilities amongst themselves and all declare a united war against the MEE. That would have a bit of a realistic feel to it, as well as being a bit nasty to defend against.

Short of a coalition like that though, it does not make sense for these little podunk kings to be smacking my face while I am driving my 40 ship fleet through their little system to get to my mortal enemy on the other side.

If the roles were reversed I would be keeping my head down and hoping not to be noticed.

More than that, there needs to be some sort of transition phase. Right now, you hit that threshold and suddenly all the empires declare war on you. Shouldn't there be a gradual increase of tension and some WARNINGS about what is bothering them before they all suddenly attack? This would make them seem more like "AIs" and not just mechanical decision trees. Ok, that's what they are and the term "AI" is a misnomer... but we want a believable SIMULATION of an AI, right?

Nyx · #6 January 24th, 2001, 11:14 PM

quote:
I posted this in another topic, but what I'd like to see is that they all join in the "Anti-Whoever Alliance", where "Whoever" is the name of the Mega Evil Empire. There would be a message concerning this. Think NATO.

I liked how MOO handled this. If a player was elected ruler of the galaxy and you disagreed with the decision, all other players immediately formed an unbreakable alliance against you, and all shared all techs with each other and all opened full trade. That is how it should work, IMO. And I'll second the vote on a gradual buildup to this situation. MOO had a good excuse for a sudden shift, in the middle of a galactic meeting you walk out on them all. SE4 doesn't have that.

------------------
Compete in the Space Empires IV World Championship at www.twingalaxies.com.