And The AI is ???

[wingte]

If you have the intel resources to steal a planet,, then you probably also have the other resources to simply intimadate the AI into being tolerant. This must be true since the diplomacy window includes the ability to demand that a race subjegate itself to you so the AI must have a way of calculating it's chance of surviving if it refuses.

One of the things I so far find about SE VI is that the default settings produce perhaps the most balanced game I have played. Oh the small fighter is too small. The shipyard limit and being required to put only fighter bays on the Carrier is annoying.

My main concern is the mandatory fight even when the other ship belongs to an ally. This makes it impossible to blockade a warp point without ending up at war with everyone. Right now the only way arround this is to use tactical combat and then run for thirty turns. Since I don't like what the AI does when I have a group of ships in a fleet,, this means I have a very tedious 30 turns or I have to set my stratege to "don't get hurt". This of course means that even when I know I have a lock on the battle,, I must fight it out manually and never use the strategic option or the resolve confict option.

I still think that the individual races should have racial advantages and disadvantages. I also think there should be advantages and disadvantages based upon type of government. There also need to be mutually exclusive technologies and races or goverments that are incapable of using some technologies.

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Wingte

[Tampa_Gamer]

I agree, the mandatory fight option seems a little bit dated. But I don't think this happens if you have any kind of treaty with the races, just those you have nothing with. But it would be nice for human player to have an option whether to engage or not. The computer player may still want to, but at least you gave them an out and you would not be the aggressor. Do the beta-testers have any comment?

[General Hawkwing]

I also have not had combat with an ally. When in tactical, it tells me that I can not fire on an ally. In 1 game, I was an ally with 2 empires at war with one another. They both would use my planet to refuel and I would have to sit and watch a AI vs AI tactical battle. It was informative about the AI combat plans but got tedious after the 4th time.

[wingte]

[quote]Originally posted by General Hawkwing:
[b]I also have not had combat with an ally. When in tactical, it tells me that I can not fire on an ally.

I have had the same thing happen when I have entered a space occupied by an ally.. But when an ally enters a space I am in such as a warp point, then I have to select stategic/tactical and there doesn't seem to be any warning. That makes me think the ally attacked me. If I fight back I end up at war,, if I run away the aliance is saved but it was a very boring time consuming excercise.

Now,, what settings do other people use in the empire options?? I always turn of both the selections for clearing orders befor ships enter spaces/systems with other races/ships.. Could this be what is giving me trouble??

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Wingte

[dmm]

Some stupid things about the diplomatic AI:
1) If you blockade a planet and demand it as tribute, the AI always gives it to you, with all facilities intact and a population that's not especially unhappy about it.
2) If you blockade all of an empire's colonies and destroy all of its ships, it ALWAYS agrees to a demand for surrender, regardless of how you've behaved. Shouldn't it at least try to negotiate for protectorate status, or even subjugation? And shouldn't some races simply refuse to surrender to others, even if it means annihilation?
3) The AI never takes desperate cooperation measures like trading Colonization techs or surrendering to each other, even in the face of a ruthless conqueror who's taken over 1/2 of the galaxy (i.e., me). Or if it does do this, it waits way too long.

Because of these facts, I _never_ destroy an enemy colony. Also, I especially target biologically dissimilar races for assimilation, because they add to my collective ability to colonize other worlds. (We are the Borg.) Example: I'm an O2 Rock race. I blockade a colony of H2 GasGiant people, which is given as tribute next turn. Suddenly I can colonize all those H2 planets in my systems without using domes. Later I force the H2 GasGiant empire to surrender, and I get GasGiant colonizing ability (not to mention 2-8 billion H2 breathers). Unless the AI totally gangs up on me, I'm now unstoppable in the long run. (Resistance is futile.) Now I turn my attentions to CO2 breathers, or Ice colonizers. Using this strategy, I can conquer the entire galaxy in less than the demo's 100-turn limit, and lose less than 20 ships (if I use tactical combat).

p.s. Obviously this strategy would not be so successful in an Advanced Tech game, but then you lose the fun of researching tech.

[Baron Munchausen]

quote:

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Originally posted by dmm:
Some stupid things about the diplomatic AI:
1) If you blockade a planet and demand it as tribute, the AI always gives it to you, with all facilities intact and a population that's not especially unhappy about it.
2) If you blockade all of an empire's colonies and destroy all of its ships, it ALWAYS agrees to a demand for surrender, regardless of how you've behaved. Shouldn't it at least try to negotiate for protectorate status, or even subjugation? And shouldn't some races simply refuse to surrender to others, even if it means annihilation?
3) The AI never takes desperate cooperation measures like trading Colonization techs or surrendering to each other, even in the face of a ruthless conqueror who's taken over 1/2 of the galaxy (i.e., me). Or if it does do this, it waits way too long.

Because of these facts, I _never_ destroy an enemy colony. Also, I especially target biologically dissimilar races for assimilation, because they add to my collective ability to colonize other worlds. (We are the Borg.) Example: I'm an O2 Rock race. I blockade a colony of H2 GasGiant people, which is given as tribute next turn. Suddenly I can colonize all those H2 planets in my systems without using domes. Later I force the H2 GasGiant empire to surrender, and I get GasGiant colonizing ability (not to mention 2-8 billion H2 breathers). Unless the AI totally gangs up on me, I'm now unstoppable in the long run. (Resistance is futile.) Now I turn my attentions to CO2 breathers, or Ice colonizers. Using this strategy, I can conquer the entire galaxy in less than the demo's 100-turn limit, and lose less than 20 ships (if I use tactical combat).

p.s. Obviously this strategy would not be so successful in an Advanced Tech game, but then you lose the fun of researching tech.

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All of this will change, considerably, in the next release. Hopefully the next demo will be out soon. You'll find many changes, especially in the AI.

[wingte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
All of this will change, considerably, in the next release. Hopefully the next demo will be out soon. You'll find many changes, especially in the AI.

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NEXT DEMO??? WHEN???


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Wingte

[Psitticine]

Check out MM's site (www.malfador.com). There's some info on upcoming matters in the What's New section.

Basically, though, the next demo will be built off the gold code, and that's still on target for 10/1.

[Rambie]

The AI in the latest Beta is much better than in the available demo. It's still not a replacement for a human player but still hard enough.

[dmm]

I'm glad to hear that the AI is improved. I beat up on the .56 demo regularly. But my sons (11 and 9) think it's already plenty hard! Here's what the one does to improve his chances: he starts with high racial points, then makes up all the computer opponents and doesn't have them use all their racial points. "Quite frankly, Captain, you are inferior -- mentally, physically." :-D