A little disappointed...

[Jarhead0331]

Thanks for the post Atrocities...I will try the TDM mod...

I understand the difficulty with creating good AI, and its not that I expect the AI to act like Rommel or Patton...I just wish the AI could act more rationally...doesn't need to be a master strategist, just act rationally...

Semper Fi

[PvK]

While I agree that PBW is a great way to play SE4, I've seen quite a few bizarre behaviours from human players, too!

PvK

[Fyron]

At least humans are random in their nonsensicalness.

[mac5732]

an unpredictable AI is tougher then a predictable one, You don't want opponents to be passive, push overs or predictable. If they trash you, declare war and trash them back by all means, try the mods but be warned some of them have genecidal races who just plain don't like you and some will just drive you nuts. Don't expect the expected or for them to be predictable, if you do, your in for a short game Enjoy, experiment, also you might want to change your initial settings, don't use neutral races in set up, set your settings to med or high, low or med ai races as well....

just some ideas mac

[Alneyan]

Your main concern seems to be with diplomacy, where all AIs I know of are awful at best. (At worst they are easily exploited, cheated and abused) You may consider to leave diplomacy aside (meaning there will be no trades, treaties, or other things along these lines) with the AI, hoping the AI won't attack you when you are not watching.

Otherwise, if you do like diplomacy, you should really play PBW as only humans can be interesting in this field. When playing the AI you cannot quite grovel, bully, threaten or bluff, while an human will respond accordingly. And good luck for asking an AI to withdraw these colonizers from your systems.

[gregebowman]

And make sure to get the latest patch for the game. As far as I know, 1.84 is the most recent patch. That, plus the TDM mod, should make the game more emjoyable. I would still stick with the diplomacy, because if you get a treaty where they give you resources and research points, then you get those for free as long as you have good relations with that race. Doesn't hurt to have a mighty fleet, because a race never asks you why you're building up near his borders.

[Iron Giant]

I was ready to stop playing SE:IV for a while (I've played it for years now...) until I installed the TDM Mod.

Totally different beast! The AI is greatly improved...