AI is BETTER??

[pathfinder]

Gotta keep an eye on the EEEE in my cvurrent agme...they wiped out one of my trade partners and are now slaughtering the other two.....one of their fleets is 23 dreadnaughts and carriers....

man..where oh where do they get the resources...

[The Puke Empire]

Wow I managed to get 6 or 7 hours to play this weekend and you guys are right.. the AI must have had bad luck in my first 1.19 game.. this time I gave it a large world, hard AI and med advantage and I got wasted before turn 100!! Started pretty good but soon run into two races and soon war broke out and on one border my entire fleet was destroyed by an AI battlegroup of 12 LCs armed with level 5 beams and POINTDEFENSE!! most of my ship swere missile boats (yeah I still tried to do my missile dance as soon as I realized the AI fleet is much bigger than mine), none of my missiles could get through their screen of defense. So I decided to build a couple of colonizers, load up my transports with population and escorted by what's left of my fleet... it was so cool it was like playing homeworld on a strategic level . then.. I put em all in one group and started the run.. as soon as I entered a new warp point boom.. a minefield!! half the ship got blown up the rest crippled... the AI fleet caught up with me and that's it.

now that was FUN!!

my only regret now is that i haven't seen any fighter vs fighter combat.. I did run into a planet defended by 20 fighters but never saw them in carrier based operations.

[DaveMan]

The AI IS much better...

My first game with v.1,19 was in a large galaxy, No warp points, High thech level and low AI bonus.
I was having a peaceful game until I SHOWED the AI how to open warp points, this is what happened, I build a warp point opener and I opened warp points until I met with the Jnaeren(or something like that) then, the next turn, I had every empire using warp point openers, and there was a Gigantic War.
Fleets of up to 20+ Dreadnoughts, Heavy Carriers, etc, etc...

When the war was finnaly calming down there where at least 3 empires anihilated by two races, the Sergetti and the Eee.

Well I was OK, I closed all the warp points that led to my systems, and I am now in the proces of building my Mega Fleet.

BTW, this was just a test game...

[mafia]

Maps without warp points is the only way to play imo. Much more challenging against the AI as you never know where they'll open a hole. If you haven't tried no warp points yet I highly recommend it.

-m

[DirectorTsaarx]

I'm still trying to win my game; the Ukra-Tal finally decided to make a treaty with me (perhaps the fact that I proposed a trade (which they accepted) and was nice about not glassing their worlds, and was at war with their enemy (the stinking Terrans) helped...). Anyway, we're now at Partnership (their doing, not mine; they refused all of my requests, probably because I was in 10th (!) place out of 10 real empires - the five "neutrals" are still in 11th-15th place). And we're both wreaking havoc on the stinking Terrans. Who are making me understand just how powerful the CSM V's are, even when I have decent PD support (planets are launching up to 12 missiles at a time - and I'm still only up to frigate-class ships!!!). Fortunately, the Ukra-Tal and I have managed to push the Terrans to 10th place, and I'm now number 9. I got really ticked when they glassed one of my homeworlds (it took them YEARS to get around to it, but they kept at it, and I could never get enough defenses on it, because every time I put enough defenses there to destroy a ship, they IMMEDIATELY came back with a bigger fleet, and then they mined the entrances so I couldn't even get ship support in there, oh it was a mess...)

Long live the Moebius Consortium (I hope)!

[jowe01]

Yes, the AI puts much more of a fight. Especially with Mephisto's mod, it will frequently beat you.
However, I am still not convinced that it is significantly better. There are some improvements in the area of minesweeping and missile dodging, but I have the impression that most of the better challenge is just due to the fact that the AI attacks you earlier and more frequently. The AI strategy and tactics are still not a good as they should be. In my latest game, the EEE were still sending in their dreadnaughts one at a time, while massing them into a fleet would have finished me.
Better use of fleets, better target identification and a more consequent follow up on attacks, these are the things on my wishlist for the next patch. All of them seem to be implementable to me. If they are combined with the increased aggressiveness, the AI would actually become an opponent to be respected.

[pathfinder]

Well Jowe, you ain't playin' the EEE that I am their main Fleet is 23 Dreadnaughts and the only reasons I haven't faced it bcause they keep glassing one of my "allies" worlds with it....

My turn is coming, unless their small 13 ship fleet decides to quit picking its nose...