What now????

[Michou]

OK, let's face it :

1 - The AI must cheat if it is to stand a chance.

There is to much variables in this game. An AI will never reach the level of a human player. That's why AI are so good in chess : There is not much variables. It is easy to implement routine to make an AI very good in chess. Do you thing there would have been a challenge in Civ2 and MOO2 without cheating ?


2 - Malfador must still fix the AI.

It must stop doing stupid things, like :

- ignoring minefields,
- ignoring human player colonization in area of influence
- making suicidal attacks (that's not hard to implement !)
- Not using the latest technologies (ECM and sensors on attack ship, etc..)
- You all know what I am talking about...

AI must be made #1 priority.

Is it useful to add new feature (ex. Drones) if humans are the only one who are going to use them ?

Multiplayer is way too long for most players. Anyway, is it fun playing with 2 friends and 10 AI if all AI's are just waiting to be invaded ?

As for Talemn and all others doing Mods : Keep up the work, we will get there someday ! And please share your wisdom

Malfador : Congratulation anyway ! considering the resources that you had to make a game, it is one good game system.

[jowe01]

Yes, this COULD be a great game with its breadth, customizability, sound diplomatic options... if it either had sufficient multiplayer ability (including tactical combat or at least a battleviewer, because battles are what everybody is working towards the whole game over) or at a decend AI. As it stands now, I have to second what has been said earlier: the game right now is just too boring to be recommended to anybody.

[Talenn]

Michou:

Yes, I agree that the AI must cheat a bit in order to be competitive. I have no problem with that. I just dont want to see it get to the point like Shogun:Total War where it was EXTREMELY obvious that you and the AI were even playing by the same rules! That game was so blatant that even reviewers were commenting on it and that is BAD.

I also agree that it should be the #1 priority for MM. Adding new features is nice and all, but ultimately, those features are meaningless if the game is no longer interesting to play. I have not reached that stage, but I can see it happening once I run out of ways to make the AI more challenging myself.

Talenn

[Instar]

Hey Courageous, I have to ask, how much computer programming have you done? I hope you have because AI's in general are pretty tough things to do!
I tend to agree, but that has not stopped me from playing. The AI is pretty challenging as it is, but it could be better. And MM will never let the AI cheat.

[Commander G2]

Hey, why don't you guys quit your complaining and play eacher by email. Playing against a human is always more fun. People are less predictable and will counter any design you come up with for your ships. That is the beauty about a game like this.

[Baron Munchausen]

You can arrange to give the AI special bonuses easily enough. Edit the ai_general files in the directories to add more abilities to each of the options for each race. "Race Opt 1" is the "Low" points option (2000), "Race Opt 2" is the medium (3000), and "Race Opt 3" is the High (5000) option in game setup. Do a little math if you want to be proportional in giving the AIs their advantages or just add stuff that seems good to add according to the nature of the race. I gave the Phong an "environmental resistance" bonus because their description says they have it. Not sure how much good it does them, though. Maybe I'll add some other things. once you've boosted the AI empires' abilities, play with a "normal" race yourself, choosing no special tech areas or other big advantages and you'll have to use some ingenuity to beat them. The AI is improving in the betas, btw. You'll find the next patch a few notches more difficult.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 09 December 2000).]

[Talenn]

Baron:

Yep, I've done that. You have to be careful though not to exceed 5000 points worth of stuff. The AI is constrained by the costs as much as a player is even when the data is coming from the AI_General files.

Talenn