Becoming MEE in early game.

Tnarg · #1 May 18th, 2002, 09:03 AM

I have been experimenting with a number of different options on gameplay with my Last few games - I have come to the conclusion that I am either a genius or for some particular reason, AI and my computer are just not making the connection. For some reason I don't think the first is right or I would have probably been noticed by those mysterious men that know everything about you, long ago.

I'm curious on what some other players are setting their games too. For the most part I have been running:
Large Quad, Medium frequency catasrophic disasters, 1 home planet set to good (proportion style planets),19 other races evenly distributed set to 5000 racial traits, 2000 of which I play with, Highest AI difficulty, with medium bonuses.
Generally by my 60th to 70th years I am MEE, and all of my allainces crumble, which is fine. But my enemies are wimps and I can easily start taking home planet after home planet in which case the latter really starts to discourage me. With each home planet taken I just become more powerful and bloated.

I think my computer is showing the earlier signs of getting old and carefree of it's flatulents. As I read some of these forums, everyone seems to be having some real good AI's to play against. Or ones that put up a challenge anyways.

I am currently In the process of starting a new game using Derek's Mod. Any suggestions would be greatly accepted. Thanks.

Phoenix-D · #2 May 18th, 2002, 09:18 AM

Get the TDM Modpack, and make sure you have the difficulty set to Hard. For extra pain, boost the AI bonus.

Phoenix-D

PvK · #3 May 18th, 2002, 11:21 AM

If you are using Proportions mod (which Version?) then there are a couple of things. One is that the way the score is calculated, if you build a lot of ships or colonies, you might get rated high enough to become MEE, even though you aren't becoming massively powerful. This is actually something I hadn't thought a lot about and should try to adjust for the Version 2.3. The other part is probably just that the AI needs more tweaking to put up a better fight, which I and a couple of volunteers have been working on and making progress with. Usually it has been relatively good tough if it has a bonus, though. Maybe send me a save game so I can see your example?

PvK

Mephisto · #4 May 18th, 2002, 11:37 AM

Only use a small number of AIs like up to 10 (max.). More AIs will only fight each other more but will not give you more of a challange.

oleg · #5 May 18th, 2002, 05:10 PM

70 years ? 700 turns ???

It is impossible to test AI for such a long run,
it should go completely nuts after 200-300 turns.

Try to speed up your game: smaller quadrant, less AI (10-12), no neutrals, high AI bonus.

TDM is a must. Proportion's AI is not good yet, but will eventually become better.

Tnarg · #6 May 18th, 2002, 06:12 PM

Oleg, sorry my bad, I forget about those decimals.
Typically around 2406.0 to 2407. and then I start to quantitatively bloat.

Pvk, how does one go about sending a saved game?

Thanks

oleg · #7 May 18th, 2002, 06:44 PM

Then there must be something wrong with AI in your set-up. You mentioned that you play modded SE IV. That maight be a problem. Try TDM-Modpack with high AI bonus. If you still trigger MEE by turn 70, please post your savegame.

Tnarg · #8 May 18th, 2002, 07:05 PM

How does one post a saved game?

I have been playing PvK's Proportions since March, now I'm giving Derek's Mod a try because of the AI in there, with Proportions flavor.

Also, a couple of you have mentioned that playing with 10 - 12 AI, no nuetrals gives good results. Is this because there is more room and time for them to expand and establish themselves.

I have noticed that in the line grafs of ships and bases, I do have quite a hefty spike.

Thanks

Derek · #9 May 18th, 2002, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tnarg:

I have been playing PvK's Proportions since March, now I'm giving Derek's Mod a try because of the AI in there, with Proportions flavor.

The AI in my mod is currently a mish mash of a variety of things.

The ship design files are from Devnull, which was originally TDM and modified to Devnull standards. They are further modified by me to cover the quasi-Newtonian propulsion system, and to try and get them to use the variety of things available in Derek's Mod Gold.

On the other hand, the facility and planet AI are more or less straight from Proportions.

If you are looking for a challenge, add in the Space Monsters. You do this by adding in the monsters as one of the empires, then making sure you set it to 'computer controlled' Space Monster will definitely give you a run for your money. It's very disconcerting to see, about 20 turns into the game, a message that a new warppoint has opened into your system, and knowing that only the monsters have that capability.

Have fun!
Derek

PvK · #10 May 18th, 2002, 07:50 PM

tnarg, to email me a saved game, find the saved game file "whatever_you_saved_it_as.gam" in your SE4/savegame directory, and attach it to an email addressed to:

P v K @ w a r g a m e r . c o m

(but no spaces between the letters - those are to reduce the amount of spam I get)

What Version of Proportions are you using?

PvK