Counter-intel against someone???

[Lisif Deoral]

Originally posted by Q:
As fas as I have seen, it does not matter against which race the counter intelligence project is targeted. The project will protect you against attacks from all empires.

But... Am I wrong or you can't choose a target for a counter-intel project? When I add a new CI, the game doesn't ask to select a target...

[DavidG]

Originally posted by Q:

Did anybody see something different?

Well I agree something is different here. On my intel screens the counter intel projects have no 'Against empire' listed.

[Baron Munchausen]

Yes, this is another case of the AI having access to the mechanics of the game in a way which the players do not. When you select a counter-intel project manually it doesn't say what other empires it is working against. But when the AI Intel minister selects a project it displays exactly what other empire's projects it is counter-acting.

[Gandalph]

Keep in mind, however, that counter-intel works against all intel projects thrown at you, not just the empire that the AI picks.

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Gandalph:
Keep in mind, however, that counter-intel works against all intel projects thrown at you, not just the empire that the AI picks.

Now that's an interesting question. If you've chosen it manually, then I guess there's no other way it could work than to counter-act anything that is being turned against you. But if the AI can 'set' a target, is that automatically true of the AI counter-intel? I wonder.

It maybe that the AI can indeed 'set' what empire the counter-intel works against, because its ability to access the real information about who is attacking you means that having a particular empire setting isn't a vulnerability. The AI minister can just start another counter-intel project if it notices another attacker. Only with a human player who isn't allowed to see the mechanics would choosing a particular target be a problem.

[ June 16, 2002, 22:52: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[DavidG]

Hmm does all this mean that if we toggle on our intel minister on we can then see who has intel projects working agains us??

[Gandalph]

When I play test me new races, I actually play the race with all ministers on to see exactly what my modding of the various files has achieved. Because of this, I am able to see how the AI handles intel as well. I have definitely seen an intel project perpetrated by a race not chosen for counter-intel that counter-intel defeated, therefor, the conclusion is that counter-intel works against all intel projects. I have not kept a close enough eye on it to determine exactly what makes the AI choose the empire it does, but, IIRC, it is usually the first race that it goes to war with.