AI+Minefield/AI+Black Hole=Disaster (longish)

[Daynarr]

quote:

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Originally posted by Nyx:
Making a colony component only take up 50kt of space is not a good idea. It's much better to set its damage resistance to 50kt and leave it taking up 200kt on the design. Otherwise you can just use an escort hull as a colony ship with +1 engine.

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And it would require to put more than one colony component in colony ship hull (it has to have at least 50% of space filled with colony components).

[Emperor Zodd]

Mines are too powerful because they are invisible. A ship has to decloak to fire it's weapon. Mines should have to do the same. Or make them visible. If they are visible you would have to combine them with ships at ambush points(WP's) to be of use.
The mines should have a short range and would hamper the enemies manuvering while you could be firing seekers from all directions. Of course this would bad for mine lovers,but would be easier on the A.I.

[HreDaak]

I did not intend to change the amount of space the colony module takes. I only changed the amount of damage it can take.
There are two lines in components.txt file:

Tonnage Space Taken := 200
Tonnage Structure := 50 (was 200)

Now you have a colony module that still takes
200kt of space but can only take 50kt of damage...

[UmberGryphon]

In my games, I turn off the Mines technology, and I've modded the SystemTypes file so that unstable warp points no longer exist. I still get black-hole systems, but all their warp points are normal. Just two of the many steps I've taken to hide as many weaknesses of the SE4 AI as possible.

[jpinard]

Gryphon, anything else you do?

[Emperor Zodd]

I still have unstable WP's, but I lowered the damage from 200 to 50 instesd of disabeling them completely.

[UmberGryphon]

quote:

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Originally posted by jpinard:
Gryphon, anything else you do?

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I'm currently turning off intelligence projects, but I'll have to add that back in if I throw the Darlok mod into the mix. And I turn off the Applied Intelligence tech when I turn off intelligence projects, just so I'm sure the AI doesn't waste any research points on a device they can't use.

In addition to turning off Mines and Applied Intelligence technology, I turn off Computers --because the AI doesn't know how to put master computers on ships, and because the AI puts the planet-based stuff in really stupid places. It has the side effect of costing me a 30% advantage in research, which is good as I get enough of a research edge as it is. (Somebody should make a mod where an AI race builds fewer ships but more research worlds.) Besides, turning off Computers makes levels 4-9 of the resource extraction techs worthwhile (Mineral Scanners get you 10-30% additional minerals from a planet, for example), where before I was just building the automated factories that the Computers tech gives you (which boost generation of all three resources by 10-30%).

I turn off Events, because I don't think the AI knows how to evacuate planets and whatnot.

I turn off neutral empires, because they slow down the expansion of the full-blown AI empires way more than they slow me down.

I turn off gifts and tributes, because it's too easy to make the AIs happy with you if you use them.

I turn off technology trading, because the AIs are way too loose with their tech. When they ask for a trade treaty, counter that you'll give them a trade treaty if they'll give you the most expensive technology they possess (Ice Colonization, for example) and they go for it 99% of the time.

Outside of my one-line mod to turn off strange warp points, and adding in the Mephisto mod and the Xenophobe AI speech hacks, I haven't changed the data files. Although I'll probably add in the Eysk and the Darloks shortly.

I play with both AI settings at max. I've been varying how many AIs I play against, and whether I play in a large or medium galaxy.

Does anyone else have any game settings or minor mods they use to hide the ineptness of the SE4 AI?