Normal vs. Hard strangeness

[Taqwus]

(Some of the following may be more due to recently adding patch 2, but...)

I've noticed certain, at least to me, very strange changes in the AI behavior in going from normal (in previous games) to hard. I'm pretty sure it's actually Hard, not Easy, since it's the first game I've seen the AI try to bomb planet conditions, lower planet value, steal resources, and otherwise put up a fight intel-wise...

It's a LONG, huge game, so it's not like the following should be due to tech issues (e.g. I'm pretty sure that at least one AI has a score of at least 2M points, since I was declared Mega-Evil 'round the time I hit 3M or maybe shortly before, when I ramped up warship production. So it's not like I rampaged up and down the quadrant early; they've had plenty of time/space to build up.).

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* No minefields at all encountered, while exploring the territory of four AIs. None. This may be related to the patch, which weakened minelaying, but *none* ?

* No bases of any kind seen so far. I used to run into shipyard bases fairly frequently, and occasionally the odd armed base. I don't think I've even spotted a shipyard ship, which also used to happen fairly frequently.

* The Phong aren't using Combat Sensors/ECM. I *know* they have the Combat Sensors, at least, because they've built satellites w/ Tachyon III which implies Sensors 6. ISTR that they used to. For that matter, the Norak didn't use ECM either, although I can't be sure they had it. They're dead now, so it's too late for a tech check.

* Thought on intel ops -- I have yet to see an AI steal one of my ships or planets that way. Also, it should probably de-emphasize atmosphere bombing versus an Organic race, since w/ Replicant III my base pop growth will be 40+ M/turn anyway regardless of planet conditions.


[ More AI ship design/use comments, perhaps not related to AI difficulty actually --

- The Phong should often fire the HEM *before* the Shard Cannons. There's no sense in letting the Shard Cannon projectiles (AP) bounce off a shield if the HEM will bring it down; conversely, there's no advantage to putting normal weapons like the HEM after AP weapons, since bypassing armor doesn't destroy it and make it easier for non-AP weapons (except in the rare case of an ECM hit).

Basically, while target shields are up, order should probably be something like (anti-shield, normal, anti-armor), reversing it afterwards.

- The Noraks, who are Deeply Religious, should NOT emphasize missiles, because one of the perks of DR is the Talisman, which is useless without good beam weapons. CSM V, when it could have been working on always-hitting WMGs, Hellbores, and PPBs? Ach!

- If nobody's using PPBs, it makes more sense to use Shield V than Phased I.
]

Unrelated silliness --

* Ship Construction 10 (which used to give the SY III facility) appears to be useless, now that the space yard facilities are granted by the Space Yard tech tree instead.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Tomgs]

Well I can answer one question. None of the races are using combat sensors or ECM because there is a typo in the \pictures\races design creation files. they say combat to hit dec when it should say combat to hit defence plus, and it says combat to hit add when it should say combat to hit offence plus. This ability name was changed but the text files got missed. Mephisto's mod fixes this and I seem to remember someone else uploaded a copy of the files with the fix but no mods.

[This message has been edited by Tomgs (edited 12 January 2001).]

[Jubala]

Tomgs is correct about the typo in the AI design creation files. And it was I who uploaded the fixed files without mods, only a search and replace of the typos. It can be find in the mod forum.

[Taqwus]

Hrm, makes sense. Changed in one place but not the other...

Addendum -- I've found an AI that actually built some mines, at least one minelayer, and at least one sweeper, but haven't yet run into any actual minefields. Maybe o'er the next warp point, 'tho...

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Dracus]

I have not make any changes outside the MM patches and even in the easy game, The lizard race uses mines a lot. lost 12 ships due to this.