No more MP for Hinnom?

[NTJedi]

Scales play a huge role on how powerful an AI nation becomes during a game. With a good starting position and good scales an average AI opponent can win and feed on neighboring impossible AIs.
Give an AI opponent 3 order, 1 productivity, 3 growth, 3 luck, and 3 magic and then it really thrives.

[HoneyBadger]

I always designed my AI Nations from the ground up, before I played against them in SP. And if it was going to be a lengthy 1500 Province game, I'd actually play them myself, through the first year or so. It makes for a vast difference in their ability to offer a challenge, and my memory of where they actually *are* on a 1500 Province map is vague enough (and dissipates quickly enough) that it really doesn't offer me that much of an advantage.

Usually, the biggest problem was just giving them up to the AI after I've put so much work into them, especially if they were doing well...It's a great way to learn all the different Nations, though, and really does offer the best AI experience possible.

[Humakty]

I only play SP, but I must say that with Hinnom I literaly don't know with what to wack the AI. The fact Hinnom has powerfull endgame summons is a joke, as you will have walked all other the AI with your base troops and recruitable everywhere mages. Really, even their sacreds and capitol only mages are unecessary.
Ashdod is less uber, mainly because they have supply problems.

[Sombre]

Sounds more like the UW nations are finding the free castle sites.

[Edratman]

Originally Posted by Sombre

Sounds more like the UW nations are finding the free castle sites.

I cannot refute that. Nor did it occur to me. I personally do not like and thus haven't played the water nations since my initial round of experimentation, but I have noticed a high ratio of free castles in the water when invading and site searching.

I do know that castle cost is not a factor in AI castle building. I modded a version of "All Nations" and gave half the nations Wizards Towers for all terrains and there was not any difference in the number of castles built between the two groups over two or three long games.

[Edratman]

OOPS. I'm sorry that I pushed this a little off topic.

What I mean is that Hinnom's strength is its national troops, and as an AI opponent if they do not build additional castles the national troop build is too restricted. Too much gold is spent on indies, even using BI opponents, and the computer choices for national troop builds are not always optimal. That is why as an AI opponent they do not always perform as well as when played by a person. Not enough prime national troops and commanders.

It is also the reason I limited national troop selections and removed capitol only restrictions in the Improved Computer Opponent mods. These mods are optimal if the AI nation gets some favorable "build castle" dice rolls or finds free castle sites. Otherwise they are merely slightly enhanced versions of themselves.

I wonder if JK could correlate AI castle build probabilities to degree of difficulty? That would help AI nations, if it doesn't bankrupt them. (OOPS, another OT nudge.)

[Lingchih]

Why has this discussion pushed into Hinnom SP? The topic was Hinnom MP, where they are unstoppable with a good player at the helm.

[Bwaha]

Shush, I'm playing Hinnom MP. Don't give them any ideas....

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Lingchih

Why has this discussion pushed into Hinnom SP? The topic was Hinnom MP, where they are unstoppable with a good player at the helm.

It happened when the discussion went to possible fixes.
A reminder that MP is only a part of the game so a fix needs to involve more fixing the MP part if it breaks others.

[archaeolept]

how could more balancing hinnom for MP possibly break SP? I don't even understand that.