Question for Beta Testers on the new AI - Page 2

Baron Munchausen · #11 February 10th, 2001, 05:21 PM

Zodd:

No bonuses, though I did use the 'difficult' level instead of the default 'medium' level. I've got eight AI empire opponents and a handful of neutrals. One less neutral than before, though, since I assimilated one.

I started literally in the corner of the map with ONE warp point out, and the system leading out to the rest of the quadrant was occupied by the neutral. I managed to pass through for a while but when relations got difficult I had to defeat him to get unrestricted access. I built 300 medium troops and invaded his homeworld. Now I have methane breathers to supplement my oxygen breathing original race. I'm up to 4th in the ranking now. The AI is just not as focused as a human and I guess it never will be, so you can almost always beat it in a single system if you work at it.

Emperor Zodd · #12 February 10th, 2001, 08:16 PM

Great Baron.

If you set the AI to low bonus(2x),don't you think that might be too much of an increase now that no bonus is tougher?

Wouldn't 1.5x,2x,3x be better for low,mid,and high bonus'?

Warlord Adamus · #13 February 11th, 2001, 12:34 AM

Iv'e been testing the AI performance and my results are now varying a bit. The first game I described (I think you quoted it from the other thread Zodd), all of the AI players quickly outpaced me. The settings were no neutrals, mid-life large galaxy (250 systems) low bonus and lots of players..

This was a vanilla game without any mods other than the Darlok, EA, and Sergetti races. Surprisingly enough the Phong were the top players, though I think the EA could have taken them if they really wanted to..EA was second, and as I took control of them for a few turns I was really impressed. Planets were being converted left and right, fleets with large numbers of carriers (full with mostly advanced tech fighters) were flying about. If I got into a war with them it would have been difficult.

The Darlok were ranked 3 or 4, somewhere in there. They mostly used smaller ships but were as advertised, a headache intel wise. Constantly harrassing everyone with comm mimics (I hate that op) and other intel attacks. Their designs were solid and they were building a whole lot of spaceyard bases for some reason.

The Sergetti, being at war with the Darlok,EA,and Phong were pretty much screwed to begin with but they seemed to be holding on at around 5 or 6th place. They cloak ALOT, and I didn't notice any other race stock or otherwise doing so quite as much. In fact the only reason I think they were holding on is because their cloaked DN's were ripping into the Phong, and Toltayan worlds.

The cryslonite were pretty weak, but they started in a corner next to a black whole. Everyone else I met after destroying the cryslonite early, were pretty surprising. The stock races were competing well, and the AI was really targetting planets as a priority. Excellent game ! Wish I would've finished it.

Started a new game with same settings but no bonus this time, galactic edge and it was pretty dull. I was in first place pretty much from the start, outpacing everyone. I'm gonna end it and see if there was something else I did to get such a hellacious performance out of the first game.

"If you set the AI to low bonus(2x),don't you think that might be too much of an increase now that no bonus is tougher?"

Answering this if I may, low bonus seemed just about perfect. If you're really determined to say "forget roleplay i'm gonna glass everyone" then I'd say medium bonus is nice. And if you enjoy playing the catch-up game for the entire game High bonus is still the way to go. I wouldn't change it.

Baron Munchausen · #14 February 11th, 2001, 06:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Emperor Zodd:
Great Baron.

If you set the AI to low bonus(2x),don't you think that might be too much of an increase now that no bonus is tougher?

Wouldn't 1.5x,2x,3x be better for low,mid,and high bonus'?

Well, it depends on the instructions the AI is using in the various config files. I've been modding my files, and I seem to have hit the colony config pretty well. Almost all of the AI empires have more resources than I have. But I'm well ahead in research and intel generation. Maybe it has to do with the better organization that I can do as a 'human' while the AIs are just mechanically following the scripts. If the AIs were smarter about this or had the "low" bonus of doubled production I'd be in deep trouble, I think. But others might do better and some actually enjoy the challenge of fighting against a dramatically more powerful opponent. Currently, I'm in a three-way contest with the Praetorians and the Xiati for #1 spot in the scores ranking. Having to struggle to win is enough competition for me, but if you want to use the AI bonuses and fight a lop-sided contest I guess you can.

Emperor Zodd · #15 February 11th, 2001, 08:15 PM

Baron, start a game using low bonus and tell us how you do against the AI.

Emperor Zodd · #16 February 17th, 2001, 07:28 PM

Baron,have you tried using low bonus yet?
If so,how strong is the AI?

Talenn · #17 February 17th, 2001, 08:38 PM

I'm starting the feel the same way. Even without the changes from the new patch (I'm not a tester), I have the AI doing EXTREMELY well with a Low Bonus..too well in some regards. It can be beaten, but not by engaging it's ships head on. It simply has too much of a tech lead the whole game for that to work.

But without the bonus, the AI is still impotent. It lags considerably behind in tech and production and is easily overwhelmed even when I (or other players) have a 'bad' start.

So, I'd also like to see an 'in between' level of bonus. Something along the order 1.5 might be about right as mentioned below. This would give it a good chance at staying even or a bit ahead of the humans without making it so it doesnt seem to even be playing by the same rules.

Thanx,
Talenn

Baron Munchausen · #18 February 17th, 2001, 09:19 PM

I'm getting quite enough challenge without the bonus, thank you. There are several AI empires with MUCH higher scores in resources. It's just my higher research/intel production and my more focused strategies that let me take them on. The structure of the game that makes it so hard to 'blitz' anyone is a GOOD thing when the AI is more powerful. You have time to think and respond to it. In an "open space" system like MOO you just die when the AI decides to run its stack of battleships across all of your colonies...

Only a little more tweaking to add some more focused/specialized strategies and this AI will be quite a challenge for anyone.