Strange Agoraphobic AI

[Rollo]

If a Kamikaze or Boarding Ship is built on another world does it move to the homeworld?

yes

If an invader enters the system will the Kamikaze or Boarding Ship move to engage?

yes and no. They might try to engage and then 'chicken out' on second thought. The AI is easily scared by superior numbers and since all these ships would engange on their own it is not really effective. That is the big downside of not using fleets. (but more on this later)

Since Sat Layers work is it safe to assume that Mine Layers will work too?

yes

What about Stellar Manipulation Ships? They will open additional Wrap Points, I assume, but will they explore them?

The warp point openers would not explore (fairly certain). I have noticed an odd tendency by the AI, however, to not open warp points from their home system though. So they might not open any warp points at all, even when they have a ship available.

Again, Rollo, thank you for looking into this. With so many of the Old Guard AI designers missing it is gret that you still respond to inquiries like this.

You are welcome. Hey, this is a hobby of mine .

Because of the poor performance of the single boarding and kamikaze ships I tried something else: Defense Ships. I removed all the kamikaze and boarding ships from the queue and built only Defense Ships as warships. Also I set the 'Fleets Dont Use For Num Turns' back to 10, so the defense ships would form fleets.

Defense ships build their own fleets and don't mix with attack, carriers, boarding, etc. I just tested this and found that defense fleets do not explore. And they do engage the enemy in a much more efficient way then the lone ships would .

Hope this helps. It certainly gives me some food for thought on implementing monsters and other nasty things .

Rollo

[Rollo]

oh, and to adress Litcube's original problem.
Try this for the start of your vehicle construction queue:

AI State := Exploration
Num Queue Entries := ...
Entry 1 Type := Colonizer
Entry 1 Planet Per Item := 0
Entry 1 Must Have At Least := 2
Entry 2 Type := Attack Base
Entry 2 Planet Per Item := 0
Entry 2 Must Have At Least := 1
Entry 3 Type := ...

Since the AI will put 3 items in the queue, you'll get two colonizers and a scout.

Also make sure that you have a valid 'Attack Base' design from game start (Size Minimum Tonnage := 10) and put some extra supply on it for better exploring .
Here is an example of a pretty straight-forward one:

Name := Scout
Design Type := Attack Base
Vehicle Type := Ship
Default Strategy := Optimal Firing Range
Size Minimum Tonnage := 10
Size Maximum Tonnage := 400
Num Must Have At Least 1 Ability := 0
Must Have Ability 1 := Weapon
Minimum Speed := 4
Desired Speed := 6
Majority Weapon Family Pick 1 := 22
Majority Weapon Family Pick 2 := 25
Majority Weapon Family Pick 3 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 4 := 0
Majority Weapon Family Pick 5 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 1 := 25
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 2 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 3 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 4 := 0
Secondary Weapon Family Pick 5 := 0
Shields Spaces Per One := 250
Armor Spaces Per One := 0
Majority Comp Spaces Per One := 10000
Majority Comp Ability := Weapon
Secondary Comp Spaces Per One := 200
Secondary Comp Ability := Weapon
Num Misc Abilities := 9
Misc Ability 1 Name := Combat To Hit Offense Plus
Misc Ability 1 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 2 Name := Combat To Hit Defense Plus
Misc Ability 2 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 3 Name := Supply Storage
Misc Ability 3 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 4 Name := Point-Defense
Misc Ability 4 Spaces Per One := 130
Misc Ability 5 Name := Solar Supply Generation
Misc Ability 5 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 6 Name := Solar Supply Generation
Misc Ability 6 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 7 Name := Extra Movement Generation
Misc Ability 7 Spaces Per One := 10000
Misc Ability 8 Name := Supply Storage
Misc Ability 8 Spaces Per One := 20
Misc Ability 9 Name := Self-Destruct
Misc Ability 9 Spaces Per One := 10000

[Litcube]

Wow, thanks Rollo. Ya learn something new everyday.

I was always under the impression that the attack base design was a space station..

I've noticed you AI pros use "must have at least" rather than the "number per planet". Oleg originally introduced me to this idea.

Aren't you worried about scaling? I think I still don't fully understand this concept.