AI Campaign => For a Challenging AI opponent

[JLS]

SunDevil, HAVE they colonized any planets other then there starting type, in your game ?

If not SunDevil, you have must of altered the components file to such a degree that the AI does not receive, the other Colonizer Modules.

Because in every game we have played, they certainly have; even as we speak.

[ June 27, 2003, 00:21: Message edited by: JLS ]

[JLS]

Originally posted by SunDevil:
what the ai difficulty setting is suppose to affect? So if I chose a high ai difficulty game with a high bonus game

~
SunDevil, you will find AI Bonus Levels in this post
=================================================
posted June 09, 2003 01:53

I am still compiling the ReadMe File for AIC. Following will be some of the text.
-------------------------------------------------
STARTING YOUR FIRST FEW AIC v3.0+ GAMES

Neutrals for the most part are always good

After they become warm to you. Offer a trade of 50k of resources a Comm Link even your Colonizer Tech - any one; should trade for their Colonizer Tech

Neutrals also offer the Human Player large monthly dividends through Trade and Research Treaties. Refueling rights, not to mention somebody to pick when the time suits you

~
Small Quadrants with many AI. The AI will soon be crowded and all but the most Serine may decide for the expansion fight. You will end up on the AI hit list in this style game. (Not recomended for new AIC Players)

~
For your first AIC v3.0+ game:
Play a Standard default Setup.
You may want a Medium or Large Default top Map at first.
With Low to Medium AI Player Count.
Low to Medium AI Difficulty selection.
Absolutly NONE in Computer BONUS.

In the Advanced Traits when you Edit your Race, you are Required to choose the *top HUMAN Trait* and then please take the FREE options of 1 and 2 as well as any other choices you may want.

Please, further take any or ALL the FREE MP Handicapping choices to help you build the Empire you are comfortable with. (All 3 MP) would be a bonus of 1000 Points to you - The AI does not mind, so don't you

For 3000 Points - AI Campaign has a lot to offer the Dual Racial Trait Human Player . Any Combination is very good. Please check out each of your Population Centers on your Home World, when your game starts

~~~~~
PLEASE NOTE: The ending AI Traits are reserved for the AI, and will break your game if you choose any inadvertently.
~~~~~

Start building a Scout or two, a few Base Ship Yards, Colonizers etc.
You will need many star liners.

If you find you are neighbors with an Aggressive race, be prepaired.
~Tip~Mines are just an annoyance for this AI, so do not depend your Minefields to stop this AI for to long

Important starting researches are, Ship Construction 2 and 3.
Military Science for Point Defence.
Construction so the Colonies will build with further designs.
Propulsion 2 is good for the Scouts to install efficient engines.
Ship Yard Techs for faster build rates if you are not Temporal Race.

Any research path is fine, above are just a few absolutely needed base line Techs, in AIC.

In regards to the Best overall Race Package in AIC, the choice may arguably be the Crystallurgy Racial Trait then the Temporal Race.

If you like Intel Projects, the Psychic Racial Trait may be for you.

Organics as expected, will give you a fine war footing. Also, there are abondent organic resource in AIC for the even the most rapacious of the Organic Species

You may also find that the AI in AIC to be very interactive
=================================================
Suggested AI Computer Bonus Levels in AIC:

None: All first time Players. MP Handicap per your se4 Experience.

Low: With good AIC Economics under your belt and you start beating the AI Regularly with None bonus games. Also opens more options for the AI in No Warp Games. Remember to reset your MP Handicapping, the AI is tougher.

Medium: Very Competitive in No Warp Games in other games the AI is Extremely Tough with this setting. Good for most Multiplayer LAN or PBEM Games, with many Human Players.

High: Only a few Multiplayer games may require this setting.

The AI curb does and will increase, as the game Years tick by.
Each AI Bonus Level also will increase this AI Curb.

(The during game AI Curb advance is different then the In Game Bonus, and is fully Programable in AIC. To start and to End. Even to reverse itself for Finite)

=================================================

The best way to start with Centurion rich artifacts Systems is to generate one to your liking from the in game Quadrant menu with the Centurion Ruins map (AIC v3.01+). You may generate one to a few hundred Systems from this map… In addition, it is great for a one on one game as well.

I recommend you set the AI player count, relative to the Systems that you generate, for a balanced game, the less AI the better; for you that is. It may be best to keep the AI players down (1 per 8-12 Systems), and not to play with any AI bonus in this style game of AIC.

Remember, the AI likes those artifacts too.

[ June 27, 2003, 01:40: Message edited by: JLS ]

[JLS]

SunDevil,

I will answer your question in this way. In a None Bonus game, Most AI in the first few Hundred Turns will average the same or a little less, comparing similar to Colonize types, then the Average experienced Human Player.

The aggressive race ONLY. i.e. The Terrans, Xiati etc: In a None AI bonus game will average a little MORE, comparing similar to Colonize types, then the Average experienced Human Player.

Most, if not all Xenophobes: In the first few Hundred Turns, in a None AI bonus game, should average less, comparing similar to Colonize types, then the Average experienced Human Player.

I urge you, to refer to the AIC Vehicle Construction Files and Compare.
---
With this said, there are also Variables from game to game for the first few Hundred turns of a none AI bonus start.
For example, if the Rock type AI have many uncontested Systems near by. If so, any rock Player will spread, as would you or I.

Does a Gas type have any Gas type Planets in nearby Systems, if not, this AI will be slow out of the gate.

If you have a large map then yes you will have many available systems to you as a Human Player. However, the AI Player, also will have many Systems available to it.

======

I can assure you that the AI Players, will receive all Colony type modules; in your AIC game.
~
However, if you are saying that the AI has no other colonizer Types in your game. You have must of altered the components file to such a degree that the AI does not receive, the other Colonizer Modules.

P.S. For anyone who wants to reply to this post, yes I have made changes to this mod, but I have left the whole ai and pictures folder intact, in other words, the ai strategies and specific ai construction of planet facilities and ships are left at AIC stock.

SunDevil, if you continue to Modify the Files in AIC, you will continue to generate opportunities for yourself, that you will now have to explore.


[ June 26, 2003, 12:14: Message edited by: JLS ]

[SunDevil]

JLS,

Just checked my game, went to the design menu for the first ai player and saw that they have a gas colony and ice colony design, with the right components. They currently have three rock colony ships sitting at the homeworld, with only rock planets colonized, no ice or gas planets are colonized. Which is funny because they have some goods planets which are gas and ice sitting in their home system. My assumption is that the ai is stuck for some reason in building more colony ships, maybe with these three rock colony ships just sitting at the homeworld, it prevents the ai from building more ships, based on the ratio of the numbers of colony ships to the number of planets which I think is in the ai_construction_vehicles.txt file.

I checked the components file and the only difference between the newest Version in the AIC and the my components file is that the boarding party strength has been increased to from 9 (an old value you set because I haven't edited any of the ai's colony components) to a new value of 25.

Thanks for answering my questions. I usually know what I am doing when I am modding I just for some reason can't get my changes and your mod to work to their fullest capability. It might have something to do with the fact that I have updated my mod as many times as you have updated the AIC. Thanks for your help.

SunDevil

[Baron Grazic]

Thanks for that starting guide JLS.
I week too late for me, but it just means I'll have to start again...
It's also my first Proportions game, so I'm sure I started with the wrong settings anyway...

[SunDevil]

JLS,

I just took over the ai player for one turn, and set the homeworld build queue to two gas colony ships and two ice colony ships. Checked back in a couple of turns and this is what happened:
With the new construction of colony ships it somehow forced the ai player to finally send the three rock colony ships that were hanging around the homeworld out to colonize planets, this happened on the next turn when the first gas colony ship was finished. A couple of turns later the ai player again had two gas colony ships and one ice colony ship hanging around the homeworld for a grand total of three colony ships which must be set somewhere as a standard. When the second and Last ice colony ship was finished, the ai player sent out one of the gas colony ships to colonize a red star gas planet ignoring a green star gas planet three spaces away from the homeworld. There is now again three colony ships around the homeworld which is one gas colony ship and two ice colony ships.

If you set this standard of having three idle colony ships on call so to speak at all times, I was just wondering where this would be at in the data or ai files. I don't think this is just my mod (because I didn't touch any of the ai files), but if you have a chance to look at one of your recent games and see if one of the ai players has three colony ships around the homeworld I would appreciate it.

SunDevil

[JLS]

SunDevil.

As I said, you can be assured, that the AI Players, will receive all Colony type modules; in your AIC game. They do, and colonize in the Unmodified AIC games we play

~
However, if you are saying that the AI has no other colonizer Types in your game. You have must of altered the components file to such a degree that the AI does not receive, the other Colonizer Modules.

P.S. For anyone who wants to reply to this post, yes I have made changes to this mod, but I have left the whole ai and pictures folder intact, in other words, the ai strategies and specific ai construction of planet facilities and ships are left at AIC stock.

SunDevil, if you continue to Modify the Files in AIC, you will continue to generate opportunities for yourself, that you will now have to explore

Please Note SunDevil.
What was said above applies, SunDevil. From this point on, most the problem you incur, I can NOT assist you, I can not even ask you for you’re save file, because you have made so many changes to the AIC DATA files, your game is so corrupted, it will not even load with the Standard AIC.

Sorry, please, at this point, I ask you only to post on AIC specific questions, from the unmodified AIC data files as supplied.

John

[ June 27, 2003, 15:54: Message edited by: JLS ]

[JLS]

Baron Grazic. Wow, you are a sergeant, I remember when I made sergeant, it was a cool feeling to have so many Posts

In regards to PvK’s Proportions, I hope you enjoy the MOD, for without doubt, it is the one of the best out there.

In regards to AIC, when you are ready to start, you will find the ~TIP~ Readme file with in the AICampaign folder helpful, and thru out the AIC discussion thread, you may find some interesting topics, as well.

[QBrigid]

SunDevil, in my standard 400 plus turn game, also low bonus.

The 1st Place Gas Abbidon and the 2nd place Rock XiChung, have most of the Ice, Rock, and Gas Planets Colonized that they can.

Every thing is working as JLS, says.

[Master Belisarius]

Originally posted by SunDevil:
JLS,

Just checked my game, went to the design menu for the first ai player and saw that they have a gas colony and ice colony design, with the right components. They currently have three rock colony ships sitting at the homeworld, with only rock planets colonized, no ice or gas planets are colonized. Which is funny because they have some goods planets which are gas and ice sitting in their home system. My assumption is that the ai is stuck for some reason in building more colony ships, maybe with these three rock colony ships just sitting at the homeworld, it prevents the ai from building more ships, based on the ratio of the numbers of colony ships to the number of planets which I think is in the ai_construction_vehicles.txt file.

I checked the components file and the only difference between the newest Version in the AIC and the my components file is that the boarding party strength has been increased to from 9 (an old value you set because I haven't edited any of the ai's colony components) to a new value of 25.

Thanks for answering my questions. I usually know what I am doing when I am modding I just for some reason can't get my changes and your mod to work to their fullest capability. It might have something to do with the fact that I have updated my mod as many times as you have updated the AIC. Thanks for your help.

SunDevil

It looks like the well known "Colony" bug AI: the AI always build the same kind of colonizer, instead rotate the ship designes...