AI Campaign => For a Challenging AI opponent

[Makinus]

Thanks for the in-depth analisis of my changes of your Mod, it really helped me to have a better understanding of the effects of my changes.

In fact, i'm increasing the maintenance setting again (no to the original, but not so low as the way i was using...)

My major problem with the game is beacuse i'm a very poor player, because i like to roleplay a lot, and don't use advantages that would go against the "characterization" of my race...

One example: my race don't use fighters or mines...

One thing that frustrated me was battles where, in a Medium tech start, None AI bonus, No Tactical Combat, i had a Fleet composed of around 10 Light Cruisers with beams and the AI came with a fleet of around 20 Frigates, also with beams, and it completely anihilated my fleet with only light damage to the AI ships...

One answer could be that i have a bad design of ships, but i always try to counter the designs of the AI, i.e.: if the AI use Armor skipping beams, i invest heavily in shields and don't use armor in my ships, and vice-versa...

In the example mentioned above, i would think that 20 Frigates would be equally matched with 10 Light Cruisers, because one ship (Frigate) is roughly the half of the tonnage of the other (Light Cruiser), but my LC's keep being minced with none or only small damage to the AI ships..., and when the AI started to use fighters my battles became worse, because i had to strip weapons/armor/shields of the ships to get space for Point-Defense...

I reduced the maintenance so i could have more ships to counter the AI, because i found that to counter a AI frigate i needed one Light Cruiser, and my fleets only became effective when i had one LC for each of the AI's Frigates...

It is intentional that one AI Frigate is the equivalent of one player Light Cruiser? Or i'm doing something wrong?

With the reduced maintenance (from 100 to 25) i started to defeat the AI 50% of the time in None AI bonus, while before i only defeated the AI around 10% of the time...

Like i said before, i increased again the maintenace, but i'm thinking about increasing the speed of the starliners to allow faster Pop Transport and increasing again the Pop mass to allow 5M of pop for each starliner module, i hope that this don't degrade the AI too much...

thanks.

[ October 09, 2003, 11:26: Message edited by: Makinus ]

[oleg]

Bigger is not always better in AIC. Smaller ships have substantial attack/defence bonuses. AI ships have extra bonuses too. It is quite possible your cruisers could not simply hit AI' frigates. I see it happens to mee too

One solution is to use missiles. If it against the role-playing character of your race, use small ships as well ! Or invest heavily in scanners/ECM.

You don't use fighters. It certainly makes you vulnerable. Then use point-defence beams instead of point-defence cannons They are quite effective against fighters. Also, select "don't fire on fighters" in strategies. Normal guns are a waste against AIC fighters. Hope it helps.

I strongly advise against lowering maitenace cost. Ships have build-in maintenance reductions optimized for 100%. Lowering would destabilize game balance. Use "engeeniring section" on all your ships, research Chemistry II and build maintenence-reducing buildings !

[JLS]

Originally posted by Makinus:
I reduced the pop mass, allowing the starliner modules to transport 10M instead of the 1M of the MOD, and changed the starting maintenance of the empire from 100 to 25, reducing it a lot.

Makinus, this has merit and we have been playing with MASS numbers of 50, 100, 200 and 500 for some time with varied results. When the MASS is changed, the Settings files Pop Modifier numbers also have to reflect the change otherwise a fresh load of 60 Colonists (from a Mass=50 setting) for a new Colony with old MASS=1000 settings. This would mean that the Planet is good to go whit the one load, and in most areas of productivity. With this one load of 60 may far out gain the AI Players potential with se4 v1.84 AI Pop Transport protocols. There are a few more issues of coarse in lowering MASS in respects to global effects.

If AIC v4.0 new Human Player Option (3) {when released} --> does not answer the Pop Transfer issues in a way that satisfies the new AIC Players that prefer a more robust system, even to say with less micromanagements of Star Liners in general; then AIC may adopt a base MASS of 500 or less as an option for play

= = =

Oleg, great follow up post. Thanks

[ October 11, 2003, 14:58: Message edited by: JLS ]

[oleg]

Reducing Pop. mass is against the core value of the Proportions/AIC mods. It is about realism after all, right ?
Then be prepared to invest a fortune when moving New York City to the Mars for God sake ! NYC, as I see it in Sex&City is very very vulnerable and gentile, BTW.

If game seems to be too dificult, I suggest to mod AI bonuses, but NOT human traits. Make AI weaker but keep a chalenge of the risky and difficult space colonisation for humans !

[ October 11, 2003, 14:46: Message edited by: oleg ]

[JLS]

Agreed Oleg, I am hoping that AIC v4.0 new game play option (3) will appeal to some and not at all remove the core and base mass of 1000 structure that many of us enjoy

[oleg]

Currently, I enjoy non-connected games. Games give the REAL thrill of opening the warp point to the Unknowing. Something very close to the experience of "In the Death Ground" book by Whites and Weber. No any SE setups come even close IMNO. But, and I mean BUT, the xenophobic AIs, like Xi'Chung, have too much Stellar Manipulation research penalty. I like to play small AI bonuses but still, aggresive AIs do not expand even past 200 turns barrier. BORING, bugs must spead like an infection ! - just my IMHO, of course. I would like to see them get Stellar Manipulation a bit earlier. At least in bonused games, at least. We play it for purely masochistic experienes, not for a lazy win

[ October 11, 2003, 15:30: Message edited by: oleg ]

[JLS]

Understood, and this is a hard one to call for the majarity though... However, I will make additional files with advanced SM option for the few Psycos and 2 Xenos Races

However, there is also something to be said; by NOT knowing who is in you current game and that there is always and at anytime; a chance that you may open your next Warp into a well prepared Psycho or Xenos Players Home System

In addition, never knowing whether a Violent Psycho Races may have a few Breathable Science and/or a large to hugh Planet Colonized that is full of Urban Centers to get the edge on Research to exceed the aprox 20 Year SM date

[ October 11, 2003, 18:30: Message edited by: JLS ]

[QBrigid]

Originally posted by JLS:
However, there is also something to be said; by NOT knowing who is in you current game and that there is always and at anytime; a chance that you may open your next Warp into a well prepared Psycho or Xenos Players Home System

I would perfer finding the Psycos and not them finding me and the longer I have to prepair the better. I normally open my first warp in about 7 to 10 Years. I have seen the Eee, Tolytan and Praitorians, Cue Cappa and Terran even Abbi out and about in about 10 years, sooner for the first three

[ October 11, 2003, 20:28: Message edited by: QBrigid ]

[JLS]

QB, the AI Research files will be tweaked a little with AIC 4.0 as Oleg suggested with respect to Open Warp = some of the races you mentioned will also warp a little sooner. In addition the Aggressive, Nuetrals,Impulsives and the some Violent races will at least get to 6-ly sooner, however this may happen in AIC v4.1 when we will redux most of the AI files to catch up to the new AIC Version 4 system.

[ October 15, 2003, 16:06: Message edited by: JLS ]

[Grand Deceiver]

Last night while conducting offensive operations against another empire I had some very strange things happen.

Several (8) small fleets with an average of (11) vessels each had just entered into Tactical Combat Operations (TCO) with the express purpose of liberating a planet.

A majority of the vessels were Frigates with a normal movement of (5) in TCO.

A full 75% of all vessels involved showed only a movement of (2)..(which is not the norm as stated above).

These vessels were not damaged..and had entered the sector with plenty of Supplies and Strategic Movement (consequently..these same vessels and fleets had conducted TCO a few turns earlier with no degredation of effectivness).

Also....even tho the Targeting % was showing a (99) to attack the planet...the vessels with reduced movement would not engage the planet (I have checked the strategies and could find nothing to preclude them from engaging..plus it was Tactical combat..so I had MY finger on the trigger..not the AI)

Has anyone else ran into this?

I was playing the AI Campaign..so I will post in that thread also.