AI can't handle certain game types?

from GalCiv2 Forums

I got my game settings to be as realistic as possible (i.e. progress is as slow and habitable planets are as rare as possible):

Research is very slow, habitable planets are very rare, uninhabitable planets are abundant, star systems, asteroids and anomalies are also very rare and the galaxy size is immense. The AI was set to 100% natural ability, 100% income and 200% processing power ("Bright")

I did this because I wanted a refreshing change of pace - every planet would matter and a single colony could mean the difference between victory and slavery and a single tech could mean that a war is won instead of lost.

4 out of 4 games I played like this so far the AI tries to play like we are playing on a medium sized galaxy full of habitable worlds - I was in a corner with one class 7 colony and simply bought class 3/4 worlds from AIs in exchange for a few techs and some loose change. The problem is, however, that this world was one of three colonies that AI had in the entire cluster and beyond and they churn out fighters and constructors without an economy to support the fleets.

I kept buying their colonies (the few they had) and conquered minor races (rushed to Planetary Invasion with 100% research spending) and then built up research facilities on conquered worlds and was pretty much the undisputed ruler of the galaxy. Drengin, for instance, were toiling to get Stinger IV giving me the "Be afraid!" line every 30 turns while I had already gotten Aereon missile defense and invulnerability fields. In the latest game I have 55% of the galaxy's population (nearing a trillion), 60% of the influence and a single capital ship of mine can handle an entire enemy civilization, which is equipped with swarms of tiny sized fighters, some of which still have particle beams.

 

You'd think the mega event that makes all the worlds within 2 parsecs of their home system class 9 would help, but they either sell those for loose change as well or don't even touch them. I have started to lift up some civilizations by giving them outdated tech (by my standards) and having them destroy the rest of the interstellar community because dominating things started to get boring. I gave up on 3 games after it became obvious that I was invincible and I'm close to doing so with the fourth as well.

One game was almost a challenge at one point when the Drath decided I was becoming too powerful and warred me, but their worlds were protected by a single fighter and I just bought transports from nearby colonies and got their worlds (all 3 of them) while they were busy fighting wars I paid them to fight.

 

Is there a way to make the AI think better when it comes to this or do I have to give it 200% abilities and resources or change the game settings?

8,822 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Personally, I find diplo-ing for planets 'gamey' exactly because the AI has no perception of future worth. I only occasionally trade a few planets for ships and/or tech, but they have to be pretty established planets (lots of inhabitants so that the AI notices that they have significant worth) and the AI has to be in desperate need for the supplies (e.g. losing a war that the ships and tech might help turn around). That kinda makes me the arbiter of my own "fair" play, which can make abuse hard to resist, so I don't trade for worlds until the game has been going on for several years.

 

Diplomacy in GalCiv2 is, sadly, the easiest factor to exploit (but there are of course others). Basically, if you want a fun and fair game, that doesn't give the Ai huge bonusses, give yourself some abuse restrictions! This is eventually necessary in any strategy game once you know the ins and outs...

(My most important restrictions are: no trading for planets except under the rules named above, no all-lab or all-factory, no selling to minors what they can't use, no saving to reload if something goes wrong, nor to declare war and extort peace on the same turn and perhaps some others that I have internalized so much that I forget that they are self-imposed restrictions. ;))

 

Ps: If you suffer from enemies that fail to militarize or only do so extremely late, look up a mod to fix the tech tree/AI setting problem that causes this.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Another thing that came in handy was buying off all of the research and economical treaties at whatever cost except for giving a treaty in return. This way I had economy treaty income that was as big as my tax income since it got me money from 9 civs which I assume should also go on my naughty list. Though when the UP trade decision to double trade revenue and the mega event that tripled revenue kicked in I was literally bathing in money.

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Well what you can do if you want to make the diplomacy angle impossible, is to either modify the raceconfig file for each race to include a hefty inherent bonus to diplomacy (conversely, give yourself a hefty diplomacy penalty) or add a diplomacy-boosting free tech to the other races.

I would guess it will make trades very difficult, and the other races will have another reason to hate you (your Diplomacy score is puny compared to ours!) which may stack the deck against you just enough.  However, it means you need to mess around with things each time you want to play a different race.

There really does need to be a better valuation of planets from the AI though, workarounds will only do so much.

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Welcome to the limits of AI.  Well, video game AI circa 2003, anyway.  Which isn't to say that video game AI has improved much since then - from what I've seen it hasn't.

You really do need to set limits if you want a competitive game, especially with your settings.  In addition to what HighWater and Marvin have said, I'd add a limitation on treaties and limit paying the AIs to fight each other.  For treaties, no swooping in on the first possible turn to grab up every economic and research treaty.  Pick one or two civs that you actually want close ties to and make treaties with them, even going so far as to - gasp - give up your own treaties to help a worthy civ.  The same goes for the minor races.  One of the AI's failings is that the minors never give their treaties to anyone.  My old game plan was to get all the minor treaties, but now I leave them be.  In fact, since I play with cheats, I like the idea of having the minors trade their treaties to the local major as a form of tribute.  They get some techs, money, and a little security in the bargain.

For starting wars, I don't have a rule, but it's good to keep it low key.  It's too easy to pay the strongest civ to go to war with everyone else.  Likewise, it's too easy to just keep everyone always at war and then go in and reap the spoils.

If it involves saving and reloading or any kind of trick to circumvent the rules or get a do-over, it's right out.  Also, if it just feels slimy, then don't do it.  No building up an armada, parking my transports right next to their planets, then waiting for them to declare war so I can clean up the next turn.  If I want a fight, I'll declare it.  If they have 10 allies, then I'd better think twice instead of resorting to tricks.

You know, that kind of stuff.

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting Tolmekian, reply 4
The same goes for the minor races.  One of the AI's failings is that the minors never give their treaties to anyone.  My old game plan was to get all the minor treaties, but now I leave them be.  In fact, since I play with cheats, I like the idea of having the minors trade their treaties to the local major as a form of tribute.  They get some techs, money, and a little security in the bargain.

Neat! So much more interesting than just having them swallowed up. Must try this.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Crank the opponent AI level up