Andvare
King
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2007
- Messages
- 788
There are definitely some very basic problems with the AI, and it reeks of a rush job.
Unescorted ranged units. Vulnerable ranged units, which place themselves next to melee units. Lack of mounted units. Units not taking advantage of rough terrain. AI being too aggressive.
All of those basic problems should be solvable.
And then there are the balance problems. An AI wont be able to misuse a balance issue, because the issue shouldn't be there in the first place, and is usually a sign that the developers haven't seen it. For example, spear vs. horseman. Horseman have the initiative (much higher move), so can decide where to attack (against the AI at least), and any promotion will cancel the spear's ingrown advantage because of the horseman's higher initial strength. This translate into spears not being a viable counter against horseman.
The more of these, the worse the AI seems. Any exploit equals worse AI performance. Just like in colonization, which was ridiculously broken.
Of course, that doesn't mean that the demands of the AI hasn't increased with 1UPT, which makes it IMHO a bad design decision. You could have most of the gameplay change with fewer AI consequences with a more flexible system.
Unescorted ranged units. Vulnerable ranged units, which place themselves next to melee units. Lack of mounted units. Units not taking advantage of rough terrain. AI being too aggressive.
All of those basic problems should be solvable.
And then there are the balance problems. An AI wont be able to misuse a balance issue, because the issue shouldn't be there in the first place, and is usually a sign that the developers haven't seen it. For example, spear vs. horseman. Horseman have the initiative (much higher move), so can decide where to attack (against the AI at least), and any promotion will cancel the spear's ingrown advantage because of the horseman's higher initial strength. This translate into spears not being a viable counter against horseman.
The more of these, the worse the AI seems. Any exploit equals worse AI performance. Just like in colonization, which was ridiculously broken.
Of course, that doesn't mean that the demands of the AI hasn't increased with 1UPT, which makes it IMHO a bad design decision. You could have most of the gameplay change with fewer AI consequences with a more flexible system.