AI - no aggression...

[ljossberir]

I have a question about the aggressive nature of the AI. I used to be really good in Civ2, only recently did I get Civ3..and I also got PTW. There are some adjustments I had to make to Civ3, the culture borders.. for one thing. But overall, it is a much, much better game than 2.

But, since I haven't quite mastered it yet I have been playing on the 2 easiest levels... (chieftan and... warlord? I think). Something here is really bugging me. I had alot of fun developing builder strategy, and I still prefer that style. But I also enjoy having a big war game. I've been playing "war" style lately, and doing well. It's time for me to move up on the difficulty level and the first two difficulties are no longer challenging. But something is bugging me and I really hope to get an answer on it.

AI never declares war! That's right, they never seem to instigate it. What's worse is that they never fight amongst each other, either. If there is any war going on, it's because I started it myself. This gets kind of boring. Once in awhile, I would like to join a "war-in-progress" between other civs, or be required to defend my territory from a ruthless instigator. Does anyone know why my AI seems opposed to starting wars? They're putting me to sleep here!!! zzz...

The only thing I can think of, is that perhaps AI aggression increases with difficulty level. So that is really the heart of my question. Are the AIs more aggressive and do they start wars themselves more often in higher difficulty games? Or is there something else I am doing wrong?

[klopolov]

While playing on regent or monarch, I always get militaristic civs bully me for money and then declare war when I refuse. In the game I play right now, the Aztecs declared war on me this way, even though they were on the other side of the continent with no iron and no horses and I had no trouble fending them off when they finally reached me.
Also in all of my games, there are always other civs fighting each other. They usually offer me MPP (each on of them) and then start a war with each other (I always refuse MPP).
I played vanilla civ3 for two weeks, and just got gold edition for new years, same story there...

[ybbor]

tr playing with expansionist or militeristic civs, they're more likely to declare war, and yes, agression doew rise with difficulty. (also if you have C3C you can adjust the agressiveness of the overall AI before eahc game, a great feature! i'd recoemnd it getting it (especially if you have been playing civ for as long as 2 years)

[The Last Conformist]

Playing on Chieftain, by any chance? The AI's more prone to go to war the more units it has, and on Cheiftain it doesn't have alot. Go up to at least Regent - where the AI builds units at the same rate as you do - and you should see more AI aggressivity, both against you and between various AIs.

[predesad]

okay, i'll be the first to add a sarcastic comment - try a game on emporer level and you'll have all the war you can handle, then you'll probably go crawling back to the regent level where you will still have war problems, just not as much, I only say you'll go crawling back to regent since you have been playing on chieftain and warlord, IMHO there should be no chieftain level it can totally ruin a player.

[Elrohir]

Try at least one of three things (All three if you really want some fun). First, turn up the difficulty level to Regent or Monarch. If your winning that easily then your too good to be playing on the low levels. Second, have all your rivals be Civs with Militaristic as one of their Civ attributes. This makes them more likely to start wars. Third, to the right of the screen where you select the Civs, there's a thing that lets you regulate the AI's Aggression. Put that to 'Most Agressive'.

Hope that helps.

[klopolov]

@ predesad
I disagree, some people take longer to learn and not everyone has the same "I'll figure it out somehow" aproach as I do. I started my very first game on warlord with no civ1 or 2 experience (but lots and lots of HOMM2,3,4 although it is not the same in any way). Two weeks later I'm holding even on monarch. I'm not bragging, some people learn fast and some people do not learn fast. IMHO, there should be a very easy level that would enable the beginners to learn the building part of the game without experiencing the AI aggression and getting their ... kicked simply because they just installed the game. As people progress through the levels, the AI aggression goes up, as it should, and people will learn the war basics and advance in that too. As somebody said it on this forum, the chieftain is a tutorial level and should be there to let people learn the basics without having to start new game simply because they are inexperienced and have been wiped off the face of the world.

[ljossberir]

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. I'll go try them out now! Heh, maybe I'll even try one game on Emperor level! Just for laughs..

But yes, I am now moving up to Regent difficulty as my "default".

Also, one more question regarding difficulty levels. Do you get higher scores if your difficulty level is higher?

[bingen]

Originally Posted by ljossberir

Also, one more question regarding difficulty levels. Do you get higher scores if your difficulty level is higher?

Yes, each level has a score multiplier that increases linearly Chieftain=1 Warlord=2 and so on.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that you need embassies to see the AI-AI wars.

[Chieftess]

On chieftain and warlord, the AI builds at a much slower rate, and thus, will get larger armies much later in the game. On Monarch and above, they start getting production bonuses and extra units (starting on emperor). Monarch is often call the "most fair level", since it compensates for the AI's lack of micromanagement. Even emperor can be seen as a "fair level" now.

BTW, play C3C on highest agression with agressive AI. Even chieftain level AI will try to sneak attack you, especially if you have a UU and they want to trigger your Golden Age early.

[Renata]

I'll just add one more thing: I'm not sure what map settings you're using, but they can greatly affect the likelihood of wars. In particular, the less space the AI has to expand, the more likely they are to go to war early. And having been at war once, they're more likely to go to war again.

Try an 80%-water pangaea map with standard or small map size and I guarantee you'll see some wars at Regent and up, even without cherry-picking rivals or notching up AI aggression.

Renata

[HAND]

Monarch still makes me stress abit. I suggest regent for you. The AI always has the ability to suprise you somehow.
I have played on Emperor a couple of times, but I usually get slaughtered by the beginning of the Industrial age, since i'm the builder, commercial, expansionsitic type.

[mad-bax]

Play monarch definitely. 80% water pangea as Renata said, and maybe you will get lucky. It is not often that I get the AI declaring on me to be honest. Maybe if I refuse to give in to a demand, or I deprive them of a resource that they think they can get. Play styles have a lot to do with it, and it is probably a lot to do with you being a much better player than you let on. If you are strong compared to the opponent then they are unlikely to attack - this is just my experience though and not necessarily a fact.

[WackenOpenAir]

The AI is only agressive when they are stronger than you on militairy.

If you play on a level where the AI has the opportunity to be stronger than you and you are doing a lot of building (settlers, workers, granaries, libs, markets) instead of making units, they will make demands from you. If you don't pay, there is a very good chance they will declare.

As soon as you get stronger than them however, the chance of them declaring gets a lot smaller, even on high levels. When you are strong, most declarations against you will be from AI's that are bought into an alliance against you by your other enemies.

[wilbill]

One of the fairly common complaints about Civ 3 is "the AI won't declare war, never fights among themselves, and I have to start all the wars myself."

Another fairly common complaint is "the AI is always starting wars with me for no reason, and as soon as one of them does, they all declare war on me."

As already noted, both these situations are primarily a function of your military strength compared to the AI's. Build fewer military units and they'll fight more. Play at a higher level so the AI's get some advantages and they'll fight more.

[Willem]

Originally Posted by ljossberir

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone. I'll go try them out now! Heh, maybe I'll even try one game on Emperor level! Just for laughs..

Another thing you can do, if you're up to fiddling with the editor, is increase the aggresion levels in their. You'll find that on the Civilizations page. But getting Conquest with the selectable aggression level would be a better option.

Also, you can select civs to play against that are more aggressive. Each civ is different in that regard.

[Babbler]

From experence, if you start wars youself, the AI is much more willing to start wars with you and each other. In other words, go sit the pot a little.