Does the AI cheat? I think may be.

[Randy]

I have a save that shows tha Aztecs cheating.

The Aztecs only have 1 settler and 1 spearman left, watch what happen when they build their city. At least 6 new units.

Just hit enter and watch.

 

[darski]

if that was the last known unit of the Civ. it seems that they get to act like they "just started the game". I am assuming that you are playing at a higher level than Regent and I have heard of this happening before - in this forum anyhoo.

 

[Bartleby]

Yes it's well-documented; whether it's intentional or a bug, the AI gets their free starting units whenever they found their capital.

 

[vmxa]

Yep, I never figured out if that was an over sight or they liked the idea. Most players tend to turn off respawn.

 

[eldar]

It's not re-spawn, that's a different thing (in other words - this can happen if re-spawn is on OR off). It happens if say an AI has a settler-on-a-boat when their last city is captured/destroyed. If they subsequently found their "first" city with this settler they get their starting bonus units.

So a Sid AI in this position will get their 2 free settlers, x workers, y defensive units, z offensive units. If said AI knows Nationalism then I think all their free military units would be Rifles. And if they know Rocketry they'd probably get TOWs.

 

[Sweetchuck]

The AI absolutely does cheat.

I'm struggling with the Aztecs on a sizeable continent, and finally have them on the run. Knocking off their last couple cities on the coast and they're extinct. I'm using my own settlers and razing the cities for slaves and building my own. Since mine are going in, the city area is smaller for these new cities until they build some culture. So, there's some open territory here and there between these cities.

What happens next? Other civs on other continents, who I have had no dialogue or seen before start racing ships toward this part of the map.

What a coincidence. A bit of land opens up and BANG, everyone's shipping settlers to it from across the globe.

Man, that's a pretty good advantage that the AI has - know what's going on all over the globe before they even mapped it (these civs just researched navigation, so they couldn't have gotten to this part of the map before).

Here's another well known one. Take a couple of cities boardering a civ. Go to war with them. Over defend one city and put only 1 defensive unit on the other and watch which city the civ sends it's stack of doom toward. Reload, but switch defensive units (or put that single defender on a back-row city) and see where their stack of doom goes.

Yet another advantage that would be nice to have as a player.

 

[Randy]

It is a high level and respawn is off. But it was like the civ just started so they got double the start units.

 

[Bucephalus]

Yet another advantage that would be nice to have as a player.

On the contrary, it is very much to the Human player's advantage.

 

[joycem10]

On the contrary, it is very much to the Human player's advantage.

Very true, I love manipulating the AI this way. Leave a city behind the lines undefended, see the AI drop all of its offensive units deep in your territory, chop em up with arty and finish them off with little to no losses.

 

[darski]

I admit to taking advantage of the fact that the AI knows exactly what and where every unit is located. I have seen them stop a (probable) war advance when I add some beef to a border city.

 

[Sweetchuck]

Oh, absolutely. There's all kinds of tricks to use against the AI knowing it will act somewhat predictably. I personally like to bomb a coastal lux or resource tile and nab the workers they put there with an awaiting transport unit.

Which makes it one of the downsides of playing the AI. It's so predictable even in it's state of advantage.

 

[darski]

If you find the settler and attack it, you will get your workers.