A.I. lost it's mind?

[mizzouman6]

It's good for me when it happens, but it's also quite funny. The A.I. decides that it wants a square smack in the middle pf my territory. I try to block him off, tell him to move, and then they automatically take him where I don't want him to go -- the other side of my territory, past three towns to an open area. Sometime I keep prodding him to leave or declare war and he does. I take his settler, get two workers from it and ask for peace. The A.I. does it again and again. Right now I have about 16 Babylonian workers from this quirk. Has this happend to you? Not that I don't appreciate the free labor, but enough is enough. Use some some common sense and sneak a raft by me when I'm not looking instead of trying to walk past guarded cities.

 

[Becka]

This has happened to me a few times, but I'm not as fourtunate. The only time it has really been a problem was when the Romans (who were more powerful than me) kept trying to get me declare war by constantly keeping military units in my territory. So the AI for me is too smart and annoying sometimes.

 

[Psychlone]

I had a game where I bottlenecked off a good chunk of the continent (it was roughly 8-shaped), and the Romans and Russians were continually trying to move settlers through my territory to the open land. I mostly dealt with it because I wasn't feeling mighty enough to fight, but I did block the narrowest approach with a wall of units to give me the chance to grab all the open land. Russia declared war on me because she couldn't get her settlers through. On the first turn I captured about 10 Russian settlers. Then I took a couple of cities, gaining a few more workers, and they went for peace. Immediately afterwards they began trying to send settlers through again. I did the get out or declare war, and they declared war AGAIN! Same basic result. By the time that war was over, I had in excess of 40 captured Russian workers.

 

[Cantankerous]

The AI has a terrible habit of running settlers into the middle of a warzone.

I can't count the number of times that while I had large numbers of troops on the border of another civ that I'm at war with, that civ inevitably showed up with a settler looking for ANY place that it can to place a new city.

There's a definite problem with the programming when the AI feels it more important to place a city AT ALL COSTS, rather than protect the cities it currently has. Running a settler into an active warzone (where the AI knows I have large numbers of troops), protected only by a spearman or pikeman, is not a smart move.

I, too, like the "free" workers, but sometimes it does get to the point of ridiculousness.

 

[Cruiser]

The AI is really a pain in the butt.

It sends workers into my territory wandering around. They won't leave.

A rather friendly civ keeps sending military units into my territory, and then apologizes. . . over and over and over. . .

The AI sends land-grabbing settlers to build a city on a few tiles of open terrirtory near some large cities of mine. This hostile act should be considered an Act of War by them - but it isn't. I would get blamed if I attacked them.

It is another flaw in the game.

 

[-proletarian-]

I just walked out of a game 10 minutes ago that I was thoroughly enjoying......I was the Americans, pangea map, on regent level. I had about 5 cities deep inside a pocket of chinese/russian/english territory, all 1-shield producers. they each had like 3 units garrisoned, one pikeman apiece and two warriors each. I had given numerous gifts to the chinese, gold, tech, and maps. they were "polite" towards me. i was building courthouses in the cities, and what happens next turn? they declare war on me. they take three cities on the first turn. I was majorly pissed off. I quit the game without saving. Bottom line? Having the AI summarily declare war on a friendly neighbour with no warning is no fun. what about all the B.S. we heard about Civ3 being "more civilized than ever"?. Sorry about this, i'm just angry right now.......

 

[Cruiser]

Yes, that's the AI for you.

Surprise attacks out of nowhere; alliances formed (bribed) by the main attacker. If YOU did that you'd be a "warmonger".

How about a stubborn AI?? I was the Japanese with a strong military and a powerhouse culture. Russia had much less culture but a slightly stronger (in numbers) military. But I had Samurai to his horsemen in War Number One, and Cavalry to his knights in War Number Two.

In both wars I sluaghtered his attackers who came on en masse.
Thet never got to attack a single border city of mine. I then counter-attacked and took three of his cities. He FiNALLY agreed to peace.

About 150 years later he tries the same crap - a sudden attack. Same slaughter. He has lost four cities but won't talk to me!! The idiot. What do I have to do?? Take his capital so he gets the message??

Stupid AI. Another flaw in Civ III.

 

[LeroyJr]

Yes the AI can not only be stupid but very, very stubborn as well.

I am the biggest and baddest civ in the World with the Persians. I get into a war with my next door neighbor the Egyptians who are in third place. Egyptians drag in the Greeks who are on a different continent and not a player in the big sceme of things at all. After nearly wiping the Egyptians off the map they finally give me peace. Greeks will not talk to me yet. Next thing I know the Greeks get the Japanese to declare war on me. Excuse me little Japanese man. Are you a moron?

This whole move would be equivilant to the real world Germans declaring war on the USA and then getting Canada to side with them. As the next door neighbor to a superpower I think you would best not declare war on them in a little tech trade or something. I could have 60-80 Veteran Cavalry units on the front door of their capital in a year and they declare war on me. I have 45 cities and they have 10-12.

I wipe out half his cities and for some reason he felt compelled to talk to me despite his alliance with the Greeks. I get peace. Very next turn somehow his 6 cities cranked out 12 Cavalry units that are sitting on the frontdoor of one of my bordertowns. Get Out. He declares war on me again. No logic in either of those moves by the Japanese. Being a Militaristic Civ and all but you need to know where to pick your fights and where not too.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

I`ve seem similar things over and over. I guess it stems from the fact that the AI has no (cannot have a ) memory of strategies or moral behaviour. All things have to be black or white and all things have to be decided now. Long term effects are given as numbers - but the AI cannot estimate probabilities of these numbers happeneing. So it just adds up and it`s 22.7 it goes for it and if it`s 20.6 it won`t.....

problem is: can`t be fixed! not without a neuronal network that really thinks like a human....

 

[Hobbes]

Someone needs to develop better decision algorithms for the AI. Here is a scenario, and I've had it happen a number of times, I'm at war with the AI, I take half of their cities, my forces are moving toward their other cites, and they start building a Great Wonder . Sure I like the fact that I won't have to fight a couple more units, but the only thing they should be doing is cranking out units, go figure.

 

[Moulton]

To answer the first question posed, I once was on a narrow, small 'continent' with Roman at one end and Aztec at the other. Normally Aztecs arerampant about exploring and settling. I blocked off the southern end with a city, and they did not violate the border. Blocked the north end, but the Romans kept sending settlers. I would give him two chances, then take his escort and settler--became laborerors. Then sued for peace. He repeated this about a dozen turns, until finally I had settled all theland, and sold my map.
Last night finished a week-long game Early on the Chinese put two cities smack in the middleof mine -- in a jungle. After my borders closed in, I woul dnot let him send units through. Was strong enough to force him to move. Finally he declared war...
But the strangest thing in that game, after the English turned against me, and declared war, I granted peace when they were down to one city. Later, they joined Russia and declared war on the French and me. One city. Suicide.
The aztecs I even gave a city to, one far away, to see if it would appease him. "If you are trying to bribe me, keep on..." Had ROP to enable me to get to the one English city. He only had two cities, pop4 and pop1, and a couple of spearmen, so I paid him no mind. Suddenly I get the message he has declared war. He traded mapes, and then wandered through my land and found an interior (previously Aztec) city without any defenders. So he declared war, and took it. Suicide again. I had 650 units in the field, and he declares war with three spearmen???
Of course it did used to be Aztec... but the current pop when I re-took it next turn, was 1 happy aztec, 12 happy Persians. There was no resistance.
After it was all over, Catherine said "Let me ask you a question. Can you kick... Oh, I guess so." She was the last one I elimated.

Question about that too: when I took her last city, she did not disappear. Not this is not respawning in the first few turns. SHe had 40 cities or so, enough to give me a domination victory. My spy reported one destroyer left, no other units, and no cities. Not having a clue as to where that destroyer was, I asked for peace. Next turn she attacked France, and my MPP kicked back in. Next turn france and Russia made peace. Got a map from France--sure enough there was a russian city slap in the middle of Frances north coast--with a French name, Toulouse. It had NO defenders. How did Russia move her civ onto a destroyer, then attack and take a city without any land units? And it was on an island, so she could not have walked a settler--well it was french anyway.
Towards the end... Egypt refused a trade with me, becauseof the way I "Hosed Russia". Hmmm... I never attacked Russia. First war, she attacked me. Second and third my MPP required action.... Come on--I Hosed Russia???

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

seen that empty-city-thing, too. strange!

 

[rdomarat]

I agree with a majority of this thread, that the AI can tend to do silly things from time to (Settlers still looking for land in war zone, building wonders while in the process of getting his ass handed to him in a hat), but I'm dumb founded at accusations made that the AI is too good.

Example 1 :

I just walked out of a game 10 minutes ago that I was thoroughly enjoying......I was the Americans, pangea map, on regent level. I had about 5 cities deep inside a pocket of chinese/russian/english territory, all 1-shield producers. they each had like 3 units garrisoned, one pikeman apiece and two warriors each. I had given numerous gifts to the chinese, gold, tech, and maps. they were "polite" towards me. i was building courthouses in the cities, and what happens next turn? they declare war on me. they take three cities on the first turn. I was majorly pissed off. I quit the game without saving. Bottom line? Having the AI summarily declare war on a friendly neighbour with no warning is no fun. what about all the B.S. we heard about Civ3 being "more civilized than ever"?. Sorry about this, i'm just angry right now.......

Good for the AI! If some civ had settled a couple of weak cities in the middle of my territory or right on my border that had no supply line back to their main territory for re-inforcements, I'd wipe them out too. It's not like I never instantly declare war on a nieghbour I've been friendly with for a while. If there's something I want and it's ripe for the picking, I'll take it. I'm happy the AI is smart enough to do it to me as well.

Example 2 :

Surprise attacks out of nowhere; alliances formed (bribed) by the main attacker. If YOU did that you'd be a "warmonger".

OK, the AI is a warmonger. So what? If you want an AI that sits back and lets you stomp all over them, maybe you should look at titles like "Barbie's Dream Date" or "Magical Horseback Ride".

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

Example 3 :

How about a stubborn AI?? I was the Japanese with a strong military and a powerhouse culture. Russia had much less culture but a slightly stronger (in numbers) military. But I had Samurai to his horsemen in War Number One, and Cavalry to his knights in War Number Two. In both wars I sluaghtered his attackers who came on en masse. They never got to attack a single border city of mine. I then counter-attacked and took three of his cities. He FiNALLY agreed to peace.

What would you have done if you were the AI? Your neighbour keeps getting stronger and bigger and more of a pain in the ass. Every turn you sit and do nothing, your neighbour get more powerful than you. The time to strike is NOW, no matter what. If you sit back and do nothing, eventually your neighbour will be even more powerful than you are now, and they'll be able to roll all over your riflemen with tanks. If you wait for a bit to build your military up, so will your opponent. Instead of his knights attacking riflemen, his knights will be attacking infantry. That's no good. The AI is smart enough to figure out it has to do something. It attacks with whatever it has. It might be suicide, but so is doing nothing. If you're getting your ass whipped, you always have the ability to quit the game. The AI does not have this luxury.

 

[Moulton]

Makes sense. Some one earlier made a quote from Art of War--something to the effect that if you are qoing to have to go to war, it is foolish to put it off.

From the AI point of view, the English and Aztec assauilts had the possiblilty of some success--If they could have taked a couple of cities while I was occupied off-continent in a major war, and then sued for peace they would have been better off. And Had I been them, I probably wounld not have left them even one city in the first place, so they would expect an attack to eliminate them eventually.... so they took action first, at a time when there might have been some chance of some small success... Ok, it was not suicidal.
But it was not close to even either.... I had 650 modern units in the field, and they had only 3 or 4 ancient ones....

 

[LeroyJr]

I agree that the AI must do something with a tough neighbor but should not be suicidal with it. When I play I like to take my tough neighbors down a notch or two as well.

But if I was the real Canada I would probably want to have a little backing from the real Russians or Chinese before I declared war on the real USA. It is no difference really. I guess the thing is that the AI is trying to "win" at all costs but only has one thought as how to do it and that is war.

In the real life senario with Canada I would think that putting major bucks into science so they could catch up militarily might help the situation. Declaring war with no chance of winning is not a good strategy. At what point in time would the Canadians give up on the war theory and instead move to a MPP situation with the Americans and instead focus on a Diplomatic, Cultural or Space Ship win. The AI in Civ III does not seem to know that there are other ways to win the game.

 

[Cruiser]

About the stupid AI. . .


The 20 turns for a military alliance have past but I don't actually cancel it before the civ I'm at war with comes to me to make peace. I DO make peace, and for the next THOUSAND YEARS everyone hates my guts for my "shabby treatment" of that civ.

I am kicking the Russians' butt and have slaughtered his troops at 10:1. I've even taken four of his cities. But he won't talk to me until I've razed his capital and reduced his civ to a handful of towns in the tundra. Stupid, stupid.

The Romans are "in awe" of my civ, the one that just smashed the Russians, I have cavalry to his knights, and plenty of them. So he decalres war on me!!!

The Indians keep wandering through my territory aimlessly. A big stack of twelve elephants heading in no discernible direction. I tell them to leave, and they do, until they come back the next turn!!

This game is getting to be a real pain.

 

[Selous]

did u ever think that the AI is trying to move there troops through your territory to attack a enemy AI? to move there troops in position to kill stuff? and the AI thinks "im going to attack something ... AND it is willing to move THROUGH your territory to kill a enemy AI

 

[LeroyJr]

That is always fun when your neighbors decide to duke it out on your land.

I hate ROP's generally but sometimes they definately serve a strategic purpose. With an ROP the other civ can use your infastructure to move their troops. In one game their was a great war between #2 Zulu's and the #3 Egyptians who both happened to be my next door neighbors. I was meanwhile in a war with the Japanese just on the other side of the Zulu's. I got an ROP with Shaka and it turned the tide with both wars. Shaka could now use my rails and Cleo could not. Huge difference when one country can move their troops right to the front lines with no movement cost and the other one can't. The Egyptians were effectively destroyed because they lost all of their mobility on my turf while the Zulu's did not.

That war actually worked out okay for me as the Zulu's razed 33 of the Egyptians 35 cities to the ground. The Zulu's took the city with the horses and the one with the Iron. I meanwhile built settlers and claimed the former Egyptian coal, Oil, two gems and three furs.