AI and espionage

[Ordep]

I've noticed that about half the time or so that I try to conduct espionage my spy gets caught and the AI gets pissed at me, but I've never recieved a message that the AI tried to plant a spy in my civ and failed. So my questions are:

Does the AI ever conduct espionage?

Does the AI ever fail at said espionage?

Are we, as the player ever told that the AI failed?

I know the AI will build an embasy in my capitol. I've never successfully used the detect enemy spy option, has anyone else?

 

[The Last Conformist]

The AI will conduct espionage, it will occasionally fail, and when it does that you're told.

Can't recall ever exposing an enemy spy - I usually figure that since I'm brighter than the AI, I gain more from my spy than they from theirs (and they know all my troop numbers and positions anyway), so I rather not risk losing my spy in attempting to expose theirs.

 

[Ordep]

Thanks, Conformist. I guess most of my games end too early for the AI to get a chance to do much spying. I knew the AI knew all my troop's positions without a spy, so I wondered if it bothered to waste its money.

 

[AdrianE]

I had one game where the English attempted to plant a spy in my capital and failed. There was a notification of that.

Every time I have attempted to expose the enemy spy it has failed though. Other espionage missions are just too expensive so I don't do them.

Now, I just plant a spy and leave him for the military intelligence info. I like knowing exactly what units the AI's have.

Adrian

 

[Suleiman Pasha]

from my personal experience the rate of stealing tech from ai is higher when u are a communist civ and the ai is some other govt. Once I stole 3 techs from Ai and got caught once but didnt do much bad to my game.

 

[Raidne]

In one of my earliest games, I was playing chieftan and got bored (well, I am already in future era but the AI all just reached Industrial), therefore I gave them each 60,000 golds. Immediately the AI all sent spies to my capital, and every term there are one or two messages poping up saying xxx was attempting to steal a tech and was caught in action, which lasted until 12 odd terms, until, I suspect, they finished with the golds. So AI does attempt to use spies, if they have the money...

But I still don't know how the success rate is determined. I can't recall when was the last time I succeeded in stealing a tech... even though I paid a hand sum price in every attemp.

 

[general_kill]

hmm, I think that I will try exposing an enemy spy in my current game. It may take a while though. Or i'll start a new game and turn preserve seed off.

 

[Catt]

The AI will use espionage. Without much more to go on than limited personal experience, it seems to me that the AI is more likely to use espionage in those games in which it is flush with cash -- i.e., civs that are relatively even in terms of advancement / power, with limited means to attack effectively (i.e., many small continents).

The screenshot below is from a shared game from a long time ago -- each player, human and AI, enjoyed an isolated, identical island separated by ocean, meaning no invasions before Navigation. The result inclued several Ai civs with more money to spend that things to purchase -- the amount of espionage activity was more than I'd seen previously or have seen again.

 

[carlosMM]

whether or not the AIs spy depends a lot on the amount of money they have...... If you are ahead int ech they will research at breakneck speed and not have the dole to spy.

 

[Aggie]

When in communism and technologically advanced the AI often has a lot of money that can't be spent otherwise (no rushing of improvements). They then often use that money for other purposes, like espionage. They've done it a lot in my games, mostly emperor/deity level.