AI questions

[LBaeldeth]

I've had GalCiv II for a little while, and it's raised a few questions.

First, what difficulty level is needed for the AI to start building Large-hulled ships? I've been working my way up, but all they seem to deploy are masses of Small- and Medium-hulled vessels (which are sometimes classified a "cruiser" - boy, did my hopes go up when I saw that name!). In fact, it frequently turns out that the "minor" species are more dangerous military opponents than the "empires", because they actually build Large-hulled (and greater!) vessels. Heck, last game the Paulos wiped out the Altarians and Drath all by themselves. I'm finding this rather irritating, as the game is essentially won the moment I start producing Large-hulled warships.

Second, does the AI typically, say, sell off all the structures of a planet it's about to lose? Very frequently I've been finding that large planets with wonderful potential (many terrain bonuses, high quality, etc.) are depressingly underdeveloped by the AI. I find this out when I capture them. And no, it's not because structures were destroyed in the battle for the planet. Most of these planets flip culturally - which leads into the third question.

At what difficulty level will the AI do something about Influence starbases? I'm finding it far too easy to destroy entire empires piece-by-piece with these structures. Plop one in the center of a 3- or 4-planet system near the border, pile on the cultural modules and in no time the place is all mine, and the AI just pulls its "garrison" fleets back to the next sector. No declaration of war, no attempt to retake the planet, no strikes to take out the starbases; sometimes they'll build one of their own to try and counter the effect, but neglect to upgrade its modules. Is this tied to the first question, in that my possession of Large- and Huge-hulled warships, and the AI's lack thereof, intimidates them into doing nothing despite the circumstances?

 

[LBaeldeth]

Anyone? C'mon, I want to face empires armed with battlecruisers being manufactured on fully-urbanized planets who turn my Influence starbases into so much space junk. What settings do I have to give the AI to achieve this?

 

[Roxlimn]

1. The AI in v1.4x does use Large and Huge Capital Ships when it has the economy to back it up. You can't always do that. Starting at Challenging Level, the AI will use Large and Huge hulls when it can, although to be quite fair, certain races seem to prefer small and large hulled vessels. Torians, for example, seem to like small hulls and large fleets (prioritizing Logistics over Hulls) whereas Yor seem to be the opposite.

I don't field in an awful lot of Large Hulled vessels myself. It consumes an awful lot of maintenance and all of it just goes to waste if you're not hammering someone over the head with it.

2. Planetary and Starbase management seems to be a problem with the AI currently. It's still better than most strategy AIs out there, but it's not very good. I hear that the DA expansion pack makes the AI much more adept at planet building and fleet management, although still no word on the Starbases thing.

 

[LBaeldeth]

I typically only have a few cruisers in peacetime, which are still more than enough to hold off enemy fleets (with frigate and fighter support, that is) until more are produced, as they are - as you say - expensive. They do seem to form a major tipping point, though, at least so far as I've seen.

And I do agree the AI is quite spectacular overall, these are just certain things that have really been bugging me. I'll look into that expansion pack (It came out a few months ago, right? ... I read something about it), thanks.

 

[Roxlimn]

It depends. Large Hulled Cruisers are about as massive an advantage as Frigates are when everyone else is using Heavy Fighters. However, you need a healthy eonomy and manufacturing base to use them. If you have crappy economics and manufacturing and less advanced Logistics, your battle fleets can still be taken down with larger fleets of smaller Frigates.

Drengins and Akilians and Yor have managed to battle me to a standstill with not a single battleship class vessel in sight. Lots of smaller ships in a larger fleet has that effect.

I have encountered enemy battleships, though. Nasty, nasty, nasty. Expansion pack came out just last week. AI seems improved in several respects, and the graphics is better while being samish on requirements. I find that varied and lots of defensive weaponry is best on large and massive ships. They're expensive to refit with the right defenses and they do have the hp to make the defenses count. I learned that bit of technique from the Akilian AI.

 

[LBaeldeth]

I never survive long enough to research Large hulls unless I have the capacity to support the ships that follow. Otherwise the other empires stomp me but good.

Cruisers always seems a bigger step up than Frigates because - so far - nobody else has actually built any, so the advantage remains constant.

I'm assuming the Aikilians are from the expansion pack?

 

[Roxlimn]

Nope. Minor Race in DL. It's ridiculous how powerful those supposedly minor races can become if you don't keep them under your thumb.

Frigates are the big advantage for me because that is usually where I decide the game. If I can gobble up a nearby smaller civ with Frigates well, then I'll usually win. It's usually all over by the time Large Hulled vessels come into play with enough infrastructure, economy, and Logistics to actually get used effectively.

 

[bonscott]

To the original poster, what level are you playing at? I ask because I see large/huge hulled ships all the time by the AI. I usually play at Crippling or higher (had to tone down with the expansion though).

I typically field the core of my fleet with experienced medium hulled frigates with small hulled fighters. I'll fleet 1-2 medium hulled ships that have defenses with 4-6 small fighters with high offense. That will cut shreads thru the enemy but you need to have the economy to replace those lost fighters.

One game I was doing pretty good until I saw both the Drengin and Arceans field some battleships. I was like, holy crap what the world. Checked around and sure enough both had gone up to huge hulled technology while I didn't. I switched my research around but it was almost too late. They both attacked and I lost a LOT of ships until I could get my own battleships in the field. After that I held on and my economy eventually allowed me to out produce them in ships and take them down.

But I'd say the key is larger galaxies thus longer games and higher difficulty levels if you want to see the AI pull out the big guns.