Anyone have a list of the CHEATS the AI uses?

[PhyreFox]

Here's a suggestion, and a fairly easy one to implement:

Make a small mod where the only rule change is the enabling of Unit Automation for all units. Play like normal, but if you wish to cheat as the AI does, you'd have to manually hit the "Automate" button and let the AI take over control of that unit.

I've sat back in awe watching my bombers bomb the hell out of units covered by the fog of war. The only "advantages" the AI gets after that are covered by the difficulty setting.

 

[Zouave]

Rampant AI cheating is one of the most repulsive aspects of the game, and it ranks right up there with Culture Flipping as most hated parts of Civ 3.

My least favorite cheat is AI ocean-going galleys. A variation of this is when the AI magically TELEPORTS those galleys to various parts of the world it never previously reached and has no knowledge of.

TELEPORTATION has another variation with settlers. They march right into your territory, won't leave, and finally, when you reach the "declare war or leave" stage, they magically teleport themselves to the OTHER side, AWAY from the border they came from, ending up on several open tiles inside your kingdom - tiles they should not even know exist as we never traded maps.

The most totally braindead AI cheat is when it gives FREE SETTLERS to the nearest military unit and they instantly start marching towards any open tile resulting from a razed city. They march right into your territory even if at war with them; thus, the settler gets captured. It is not only a cheat is is stupid.

AI tech-swapping. AI diplomacy. AI omniscience regarding maps ( they see all anyway, so why trade for maps??); a lot of other stuff.

Settler Diarrhea isn't precisely a cheat, but it is a cheap way to skew the entire flow of the game and developments of civs to the detrement of player enjoyment.

 

[PhyreFox]

I've never seen my galleys teleport when I automate them, but yeah, they have crossed huge ocean areas with no problem.

 

[Zouave]

Galley teleportation occurs with larger maps, including the famous Marla map of earth.

I once had just reached caravels as China, using realistic starting positions. I sent one north to explore the Bering Straight area... and ran right into a GERMAN GALLEY ten thousand miles from home. I checked with the Germans' world map, and there was nothing but BLACK between Iceland and the Bering Straight. In otherwords, TELEPORTATION.

 

[simwiz2]

Originally posted by philippe
in aoe2 you can see them taking wood and iron in
harder diffuculties you seem them using different stragy and they are very smart
example:you have lots of towers.towers PERFECT for units to kill.what do the ai do,they build siege rams to destroy the towers....that is having a brain and that is the thing that makes aoe2 so much fun

In aoe2 i will attack the AI with an imperial age army, and they will counter it with... VILLAGERS

So I do not consider the aoe2 AI to be very good.

 

[Zouave]

I once saw a Civ 3 Army with two riflemen. . . and one WARRIOR.

How's that for stupid?

I once checked a civ's army - they had over a dozen spearmen along with 18 mechanized infantry. And they were a Republic.

But that's not really a cheat.

 

[d3dash]

Zouave, the army thing I can totally see, but that is a fact of the game. I wish they would make armies upgradable so that you don't have 2 knights and 1 Cav. I really don't see the point of not being able to upgrade an army.

 

[akinkhoo]

Originally posted by Sullla

4) Corruption is slightly higher than average for the player because the optimum city level is only 85% of the default.

err actually it mean that the optimun city level is 85% of the "players"!!!

 

[TheNiceOne]

Originally posted by God
I think barbarians get harder to kill as you go up each level.

About the American Swordsmen: Its not possible on monarch. Even though America is expansionist and I'm sure they can get Iron Working really early they can't hook up iron, build a galley, a swordsmen, send their ship across the sea, and you only have 1 city. By then you should have 2 cities, a few warriors exploring, and a few defending the cities.

Remember that an expansionist has a decent chance of getting a new settler from their first goody hut, and thereby founding a second city before you even have one warrior.