Cheating AI?

[Pyrrhos]

In order to test a few things, I've created a scenario. These are some of the impressions I've had so far on how the AI "challenges" the human player. Anyone else have similar experiences and observations?
(Monarch, archi, 5 mio, player Romans. Just reached IA, well ahead of AI in all respects.)

* On a small Arctic island, I placed a lot of resources. I've got three cities with rushed temples, libraries, cathedrals & universities. The AI has two Johnny-come-latelies without any improvements at all. My cultural boundaries have expanded three times, theirs never, and now completely surround theirs. They won't flip! I know why - one of them sits on oil, the other uranium...

* The AI has chosen to send swarms of galleys, carracks and lately privateers against my lines of communication. They never attack empty transports, only loaded ones.

* As soon as I built a CF where the AI cut corners, its ships immediately took a wide berth out of harm's way - without a shot being fired.

* I've engaged his ships with veteran galleons and lost 12 out of 13 engagements. The AI has won 5 out of 7 when it has attacked.

* The AI's latest trick in order to impede my progress is to pollute my island. With no city above pop 12, with no city having more than two pollution triangles, on average I still get two to three newly polluted squares every turn - and mostly on hills and mountains where they take much longer to clean up.

* If I don't give the AI my latest tech in exchange for his worthless World/Territory Map - when the AI actually has older techs and good money to offer - they very quickly go to Annoyed from Polite. If I dare propose I get at least, say, Free Artistry in exchange for Medicine, the AI is offended and furious that I dare suggest "such one-sided deals!" Anti-Roman agreements and pacts abound!


Are these a common occurrences when you get too far ahead of the AI or am I suffering a freak?




PS. Sometimes it's so hard being a human I wonder where one applies to become one of silicon...

 

[eldar]

Well I'd say your combat results and pollution problems are just a sucky RNG.

The AI knowing where your units are, what's in your cities, where the resources are (though the flip chances thing is... interesting...) is well-documented "cheating".

As for why they won't trade Medicine for Free Artistry, I'm not sure, unless the AI is only 1 or 2 turns away from learning the tech themselves and they have a monopoly.

 

[Bartleby]

Although I can't think of a specific example of Strategic Resource-flipping, I have definitely had Luxury-flipping.

The pollution thing I'd put down to selective memory.

 

[NotGod]

If it didn't cheat, it would be too easy to win. It is frustrating, however, to see the AI do things we do not have a chance to do. For example, the other day I saw the AI unload a settler and spearman from a galley. (Huge pangea, lots of civs, emperor, CV3C.) The next turn, the AI settled the tile and moved a fighting unit off the tile to attack me, leaving the original spearman. Rushing production is certainly part of the game, but how can you complete production of a unit and move the unit on the same turn you establish the city?

 

[eldar]

At levels where the AI gets free units, if all their cities are wiped out but they still have settler(s) wandering about, then the first city they found gets all of their bonus starting units all over again! So at Emp, they'd get their free worker, 2 free defensive and 1 free offensive unit. Now imagine that at Sid... an AI you think is dead suddenly founding a new city and getting their 2 bonus settlers, 4 workers, 6 archers and 12 spears....

 

[MAS]

an AI you think is dead suddenly founding a new city and getting their 2 bonus settlers, 4 workers, 6 archers and 12 spears....

Its worse, they get 6 best offensive units and 12 best defensive ones.

 

[eldar]

Yes but for a long time those units will still be Archers and Spears, assuming they don't settle on top of a resource. Not that I'm ever likely to be in a position to test the theory of whether settling on the resource gives them better starting units!

 

[MAS]

Yes but for a long time those units will still be Archers and Spears, assuming they don't settle on top of a resource. Not that I'm ever likely to be in a position to test the theory of whether settling on the resource gives them better starting units!

With the editor you could! Grand one civ iron working, and put its starting settler on top of an iron resource, then put your own starting settler (player 1) right next to it.

Start a game with this scenario and wait your first turn (don't settler or move). Then you'll see!

I'd test it myself, but the mac version doesn't come with an editor.

 

[eldar]

Okay, accepted. But I think it'd be more fun to give them Rocketry and watch as a bunch of TOW Infantry spew forth!