Does the AI get suspicious

[dalamb]

How suspicious, if at all, is the AI of things a human would automatically assume meant ill intentions? Specifically,

1. If I pile up a Stack of Doom just outside its borders, does it prep for war?
2. How about if my SoD builds up in my city nearest to its borders?
3. If I send a raiding resource-denial squad across its territory, aiming for a strategic resource (like bronze, iron, or horses) near the opposite border? I know it'd have to be outside the border before the war declaration, but I mean crossing the AI's territory to get there.
4. If it starts getting successful espionage missions against it that don't reveal the source?

 

[Daedal]

I've noticed that the AI (at least the 'Better AI' in BTS) tends to amass its own SoD if you build one near its borders, whether in a city or right on the border. I don't think espionage missions have any effect unless the source is revealed.

What do you mean by the AI becoming suspicious though? Besides building lots of units when it sees you have lots of units, the AI doesn't ever do much in general.

 

[Ibian]

I doubt the AI "thinks" like that, its just an abacus really.

Incidentally, in galactic civilizations II the AI did understand warfare. It would even send you messages that it knew exactly what all those battleships near its orders meant. Every AI in that game played differently. Wish they could do something similar with civ.

 

[dalamb]

I was a little unclear on what it could do, but primarily I meant does it start building more military units? Which sounds like it does, at least for the "nearby SoD" situations. Does it help at all if I build the SoD in a city farther away? I imagine I could plan on keeping the SoD elements separate and have them converge on the invasion point at the last minute.

But also -- might it switch to war techs like theology/feudalism, or does it reserve that for when things are more heated? Does it switch tech planning to aim for more war-relevant techs? Does it suddenly start building walls or castles?

Can I get away with building an invasion roadway? That could just be for trade.

 

[dalamb]

"Thinks" was a convenient anthropomorphic analogy.

It would even send you messages that it knew exactly what all those battleships near its orders meant. Every AI in that game played differently. Wish they could do something similar with civ.

I think I've seen games where the AI complained about units near its territory, and I similarly think that may have been an earlier version of Civ, but my memory is notoriously unreliable.

 

[johnny_rico]

I wouldn't say the AI gets suspicious but they all play out according to certain personas and the level of difficulty will affect things.

As I've moved up the difficulty ladder, I've noticed the AI in general builds lots more units and with BtS, each AI constructs a more balanced military unless they are resource deficient.

Civics are usually a giveaway as to the intentions of AIs, generally speaking, especially if what is usually a peaceful civ (mansa, cyrus) switches to a vassalage/theocracy combo. I'm not certain if the AI will modify its build orders. For instance, I like to get several cities queued up so that each city is one turn away from completing a variety of units and then switching civics briefly (from say bureaucracy/pacifism to vassalage/theocracy) to get a nice xp boost to each unit while only having to run those civics for the minimum five turns.

You can also count on your warmongers and religious fanatics (monty, shaka, isabella, genghis, etc) to build up stacks of troops and more than likely use them. You don't want to be a neighbor to one of these guys and be looking way up at their power graph. Odds are, you're a snack.

Anything that leads to negative modifiers (close borders, espionage, etc) can increase tensions and lead to a boiling point. But remember, if you're high on the power meter, it's unlikely you'll be declared on. You can also parlay with each leader and check the area to see if they're willing to declare war. Any time you see, 'we've got enough on our hands', if they aren't at war, they're ready for one or planning to start one.

btw, at OP, I like your idea of the resource denial squad you send early in the game. I usually don't think of it and almost never have that available but it is useful and something I should think about more.

 

[dalamb]

btw, at OP, I like your idea of the resource denial squad you send early in the game. I usually don't think of it and almost never have that available but it is useful and something I should think about more.

It was a painfully learned lesson! Trying to learn warmongering on Noble with Julius; was winning battles but with a lot more trouble than if I'd taken out the opponent's copper (on opposite side, as above) with a preplaced squad.

Hmm. Is it better to pillage the resource and leave, or sit on it? I guess that's one of those "it depends" -- like how defensible the resource square is.

 

[johnny_rico]

It was a painfully learned lesson! Trying to learn warmongering on Noble with Julius; was winning battles but with a lot more trouble than if I'd taken out the opponent's copper (on opposite side, as above) with a preplaced squad.

Hmm. Is it better to pillage the resource and leave, or sit on it? I guess that's one of those "it depends" -- like how defensible the resource square is.

If that copper/iron/horse is the only one, I say sit on it. Make the AI take it back. I think you can rule these units as suicide squads so as long as they can take out a resource and hold it, they've done their job. It's probably worth bringing a guerilla I or II archer along in the event (which is likely) you sack an iron/copper mine on a hill. A lot of units will be burned in taking it back.

 

[Ianthean]

I played a Noble game a couple weeks ago and was in good favor with Ragnar the entirety of the game. However, near the 19th century, it was time for him to go. As I amassed my SoD, he began to fill the cities near my SoD with defensive units and added more units to help defend his workers as well. His power meter started jumping up. I noticed no switch in civics, but he definitely wasn't blind to what I was doing.

 

[TriPp]

1. If I pile up a Stack of Doom just outside its borders, does it prep for war?

I hope it does...i know i do. I intentionally avoid parking stacks on borders for that reason as i really assume the AI to notice and atleast react by focusing more on units. Hope i havent wasted my time there.

Can anyone shed some light on this? Do they in anyway react to troops on the border?

EdiT* Disregarding any sort of modifier such as diplo so that even if your friendly and are preparing to backstab...

 

[NovaDream]

I believe the other civs do react to large stacks along their borders. Without being able to cite any specific instances too clearly, I do remember seeing this happen on more than one occasion when I've prepared for a sneak attack. I never situate my SoD near them until I'm ready to move in. It's become ingrained in me as a strategy.

 

[CivMcNut]

What I notice more often than not is when I have units roaming around in someone else's territority they are a little more prone to giving demands, declaring war that sort of thing. I also notice they like pouncing on workers that are right on the borders at the start of a conflict. I know for sure with BTS once you get that SoD in their turf during war, they react to it, so I'm sure it's possible they could react to it in a similar way in peace. They certainly take note of when you have pathetic defenses in your cities.

 

[Gwynnja]

What about when you have your pirate ships harassing your neighbors and then running back behind your cultural borders to heal? Any human player would presumably get it instantly if you pulled that sort of XP and combat point theft, but the AI can't see the nationality and therefore you don't take diplomacy hits for doing it. Privateers are the most fun unit in the game IMO, too bad they have such a short life span

 

[NovaDream]

Maybe someone else could answer that more definitively and with some good explanation as to why, but my assumption would be that sort of "thinking" is beyond the computers ability in this game.

 

[megaclom]

I'd say yes.

In the game I'm playing now as Russia (standard size Earth map from map forum) I move up to Ragnar's border a year back, but wait for all the units to get in place that will move from Netherlands area by trasport; low and behold, Ragnar moves a dozen riflemen along the Russian-Viking border where my troops are massing. There were no troops on that tile for a hundred years before...

 

[Monkeyfinger]

Know how one of the loading screen strategy tips is to be careful about signing open borders if it allows the other party to see your ripe, poorly defended lands? You should heed that, even in SP. Those units they send through your territory aren't just to get a feel for the map. They're to get a feel for the troop placements of their rivals, and information gathered this way is a big factor for the AI in deciding who to attack.