Does the AI use forts?

[jeremiahrounds]

forts should have zone of control. =/ without zone of control forts are pretty useless except in two instances:
0) on a luxury that you only have one of or more if you got killer deals going (if i was the AI)
1) on resources
2) on land bridges.

i seen the computer build forts on land bridges.
Im really surprised it defends radar towers but not its resource squares.

 

[A Viking Yeti]

I have 1.29f, not PTW. So I don't really know what radar towers do, I would assume they keep an eye on spots you need to know about.

 

[Dearmad]

Also gives a 25% defensive bonus, like in SMAC.

 

[Bamspeedy]

I have never seen the AI build a normal fort. The only forts I have seen is where there used to be a colony.

The AI fight each other all the time on any level. On lower levels it takes longer (like, not until the industrial age, usually), because it takes them that long to get settled and have a military built up and be ready to fight somebody. You need to have embassies established to get notifications of when the AIs go to war with each other.

 

[dexters]

keep in mind mind that colonies turns into forts once absorbed into a civ's cultural boundaries. What we think is AI building forts may simply have been a colony when it was in use. So I always look at forts over resources with suspicion.

With that in mind, I don't think I've seen the AI build forts for defensive reaons, like say, a fort on a hill next to the capital or a border city that has a high probability of being involved in a conflict.

The AI leader algorithm could certainly be programmed to look at city positioning relative of other civilizations, rate chances for conflict and then send workers there to build fort and then garrison a couple of defensive units, with bombard support. I'm assuming the reason we don't see this feature is that humans genrally don't build forts, and the programmers probably felt their limited time is best spent tweaking existing features of adding new features.

 

[Sarevok]

I personally use forts quite extensively to make it harder for enemies to take my key cities by surrounding them with forts and filling them with defense and BB units.

 

[Sparrow3]

@dexters:
In my experience, colonies don't automatically turn into forts. At least mine don't. If I want a fort on a colony, I have to build it and I seldom do. I usually just garrison a spearman there to defend the colony. So, I conclude that If an AI colony turns into a fort a worker must have built one.

 

[A Viking Yeti]

Colonies don't turn into forts on mine, maybe it's PTW. I build them all over the place, but mostly at my borders to act as an early defense. I also increased the defensive power of the fort to 200% and the AI, in the game i'm currently playing, still hasn't made any at all.

 

[Ace4nyC]

Originally posted by Moby
forts shouldnt be overused, unless you're going to war with a country and you think you'll need something to fall back on. Then again, if you ever have doubts about going to war, dont. Oh yeah, the AI dosen't use forts. They dont even go to war with eachother withough Human intervention

What lvl off diffacly are u playing ? Persia just conqured the bigest continat on my game with like 6 civ and now they comming for me !!


and i never see comp build a fort eather... I use em to organize my invasion strategy and i put them where computer can see em this way they get paranoid

 

[Tholish]

I made this scenario with Conquests where the only terrain was desert and mountains, except for a few places where rivers ran between hills so you could irrigate the desert if you placed a city right. Then I took the Sumerians and fought the Hittites, Persians, and Egyptians on Sid level. Since the Sumerians are agricultural I was the only one able to irrigate desert to produce 2 food per square, thus the only one able to build Settlers. The AI civs looked like they were limited to 2 cities apiece, until they hit on a strategy: they started ganging up on each other. Two civs would counquer the cities of the third, the third civ would reseed, and the AI civs as a group would thereby increase their number of cities. They did this until they noticed me and then squashed me.

So, yes, the AIs do war on each other. And forts are stupid. They're more like than not to get taken and used by the enemy.

 

[Atotarho]

In my current game everyone, including me , has jumpped on the poor old English, they are down to one town now. And most of the other Civs are in an on/off war with the Aztecs. This is all without any input from me.

Im just happy they are leaving me alone for once while thay trash someone else. I am neighbours with the Zulu and Shaka is even gracious towards me, strange game.

 

[A Viking Yeti]

I don't think forts are stupid because if a fort gets taken it's ok, but if your city does it acts as a much better fort. So putting forts near cities keeps the AI from getting another unit producing city, given that you're winning the battle.

 

[DasScoot]

Never seen a fort, radar towers all over the place tho.

 

[Hygro]

I've seen them occupy forts that I built. Later they leave. It never makes sense.

 

[Sarevok]

fortresses become death traps later in the game when someone has either bombers or Nukes.

 

[Civrules]

I've also seen the AI build forts on colonies most often.

 

[Grey Fox]

Originally posted by Civrules
I've also seen the AI build forts on colonies most often.

I think they become forts when the colonies get within your cultural influense.

 

[A Viking Yeti]

I've tested it and, on my version at least (Civ 3 1.29f), the forts don't turn into colonies when absorbed by a cultural boundry, they jus disapear all together. If you take another persons colony by force, however, they do turn into forts. This may have been change with other versions/expansion packs.

 

[Odoacer]

I think barricades could make forts much much more useful. It's too bad you actually have to build one after you get the fort. Oh well.

 

[kokoras]

A.I:Forts????..... What are these???AAHH..Now i remember,they are those small green-eight leg creatures flighting all over the place!!!