Favourite mix of AI factions to put in a game?

[Alonz]

Hey Folks!,

I played this extensively years ago, but was having a lot of problems getting my disc version to work on my new laptop, even with the "force old voxel algorithm" fix.

Discovered to my delight that it's available on GOG, even with the expansion!

Now, I'm getting back into the swing of things, thinking of starting a long-running game as the Gaians. I like to roleplay a lot though, and with the addition of the two alien races and the other new ones, what faction do you place as, and what AI do you have in a game?

I'm considering taking out the Colonel, and that could work (as per the events of Lady Deidre Skye's "Our Secret War") and maybe, I don't know, Yang?


(I still get a little tingly watching the video for The Weather Paradigm )

 

[History_Buff]

I like Yang, if only because the AI Hive tends not to suck. I'd drop someone like Morgan first, if only because he often fails in games I play, without any influence from myself. It leaves you without a classic foil, but lots of the AI's love to run Free Market, and the Caretakers are pretty dead set against you at the best of times. Yang won't care for you either, nor will Miriam.

 

[Alonz]

I'd drop someone like Morgan first, if only because he often fails in games I play, without any influence from myself.

Funny you should mention that!, In this new game, when I encountered Morgan, he was reduced to a SINGLE base already by Miriam

I didn't really think of him regardless, so thanks for the advice! It's been an interesting game so far. Colonel Santiago started on the Isle of Deinira out of the way, and she has been uncharacteristically... friendly... so far. She proposed a Pact of Sisterhood and transferred several very valuable units to my control, which really helped with Miriam.

 

[Thorn]

Colonel Santiago started on the Isle of Deinira out of the way, and she has been uncharacteristically... friendly... so far. She proposed a Pact of Sisterhood and transferred several very valuable units to my control, which really helped with Miriam.

This is exactly what is missing from Civ5. I still think this game has the best Diplomacy of all Civ-like games. You can actually form alliances that stick in Alpha Centauri and it is more than just a war game.
Back to topic, I like to play as the University and choose all of the other original factions for the AI (I always play Alien Crossfire).

 

[AdamCrock]

hehe my fav is got to be one without Yang and/or Miriam (unless I play as Yang or Miriam obviously)

 

[green1]

Come on, lol. You got to have some insane Miriam and Yang action. AC just is not AC without those orange and blue locusts trying to end your day.

Also... abundant lifeforms!

 

[History_Buff]

Yeah, abundant life forms is where it's at. Especially if you're playing against the Gaians (or god forbid, the Cult).

 

[Ermelloth]

If you;re gonna pick a researcher or another democracy-oriented faction (which is the optimal choice imo), the hardest opponents for you will be other similar factions, since they might get the key technologies and secret projects before you.

So, it's better to deal with Yang, Miriam and Marr than to have someone to build your Maritime before you

 

[Volcanon]

A game with seven yangs would be interesting. You'd end up with 4-5 huge empires with absurd industrial output. You can actually do this by editing the doc that has the faction stats and making them all the same as yang mechanically.
Interestingly, the AI really doesn't perform all that much better if you give them crazy bonuses like industry +10, econ +10 and green +10. Their behaviour must be somewhat hard-coded.

 

[green1]

I have discovered a custom faction that I found off the old Network Node archive project that was put up months back over on AC2. It is so fun, it appears in every other game.

It is called the Antimind.

This monster is a prog faction. The shtick is it was a mindworm, cyborg, and prog gene spliced together into horrid juggernaut. Antimind laughs in the face of "balance" and can wipe the floor with even AI powerhouses like Yang and Marr.

Not to mention, unlike most custom factions, very well done.

If you want an "omg, how do I stop this monster!!" crossfire game, no faction compares. Yeah, it is a bit OP, but not unbeatable cheating OP.

Put on an abundant life form map, and watch in horror as hordes of strong +4 PLANET native enemies with a real mean streak comes to ruin your day!