Feedback on the naval additions in 0.16

[DarthCycle]

Some comments on the recent naval additions.

While they do add some much needed units and gameplay diversity on the sea front, little fun is actually gained with these additions.

Why? Because the AI is so bad at sea. It cannot handle a proper invasion nor can it defend properly from an invasion (as in controlling the sea).

For months, I've been playing on the inland sea or plains map because the AI can always manage an invasion into my territory: there is always a land path it can figure out in order to attack me. I see the AI negociate open border agreement with my neighbors, it then brings a huge stack of units near my borders, declares war on me and then bang! it invades my territory. I like a game where the AI does this to me.

Recently, I tried the good old random continent map in order to test the new features. They are fun additions but the AI is not up to the task. So yes, the new features work well, however the AI doesn't handle them properly.

I guess until the AI learns to handle better the sea front, I'm going back to land only maps.

 

[BCalchet]

Reminds me of an oversea war I had with an AI Valledia recently...

Her declaration of WAR! heralded the start of the First Great Amurite War that lasted for ~40 turns, and during it she launched two massive waves of sea attacks.

The first wave was a caravel carrying an adept, who landed on a mine by my coast and was killed by a passing priest. The caravel escaped.

The second wave, about thirty turns later, was another adept in a caravel (the same boat, presumably) who landed on the same spot where the first one did and pillaged the mine, since I sort of missed the landing, then got killed by a passing priest.

A few turns later, she contacted me, begging for peace.

 

[Gamestation]

I think with the naval additions the AI got worse at naval war than before.

 

[Endovior]

I think it has something to do with the AI not understanding the use of the cargo promotions. On producing a new early-tier ship, it will note that that ship has no cargo capacity, and as such will not assign it a cargo-related role... and as such, that ship will never transport anything. Furthermore, as the AI thinks that it does not have access to ships with cargo, it won't produce ships for purposes of sea invasions... or even simple colonization. As is, the AI tends to use Pirates (!) for colonization, and in doing so it just plunks down a Settler without escort, as there's no room. Some coding will certainly be necessary to fix this problem.

 

[Quetz]

I dunno, everyone says the AI is awful at sea, but I was just playing a Sevomod game (which is pretty close to vanilla, compared to FFH) and I was getting my arse handed to me by those nasssty Frenchies, as the Americans. They were using ships quite effectively that game.

Maybe I just got lucky, in the sense they took over half my continent..

 

[Quetz]

oops double trouble

 

[Gamestation]

Which is why I said they got worse. I don't think the AI was this bad at naval warfare before the extra naval additions. Now it's so bad that I get a kick out of every time the AI tries to go to war with me from another continent.