Has anyone been Nuked by the AI?

[Mudkip1001]

I was reading about someone's feedback on making nukes more attainable without being attached to conquering settlements in the modern age, and I thought to myself "Is it even possible for the AI to build nukes and have time to use them?". In all the games I've played the AI picks an ideology by turn 50 or so (50-75% through the era)... As a human player I have used them against the AI and other human players , but the way the game is structured, it seems like only one civ could really obtain nukes in time to use them, there isnt exactly a cold war scenario of two superpowers (maybe that's the focus of age 4, which would make sense)...

While AI in 7 seems to be better equipped to take towns than 6's AI could take 1 tile city centers, I haven't seen them take over multi-walled cities. In civ 6, the AI once getting nukes, if they ever decided to use them, they usually just kept nuking the same city (which almost always was the capital) over and over and over. I'm very curious what an AI in 7 would do with them... I don't think there is a way to give the AI things to test this stuff out in Autoplay yet...

If any of you have experienced nuclear armageddon by the hands of an AI, please let me know what difficulty, roughly what was the turn/age progress when it happened.

 

[evonannoredars]

I was under the impression once someone does the manhattan project and unlocks nukes, everyone gets access to them - although I'm not sure where I got that idea from tbf.

 

[Mudkip1001]

I was under the impression once someone does the manhattan project and unlocks nukes, everyone gets access to them - although I'm not sure where I got that idea from tbf.

That's crazy if true... In my multiplayer game, I was the only one with experience so I doubt anybody would've known to build any... Maybe If I can reload that game where I nuked a human player's capital, I might be able to see if that is in fact true...

That would be great if the AI knew to build them after they became available to all, but I doubt that to be the case as I have yet to see a game where the AI actually builds planes that could even deliver the bomb...

 

[Apathmia]

I could see a Cold War crisis for modern if they implement another age. Not sure what that would look like though.

 

[Krikkit1]

I was under the impression once someone does the manhattan project and unlocks nukes, everyone gets access to them - although I'm not sure where I got that idea from tbf.

The fact that it's a Wonder means only one can build it... which means essentially the first player to build it blocks off the ability for anyother to achieve military victory

 

[KMadCandy]

ask again after they add Gandhi as a leader

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

That is an issue for a next age. Does everyone get the ability to make nukes? For free?
That makes no sense. If they didn't research it, then too bad. No glowy 'shrooms for you.

 

[Mudkip1001]

That is an issue for a next age. Does everyone get the ability to make nukes? For free?
That makes no sense. If they didn't research it, then too bad. No glowy 'shrooms for you.

I think everyone should have nuclear proliferation or at least have the option to make them / research them. (and if its in the tech tree let it be at the very beginning so the AI has a chance of making at least one... (they can barely get an ideology by turn 50...)

That or make it a crisis in the modern age, where the secret is out, and other civs gain access to the system (ala civ 6's world congress initiative that gave everyone the same number of nukes as the player who has the most...) I think if we go for the total and absolute realism approach with nukes (that yes they are exorbitantly expensive programs, and only a handful of nations got them after years of secret research) the whole feature will only ever end up in the hands of players at the very dead end of a game where they are kinda useless...

 

[queenpea]

In my experience, AI players are very bad at using any aircraft.

 

[Uberfrog]

I don’t believe I was ever nuked by an AI in Civ 5 or 6 either…

 

[Menocchio]

In my experience, AI players are very bad at using any aircraft.

I had Xerxes in my last game pummel one of my towns with heavy bombers before swooping in with a Gusa to take it—I was impressed! But then he never used them again, even as I besieged his capital... so I think the AI may have some lack of imagination when it comes to using aircraft. Still better than Civ VI though, so hopefully in the future they'll realise bombs work just as well on little people with rifles as they do on districts. That said, even I'm not sure yet how fighters are supposed to work.

 

[Taefin]

I had Xerxes in my last game pummel one of my towns with heavy bombers before swooping in with a Gusa to take it—I was impressed! But then he never used them again, even as I besieged his capital...

Good to hear they CAN use a bomber. Did you have any fighters? It’s probably way too optimistic of me, but perhaps they saw your fighter and figured they didn’t want to lose the bomber. When I fly a bomber or trench fighter mission into the patrol radius (automatically measured from where it is based) of a fighter, it looses 60-90% health in one run. At least the trench fighters return a little fire, and after 4-5 runs, that defending fighter was down to 20% health itself. I did not figure out how to use my own fighter to engage it, but I was capturing the city by then so didn’t try many things. If AI game values were changed so they basically built nothing but aircraft if they had space, it would almost certainly be optimal for them.

 

[Menocchio]

No fighters, or any planes at all; Xerxes had leapt ahead of everyone, so really he had total air superiority and impunity to bomb me into oblivion! It was a genuine mercy that he didn't.

 

[Nikolai II]

No, I have not.

 

[Taefin]

No fighters, or any planes at all; Xerxes had leapt ahead of everyone, so really he had total air superiority and impunity to bomb me into oblivion! It was a genuine mercy that he didn't.

How did the game end, did you destroy Xerxes before he could threaten victory?

 

[Menocchio]

How did the game end, did you destroy Xerxes before he could threaten victory?

The AI not using their air power meant that a threatening invasion turned into not much of a danger at all, though they overall seem much more clever than in older games. In the end, since I was playing Mughals I just gathered up enough artifacts for the culture victory and bought the World's Fair outright. Since I also had tons of points toward the economic victory, I also learned the quirk that once you have the Great Banker, there's nothing stopping you from sending him into the capitals of civs you're at war with and using his ability...

 

[tman2000]

I had Xerxes in my last game pummel one of my towns with heavy bombers before swooping in with a Gusa to take it—I was impressed! But then he never used them again, even as I besieged his capital... so I think the AI may have some lack of imagination when it comes to using aircraft. Still better than Civ VI though, so hopefully in the future they'll realise bombs work just as well on little people with rifles as they do on districts. That said, even I'm not sure yet how fighters are supposed to work.

I've noticed that if you force an AI to war, even if they're winning, their progress in other areas really suffers. When AI ends up at war with each other, the same thing happens.

So maybe he used his air power against you and then after that couldn't afford them anymore?

 

[chrisgatt7]

In all fairness we can oly test this theory once "One more turn " is back the game ends to soon.

 

[ydejin]

I had a Viceroy level game where Himiko did a pretty decent job with her planes. She would attack and destroy my weakened ground units and strafed some of my commanders. Just generally being a nuisance. It didn’t help that I was behind on tech and her Zeroes were making mincemeat of my Biplanes.

I did run into a situation where I could not take out an aerodrome with enemy airplanes on it. Not sure if that was a bug, or just a consequence of only air units can attack other air units. But it was pretty annoying having control over the entire city except for an airfield stacked with airplanes.

 

[reddishrecue]

I had a Viceroy level game where Himiko did a pretty decent job with her planes. She would attack and destroy my weakened ground units and strafed some of my commanders. Just generally being a nuisance. It didn’t help that I was behind on tech and her Zeroes were making mincemeat of my Biplanes.

I did run into a situation where I could not take out an aerodrome with enemy airplanes on it. Not sure if that was a bug, or just a consequence of only air units can attack other air units. But it was pretty annoying having control over the entire city except for an airfield stacked with airplanes.

Yeah, you have to take over the air fields as well to take a city sometimes which gets tiring but its doable.