SMAX - Pirates AI dominating

[Sarcasticon]

Not as a rant or as a cry for help, but does everyone has the same "issue" that of the AI's it is nearly almost the Pirates that are dominating the scene while the other AI's are nowhere near that level?

The settings I've been using are tiny & small planets, random map generation, 2nd difficulty level (whatever that one is called). I can imagine using land-heavy maps would change this, but how about difficulty, does that impact the strength of one AI faction versus another?

 

[Perfection]

Well Pirates dominate because Pirates dominate. I mean of the human factions they're way overpowered.

 

[GooglyBoogly]

The same could be said of the aliens. They tend to dominate most SP games if left alone.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

Well Pirates dominate because Pirates dominate. I mean of the human factions they're way overpowered.

This is true. Somehow their starting position at sea lets them expand a helluva lot faster.

 

[Sarcasticon]

Two questions related to this, as I haven't found a straight forward answer on this so far:
1. does the AI get bonuses early on (e.g. higher starting energy or any advantage over human players that allows the AI to expand faster)?
2. when capturing AI bases I rarely see any children's creche, recycling facilities, etc. Does this mean that the AI simply focuses on producing colony pods, then moves on to military units instead of base improvements? If so, how on earth can they keep financing this?

 

[Begle1]

The AI seems to have the ability to scrap and recycle more than one base facility a turn. Or maybe base facilities sometimes get lost when bases are conquered?

But in the game I just was playing, I shared a long border with Domai that I should have gaurded better. Domai declared vendetta and snagged one of my size 11 bases, which had a Hab Complex, Children's Creche, Research Hospital, et cetera, and when I took it back the very next turn the only thing it had was a Recreation Commons.

It seems like the AI starts getting rid of base facilities quick when you start bearing down on them.

 

[GooglyBoogly]

SMAC Manual pg 104
"Conquering a base destroys a random number of that base's facilities"

Since the base was conquered twice, once by yourself and once by the AI. It suffered facility loss twice over.

 

[Perfection]

This is true. Somehow their starting position at sea lets them expand a helluva lot faster.

Extremely high nutrient production and total isolation in the beginning make for very fast growth. Every square that a pirate works nets 2 nuts in the beginning, and they also yield good energy or minerals too. No other faction can match that.

Also you can't discount all those oceanic unity pods they pop.

 

[Sarcasticon]

Just played a game as Pirates and it's true that the AI does an abysmal job fighting sea bases; I've had a dozen declarations of vendetta but not 1 invasion that a moderately powerful boat and aircraft couldn't handle.

And indeed the bonuses from kelp & tidal harnesses are great. I think I'll play with more land on the maps to even out the imbalance between the Pirates and the other AI's from now on.

 

[Rashiminos]

Extremely high nutrient production and total isolation in the beginning make for very fast growth. Every square that a pirate works nets 2 nuts in the beginning, and they also yield good energy or minerals too. No other faction can match that.

Also you can't discount all those oceanic unity pods they pop.

There's also the matter of starting with a colony pod in addition to the planetfall base. Two bases by the second or third turn is imbalancing for any faction.

 

[civictor]

The pirates also contact other factions and trade techs quickly. If you have played the U of P, you may have noticed that often they have as many techs to trade as you have when you first meet them.

 

[Sexymindworm]

ill be honest with the original poster here, i never really have ocean maps.. i try to make a random map with very little water... altho thats just me - i much prefer the land games... and i tend not to include , morgan, yang, or peace keepers.. and dont ever use the ocean guy...

Not sure tho i like the idea of data angels but im not into steal tech type of games eather...
Like the gians tho.. play those and perhaps the aliens more than anything else.

however - each clan has its plus n minus attributes - im assuming alien world..bend with planet.... a true gian.

 

[vyeh]

The reason the Pirates are such a powerful AI faction has to do with mobility. Despite attempts to weaken the pirates in designing the expansion. The following quote is from the Designers Notes in the SMAX manual on the SMAX disc.

Other than the Progenitors, the Pirates proved to be our toughest faction to balance. ... the ocean start gave them huge advantages. We pared down their starting units, gave them a few additional disadvantages that fit with their seafaring personalities, and finally had a fation that would give any human player a run for their money, but did not possess an overwhelming advantage.

I think the biggest problem is that the AI knows where the Monsoon Jungle is and the Pirates are able to get there early.