The AI and Tech Shuffle

[steveg700]

In a standard game with a vanilla tech tree, the AI seems to start with a bunch of free techs that the player has to research. And the AI prioritizes the same techs, which is why trying to build Machu Picchu is almost a pipe dream.

With the new option to shuffle up techs, I was hoping to have a better chance at certain wonders, but if anything it seems the opposite is true. If Astrology is pushed down the three, Stonehenge is usually built by the time I've unlocked it.

So I'm wondering if the AI still uses the regular tech tree while the player's is randomized?

 

[Kwami]

No. The AI has the same tech tree as the player. The developers explicitly states as much.

 

[steveg700]

Yeah, they can have the same tree, but still function differently. I have to wonder if the AI plays the same guessing game. The AI doesn't make plans, after all. It just beelines Engineering because that's what it's scripted to do.

 

[Futumch]

It's hard to test theories becasue of the nature of the shuffle. A randomised order with the actual techs hidden means you have to play through quite a few turns before you can find a specific tree layout to test.
I suppose you could use the Firetuner to give yourself all the techs and then just spectate to see what the AI do. It's just more fiddly that way.

 

[Kwami]

Yeah, they can have the same tree, but still function differently. I have to wonder if the AI plays the same guessing game. The AI doesn't make plans, after all. It just beelines Engineering because that's what it's scripted to do.

The AI doesn't have any techs revealed until it gets the Eureka or all of the dependency techs, just like the player. The exceptions, of course, are the free techs that higher-level AI players start with. Having those techs will reveal others.

 

[AntSou]

Has anyone tested to see if deity AI is getting the same four tech boosts every time, regardless of tree shape?

On a normal game, are the boosts random or fixed?

If deity AI gets a boost to Astrology by default, then it'll still be easier for AI to finish Stonehenge early.

 

[Buckets]

AI doesn’t start with free techs. But a lot of free eurekas, depending on difficulty. So in theory it could beeline more effectively.