The AI is a cheat!

[moshelinho]

k i was playing a british scenario with 3 ai players, i played as i normally did, and even won the scenario by completing all objectives. then i kept on playing it and noticed that i had 46 trains in the fleet, while the ai players had 2, 4 and 4 trains in their fleet...............

i concentrated on the player with 2 trains, and counted that there were actually 2 only............but that player was earning a profit of 2 mil every year, while me with 46 trains was getting the same profit????

this is wat i noticed

one train was taking cattle from ranch to a city, and another train was going from that city to another city,

the first train i noticed that in one round it was taking like 4 cattle carraiges, and in the second it was taking 6 carraiges.......

while the second train was going from city to city and it was taking different carraiges everytime, i think it was 2 different sets of carraiges.....for eg
city A -> city B -> pass,pass,mail,meat
City B -> City A-> Pass,pass,mail again continuously
city A -> City B-> Pass,mail, mail, meat, mail, meat
city b -> City A-> A different consist again.

well not sure abt the sequence of the cars but i think there were 2 sets like above(maybe 3)...........

and this train was making like 492k in profits!!!!!!!!!!

dont understand how to get this, this ai was not very high on the list but had quite a good net worth. this was after playing it for abt 115 game years.

anybody has any explanation for this?
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in continuation to the above list i found more observations which are here:

when i took over the above mention AI, i merged his company with mine, then i went to see that train and the train was still changing the cars the same way it was doing it when ai was controlling it.........and i was earning alot of cash..........

here is the limit!!!! a train was taking coal frm coal mine to a station, now at one juncture there was no coal in the coal mine, so the train made a trip without any cars!!!!!!!!

this is not really nice to see AI making so easy money with just 2 or 3 trains and we have to connect all over the map to complete scenarios and earn money......................isnt this cheating by AI?

 

[AlabamaCajun]

If you ever play CIV, it cheats like that too. It's what make you want to go on more round when you see tanks roll over your cities in 1783 while you are still trying to discover gun powder.
I found the AI does not invest heavily in trains but plays the markets, buys industry and your sock. I ran track all over the four around the lake thingy while the two AI players did what you said just hooking up a few cities with 3-4 trains. I walked all over them but could not earn enough to buy them out. Wicked game!

 

[Alvaron53]

this is not really nice to see AI making so easy money with just 2 or 3 trains and we have to connect all over the map to complete scenarios and earn money......................isnt this cheating by AI?

Yes and no. Here's an idea: steal their cargoes. Run a line to the raw material suppliers that are feeding your competitors and compete with them for the goods. In the USA Midwest scenario, I bankrupted two of my three competitors using this tactic since their trains had to wait for cargo or run empty.

It's expensive to do but the AI doesn't know how to cope with the situation very well. Done right, you can break them.

Have fun!

 

[Snoopy55]

dont understand how to get this, this ai was not very high on the list but had quite a good net worth. this was after playing it for abt 115 game years.

anybody has any explanation for this?
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You too can do this...... I found you can pause the game and change cars, lay track, anything. Try setting up 3 places the way the AI did. 1 cattle train to a cattle ranch and back to a city, but don't clear the train. 1 track for only this. Then run a train from that city to another running pass, mail and food. Each time the train pulls into either town, pause the game and change the cars to fit the supplies available. Unpause and watch the train. Keep it up and see where you go. The AI is doing THE EXACT SAME THING!!! The AI's pauses are at computer speed so you don't see them.

Good Luck

 

[moshelinho]

@snoopy55 if AI pauses and changes the cars everytime then why is it that when u takeover an AI, the train u took over from him still keeps on changing cars by itself????

 

[Snoopy55]

I would have to guess it's in the AI programming. Hey, it's a free gift!

 

[Wolfwood]

I don't quite understand the problem here... Human player is also allowed to select stations and the cars that the train will have for each leg of its journey, yes?

The only strange thing I can see is that humans cannot program the train not to carry the cars that it has not filled...

 

[eriador]

Yes and no. Here's an idea: steal their cargoes. Run a line to the raw material suppliers that are feeding your competitors and compete with them for the goods. In the USA Midwest scenario, I bankrupted two of my three competitors using this tactic since their trains had to wait for cargo or run empty.

It's expensive to do but the AI doesn't know how to cope with the situation very well. Done right, you can break them.

Have fun!

I did a little of the denial of cargo tactic the other night. One of the AI opponents had a rail between two cities and outside city B was oil. He had looped some track from City A up to the resource and then back down into city B. But he had looped to the very edge of the resource. He also had a straight line of track from city A to city B. So I was able to cut through the oil with some rail, and into the other side of city B. At the time was running oil to city B, then running passengers from there to city A, then back to the oil fields and so on. I ran one train back and forth from the oil to city B and back again. For every trip from the oil he made to city B, I made two. It not only hurt him as far as profits from the per car price of delivery, but there was often only one car of oil or less available for him to deliver.

I intend on trying this again with the AI opponents the next time I play.

 

[PolarC]

Also, if you just happen to lose the bidding war for an industry. Simply redirect all traffic so that the AI never profits from his win. I've deleted tracks from a city simply due to this.