The most annoying AI cheat! (*not* a whine)

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Here it is: the most annoying AI cheat:

We are in the early Middle Ages. Knighty aren`t around yet; I just started upgrading to Pikemen.
I have lots of elite Horsemen and I want to roll over the Romans right now since they just conquered a city with iron. I want them dead before they start on Legionaries.

So I move 15 elite Horsemen north to the Romans. I`m not at war with them yet, and the south end of my empire has 2 defenders in every city + a few Horsemen and Swordsmen left. I am NOT defenceless there!!!!!

Next turn, two nations declare war on me in the south.

I reloaded and checked - there was no way they could know where my troops were. No troops of theirs on mountains, no troops of mine moving close to the borders, nothing. No spies yet either.

They just know where my troops are!

So this is what I call BS, serious BS.

Anyone out there with similar experiences?????


btw, I turned round and blasted them to hell - if they`d declared war *after* my war with Rome started it would make sense! "Ah, he`s busy up north so he`s weak down here! Let`s go for him!", but no, they knew it beforehand.
When I reloaded and didn`t move the Horsies they didn`t attack, but as soon as I moved them - WAR!


a related ting: if I`ve met a civ via a third party they know where my territory is - even if their world map can`t show it.

 

[damunzy]

It's sad but true....I don't even know why the A.I. bothers to trade maps...

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Originally posted by PaleHorse76
It's sad but true....I don't even know why the A.I. bothers to trade maps...

I guess because they only know where the units are, not where the land is free for settling...

 

[BiatchGuy]

yeah, that is annoying

 

[davwhitt]

I've seen the same thing where the neighboring civ will know your city's strengths before attacking or even nearing the city. As the Germans I was attacked by the Babylonians so I rushed via railroad lots of infantry to the city the Babylonians were nearing (most of their army was composed of longbowmen and riflemen). The next turn they suddenly move away from that city and on to another city which was much less fortified so I moved units to that city. Again they switch! In the process my artillery pounded them to mush and I was able to mop up the mess with a few infantry and my brand new tanks. I've also noticed the computer knows where all barbarian camps are the moment one pops up where it wasn't before.

Another annoying cheat happens quite often after you first encounter another civ or two on the same continent. You're exploring and just starting to build up a civilization. You've scouted out nearby areas perfect for placing a city. You dispatch a settler to a pre-planned spot and a few turns before his arrival the nearly discovered civ has plopped a city in or near that spot - even though the spot is quite some distance from the rest of his civ. In other words, when the computer looks for places to expand, it doesn't seem to do so based on proximity to the rest of its empire but rather to block off your civ from advancing any further. In a way this is a stupid tactic since I often will assimilate their city into my civ with culture but it is annoying.

 

[Zouave]

It is a lot MORE than just "annoying".

That, and other, AI cheats makes pointless much of your strategy.
And thus it makes the game tedious.

In Civ 2 I once took a long time to prepare a massive amphibious invasion with carrier support: three fully loaded transports with 24 units, plus the air and naval. I totally surprised the Russians who I was bogged down in a long war with and took his capital in one turn, his civ plunging into civil war. It was brilliant. Forget that sort of thing in Civ 3.

Even if you traded maps they shouldn't know your strength in each city.

AI Cheating is right up there in crappy things we all hate. Send your comments to Firaxis.

 

[player1 fanatic]

It's not realy anything new.

Human player knows how to optimize building queues & sliders and has learning capacity, while AI has all around vision and bonus production cheats.

 

[Akka]

It's nothing new that AI cheats, sure, but it's still annoying. I understand that, for some years, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to make a decent AI working against a human. Still, what bother me the most is not the fact that they are cheating, it's the feeling that I don't know where they do cheat. I hate the feeling of playing against opponents that are not ruled by the same rules than I am. If I could just choose where they're allowed to cheat, I would feel a lot better.

 

[Sullla]

The AI civs always have all knowledge of the map at all times. This has been demonstrated on a number of occasions in this forum. If you leave a city undefended somewhere, they know about it. If you are assembling an invasion force off their coast, don't expect a "surprise" attack. From what I know of the game, this is coded into the game and there is no way that the AI can make decisions without it. They HAVE to have knowledge of the map in order to make (somewhat) intelligent decisions about what to build and where to move. The Civ3 AI is quite good overall though; in my last game they severed my two sources of coal on a single turn with a combination of bombers and coastal bombardment. THAT was an unplesant surprise.

 

[jshelr]

You can use the AI's knowledge of what's in your cities or over thier supposed visible horizon against it, however. For instance, Madam JofA was annoyed at me over the weekend and sent a massive stack of mostly riflemen to visit. She ended up in the middle of four widely spaced cities. By leaving one nearly undefended, and moving over roads at three times her stack's speed, I could keep her moving back and fourth without ever actually attacking any of the cities. LoL It's not the most exciting way to spend Saturday afternoon, however.