Was there an update no one told me about? AI not messing around.

[Zaimejs]

Last night, I just started a couple Emperor level games for fun. Generally, on a small map, no matter what, I can do really well. But last night? Damn.

Three games in a row, my neighbor DOWd me, and not your regular war mongers. And three games in a row, they came in heavy. I had the usual defense when I'm not going all out war with a few spearmen, several composite bows... you know, that sort of thing. My border cities were basically surrounded by units as a garrison, in case of attack.

But damn.

I was swamped with wave after wave of swords and composite bows. It's like the AI took a training course in ranged combat. No wasted catapults. No wasted units. They poured over the border with swords to take out my defense. Followed by waves of 4-5 bowmen to take the city out, then I am done. And I can't build units fast enough in my capital to mount any kind of defense or offense.

When did this become a thing? In the past, I was able to watch the AI crash against my defenses pretty helplessly and then hit him back with my own units. Now? I have no chance. He has 20 units to my 10 and he knows how to use them.

Did I miss a memo? Time for a new play style.

 

[Helmling]

Last night, I just started a couple Emperor level games for fun. Generally, on a small map, no matter what, I can do really well. But last night? Damn.

Three games in a row, my neighbor DOWd me, and not your regular war mongers. And three games in a row, they came in heavy. I had the usual defense when I'm not going all out war with a few spearmen, several composite bows... you know, that sort of thing. My border cities were basically surrounded by units as a garrison, in case of attack.

But damn.

I was swamped with wave after wave of swords and composite bows. It's like the AI took a training course in ranged combat. No wasted catapults. No wasted units. They poured over the border with swords to take out my defense. Followed by waves of 4-5 bowmen to take the city out, then I am done. And I can't build units fast enough in my capital to mount any kind of defense or offense.

When did this become a thing? In the past, I was able to watch the AI crash against my defenses pretty helplessly and then hit him back with my own units. Now? I have no chance. He has 20 units to my 10 and he knows how to use them.

Did I miss a memo? Time for a new play style.

Just q coincidence, I'd say. There are conditions under which the BNW AI is every bit as fiendish as past versions. You just got three of those in a row, I bet. It's highly situational.

 

[Piobmhor]

Last night, I just started a couple Emperor level games for fun. Generally, on a small map, no matter what, I can do really well. But last night? Damn.

Three games in a row, my neighbor DOWd me, and not your regular war mongers. And three games in a row, they came in heavy. I had the usual defense when I'm not going all out war with a few spearmen, several composite bows... you know, that sort of thing. My border cities were basically surrounded by units as a garrison, in case of attack.

But damn.

I was swamped with wave after wave of swords and composite bows. It's like the AI took a training course in ranged combat. No wasted catapults. No wasted units. They poured over the border with swords to take out my defense. Followed by waves of 4-5 bowmen to take the city out, then I am done. And I can't build units fast enough in my capital to mount any kind of defense or offense.

When did this become a thing? In the past, I was able to watch the AI crash against my defenses pretty helplessly and then hit him back with my own units. Now? I have no chance. He has 20 units to my 10 and he knows how to use them.

Did I miss a memo? Time for a new play style.

I experienced the same against the Shoshone on Emperor. Attempted to play a peaceful culture game, but he kept coming at me with massive armies I haven't seen in BNW before. I guess it just happens sometimes.

 

[Zaimejs]

Okay, so it was no mass patch that changed things?

 

[kaspergm]

Dunny, my steam DID update with a larger file two days ago or so, but I don't know if it was steam itself or one of my games that updated. I kind of hate that, but I suspected since no patch notifications were posted, it was just a steam update. But who knows, maybe they did a major AI patch and didn't announce it?

 

[Aristos]

Dunny, my steam DID update with a larger file two days ago or so, but I don't know if it was steam itself or one of my games that updated. I kind of hate that, but I suspected since no patch notifications were posted, it was just a steam update. But who knows, maybe they did a major AI patch and didn't announce it?

Skynet.

 

[Cedbird]

Skynet.

to the post and to this comment

 

[mclericp]

similarly how the Zulus attempt a science victory in my game and didnt attempt to conquer the world. It was brazil who took half of their land.
Strange AI are strange.

Then game crashed

 

[Zaimejs]

Yeah, I just played another game where Washington was just unstoppable. Meh. Might be time to hand up the towel. I just can't win. Not aggressive enough... and if I am aggressive, guess what? WARMONGER. so it seems to be a lose lose.

 

[Callonia]

Yeah, I just played another game where Washington was just unstoppable. Meh. Might be time to hand up the towel. I just can't win. Not aggressive enough... and if I am aggressive, guess what? WARMONGER. so it seems to be a lose lose.

Nono, beat everyone up. Except your friends that is of course.

If your enemies don't like it, they are free to argue with your soldiers.

 

[CivAddict2013]

Last night, I just started a couple Emperor level games for fun. Generally, on a small map, no matter what, I can do really well. But last night? Damn.

Three games in a row, my neighbor DOWd me, and not your regular war mongers. And three games in a row, they came in heavy. I had the usual defense when I'm not going all out war with a few spearmen, several composite bows... you know, that sort of thing. My border cities were basically surrounded by units as a garrison, in case of attack.

But damn.

I was swamped with wave after wave of swords and composite bows. It's like the AI took a training course in ranged combat. No wasted catapults. No wasted units. They poured over the border with swords to take out my defense. Followed by waves of 4-5 bowmen to take the city out, then I am done. And I can't build units fast enough in my capital to mount any kind of defense or offense.

When did this become a thing? In the past, I was able to watch the AI crash against my defenses pretty helplessly and then hit him back with my own units. Now? I have no chance. He has 20 units to my 10 and he knows how to use them.

Did I miss a memo? Time for a new play style.

Welcome to Civilization V's AI.

It's pretty bad on King too; with the AI's having seamlessly endless units.

I play BNW and almost every game get spawned by some aggressive warmonger.

I had Japan DoW me, but I just built a lot of units and fought him off. Eventually I got my revenge and took his capital. It was a pretty good feeling.

So I would just build up a big army early on. This way, when the AI does DoW you, you can kick their butts, so they know not to mess with you. Defensive buildings such as walls and castles should help too.

You should generally pick Civs that can make a lot of money, so you can have a big army. Such as Germany, who pays less maintenance on units or Arabia, who can make lots of money from trade routes.

 

[Zaimejs]

Ha, one of the steamrollers was Germany. They aren't the usual suspects. Washington. Then Ashurbanipal. And one of the native American AIs.

 

[kaspergm]

similarly how the Zulus attempt a science victory in my game and didnt attempt to conquer the world. It was brazil who took half of their land.
Strange AI are strange.

Then game crashed

I had Attila build Hanging Gardens. He then build Parthenon. And Sistine Chapel. And Uffizi. I think he also build Globe Theatre, but I don't recall for sure. That was one of the weirder AI behaviours I remember from recent at least.

 

[reddishrecue]

Sometimes you could use methods to destroy more units like the oligarchy in tradition. I've used this social policy and it has worked most of the time. Honor discipline also helps get the kills. Citadels in your land can help get kills so that you can make more great generals and more citadels. The ai does however make that much more units though but it won't fight you and kill you (which most likely can) if you are careful.

 

[GoStu]

Stuff like this is why the Aztecs are my favorite civ. Your enemies send Culture in tasty bite-size packages! Also, Jaguars don't really need to rest, especially on home turf. The floating gardens are strong enough to keep you in the game in other regards too.

If they've made the game more aggressive, Honor could be more useful, and I'm a happy man.

 

[Aristos]

I find this thread utterly amusing, given that I was one of the fierce "defenders" of the new gameplay offered by BNW, against the cataract of claims after BNW's release that the game is now "too peaceful"...

To the OP, the game is now very, very situational. We, as players, have to be very situational too... no more fixed recipes for easy Deity gains. Some games will present a peaceful atmosphere in the beginning, only to become a hungry lions meeting in the mid to end game... others will start aggressively. Everything now influences the development of each new game, and each new game feels finally... NEW.

You just need to work on every aspect of the game. If you explore your initial surroundings and find signs of an aggressive early neighbour, you better prepare... or make a big effort to convert him/her to your trading partner. Many options, but all of them need some work. I play Immortal now and I can tell you that anything is manageable, but it needs work. I don't cook setups, that is childish, I have nothing to prove to anyone. Everything, including warmongers, is manageable, but requires more strategy and management. To me, that is more FUN.

Bottom line, nothing is impossible. Skynet is not here... yet. Just keep your mind open, try new things, learn, and have fun. It truly is FUN now.

 

[Gamewizard]

Yeah, I just played another game where Washington was just unstoppable. Meh. Might be time to hand up the towel. I just can't win. Not aggressive enough... and if I am aggressive, guess what? WARMONGER. so it seems to be a lose lose.

At Emperor, you should have the time to build up an army before worrying about infrastructure. Try to keep your "military score", found in demographics, above the average. Use external trade routes for the gold to support your army. Try to expand to your resources so that you can sell them to neighbors on the cheap in order to make them friendly. You will likely find that you won't get attacked and you can use your army to clear CS quests or bully them for the gold.

Also, to reduce the effects of warmonger score, start taking cities post-renaissance. The more cities on the map, the fewer warmonger points received when capturing.