what does the AI consider before declaring war?

[ThePrankMonkey]

i was playing a game and sumeria had a couple units in one of my cities far from my main empire and when i told him to remove htem or declare war, he declared war. whats stupid is i was an era ahead of him, my units were much better than his and he really had no chance. he was friendly towards me, but maybe was secretly angry because i planted a city near one of his and took all his gems in the process. (i also did this with arabia and their wines, if they can do it, whay cant i?)

it was also an elimination game and i dont think sumeria remembered that, they disappeared the next turn...foolish sumeria!

they obviously didnt take into consideration i had better units, an era ahead of them in tech...so what made them do it?

 

[SeaDog98520]

I am not one of the resident experts who understand what goes on, but it is my observation that the declaration of war and cities flipping are somewhat random. I have learned to save often and if something goes badly, to go back to the saved point and play again. Many times, without changing anything, a totally different string of events will occur.. like they will declare war on someone else instead. So, I don't think it is a locked series of events but some is somewhat random.

 

[TriangleMan]

I've found that too. With preserve random seed disabled, AI declares war on me, I load, AI doesn't declare war on me. With preserve random seed, of course, they'll always go to war with you, no matter how many times you load, even if you load and quickly sign mutual protection and right of passage and give them 10 000 gold.

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

i understand that part, preserve random seed is how i always play so i know nothing will change.

but what i'm wondering is sumeria was an era behind me in tech and had weak units, it only took me a couple minutes and they were history, i had elimination on in this game.

just seemed beyond stupid to make me tell him to remove his units or declare war just so he'll declare war and be removed from the game two minutes later. suicidal if you ask me.

doesnt the AI consider any of this before doing things we see as ******** or suicidal?

 

[planetfall]

Often the AI follows a Give Up strategy and when far behind will commit suicide so other AI's will be stronger.

 

[ThePrankMonkey]

well if thats true...it did a poor job, sumeria was one of the bigger civs in the game.

i figured germany would have given up first, they only have one city. or the celts since they got stuck on a small island and couldnt expand very much. sumeria was number three, behind china, who was behind me.

stupid AI!

 

[IbnSina]

I'm not sure either, but I think two things go through their tiny minds. One is their attitude toward you. If they are furious with you, they are likely to declare war if you make any demand on them, regardless of the situation. I can frequently use this to get them to declare war when it is counter to their interest to do so. The second thing they sometimes think of is short-term profit. They never understand the long term, but if they believe they can take a poorly-defended city within one or two turns of declaring, they'll do it, even if you have a stack of 50 cavalry only a railroad hop away...

 

[AmericanGeneral]

i use that often, i put a city way on my opposite border and give it to a civ i want to conquer, every so often they send units through my land to the city, i demand to remove or declare war a few times and i get war with no rep or attitude damage, one game i did it 3 times, big or small dont matter.

oddly i notice the ai learned my trick and never sends units on my land anymore and if they do its one or two so i cant demand remove or war.

 

[mikezang]

Nice idea.

 

[mikehunt]

I've found that too. With preserve random seed disabled, AI declares war on me, I load, AI doesn't declare war on me. With preserve random seed, of course, they'll always go to war with you, no matter how many times you load, even if you load and quickly sign mutual protection and right of passage and give them 10 000 gold.

I reloaded the other day and the first time around a civ declared war on me and signed a few agreements with other saves
after the reload they didn't declare war on me and signed a different set of agreements with different civs. preserve random seed was on

 

[Eyeoftiger]

One thing to remember is your system of government. If your present government is shunned by an opposing AI, they are much more likely to declare war on you or make demands AND THEN declare war.

 

[morchuflex]

The AI considers absolutely NOTHING before declaring war - or before taking any other decision, for that matter.
The CPs have no strategic analysis whatsoever. It's just a matter of probability. If you're in good terms, they are less likely to go to war, but still may anyway. If you're ten times stronger, they are unlikely to declare war but still will at least occasionnally.
Making the AI somewhat unpredictable or even suicidal at times is one the (lousy) ways the developpers have found to make the game harder...
You have to live with it. After all, the AI plays pathetic in every game aspect, so if they were predictable it would be too easy. The fact that your best friend suddenly declares war for no reason is unrealistic, but increases the challenge.

 

[Richard Cribb]

The AI considers absolutely NOTHING before declaring war - or before taking any other decision, for that matter.
The CPs have no strategic analysis whatsoever. It's just a matter of probability. If you're in good terms, they are less likely to go to war, but still may anyway. If you're ten times stronger, they are unlikely to declare war but still will at least occasionnally.
Making the AI somewhat unpredictable or even suicidal at times is one the (lousy) ways the developpers have found to make the game harder...
You have to live with it. After all, the AI plays pathetic in every game aspect, so if they were predictable it would be too easy. The fact that your best friend suddenly declares war for no reason is unrealistic, but increases the challenge.

Excellent post, I totally agree.

 

[IbnSina]

The AI considers absolutely NOTHING before declaring war - or before taking any other decision, for that matter.
The CPs have no strategic analysis whatsoever. It's just a matter of probability. If you're in good terms, they are less likely to go to war, but still may anyway. If you're ten times stronger, they are unlikely to declare war but still will at least occasionnally.
Making the AI somewhat unpredictable or even suicidal at times is one the (lousy) ways the developpers have found to make the game harder...
You have to live with it. After all, the AI plays pathetic in every game aspect, so if they were predictable it would be too easy. The fact that your best friend suddenly declares war for no reason is unrealistic, but increases the challenge.

I think I know what you're saying, but I think it's a little misleading. It is clear that AI declarations of war are governed by the RNG, but it is equally clear that the probability of those declarations depends on AI attitude and expectation of short-term gain. On the other hand, it is certainly true that the AIs do no strategic analysis whatsoever. They do not even have the foresight to call off an attack when we make large gpt deals with them before telling them to get out of our territory.