|
Raap -> RE: Distant Worlds AI (6/3/2014 6:33:31 PM)
|
The outcome of AI empires vary greatly. I've met a few strong ones(even lost to one), both in terms of ship design and economy, but for the most part they're as weak as they used to be.
The base problem is definitely how it handles the start; the few times circumstances give the AI a great start, they get a big population, good economy and great research, which in turn leads to stronger individual ships and fleets and thus a challenge for the player. But if their start is shaky or not optimal, which is usually the case, they'll never become powerful since they'll just end up too far behind in the economy, colony, tech and design races, given how closely these are linked together.
The good thing about this is that most of it should be easily tweakable and that the overall AI behavior works fairly well. It shouldn't be too difficult to have it maximize its research output, improve its explorers, tweak tax system so it's less exploitable(or better exploited by the AI), give AI research priorities a look-through, increase focus on bigger ship sizes, and generally improve the AI ship design.
Should probably also have a look at the ground troop construction automation/AI; in my own games I've noticed it pretty much tends to recruit until almost all my surplus is gone. If it's the same with the AI, then I can see how it might get in trouble; not much point with troops without a fleet to back it up.
Might also want to have a look at the 'create fleet' automation. In my experience, it's way too fond of strike forces. These are usually highly ineffective, at least when used against a player. Generally it's much better with a few large fleets that can deal with large challenges than lots of small fleets that get picked off easily unless they vastly out-tech their enemies.
|
|
|
|
