How Does GC III's AI Measure Up Compared to AI's in Other Turn Based Strat Games?

from GalCiv3 Forums

This, I believe, is a MUCH better way of analyzing and evaluating GC III's AI than writing "I think the AI should be like so and so."  

Valid posts in this thread should include a COMPARISON to another AI along with analysis of different AI behavior across games.  Evaluating GC III's AI in ISOLATION is pointless and silly.

For example:

Civ IV's AI is better at setting rally points for creating stacks of doom.  Civ IV's AI consistently creates armies by setting rally points to a city within its cultural borders.  These cultural borders PREVENTS the human from picking off the AI units as they move to their rally points.

Due to the lack of borders in GC III, it becomes MUCH HARDER to determine where to set rally points.  As a result, a lot of times the AI sets rally points in silly places, which allows the human to pick off straggling units moving to the rally point.  

In other words, the concept of cultural borders is a MAJOR advantage the Civ IV's AI has over GC III's AI.  Not having this feature actually cripples GC III's AI in comparison to Civ IV's AI.  

My proposed solution to this problem is either:

1.  Establish the concept of cultural borders similar to the way Civ IV did it.

2.  AI should set its rally points to its worlds near its shipyards.  That way there is less transit time and less chance of getting picked off by an intelligent human.  It has the added advantage of protecting the world from attack.  

7,969 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Also, one of the few games where AI does tactics well is XCOM Enemy Unknown.  It's fundamentally a very different game from GC III, but that's one of the few games where the computer could school the human in battlefield tactics.  

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I'm sorry, I can't hear you with all that screaming. Try again without all caps?

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Protecting assets. Few times did I find undefended cities in civ 4. Galciv AI lets colony ships go alone and help comes when its built but only after the colony is made. In civ 4 not only were settlers guarded but sometimes units would be guarding the spot where the colony would be.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

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Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Triple post sorry... x(

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Do you want to compare galciv AI to other game AI at launch, or as it is after years of patches?

 

Things i remember from other games AI:

-endless space (before expansion): 50 weak fleets on the enemy planet that you had to kill 1 at a time before you could siege. 

-Galciv2 twilight: All ships moving towards a single target at a time, huge lines of single file fleets :D and messages like "we know you are gonna attack but but we were set to beginner so i guess go ahead"

-civ5: at some point it became impossible for the player to build wonders due to the production/research bonuses the AI got. AI in vanilla was real bad. set to warmonger in godskings and to peacemode in brave world.

-civ4/other games: to long ago or not memorable enough to make accurate claims