The AI needs to be improved to counter influence

it's too easy to win this way.

from GalCiv2 Forums
Wasn't quite sure where to post this, but it does seem to be a bit of a bug. The AI does not counter influence well enough. I still have to try it on intelligent, but even at lower levels the AI needs to do a bit more work to counter influence.

I had no influence resources, just one influence starbase (right next to my own homeplanets, mostly to counter potential enemy influence), I did have the galactic wonders for influence, but no more than one Embassy (and it's followups) per planet.

I built up a strong military to stop the AI from attacking me, and then just let the influence do its thing. I eventually started gaining so many planets I couldn't even keep up with keeping them all properly built and defended. One turn I gained THREE new planets due to influence.

I love the influence part of the game, but it seems that every game I play, I can win through influence without even trying. An influence victory should be a dedicated effort to spread your influence, not just grabbing a few planets and building an embassy on each one, building two galactic wonders and voila, you've got 75% influence. But because the AI doesn't counter you, that does seem to be what happens.
I now play with the influence victory turned off, because it happens too quickly. By the time I finally get a neat empire going, the entire galaxy eats at my burger joints...

It shouldn't be that it becomes impossible to win through influence, but I think that if you want to get an influence victory, you should really have to work at it. Right now it just sorta happens.

Hope this helps somehow.

Creston
8,252 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On "normal" levels the AI is a retard in many respects
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On intelligent, the AI will let you purchase its influence starbases for a nice price.

I just love letting them build a bunch of them around thier homeworld, presumably to counter influence and prevent me from building there, only to sell them to me for a a couple thousand BC.

Looks like its time for me to bump difficulty up a notch, but I hate to do it because "intelligent" is as smart as the ai gets from what I have read, after that its all economy bonuses to make it harder.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I totally disagree with that. The AI's try to improve their worlds to counter it embassys spin control, etc. and build starbases of their own.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Lower levels the AI is dumb intentionally, that is what the devs said, in harder levels the AI will wipe the floor with you, specially in the new 1.1 release (sometime at the end of this week)
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah play with the AI on intelligent, they will not let you win so easily. In my game the AI is actually pushing me back influentially. That is with 9 opponents all on intelligent
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Just wait for them to build all those influence bases for you, then buy them for a pack of gum.

And thats on intelligent.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
actually, on Intelligent the way the AI counters your Influence domination sometimes is a little crude. I have the impression it builds too many embassies on its planets so theres no more room left for good production, research or economy output per planet, and it builds too less influence starbases and takes too little regard to the influence technological pathways.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well Brad has said that usage of starbases gets is MAJORLY improved with the upcoming upgrade to v1.1. Presumably this includes influence starbases.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
actually, on Intelligent the way the AI counters your Influence domination sometimes is a little crude. I have the impression it builds too many embassies on its planets so theres no more room left for good production, research or economy output per planet, and it builds too less influence starbases and takes too little regard to the influence technological pathways.


This is the current state. You can seriously handicap there development just by having a high influence. After a while, declare war and every planet you take will be half embassies! They would be much better off getting their populations up to help with influence.
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
[Sarcasm]

I know what they could do! They could put some modules on the many influence bases with no mudules they build everywhere, and then not sell them to me for a song!

Brilliant!


[/Sarcasm]