one of the strategies I use to gain an edge is to station constructors near all the mining resources in my range. even if i didn't manage to grab them, the AI players go to war often enough that I can usually grab up a lot of the resources by mid game.
i could use this chance to politely gripe about how the AI would do better if it defended its bases more strongly. i think i'd rather use this as a chance to review the entire aspect of the game. but that's just me. i always have ideas and like making observations. i think the bonuses provided by the resources (not the bases, but the bonuses themselves) should be like trade resourses. you can share them for cash, give them as gifts or allied support, or you can chose not to. i'd really like to see time limits added to that aspect of diplomacy: "i'll lend you xintium hull plating and 15% of my military bonus for 24 weeks in exchange for..."
i'm posting this as "game talk" because i this isn't a bug, just a discussion about... well, GalCiv2.
observation 1: sometimes the resources are not evenly dispursed. i've played several games where the majority of the resources of a particular type are all concentrated in a particular area. in the most recent game, it was military resources. they were all concentrated in and around the arceans. they had 3 of 5 (thankfully, the other two were controlled by weaker races). i've also seen this happen with other resource types, and it also creates a very unablanced game when 1 player gets a majority of the influence resources early on.
observation 2: the arceans were becomming frighteningly powerful. they went to war with the drengin, who managed to blow up almost all of their mining bases. this was great for me, since i had a few constructors in the area. the arceans should have been able to rip through the drengin, but because they did not dedicate any of their military power to protecting the basis of their military power, they were cut down to appropriate size in short order. the starbase foritifcation tech line is relatively affordable. they had gained a military advantage over everyone. their resources could have been better spent fortifying these bases.
observation 3: neither the arceans nor the drengin seemed to care that i was there, waiting to snatch up the newly available resources. i can't remember who declared that war, but for the sake of arguments i'll say the drengin. it seems to me the drengin should have been pissed that i was trolling around waiting to steal their spoils of war (i feel they should have similar feelings when their victims surrender to me). the arceans should have been pissed too, seeing that i was exploiting their misfortune. it seems like that kind of behavior should make everyone a little ticked at me.
if the AI did more to protect its resources, i think it'd go a long way. it seems like better resource dispersion could be worked into the map generating codes. i wouldn't mind an option to exclude them from maps. it's not that i want to get rid of them; i want the option of getting rid of them without having to (re)write an entire custom map.
and i'll conclude with the requisite thanks for the work you've done so far. it really impresses me. i'm playing 1.2b. i was expecting to see the AI lose massive fleets of ships due to lack of defenses, but it seems you've all ready thought of that of course and tweaked the AI accordingly. it's a pretty obvious thing to account for, yes, but i just feel all the more impressed by the way you make patching and updating this game, even beta testing, so smooth.
