Gifting to the AI

but while you are giving away your militairy, and your playing in gigantic, crippling with 9 oppononts, maybe that player will not declare on you, the others will for not having any power at all.

You don't give away your whole army silly, just Efrum the retarded rabbit and his army of illegitimate inbred offspring. I obviously build my legion of Navy Seals to defend first. You have to realize, the only reason your armada should ever "cap" is due to ship maintenance costs, which can be thousands of bc. Oh, btw, when i first deployed this strategy, i was playing nine opponents on a gigantic map on Mao. Was going for an influence victory, and oh boy do planets start flipping when your influence starbases are targeting planets lead by the army you just gave.

Did i mention that all 9 opponents were still alive?

Dude, you might have just saved me a year.

What version are you playing?

1.31, but i'm fairly certain that NOBODY has looked at this in 1.4

I'll try it in 1.4. I have the best research and production. I'm just moving into medium scale building now... build a few good medium vessels for myself and a bunch of Trojan Horses for my enemies.

Is that how you went about it?

Exactly how. And make sure before you gift that your Trojan's are doing some major damage to your economy. If you do it slowly they'll be able to adjust economically. Basically the idea is to give them a fee they suddenly can't handle. Their treasury dumps, citizens get all pissed off, and it finally says "well i'm not smart enough to regift, so let's go to war to get rid of these beasts!" And when empires are locked into war, that's the perfect time for the influence rush. Their economy is not pleasing their people, they're too busy to do anything about it, and worst off, they like you because you're so "kind".

The same theory applies to us. Who's winning the war on Iraq? Lockheed Martin

ps. Make sure you give them the lame weapons. That's the only way for them to have a maintenance cost

pss. The whole point is i wanted this exploit removed

It's your game. If you want to ruin your enjoyment by doing that, that's certainly your right.

Personally, I would just lower the difficulty but that's just me.

It's your game. If you want to ruin your enjoyment by doing that, that's certainly your right.

You're right, it is. But aren't modifications to the AI made to improve it and make it more realistic. You guys improved the trade module since 1.0 not allowing me to purchase mining starbases, for example. I understand that this is a slightly more complex system to implement, and does not merely take into account values from an xml file. However, it's not that big a deal to say Race A is giving ships that will add maintenance X. If (Maintenance X > (Race B's total income - expenditure)) {trade.denied}
Even though that may deny aiding a dying ally, in which case you could factor in military might, being at war, or something like attack/defense rating of armada + attack/defense rating of trade proportionate to attack/defense rating of armada

The point is, an AI that accepts any poop gift really is ignorant to the whole "Sleeping with the Enemy" concept. This is not a strategy that is way out of the box here, i mean, we're quoting the TROJAN WAR... If it's deemed as way too much of a hassle, then fine, say so. But that response is immature on any development side. It's not cheesy, it's a very viable strategy. It's also very easy for human eyes to see. If the AI did that to me I would IMMEDIATELY whack the ships and take the bc credits for them. In fact, that's a good one too... why doesn't the AI every whack ships? As you see I'm making this up as I go along on this edit rant, and have decided that that's an even better solution, and definately easy to make an algorithm for the AI whacking unnecessary and expensive ships, turning the "exploit" into a "we pwned ur strat and got rich hahahaha. We are 1337 h4><02z!!!!!!!11111onehundredeleven111!!!112"

...but why should the AI be able to manage an economy? BLASPHAMY!
...why should we at StarDoc every kindly take a request into consideration? NONSENSE!
...why should I not give an intelligent idea a nice diplomatic #@$%@ you @$$|-|013? JIBERJABER!!


But... heck... I'm a Perl programmer, i would take the lazy route too

Brad,

My colleague nova has a point: discovering and discussing exploits only helps you build the perfect game.

I avoid all cheese. The closest I come to cheese is the gravity assist and that's rare.

What we're discussing is time honored subterfuge. Do you really think that the US sells war planes to third world countries for any reason beyond keeping them busy and broke?

Code it out. I want you to. In the meantime, I'm on tough/gigantic and I will give this exploit a try.

In the meantime, as this thread has your attention, check out my post on Metaverse scenarios (high priority) and starbase invasion (medium priority.)

Thanks.

The problem isn't that the AI accepts the gifts,,but that it's unable to correct it's expenses properly.

I'm split down the middle on this one.

One one hand, the devs SHOULD look into correcting something like this. On the other hand: if you don't like cheesing your way to victory, then don't use this exploit. It's pretty simple; the choice is entirely in your hands.

Now, if this were a multiplayer game, then I'd consider fixing this exploit to be a huge priority. But since it's single-player, and thus, entirely controllable by the player in question, then it's not such a game-breaking issue.

Until this problem gets fixed (if ever), just stop exploiting it if you don't want to cheat.

I haven't decided if I'm going to attempt it. My current game has two opponents left. Equal military power all around is keeping the peace. I'm shooting for alliance with one and destruction of the other. Giving them a large ship wouldn't really work in my favor. Keeping the large ships goes toward my final score.

Until this problem gets fixed (if ever), just stop exploiting it if you don't want to cheat

LOLOL, i'm sorry, i didn't realize this was "cheating". Yes it's lame, but definitely not cheating. I just like to bring up points where the AI can be improved by intelligence mechanisms, rather than boosting all of it's abilities. Wouldn't it be fun if suicidal was incredibly hard because the AI made great tactical decisions, and not because their stats are boosted beyond recognition? I mean, it's fun now, but a really smart AI would be more fun

Keeping the large ships goes toward my final score

So does blowing them up

Give it a rest and stop dissing Stardock; they're not a mega huge company making mega huge profits. They're a decently sized respectable company with a repputation for general satisfaction and a little more than status quo. Never should they be expected to spoonfeed every single individule that says "jump". So please; in defence of Brad,Stardock etcetera; have some respect.

And yes; I admit it may not be my place I may not be from Stardock or a Moderator either; but I'm a customer that actually does get pissed off when a group of two people go arround demanding things without specific WAYS to improve things.

And if you'r both so upset about a AI being able to manage an economy then bloody-well come out with a sollution; because I too am all up for the game improving. Thanks.

Who is "dissing" Stardock? Me? Why don't you review my posts before putting your foot in your mouth? Seriously, click my name and choose the appropriate option.

I'm not upset about anything. Do you know how to read? Discussing an exploit that might not even be an exploit is a valid discussion. Brad, no doubt, is stressed out but it's not from the content of this thread. It's from the DA beta testing.

Go make yourself useful and log a Metaverse game above beginner. Once you play on challenging and above, it's a very different game and you might see why some players would consider a Trojan Horse gambit.

To head back to the point...

The computer AI doesn't seem to know when to kill an old model ship and there is room for improvement here. Those fighters with 3 attack aren't looking so good when I'm building ships with 80 attack and they should either be upgraded or dismantled by the soon to be forgotten Krox. They are capable of building better ships as the news ones they are building are almost reasonable.

I have seen some really pathetic first gen ships years into the game. At some point, if the computer can’t afford to upgrade them, it should scrap them for cash. It would also solve the trade situation described above.

Actually,,it's not the first generation ships that are to be scrapped as they provide inexpensive defence against enemy transports/serves to delay enemy invasion fleet (see the ongoing discussions about keeping ships in orbit) with very low maintence costs.

Instead,,it's the midrange ships that chokes the AI's economy.
They have no advantage over the low maintence ships from a strategic point of view,,but still requires maintence levels on par with the front line ships.

One way of dealing with the problem would be to reduce their military rating and mark them for scrapping should the military maintence costs be a burden for the AI's economy.

Who is "dissing" Stardock? Me? Why don't you review my posts before putting your foot in your mouth? Seriously, click my name and choose the appropriate option. I'm not upset about anything. Do you know how to read? Discussing an exploit that might not even be an exploit is a valid discussion. Brad, no doubt, is stressed out but it's not from the content of this thread. It's from the DA beta testing. Go make yourself useful and log a Metaverse game above beginner. Once you play on challenging and above, it's a very different game and you might see why some players would consider a Trojan Horse gambit.

Please humour me with a more thought out reply than that before I even bother with a responce.

I did give you a thoughtful reply. Obviously, you're an illiterate fraktard.

I looked over your Metaverse record before writing that last post.

10 years per game? All good on every game? If you're "good" then you have no respect for the AI because you're not playing at a difficulty level that would require a bit of respect for the AI. Without any concern for your opponents, there's no need for strategy. Why take the 48% research bonus for killing everyone in underwater domes on your new planet? You're frakkin angelic and you're going to win anyway. Just sit on the map for a decade or more and pad those numbers. If there's no need for strategy, why are you taking more than 10 years per game to defeat the field?

You're a loser.

Why take the 48% research bonus for killing everyone in underwater domes on your new planet?

Muahahahaha!!!! I love this one. You can almost hear the "glub, glub, glub" as their little lungs fill with briny death!  And Wheel, don't waste your time with this one. I really, really, really had to hold back when I read his reply. His metaverse record means nothing. A true reflection of him can be gained simply by reading his reply. But hell, keep up the good work Wheel. You're doing me proud son!    

I did give you a thoughtful reply. Obviously, you're an illiterate fraktard. I looked over your Metaverse record before writing that last post. 10 years per game? All good on every game? If you're "good" then you have no respect for the AI because you're not playing at a difficulty level that would require a bit of respect for the AI. Without any concern for your opponents, there's no need for strategy. Why take the 48% research bonus for killing everyone in underwater domes on your new planet? You're frakkin angelic and you're going to win anyway. Just sit on the map for a decade or more and pad those numbers. If there's no need for strategy, why are you taking more than 10 years per game to defeat the field? You're a loser.

I'm sorry didn't I explainit to you? When I said thoughtfull I intended to include these definitions

1. Think before you reply
2. Be polite

Obviosly dude; you've got some issues and you'r just full of steam; so I think I'm just going to let you straighten yourself out as you loose respect with every passing post. The next time you get a reply from me; it'll be the day when you've transformed into something more than a bag full of hot air.


Yours Truely; -CommanderFutility

let you straighten yourself out as you loose respect with every passing post.

He has my respect. Certainly there are times where Wheel may seem gruff, but then he wouldn't be Wheel if he didn't do that. He also adds intelligent insight into things, even if it isn't always so obvious by the wording. As far as expecting a polite response, you will see snowball fights in hell before you see that if you choose to rub certain people the wrong way. Sounding like the self appointed Stardock lackey/PR/excuse man will only get you trounced upon. Brad and the other devs can speak for themselves, and know when to do so. But don't assume that Wheel loses respect. We all know his ways, and believe it or not, I think most of us would miss "him" if he wasn't the Wheel we know and love.  
Oh, and it is "lose" not "loose". How can you expect respect when you can't even spell?

Ok, let me start by being polite.

Mr. CommanderFutility sir, will you please get off of your knees, as i believe everyone on the stardock team has recieved their copulation from you. Now, if you would be so kind as to 5 7 |= |_|
I would really appreciate it. You are committing a logical fallacy known as Ad-hominem. You are attacking character and not addressing the issue at hand. And, I'm sure you've heard it a million times, but fighting on the internet is like running in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still...