Why the computer don´t uses engines?

from GalCiv2 Forums
I don´t know why the computer don´t uses engines in his ships. I tend to play in a large galaxy, and the movement is too slow. If i design my ships with engines, the AI will not, so i´m at disadvantange in combat. I belive that the hulls must have a base speed of 0, so the computer players and us should put engines in the ships. This would do the wars more dynamic.

Since the movement is slow, i only see the planets while the ships arrives at his destination. (The best planetary graphics i had ever seen!)  
13,177 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've noticed this also on DA not DL. Went through an entire game and the AI only used weapons, no defense or engines except on non military ships. Makes them have a great attack rating, but you just have to match defense and use any weapon to defeat them.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If htey arn't building engines, fly around them, you get to choose your targets, let that be your advantage!
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If they aren't putting engines in their ships, it's not you who's disadvantaged. The biggest, baddest battleship in the world doesn't matter if you can just fly around it.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If they aren't putting engines in their ships, it's not you who's disadvantaged. The biggest, baddest battleship in the world doesn't matter if you can just fly around it.


isn't that what Totot just said? lol
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
no, they aren't using engines as they should. i think the devs are already trying to tweak this into correction.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Not so, it's a legitimate strategy... you can lose a huge amount of your space by putting engines in, making those ships good for hitting soft targets, but not for actually battering down fleets.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes, and with the new combat system, defense matters much less than it used to. In retrospect, the old system was almost elegant. With the changes that have been made to DA, it's just a matter of who has the most guns when combat starts. Speed doesn't matter that much, either. It doesn't matter that you can avoid an enemy fleet when you can't stop it from reaching and invading your planets, and if you can't take out his planetary defenders once you get there.

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Theres no need to put engines on defensive ships youre just going to park in orbit, and a good way to get the m0ost bang for your buck for defensive craft. I call them "defensive drones", and put them in orbit around border planets. Im not sure, but I think the computer does the same thing with dedicated defensive craft...at least, thats how Ive always interpreted the no-engine thing...except that sometimes it then tries to fly them around as well.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Theres no need to put engines on defensive ships youre just going to park in orbit, and a good way to get the m0ost bang for your buck for defensive craft. I call them "defensive drones", and put them in orbit around border planets. Im not sure, but I think the computer does the same thing with dedicated defensive craft...at least, thats how Ive always interpreted the no-engine thing...except that sometimes it then tries to fly them around as well.


well, yes, and maybe that's what the AI is actually doing. it'd make sense, but it wouldn't explain why i haven't seen offensive ships with engines at all. maybe i just need to play more. i a war i got to early, i threw a couple no-egine fighters are the torians, and they did manage to actually get there before the war was over. they knocked down their mining bases and a couple fighers. it's all i had available. but it seems like they should be diversifying my later stages of the game.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've seen situations (in the beta) where I HAD to start putting engines on my ships to compete. I was using the first strike ability, and the Altarians were launching ships with engines (warp drives) I believe, putting me on the defensive, as really careful micromanagement is required to still get first strike when you're at a speed disadvantage. I only managed to hold them off long enough to win is because I did most of my fighting inside a super isolationist's sphere of influence. Technically, he was at war with me, too, but he wasn't putting engines on his ships!

That said, my fleets would not have been competitive if they'd had to cart engines around, too. They wouldn't have been able to kill enough ships in the first volley to minimize losses...

It has it's place. Especially when you're playing (or playing against) a first strike race, it is a huge advantage. However, the additional firepower that you can pack on without it is considerable... and not to be underestimated!

Once you have the tech, I'd recommend that you build two kinds of warships... a fast response ship, for one, is a tactical boon (the amount of firepower determines what it can do... a larger hull with the speed advantage can still serve as a warship against less powerful targets, but a ship with token offense is only good for hitting soft targets.) However, you still need ships that are capable of brute force, or you'll get crushed in early game by heavily armed starbases or technologically superior opponents. They aren't soley for defense...
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok. I think that adding engines on a ship, i can build a "light" starship. But i would like to add engines (and the AI too) to the ships, but can be optional add more than one. This could give realism to the game and speed. If you play on tiny maps, no problem, but the larger ones is different. The positive point is that you can build destroyers (faster than a battleship but light armed) and battleship (heavy armed starship). It`s only matter of game speed.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
From the sound of DA, I may not get it at all.
Super abilities that mess up the whole game, AI blunders, nerfed defenses and engines...

Quite a long list in the 'don't buy this now' category, and only a short list in the 'really cool stuff' category.

If I had spent the money to preorder, I would have been sorely dissapointed.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I haven't been. Keep in mind that people, like myself, really, REALLY like whining.
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There was a lot of talk during developement about this to limit ship speed so the AI had a better chance. I thought at the time and believe I suggested or it was suggested to limit the number of engines that could be put on a ship not the size of the engines. I still believe the took the wrong option. Well I know for sure when they decide to allow me to download the game I paid for.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I agree, limiting ships to 3 or 4 engines would have been better than the huge changes in size, and more importantly, cost of engines. Now a high speed scout costs more to build and maintain than a highly armed defender.

No surprise that the AI doesn't want to add a warp drive at size 21 and cost 80, when it could add another 3 lasers instead.

It also makes the starting speed picks and Gravity Accelerators very important.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
From the sound of DA, I may not get it at all.
Super abilities that mess up the whole game, AI blunders, nerfed defenses and engines...

Quite a long list in the 'don't buy this now' category, and only a short list in the 'really cool stuff' category.

If I had spent the money to preorder, I would have been sorely dissapointed.


You're making the fundamental mistake of judging the expansion by an internet message board. Here's a hint, for every 1 person here complaining about DA, there are at least 100 playing the crap out of it that can't be bothered to pull themselves away from it to post about it. Hell, I wouldn't be if I wasn't at work. It's much, MUCH better than DL ever was, and you'd be missing out something awful if you deprived yourself of it because of whining on a message board. The AI is stronger than DA, the engines matter more (and I see the AI use them all the time, incidentally), and I still don't understand all the bitching about defenses (when I don't research them the AI kicks my ass with them, so they clearly aren't that worthless).