Artificial Cowardice

Why does the AI in this game act so cowardly all the time? I've yet to have any civilization declare war on me... like ever. What do I have to do to make it actually want to fight me?

I play as Drath, huge map, 9 civs, Intelligent AIs. I go down the diplomacy/influence route, don't research any militaty tech, don't build any warships. My immediate neighbor is Drengin. He keeps telling me that I'm weak but never attacks me, because he "likes" me. Soon my economy starts booming, so I buy some of the Drengin's ships to both get some military rating and keep the Drengin from accumulating too powerful a military. He is all too willing to sell them to me all too cheap. My military rating is still in the gutter and remains there for the whole game, although I continue liberally purchasing ships from other civs. Still, no one attacks me.

Then I start bribing other civs into attacking each other. For a measly ~1500bc they gladly enter into fratricidal wars against thier friends and trade patners. None of them appear to resent me for it, I'm still everyone's best friend. Meanwhile I'm getting filthy rich from War Profiteering. You'd think someone would figure me out for the culprit behind all the bloodshed... but no. Then I research the Influence tech branch and start launching hordes of constuctors into other civs' territory, building influence starbases and fllipping their worlds en masse. Relationships cool down a bit, but still the victimized civs refrain from attacking me even as thier worlds fall. Later the civs with whom I have a Close relationship, instigated by me, manage to wipe out the other, less friendly civs. I ally myself with the survivors for a Diplomatic Victory.

As you can see, the AI grossly and repeatedly failed to recognize me as the prime behind-the-scenes prime mover and a threat to itself. It also failed to take advantage of my relative military weakness. For the entire game my civ was completely uncontested by the AI civs. Well, I thought, maybe I'm just too good at playing diplomacy, or it's just overpowered. So, I decided to try another style of play.   

Now I play as Drengin, immense map, slow tech, 9 AIs all set to maximum Aggessiveness. This time there will be no diplomacy, no trade, no mercy -- only war. Surely other civs will rise up to meet my relentless onslaught. I never bother with researching any diplomacy beyond Xeno Communicaton. Everyone I meet during the colony rush is Cool, Wary. or Hostile toward me. I beeline straight for the basic ship guns and Planetary Invasion techs. As soon as I can get a couple of fighters and a troop transport in the air, I go after my neighbor, the Thalan, who failed to expand and controls only his captal world. While my fleet is en-route I manage to finish researching a major soldiering-boosting tech. The Thalan has no military save for 0-attack "defender" ships, which my fighters gleefully slaughter for experience. Aided by superior soldiering and thier numbers boosted by Information Warfare, my 1500 million bloodthirsty Drengin marines take Thala from from 18 billion cowering defenders.

The other civs are not at all disturbed by the Thalans' destruction. They actually like me better now that I have some fighters and the free Dominator corvettes I got for making war on the Thalans! The same corvettes that are even now launching towards the middle of the map where the Terrans, Arceans, and Korx are located. They still have no weapons on their ships, because they've been too busy researching other crap that won't save them from me. Pretty stupid of them.

The Terrans are rated the 2nd most powerful civ, yet they suffer the same fate as the Thalans, thier defenseless worlds taken effortlessly by basic 1- or 2-attack fighters and highly trained ground troops. I get another negative modifier to my resume for being a "civ-killer". I've made sure to further antagoinze whoever I could by extorting money from them. Perhaps now the remaining civs will get wise, get armed, and join forces in repelling the barbaric conqeror? Nope. The Korx are in awe of my evil and now feel Close to me. They prefer to rely on my good will (ha-ha!) and continue developing trade instead of arming themselves. The Drath located a ways to the north-east of center also perfer to remain Neutral, unarmed, and isolationist. Suddenly, the righteous Altarians make contact and their ambassador appears on my viewscreen. Have they come to pledge to fight me to the death and unite the other races in their holy crusade against galactic enslavement? Ah, no, they come bearing gifts. 

Only the Arceans, upon whose doorstep my forces are now amassed after conquering the Terrans see it fit to research ship weapons and put some basic fighters of thier own in orbit around their worlds aided by the Oribital Fleet Manager on Arcea. However the relations remain Neutral. I take a few turns to fix up my economy and get more ships before I'm ready to attack the Arceans. However, they managed to make a breakthrough and research Medium hulls in the meantime, while I only have Small ships. Each of thier medium frigates is almost a match for 3 of my small fighters. Will the Arceans challenge me now that they've been so empowered?

In a stunningly retarded move, the Artifical Idiot controlling the Arceans declares war on the Yor, who are on the opposite side on the map, and moves his few frgates away from his planets, leaving them lightly defended. My fleets are poised less than a sector away from his capital world. Not unexpectedly, I move in and take Arcea. Deprived of their Orbital Fleet Manager the remaining Arcean planets are easy pickings for my fighters, as are the isolated frigates too late in returning to defend thier worlds.

The surviving AIs fail to learn their lesson. I open a second front with the free dominator corvettes I got when I attacked the Arceans and proceed to crush the Drath and the Korx simultaneously. Both *still* have no armed ships. Relations with the Korx remain Close right up until the moment when my fleets, blatantly positioned next to their planets, eliminate their race from the game in a single turn. The Altarians continue bringing me tribute. My fleet of dominator corvettes is by now very large, I even disband some to save on the upkeep.

I spend some peaceful turns reorganizing my suddenly huge empire and scouting out the remaining civs. Still no one presents any opposition, organized or otherwise, though I've demonstrated my genocidal, backstabbing, extorting, baby-eating ways repeatedly to them. However, the Good civs: Altarians, Torians, and Iconians are happily warring with each other, although this war is a formality, since none are taking any actual military action.

My reorganized and upgraded Battlefleet #1 rolls in and exterminates the Torians, who have basic fighters and no orbital defense, then turns on the Altarians. For some odd reason they have a huge stockpile of troop transports but hardly any warships. When I attack the Altarians, the Iconians *finally* declare war on me -- the first race to ever do so first during the whole game -- but apparently only becuase the Altarians' Super Ability forces them to do so. Unfortunately for the Iconians, their declaration of war is concurrent with the arrival of my Battlefleet #2 into their distant corner of the galaxy, where they've been living in sinful peace with the Yor. Both are exterminated even as the last Altarian worlds fall, completing my Conquest Victory.

As fun as it is to see a good plan come together and culminate in a decisive victory, I wish the AI would actually mount a genuine challenge to a human player's plans. The computer-controlled civs are way, *way*, too timid toward the player even on the most aggressive setting. I think it's the most timid AI I've seen in a game of its type.