Mindblank

So I re-started a new game with the excat same settings. This time, the AI expanded

It sure felt like cakewalk But that was actually the first thing that crossed my mind. Since the game keeps the last settings in memory, I went to check out the difficulty level, but no, it sure was still set on painful. I realize I missed answering one of Metaphase's questions: yes, I was playing tough on 1.1 before. At least my last game was, but since the game has been patched

No, I haven't modded anything. The only thing I can think of is that I erased all files in the ships folder under my documents. I did this because I'm tired of old ship designs from previous games clogging up the shipyard of my new game. But I thought this folder only holds custom designed ships? Could this be it? Well, I just checked my trash bin (hadn't emptied it yet), and all the ship files in it have names of my custom ships. So I guess that's not the answer either...

Well, the juicy planets were all well within range of the vanilla colony ship. All AIs I have met have at least a couple of good planets not more than a dozen squares (not sectors) away from their home planet. I continued playing maybe 20 turns since I last posted, and nothing has changed. It is as though they all used their initial colony ship for one lousy colonization, and after that they are not building more ships. Only their flagships appear in the diplomacy screen, and on the m

Thanks for the tip duckness. So far, I have been a little reluctant to go beyond "rare" habitable planets, as I feel habitable planets should be something exceptional. But judging from a game or two with rare habitable planets, I think you are right: the AI does better when resources are readily available to them. That's actually why I decided to try "occasional" for a change, but I may try something higher the next time.

Thanks for your input, ArtNJ. When you say "unless the AI has to modify the standard range of its colonizers", are you referring to range support modules in the ship design? As far as I can tell from the diplomacy screens, no-one has mastered anything but the very basic such component, so I would think this should not even be an option to AI yet in my current game. As for the AIs' starting positions, they look rather good from what I can see. All have at least a couple of l

I am playing with a custom race (close to Terran Alliance, but I start with slightly different technologies, among which stellar cartography) on gigantic maps (always) and between rare and occasional habitable planets (I am still trying to determine the right mix, suitable for my enjoyment). After having worked my way up to "tough" difficulty level in my first couple of games, and finding them a tad too easy, I decided to go for the "painful" difficulty level, where all AIs are "gifte

The old building is replaced.

I don't know about the metaverse pictures, sorry. Regarding the difficulty level, I guess the whole point is to develop new strategies. What worked for you on lower levels may not work (as) well on higher ones. Part of the fun is discovering these new strategies and adapting old ones, by learning from what seems to work (and under what circumstances) and what doesn't. I myself am discovering the game, and like you, I have played s