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Godzilla Blitz · 03-29-2003, 05:02 PM

Dola...

Aarrgh! Stayed up all night last night playing this damn game. +8 on the bedtime rating scale...

Played a small galaxy with AI opponents set to "bright"...

Not sure the AI accolades are all that warranted, at least at this level. It wasn't too much of a challenge to beat the game, once you get past the opening. The AI opponents still seem to do some questionable things at the bright level, and the path to victory was straightforward.

Having said that, the AI has played an outstanding opening game the last two games, and I'd think it would be very hard to win if you fall behind at that stage. I'm also going to guess and say that the people that are reporting losing against the lower levels of AI are falling behind in these first couple of years, when the computer expands agressively and effectively.

However, I'm encouraged by the fact that this was still only level 5 of 8 with regards to AI toughness. "Intelligent", "Genius", and "Incredible" are still waiting. At the "bright" level, the AI is definitely more devious than at "normal" level (one of the civs fought a solid losing war against superior forces at the end of the game), but there seem to be basic strategies that would work consistently to beat them. I'm hoping at higher levels the AI uses diplomatic trading more agressively, coordinates attacks better (it tends to attack by sending clusters of unguarded transports at you), attacks more decisively (a couple of strong civilizations had weaker civilizations on their knees and yet they took forever--if they even tried--to invade systems), and has better geopolitical awareness.

If I had to say thumbs up or down given what I know now, I'd say thumbs up, but I need to try the next levels up to give a final verdict. The game really is a lot of fun; I've gotten my money's worth all ready. Even if this were the best the AI could play (and I don't think it is), there are a number of tweaks you could make in the game settings to make the game much more challenging. However, I'm hoping that the AI plays better at the higher difficulty levels. Unfortunately, I won't have time to check it out soon, though. After three days of playing, I need to get back to real life (and catch up on sleep).

03-29-2003, 05:02 PM	#31
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Dola... Aarrgh! Stayed up all night last night playing this damn game. +8 on the bedtime rating scale... Played a small galaxy with AI opponents set to "bright"... Not sure the AI accolades are all that warranted, at least at this level. It wasn't too much of a challenge to beat the game, once you get past the opening. The AI opponents still seem to do some questionable things at the bright level, and the path to victory was straightforward. Having said that, the AI has played an outstanding opening game the last two games, and I'd think it would be very hard to win if you fall behind at that stage. I'm also going to guess and say that the people that are reporting losing against the lower levels of AI are falling behind in these first couple of years, when the computer expands agressively and effectively. However, I'm encouraged by the fact that this was still only level 5 of 8 with regards to AI toughness. "Intelligent", "Genius", and "Incredible" are still waiting. At the "bright" level, the AI is definitely more devious than at "normal" level (one of the civs fought a solid losing war against superior forces at the end of the game), but there seem to be basic strategies that would work consistently to beat them. I'm hoping at higher levels the AI uses diplomatic trading more agressively, coordinates attacks better (it tends to attack by sending clusters of unguarded transports at you), attacks more decisively (a couple of strong civilizations had weaker civilizations on their knees and yet they took forever--if they even tried--to invade systems), and has better geopolitical awareness. If I had to say thumbs up or down given what I know now, I'd say thumbs up, but I need to try the next levels up to give a final verdict. The game really is a lot of fun; I've gotten my money's worth all ready. Even if this were the best the AI could play (and I don't think it is), there are a number of tweaks you could make in the game settings to make the game much more challenging. However, I'm hoping that the AI plays better at the higher difficulty levels. Unfortunately, I won't have time to check it out soon, though. After three days of playing, I need to get back to real life (and catch up on sleep). Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 03-29-2003 at 05:11 PM.