SE5 AI is pathetic

Yimboli · #1 October 15th, 2006, 05:38 PM

who's surprised?

*doesn't raise hand*

pardon the cynicism, it just seems like the general trend for space empires is to leave AI programming to the modders, who aren't even on the payroll.

as an aside, based on the demo I've also decided not to buy, and instead lay off computer games entirely for a while. I'll still be lurking though =P

jowe01 · #2 October 15th, 2006, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Yimboli said:
who's surprised?

*doesn't raise hand*

pardon the cynicism, it just seems like the general trend for space empires is to leave AI programming to the modders, who aren't even on the payroll.

I am afraid, I have to second that. As much as I hail Aaron for tweaking the mechanics of SE4 until they were really good and essentially bug-free, as much it was painfully clear that he had also deliberately accepted releasing SE4 at a point in time where it was little more than a bug-riddled, early beta version. In terms of AI, it was even worse: not even today are the SE4 AIs capable of following through on their attacks or "remembering" even the most basic pitfalls (like odds in which they have already lost a dozen times before, etc.)

Elsemeravin · #3 October 15th, 2006, 06:16 PM

On the other side, the sooner the game is publicly released, the sooner I can work on my mod, which should then be completed by the time Aaron fix most issues.

If released in 3 months, I can only start in 3 months, and not proposed the mod when the game is finally "finished" (bug-free).

The marketing should however start big advertising not now but in 3 months, and then only fans of the series might buy the game now, however still buggy, and the newcomers will only hear about it in 3 months and buy a game "bug-free" and with several interesting mods tweaking it.

Baron Munchausen · #4 October 15th, 2006, 09:20 PM

The patch will help quite a bit. The AI is not 'comatose' anymore in the latest patch. It'll never be real competition for an experienced human, of course. But at least it will be doing something after the patch.

Phoenix-D · #5 October 15th, 2006, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Baron Munchausen said:
The patch will help quite a bit. The AI is not 'comatose' anymore in the latest patch. It'll never be real competition for an experienced human, of course. But at least it will be doing something after the patch.

What in the patch helped the AI? I didn't see anything in the notes.

Baron Munchausen · #6 October 16th, 2006, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Phoenix-D said:

Quote:

Baron Munchausen said:
The patch will help quite a bit. The AI is not 'comatose' anymore in the latest patch. It'll never be real competition for an experienced human, of course. But at least it will be doing something after the patch.

What in the patch helped the AI? I didn't see anything in the notes.

Well, he never has put everything in the history file. I can't say what may have changed since I don't know the scripting language but I started a new game a couple days ago and the AI is much more active than I have ever seen it. The .CSF files are dated Oct 9th, so things in there have been changed very recently. There are actual fleets moving around. They block warp points after my scouts come through. Until recently they were actually ahead of me in certain technologies. Since I play with 'see all scores' enabled I can see how fast the AI empires are growing, too. They are expanding at a better rate than I can remember seeing before.

Uncle_Joe · #7 October 16th, 2006, 03:02 AM

Well, I guess this thread sort of answers my question as to whether this game is actually DONE or not. The fact that a 'balance mod' is also so necessary after Day 1 already aroused my suspicions that the game really isnt ready for primetime.

Now, if the AI is pretty brain-dead as well, I think that is just more fuel for the fire. I've very torn about buying this game. On one hand I'd like to support it and try it out because I was a huge fan of SE3 and SE4. On the other hand I dont want to be going through all the growing pains of a beta that I have no input in. I've done quite a bit of beta testing for Matrix Games but I've been part of the process, not one of the 'pay to playtest' crowd. Paying full price for an incomplete game isnt high on my list, I guess.

Hopefully the patch will be a step in the right direction, but honestly unless I see a ton of acclaim shortly after its release, I'll probably just hold off on this title for a while. GalCiv2 was a complete disappointment without any multiplayer option. I was holding out a lot of hope for SE5. Here's hoping he gets it squared away sooner rather than later.