For Backers Only: AI building stuff

The AI is definitely much improved in the latest build; formations are clearly a big help.

Sorian?

Has any work been done on being able to disable game features "like no nukes" when starting a new game with or without the ai?

It was great seeing the AI try for early orbital (though you're gonna need to put more than one fabber on it for it to actually be early orbital). Also its commanders went factory first when landing on a moon. Nice. Next step is to get an air factory with bomber patrols to maintain surface control. The AI needs to be more aggressive about preventing other people landing and establishing a beachhead on its rock. Also if it's a moon it should be thinking anti-nuke even if it hasn't seen a nuke, because that's how you beat moons.

One trick the AI might want to pick up is when it scouts an orbital factory it can place either an anchor or a couple of orbital fighters overhead to shut it down completely.

Does the AI smash planets already ?

I believe so, yes. Certainly it builds halleys.

Maybe I should let the AI alone for a while

I suspect it doesn't put enough engineers on the project to do it in a good time yet. Though that's extrapolating from its other projects, it might have halley specific behaviour.

Just had my first game on the new patch with an AI. I threw a planet at his fat head. It was glorious seeing as I didn't have much lag until realllly late game He tried to escape to a planet I didn't even realised existed until I claimed the two other planets. He contested on one and then escaped to the far one.

He didn't have any umbrellas/avengers there either but he was building orbital so I trounced him there. Didn't get htat much resistance but I think that is just because I am amazing

Good job sorian, it's coming along

Indeed great improvements in AI department. Until now i escaped to the moon, because soon or later AI commander went under my catapult fire, and i kind of think about that like cheating or beating blind kid. But now i just flush AI out of my planet, prepare for invasion and crush them puny robots when their nukes get too annoying (ie. when defending from nukes takes out all the fun).

The AI is smart.

1v1; no handicaps; single lava planet: Attacked me straight away, pushing units into my power supply constantly. I take them out, and then notice I didn't have any AA. Then he throws bombers at me. He knows what he's doing.

BUT he still can't beat me. Took out his nukes with gunships. Then dropped 50 vanguards on his comm. He wasn't prepared for that.

AND HE SPAMS THE U-CANNON LIKE A DEMON

The AI's aggressive use of the commander is fascinating.

I've also had to prioritize orbital to beat it to the moon. First game I played against it by the time I got there it had the whole thing swarming with air units.

still useless on water though.

Does the AI get multiple commanders in team games yet?

Thoughts on the AI currently:

1. Needs to stop mixing bots and tanks in its formations. Bots are fast, that is their thing, put them with tanks and you'd have been better off with just more tanks.

2. AI often stops to attack things at max range. It should move and attack, especially when raiding. Constantly having to accelerate slows the assault and is especially bad when you have units like the inferno in the mix. You will also notice a slight pause while the AI picks a new target which sitting next to stuff would help prevent. Obviously there are exceptions to this, such as using shellers to outrange laser turrets.

3. AI won't attack until it has a group of units. At the start of the game it should be using single bots/fighters/bombers to harass and prevent enemy expansion.

4. Almost every project is built by one fabber. While it's more practical to MEX expand with one, factories definitely need more.

5. Builds too much defence early on at the cost of expansion.

6. Clumps its buildings together making it ripe for nuking and com bombing. Build in lines to minimise this, and spread out a bit more.

7. When landing on a new planet and still having an economic base on another planet, factory first, no exceptions.

8. Any planet which you can build halleys on is small enough for all planet bomber patrols to prevent invasion.

9. Build anti-nukes on moons (not the biome, the planet type) even without spotting nukes to prevent being kicked off the rock.

10. Top level players can identify spawn spots from the MEX layout. The AI's current scouting method (which seems to be the equivalent of an all planet area patrol) is inefficient. When difficulties exist the higher levels should know where the spawn points are (without knowing which were used) and go scout them directly.

They have for as long as I've been playing (beta)

They just start in the same place and tend to keep them very close together

Having played a bit more I think the number one problem is it doesn't build enough unit producing structures. It's too easy to zerg it because even though it's beating me economically, it doesn't seem to be turning that into a mobile advantage.

would make the ai far more evil on team games if it used the coms independently like a human.

Not to help you be a sadist or anything...

Sorian, when I said this in a twitch chat, you denied it? That the AI only ever starts in one start spot.



Yeah AI starts multiple commanders together... it takes a while before it decides to get them working on other projects independently.

Also: When will the AI use naval?

I would like it if you could team with a ai. That would solve my need for multiplayer.
Or, you could have a fight with an ai versus an ai and just spectate.