A Feature Request - Adjustable AI I'd very much like to be able to adjust the AI's efficiency. In my case, I very much need to turn it down. While RTS games universally fascinate me and PA in particular sounded quite exciting, I'm nevertheless pretty bad at playing them. This in concert with the brutally efficient AI means I'm getting my behind handed to me in mere minutes. I simply can't keep up. This has ceased to be fun in short order. I don't even think I'm necessarily wanting it to lose any strategic abilities -- just the blistering speed and brutal ruthlessness of the AI's build rate. Maybe cut down the aggression a tad. I was thinking perhaps even restrict its preference for a particular avenue of attack, though as I was typing it occurred to me that this would eliminate some of the surprise and so might be less desirable. I don't mind being caught with my defensive pants briefly down but having two more waves arrive while just starting the cleanup is pretty frustrating. I'm not suggesting that it be turned down overall for everyone of course; there's no way anyone can suck as hard at this game as it turns out I do. I just want to have the option to dumb it down a bit (okay, maybe a lot) so I have half a chance of building some of that tantalizing planet-smashing gear. Pretty please? ps. While you're at it maybe add the ability to crank it waaay up for those folks who really like a challenge... just a thought. Fair is fair. Lunatics. :-D pps. If this has come up before and been addressed already (questioned & answered) then my apologies for rehashing; my search-fu is as weak as my RTS ability.
I can feel ya pain lol... (i'm not that great either) I think they are going to have the ability to have certain AI options in the game or basically have a set AI behavior very much like what was in the Supreme Commander series, where you have quite a few different AI options as well as game options, like No air units, or no naval units, no nukes! or turtle AI, air AI, a Rush AI ect... not sure if you'll be able to turn down the efficiency so to speak, but I'm when their finished, they will have Easy/Medium/Hard/Cheating AI difficulties, or at least that's what I'm hoping for anyway. If they don't though, I'm more then sure we'll see someone from the great modding community build their own specific AI behaviors anyway...
I believe this is a confirmed feature. In the meantime, remember this is beta. If you're struggling with the AI, check out my tutorial: http://pamatches.com/2013/planetary-annihilation-tutorial-basic-gameplay-and-techniques/
Unfortunately you'll just have to wait until they add multiple difficulties and starting resources/ income rates. For now you should watch some good players on youtube/twitch and pick up some efficient build orders/playstyles.
Yeah adjustable AI is definitely going to be added at some point. Sorian specifically pointed out that the adjustable options in SUPCOM 2 were down to him. Right now though he's still building the base AI functions, after all it doesn't have vehicles, doesn't have naval, doesn't have base defence behaviour, etc.
Hello all, and thanks for your replies. Good to know it's been covered - as mentioned I wasn't having much luck finding indications of such, thus my original post. I wasn't wanting these adjustments all done and right now, just to get the seeds sown if they hadn't already and it turns out they had; so let's call it tending the seedlings. (Fertilizer? um...) I certainly understand the concept of a Beta release.. I should have made that clear in my original post. The worry was that if nobody had mentioned it in the meantime and I ended up suggesting it after release the answer would more likely be "dude, where the h--- were you when we were in Beta and we could make these kinds of changes?" Again, thanks for the replies. Misery loves company on the one hand, and I look forward to being able to twiddle some AI Adjustments on the other. Cheers, rcxpress.
I'm in the same situation - I'm not a big RTS gamer, and I've just started playing PA. I hope the planned option to set the difficulty doesn't just range from kinda easy to kinda hard, but that you can really nerf the AI if you want to. A game like this is so complex and has such a steep learning curve (especially for FPS gamers like me: arrows to move, click to shoot, that's what I know) that I really wish I could be totally alone in a game, just getting to know the units, control system, etc. Right now, I can barely distinguish between different units, I'm trying to figure out in what order I need to build stuff, and I haven't even started trying to memorize hundreds of keyboard commands, and just as I've built my third power plant, I'm zerg-rushed by the enemy! I think the most important thing that the OP said is that it stops being fun. I don't have to be playing this game, but as a complete beginner I really want to learn how to play, which is why I think it's important to have some kind of sandbox option where I can just explore planet navigation, building order, and how the hell to tell a fabber-bot apart from a fighter bot without zooming way in every time I want to build something!
At the moment the AI seems stuck in a very "Zerg Rush" mindset. If they aren't sending 30 bots at you then they're sending 30 bombers, but that seems all they're capable of doing. They don't expand, they don't really tech up, they just spam units and don't do much else. It means if you're new to the game you get steamrolled, but if you have some basic idea of what you're doing and can get defenses up in time, it turns into a snorefest rather quickly. (I was able to get into orbital and smash a moon into the planet before he had more than one advanced bot factory going, last game)
