AI Magical Mystery Tech?

[Snotty]

I can understand where youre coming from, but an AI that doesnt prepare for war is going to get rolled really easily when found by an aggresive player like me. Theres no finer start to a multiplayer game than a close neighbour who is focusing on some kind of religion or wonder strategy, only to lose their capital to me because I have gone bronze working-archery from the get go

[Prussia]

What would the AI do, though, if it is clearly technologically and militarily superior, though, at first contact? Would it still beef up defenses?

If so, that's when the AI is too predictable, but your stand-point I can understand.

[rah]

Early in the game, the AI will usually protect each city with two archers and will send any extra archers out with settlers. But the second they go to war they start building extra archers for defense. I see no difference between changing their strat a touch at contact. It's always a good idea to attack as many AI cities at the same time when you first declare war. After your initial rush you will face tougher defenses. I think it's too predictable. I wish the AI was better able to recognize potential agrression and act against it. Come on, when I see the AI massing troops at my border and cancelling open border treaties, I know what's happening the next turn.

[Blaupanzer]

Rah, and you are definitely right that the AI does not guess this way. If you build up on his border or your nearest city, the AI pays no attention, either going ahead with his own buildup or continuing to distribute units fairly evenly with one reserve stack somewhere. La-la-la, I don't see you, la-la-la.

[Prussia]

Originally posted by rah
Early in the game, the AI will usually protect each city with two archers and will send any extra archers out with settlers. But the second they go to war they start building extra archers for defense. I see no difference between changing their strat a touch at contact. It's always a good idea to attack as many AI cities at the same time when you first declare war. After your initial rush you will face tougher defenses. I think it's too predictable. I wish the AI was better able to recognize potential agrression and act against it. Come on, when I see the AI massing troops at my border and cancelling open border treaties, I know what's happening the next turn.

What if, for the sake of argument, the AI needed 5 more turns to win a cultural victory, and then suddenly you make contact and they start to beef up their defenses, completely dropping all cultural advancement?

The problem with AI, which will always exist, is that it can't think and adapt to situations as humans can. I have seen the AI drop some path to victory, and focus production on something else completely unnecesarily, just because of something I did, let's say, drop an open border agreement.
If you try hard enough, you can reach the point where you know exactly what the AI is going to do next turn.

Most games try to cover this up, and make it that you have to play the same scenario hundreds of times to know exactly what will happen next, and make it harder to guess what the AI will most likely build, or whether they will change civics. Or other broader things like that.

My complaint is very small and unimportant, but all I'm saying is that a little more work could have been done to ensure that the AI didn't show it's predictability this way.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Prussia
My complaint is very small and unimportant, but all I'm saying is that a little more work could have been done to ensure that the AI didn't show it's predictability this way.

Nothing should be set in stone for the AI. Most everything should be max 80-90% probability of changing, else continue as was. That way there would be enough exceptions to make predictability kaputsky.