Does the AI "tag team" ?

[j0b]

I have just moved up to Prince level and am finding it much more challenging than Noble - not that that is a problem - but in my first game I noted some interesting behaviour from the AI's - I was on a continent with 3 of them, and no sooner had one agreed to peace with me in Ancient/Classical Times after a short war (they were the aggressor), but the next would DoW me. They seemed to tag team in and out which always kept me behind techwise and making lots of units.

Is there a programming reason why the AI would "tag team", or is this just a coincidence that they have declared for differing reasons consecutively ?

I was suspicious ...

Thanks

[Hauptman]

More coincidence, or as a side effect of loosing units in the first war.

Once you loose a few units, your power graph takes a hit, then the other AIs will take notice. It takes them some time to get ready, wich gives it the appearence of waiting til the last war ended.

[eris]

I agree with Hauptman. This is especially true if, during your war with Civ A, you end up with the same amount of land but less overall troops.

The other instance that catches their atterntion is if, during your war with Civ A, you expand and leave a border somewhere less protected than other places. They just love weak spots in your defense.

[Slade Wilson]

They are probably declaring war consecutively because, as you say, you are lagging behind in tech and units, etc. This makes you look like a good target in the AIs eyes.

[Supr49er]

I get 'Dogpiled' far more often than 'Tag-teamed'.

[mkorin]

The you're weak argument, therefore the AIs either dogpile or tagteam is easily disproved. They don't do it to each other, and they do it when your power is fairly high. There is no way I believe it is not a programmed response to help the AI.

Mike

[Zero]

AI dogpile each other all the time in my game.

im literally pressured to push my military to the edge to get the "target of the day" before its too late

[TriMiro]

In my experience the AI would tag-team and dog-pile each other very often. As soon as there is no more land for expansion, the AI would try to expand and the only question is where. AI is more likely to declare war on humans than other AI (that is scripted to compensate for the lack of I in AI), therefore one would often see tag-teams and dog-piles.

I don't think tag-team is scripted however. The different AIs do not really work with each other against you, just against you. Try using diplomacy to see if you can get them to fight each other as opposed to go after you.

[Blaupanzer]

Dog-piling is common in the games I play, with aggressive AI. Whether they dog-pile/tag-team me or one of the AI depends on my strength and position versus the ones with a military built to fight. However, programming code into the game to get them to actively trade off which civ "beats up" on the human would be very complex and usually unnecessary.

What usually happens is a couple of the AI tech like crazy while a couple of others build big armies and the rest muddle along. So at a minimum, I get stuck behind in techs that they trade to each other, but not to me. Worse if one of these aggressive ones is next to me, as they tend to go from friendly or pleased to a furious enemy in one turn without any real predictability.

[MoonWolf]

A general rule of thumb: The AI has only one, real enemy: you. Consider the wars between the different civs as civil wars. In the end, you have no real friends as you have to beat them all.

[Blaupanzer]

Mike, again you stridently assert a position that is easily disproven. Lighten up. The game, especially BTS, is a real challenge compared to earlier versions. This does not require that the AI be permitted to play unfairly compared to humans in a multiplayer game. The designers and testers worked hard to assure the game is a challenge without the kind of "cheats" that had marked earlier civs. No need for paranoia, the game really does require concentration and comprehension to play well. Rather unique, actually.