When do you PWN the AIs in an SP game?

[Snowflake]

I was bored last night so I started an SP game. I was not in the lead until after I discovered IA. Having not completed even one transcend SP game myself, I'm curious to know why the AIs are always in the lead early in the game? Or did I do something wrong? When do you usually become the lead in an SP game?

[Illuminatus]

Depends on the faction - as Deidre oe Morgan it can take me 100 turn, but with University it is lead from start.

[Jac de Molay]

I play a more laid-back Thinker game, and usually Zak takes an early lead because of the free tech from Human Brain, sometimes Santaigo or Hive too. I usually start pulling away after my first few SPs, and after the first pop-boom I'm really ahead.

[BustaMike]

On thinker and transcend the computer gets a 10% or 20% bonus to growth, idustry, and tech. That's why they lead at the beginning.

[livid imp]

Originally posted by BustaMike
On thinker and transcend the computer gets a 10% or 20% bonus to growth, idustry, and tech. That's why they lead at the beginning.

And the ba$****$ get no drones

Sure would be nice if they make a game where turning up the level turns up the AI, not just giving them more advantages.

[Flubber]

I generally trail the Ai in the early game by most powergraph measures. In fact it is part of the strategy. The AI is nicer to you when you are in the middle of the pack. I try to time a pop-boom with acquiring a bunch of techs-- trade, then steal then cash some AAs.

Before the AI is even aware I am a threat, my empire has probably doubled in size, I have gotten a tech lead to acquire some key SPs or weapons or facilities. Suddenly the AI may hate me but they will take a few turns to do something about it and if I have timed things right I will be the first to missiles and airpower by a wide margin so there is little they can do about it

[Frankychan]

Depending on the faction. Playing the Hive @ Thinker lever I usually trail only slightly until I am able to conquer another faction or make them submissive to me.

Other factions, I tend to trail far behind for almost the whole game.

On Transcend, I'm currently playing the Believers and I'm trailing a LOT! Usually with the Believers, I'll trail by a whole lot until I spam the AI with my hundreds of Laser/Impact Infantry and Probes.

I don't think I've ever been able to build no more than 2 Secret Projects as the Believers. (Thinker or Transcend levels)

[Snowflake]

Yea that's another thing too. By the time I get IA, at least three SPs are started by the AIs. I'm sure I can get one finished before all of them using the crawlers technique, but I really don't think I can steal all the other three currently ongoing ones before they finish them.

[Jamski]

My current Morgan game I have every SP available built except Planetary Datalinks and total PWNage of the AI, with more votes and bases than all the other factions put together, on Transcend, on a continent with no landmarks, without building a single offensive unit in 2180. The AI are so utterly utterly PWND that I feel I want to boast about it.

For that reason I made saves every few turns

My approach is simple. I'm playing like Kody, and spending 20-30 minutes on each turn. The game has now been running for 3 days and I don't see my lead getting any less. The powergraph climbs in a curve to nearly vertically. The AI were ahead in the first few turns but that didn't last long.

Ah, the power of CASH and early FM combined with crawler abuse, an über-ultra-tight ICS and all-specialist strategy.

The AI fears me

-Jam

[Snowflake]

But from ICS to all specialist there is a lag. After you have more bases then the first bero limit you'll start to have more drones. And you can't have a librarian before you have 5 pops. How do you get to the top early before you have multiple bases that are larger than five?

[Jamski]

Three words

RUSH BUYING STUFF.

The power of early FM is scary.

-Jam

[Santiago_Claus]

I always play Transcend level, Abundant lifeforms, and I usually play as Morgan.

I'm generally behind industrially until maybe 12 turns into IA.

I shoot ahead in energy reserves when I get "Green" -- sooner if I begin the game with Manifold Nexus. (It takes some time at 10% Planet rating to capture enough worms to make much money trolling fungus, but if you're lucky enough to start w/ MN you'll have a cottage planetpearl industry well before you ever go "Green".)

Technologically I will barely maintain parity using probes until EnvEco, after which the AI's terraforming skill gap leaves it hopelessly outclassed.

Militarily, Doctrine: Air Power is definitely the turning point, but some of my highest-scoring games came about as a result of early base captures and submissive pacts achieved in the "Rover Age". Every game I ever lost was also decided in that era.

I can't recall ever losing a game after D:AP, except once when I got it just as Santiago overran my last 2 bases, so I had pretty much already lost that game before D:AP came into the picture.

Since the uncertainty is pretty much gone at D:AP that would have to be the answer you're looking for, but if D:AP is a turning point, IA is an inflection point. In the Rover Age IA will save your life.

[Trithemius]

Originally posted by livid imp
Sure would be nice if they make a game where turning up the level turns up the AI, not just giving them more advantages.

And vastly harder to program, as I understand it.
(I'm not an artificial intelligence expert, but some of my best friends are... :P).

Giving the AI an advantage is a simple way of scaling the difficulty up, without needing to employ heaps of programmers all the damn time.

[Skanky Burns]

And requiring the end-user to have a Cray II supercomputer so the AI's turn only take hours to process rather than days or weeks.

[Trithemius]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
And requiring the end-user to have a Cray II supercomputer so the AI's turn only take hours to process rather than days or weeks.

It's that easy!