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Paranoia
If you think everyone is out to get you, you are paranoid. But if everyone really is out to get you then you are just being realistic. 
In my very first game I became paranoid that the AI was cheating and was seeing my units hidden in the fungus even though they were not supposed to do so. Later I learned that the AI's omniscience of unit placement was a recognized fact of the game.
Part way through a particularly great game I got a asteroid hit on my HQ wiping out both the HGP and the VW and causing virtually every base to go into drone riots. Later I found out that yes, if you are number one on the might chart all sorts of nasty random events hit you.
There are some other cases where I think the AI is 'cheating' but I am not sure, it may just be paranoia on my part. So do the following cheats happen or am I just imagining it? Could I be guilty of remembering the times a negative event happens and forgetting the times when it doesn't?
1. AI invasions target underdefended bases even when they do not have infiltrator status. Same with native life attacks.
2. AI targets Elite or Demon Boil units even though in many cases it should not know where they are. Often I lose them in the very same battle that they get their final upgrade for the bonus movement point.
3. If I start building an SP it seems that the AI will suddenly try to build the same SP. I now switch SPs part way through to 'confuse' the AI.
4. Battles with odds significantly in the human's favour almost always win. But somehow it seems the more crucial the battle the less likely that this holds true.
5. Even when the AI factions do not have infiltrator status it seems that one of their harrassing units will suddenly move away if I have almost built a unit that can kill it.
6. (And I know this one sounds particularly paranoid!) The chances of SMACX crashing seem directly proportional to how well I am doing. I have never seen it crash in games where I am doing poorly.
7. As you all know, pod-popping an IoD causes your transport (or other unit) to lose a movement point. If you pop a pod with 1 or 0 movement points left it seems you are far more likely to get an IoD. OTOH if you have 2 or more left and can escape if you were to get an IoD, you have less chance of getting one.
In my very first game I became paranoid that the AI was cheating and was seeing my units hidden in the fungus even though they were not supposed to do so. Later I learned that the AI's omniscience of unit placement was a recognized fact of the game.
Part way through a particularly great game I got a asteroid hit on my HQ wiping out both the HGP and the VW and causing virtually every base to go into drone riots. Later I found out that yes, if you are number one on the might chart all sorts of nasty random events hit you.
There are some other cases where I think the AI is 'cheating' but I am not sure, it may just be paranoia on my part. So do the following cheats happen or am I just imagining it? Could I be guilty of remembering the times a negative event happens and forgetting the times when it doesn't?
1. AI invasions target underdefended bases even when they do not have infiltrator status. Same with native life attacks.
2. AI targets Elite or Demon Boil units even though in many cases it should not know where they are. Often I lose them in the very same battle that they get their final upgrade for the bonus movement point.
3. If I start building an SP it seems that the AI will suddenly try to build the same SP. I now switch SPs part way through to 'confuse' the AI.
4. Battles with odds significantly in the human's favour almost always win. But somehow it seems the more crucial the battle the less likely that this holds true.
5. Even when the AI factions do not have infiltrator status it seems that one of their harrassing units will suddenly move away if I have almost built a unit that can kill it.
6. (And I know this one sounds particularly paranoid!) The chances of SMACX crashing seem directly proportional to how well I am doing. I have never seen it crash in games where I am doing poorly.
7. As you all know, pod-popping an IoD causes your transport (or other unit) to lose a movement point. If you pop a pod with 1 or 0 movement points left it seems you are far more likely to get an IoD. OTOH if you have 2 or more left and can escape if you were to get an IoD, you have less chance of getting one.
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