Interesting AI activity

[Elucidus]

The AI built a city on their side of a land bridge (I'm on the other). It is about a screen away from the rest of its cities. I think it did that to keep me out of their side. That is pretty intelligent of an AI, I mean I did it too, but I have a brain...usually.

Also I beath the aztecs down to three cities out of six. I went to them and asked them for everything they could give me. 37 Gold, Their Maps, And their only remaining Cities. THEY ACCEPTED! That was awfully freaky. I've never seen the AI every give away a city.

[Easy Rhino]

Re: Interesting AI activity

Originally posted by Elucidus
The AI built a city on their side of a land bridge (I'm on the other). It is about a screen away from the rest of its cities. I think it did that to keep me out of their side. That is pretty intelligent of an AI, I mean I did it too, but I have a brain...usually.

hate to be a downer, but I think the AI put a city there... BECAUSE IT PUTS CITIES EVERYWHERE!!!


ER

[dexters]

Well, we can bicker over this until the cows come home but we'll never know if its intelligent behavior or just fluke. Unless we get Soren to actually comment on this. He may infact have programmed the bahavior, or at least the subsystem to the behavior causing it to happen.

Yes, the AI builds cities everywhere, but contrary to my initial impression, they stop building just like us when corruption starts hurting them. I'm playing the game where I share a super large continent with another Civ. I was at the far bottom and the other civ was at the top. While they have expanded with time, its been very slow. There is still a vast open area between the two of our civs and its already 1984.

[Wrong_shui]

I think easy rhino is right, the computer builds anywhere.

[Grim Legacy]

Whaa??? Slow expansion of the AI? Are you playing Civ3?

Hehe, maybe it depends on land mass. While I play large maps only, I don't choose huge land masses, but prefer smaller or medium terrain.

[HugoHillbilly]

If you want to see the AI NOT expand after a certain point, play on Ring World (made by one of Civ3's programmers). Yes, at first all the civs will expand like hell to fill the world, even on the 3 square tudra islands (some have fur so they're not totally useless).

But due to clever negotiations with help from other civs I wiped out the Chinese above me and the Japanes beside me (I was in a corner of the ring).

This was in the middle ages, it is now modern and the civs havent filled the gaps left by these two civs. This is amazing becuase I just plop down two marginot-type lines of fortresses on my borders, plus any potential enemies have to send their armies through wild areas, where barbarians are now popping up like crazy again. Very sweet and interesting.

I love this game!

[Elucidus]

I know they build everywhere, but they haven't begun to build near me. And since then, that is the only city built near me. Of course, it still could be a fluke.

[TheDarkside]

Theres no doubt the AI expansion is much improved... but sometimes it's just not fair. They really single you out in their crosshairs. I notice that I am the only civ they like to target with their "border pocket" cities... which are cities they build within small pockets of space of my border. And they also do a clever human trick which is to expand towards another civ.. like my strategy is to colonize the good land closest to other civs first, before colonizng the more remote areas where I would see their settlers passing my outpost cities to get to these areas. The AI does this too, but not to eachother! Just to me! Case in point, my last game I started I had enlish to my left and aztecs to my right. There was lots of room to grow for all of us. I discovered the Aztecs first so I expanded aggresively towards them, and they were returning the favor. Then I discovered English who were already colonziing close to my capitol in a similar strategy since I didnt notice them to counter this. But as I explore further, I find incredibly lush land just ot he right of the Aztecs (opposite the direction I am in) yet the Egyptians and russians are closeby! The Aztecs prefered to colonize the land closer to me which bears no resources and relatively poor soil, just to box me in, while just to his right is land with rivers, spices, gold and grasslands. He chose to secure the land close to me instead of securing that lush fronteir which is now up for grabs by 2 other civs. And speaking of the russians, they colonzied this long column of cities which extend all the way to me... bastards! The AI is definately evry aggresive, I just wish it were a little more aggresive to eachother too.

[Pyrodrew]

Originally posted by TheDarkside
And they also do a clever human trick which is to expand towards another civ.. like my strategy is to colonize the good land closest to other civs first, before colonizng the more remote areas where I would see their settlers passing my outpost cities to get to these areas. The AI does this too, but not to eachother! Just to me!

Soren has already said the AI cannot tell human players & computer players apart. Although I REALLY think they should be able to for Emperor & Deity levels (you treat human players as bigger threats, so a smart AI should do the same... otherwise they're not as smart).

I also have a current game where the AI Germans have built a pocket city in the AI Egyptian's land & the AI Russians have built a pocket city in the AI Greek's land.

[Sevorak]

They just build.

After conquering my continent, I built up a ridiculously powerful modern force, surrounded the Zulus (who were on a large island supporting about nine cities), and took them out in a few turns, seizing most cities and razing Zimbabwe which was in the middle. Suddenly, Iroquois, Aztec, and American Galleons appear and each offload a rifleman and a settler, which RACE for the empty spot in the middle.

This isle is just offshore of my continent and close enough to my Forbidden Palace that my captured cities are only suffering 60% corruption (hey, that's not too bad for a giant empire). By contrast, the three civs racing for the middle are halfway around the globe, they'll never ever have more than 1/1 corruption there. They wanted it anyway.

As for AI giving up cities, there seem to be some hidden conditions whereby if you beat them down hard enough, they'll give you anything to make peace. This means that to kill a civ, you don't really ever need to go for their little peripheral cities. In the same game, the Persians had blindly popped down cities all around my continent in little spots, wherever wasn't in my borders. Plus, they had some on little 1-2 space tundra islands near the North Pole. I simply carted my modern military over to their main large isle (quite similar to the Zulu isle, about nine to ten cities), razed Persepolis and seized everywhere else. When their capital was reduced to a city I had surrounded with tanks, Gordium, I contacted them and offered them peace in exchange for every city that wasn't Gordium. They agreed, then demanded I leave their territory. I redeclared war and seized Gordium. Much easier than having to ship marines all over the map taking little Persian cities spread all about the globe.

-Sev

[dexters]

I think they build where there are borders. if its an open expanse, they are less likely to go for it.

Its likely an AI logic bug that will be fixed, or at least that's the impression I got when Soren responded to complaints of AI aggressively building cities near our borders, including on open regions withion our borders.

Again, because the AI doesn't know who is human and who is the rest of the AI, it plays just as aggressively against other AI civs against you. Hence, when you had that open spot in the middle of the island, the AI immediately wanted to build a city there.

I will hopefully be fixed such that the AI doesn't go for cities like that.

[TheDarkside]

Yeah, those settlers coming out of the woodwork to newly freed territory is funny to watch, but even funnier is making a privateer and sail it to some distant polar ice cap. Sit back and watch every AI naval unit in existence alter course directly for your privateer In an attempt to make subs more useful i have them "hidden nationality" just like privateers, unfortunately the submarine stealth feature dosent work, as similarily to the privateer, every AI naval unit will head straight for my sub as soon as it leaves port.