General Observations of version 0.16

[azpops]

The changes to the AI have made it more formidable. The game versus the AI factions has become challenging. That being said, I usually get about 50 to 60 turns into the game and then quit in disgust. The AI versus the aliens has radically changed. To state it in one word, it cheats. I find myself building more and more combat units just to stay alive. I battle and battle against the hives to destroy them and try to spread cities. In my last two games I have sent out colonizers with 4 combat units to protect them. I build the city and within two turns the city has been destroyed by aliens. Then I see the AI factions sending out completely undefended colonizers putting down cities within two hexes of a hive and they grow and produce more units and colonizers while I'm still battling to keep alive with multiple combat units in my cities. In particular, the galeths and devourers simply don't attack an AI faction. I can be next to a completely undefended AI colonizer with my own colonizer and combat units to protect it and the aliens attack me and leave the undefended colonizer alone. By the time I am able to build my third city, the AI factions have 7 to 10 cities functioning and many of them are completely undefended while my defended cities are pulverized by multiple attacks by spitters, galeths and devourers. Mind you, this is on the medium level. When I try the hard level, it is even worse. I don't mind a challenge, but I would hope to at least have a chance!

Is the intended to cheat like this? I say cheat because I don't know what else to call it. The AI simply seems to ignore the AI factions and concentrate only on me. I have had instances where I have a combat unit on shore with an AI faction next to me on the sea in a transport and the aliens simply concentrate on me and leave the transport unit to go on its merry way.

Not sure what you changed with this version, but it is no longer fun to play.

[Wildfire]

Yeah, definitely something screwy with the Xeno AI. Have definitely seen this happen to me as well.

In addition the standard AI is significantly harder as well. Currently playing a random game, and am 146 turns in - Vermillion is somehow able to produce at least 10 - 15 troopers (some with sniper, some with flame, some with just lance rifles) and Avenger tanks in numbers along with Barracuda warships. She came past first time, says Hi in diplomacy, then next turn declares war and literally the next turn invades with over 40 units in total. Within 3 turns she's got at least that many units again coming on shore across my whole island.

I didn't think I was that far behind on production. To me, this seems to be way out of whack, in part due to the no penalty on city mass production. Now how many cities she's got, have no idea, but I had 4, and was going to start #5 and had been regularly producing colonizers myself. I think the AI seriously needs to be looked at for "cheating" where they don't need food / minerals to maintain their city strengths without starving or going so far into debt on unit maintenance where the player would have been out of the game had we done the same thing.

[void]

Hm, the alien attacks sound strange -- what I changed was that high and very high alien aggression is just considered normal alien aggression against AI factions since they had trouble otherwise. However, that was before the focus attack and defense improvements.

In general the AI only gets a morale boost, I guess it's just too high now with those improvements. I'll tone it down tomorrow.