Anyone notice AI units disappearing in 1.1.7?

[Dr. Foo]

I'm using the beta and I noticed that AI units will just absorbed into the ground. Is this a bug or is the AI disbanding units in the field while we are at war? There was no combat, they were not killed. It's like they are in an elevator and just go straight into the ground. It's strange.

[SephiRok]

Underground elevator!

[jdmillard]

Maybe each patch is like the next episode. And the Pandora is just a planetary version of LOST. Pretty soon we'll be shooting polar bears and traveling through time. Sweet.

[Dr. Foo]

Underground elevator!

So am I the only one seeing this or did you add underground elevators. I didn't see it in the change log. What could be happening?

[void]

My guess is that the AI ran out of cash and a forced disband took place (that means a random unit is disbanded, and you get the credits regardless of it not being disbanded in your own territories).

However, if you per chance got a save file I'll gladly check it out!

[jdmillard]

I saw this happen yesterday. The AI lost a colonizer into some quicksand, then the aliens infested it and made and alien city.

Should units be lost right away if there isn't enough upkeep? Let's say that a faction is a few credits short of paying all the upkeep for the units. The money should pay for the highest power units first, then any units whose upkeep was not paid should take damage without the ability to heal until their upkeep is paid. This way if there is a serious money issue, units will die in a few turns, but if it is just a 1-turn issue, it won't disrupt the military more than a bit of damage. If a player knows that there is a money issue and knows some units will die in a few turns, he/she may decide to manually disband one of the units and use the money for whatever.

[BlueTemplar]

Yeah, and players will then exploit this feature to get free money out of healing?

[jdmillard]

Yeah, and players will then exploit this feature to get free money out of healing?

I thought about that too. I just figured that if someone really wanted to try to exploit it, they'll waste a lot of time manipulating their income.