12 replies to this topic

[Admiral Nelson]

Hey everyone.

 

I'm a huge fan of this mod, it has been a dream to see such an in-depth conversion for a great game that is based off of my favorite series.

I just recently updated from the 0.75 to 0.80, throughout the time I've been playing I have had an issue with keeping up with the AI's economy. At the 15 minute mark I noticed that the credits, as well as both other resources, in the "Gained from other sources" category have been astronomical. Only 15 minutes in 2 separate AIs have accumulated well over 60,000 credits in the category, while i remain at zero, this is an unbelievable boost to income that i can't compete with, and I haven't the slightest clue what they're doing to get such a boost. 

 

If anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated, this issue has made it impossible to keep up with the enemy early, mid and late game.

[Fleet Admiral agigabyte]

Essentially, the team had to do some major AI hackery to get it to work even remotely like it should, given the amount of hardcoding they worked around to get the game to be balanced in a way similar to Halo. A side-effect of this is that the AI can either be brain-dead with human levels of resources, or brain-dead with godlike resources so that it can actually do something. There's no real in-between.

[Admiral Nelson]

Given that I have zero understanding of the coding process, I really respect the amount of work this team has done to make the game as good as it is.

I guess if you want a game built exactly how you want it, you'll have to put up with a bug or two. Still a great mod in my book.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Lavo]

Basically we give the AI free resources as it wastes them like a gambler spends money at a casino.

[SternuS]

Given that I have zero understanding of the coding process, I really respect the amount of work this team has done to make the game as good as it is.

I guess if you want a game built exactly how you want it, you'll have to put up with a bug or two. Still a great mod in my book.

 

Thanks for the info.

Sadly during playtest we occasionally found the AI to be completely idle even after this patch (although it is very rare compared to before). Hardcoding and the generally dumb AI in Sins provide for a hell of a work from the coders to get things right.

[Admiral Nelson]

Well, with that being said what's the best way to counter it? Obviously I'm not talking about completely beating it, that would destroy the purpose of it, just a way to match ship production, or close.

[SternuS]

Well, with that being said what's the best way to counter it? Obviously I'm not talking about completely beating it, that would destroy the purpose of it, just a way to match ship production, or close.

 

It depends on many things. Generally, you want to be as fast as possible. Building SMAC walls isn't the solution, as if the AI is aggressive enough, it'll attack you before you'll be able to build them.

 

You need to balance the resources you spend on colonizing planets and building ships. This differs from UNSC to Covenant, with the UNSC needing more planets to be able to sustain the factories. Generally for the UNSC, build a good fleet early on while not spending too much money on colonization, then get Anchor stations online ASAP. Keep replenishing your fleets, and build capitals. Lots of them. Then you can think at placing SMACs down.

For the Covenant, the balance stays true, but sadly they don't have Anchors to build, and the Haven is more like a combat station. Just build ORS and get some rushes in there. Spend a lot in the military section, and get the CCS ASAP. Then start placing Havens in your outer colonies and beware SMACs.

 

Btw, are you TybrosionMohito on /r/SinsoftheProphets? Because there's a thread there very similar to this.

[Admiral Nelson]

I typically play UNSC and I find it amazing how true it stays to the lore, that constant feeling of being outgunned, fighting to avoid being wiped out. Even playing against the AI, it has offered a truly incredible experience, be it storming with a covenant armada against a stubborn human fleet, or fighting for your life against an alien race. 

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Keep up the great work, this game is the incarnation of my greatest gaming dreams since first stepping out of the cryo-tubes on the Pillar of Autumn. This series holds a special place in my heart and with SoTP it's only getting better.

[Idio]

If we removed the AI buffs, the AI would suffer immensely. They would be increasingly lethargic in the early game, and would lose their edge on all difficulties, making it too easy to counter AI actions. The only way to diffuse that issue is by making them cheat a little bit (Alright, maybe is not that little, but we could have done worse) so that they would build fleets/structure/research, etc.

 

In a perfect world, the AI would just be smart, and kick your ass with pure skillz, but sadly this is Sins, an imperfect world, with a rather terrible AI for what we're having them do in our mod; which is a pace of combat that the AI just doesn't understand.

[Crisiss]

It depends on many things. Generally, you want to be as fast as possible. Building SMAC walls isn't the solution, as if the AI is aggressive enough, it'll attack you before you'll be able to build them.

If instantly raising SMAC walls isn't a part of your opener you're a noob.

[SternuS]

If instantly raising SMAC walls isn't a part of your opener you're a noob.

It may be a good tactic, but as I said, generally speaking, it is not. Not For a new player.
You are good at it (I assume so at least, i've never played against you) because you are fast in the basic actions of the game, Like setting up research stations and whatelse.
A new player isn't as fast as an Advanced player. He or she needs to learn to start to play the game before applying Advanced tactics.
A good game designer tries to give to every player the same tools to start with; it is then up to the player to play the game how he or she wants, developing new tactics, etc. Etc.

[Whitehalomango]

And then there's me, who just rides on luck, hoping that nobody attacks me while I spend the first hour or so hoarding and amassing the biggest economy the galaxy has ever seen without bothering to build any semblance of an army...

[Crisiss]

It may be a good tactic, but as I said, generally speaking, it is not. Not For a new player.
You are good at it (I assume so at least, i've never played against you) because you are fast in the basic actions of the game, Like setting up research stations and whatelse.
A new player isn't as fast as an Advanced player. He or she needs to learn to start to play the game before applying Advanced tactics.
A good game designer tries to give to every player the same tools to start with; it is then up to the player to play the game how he or she wants, developing new tactics, etc. Etc.

I'm joking. That's a massive waste of resources.

Early game should be expansion and your economic foundation. Small skirmishes are prevalent here and are where the Covenant will kill you so stay on the defensive. After that, just define your war-front and hold the line.