Economic and other AI in 3.2, field reports/discussion

[Call Me Vandal]

Footage of me playing against the 3.2 AI (real):

 

[pmchem]

one more report for tonight, a slight departure from my usual testing protocol using a galaxy entirely full of humanoid xenophile pacifists with the same traits/civics/origin/racial bonuses. but for one of them, things have gone wrong and it has bad and persistent food/CG shortages (despite never being at war and expanding normally, etc). only one of them is failing, very odd:

Stellaris - [3.2.2] [abcc] AI doing bad/odd economic things (7/x)

Description [3.2.2] [abcc] AI doing bad/odd economic things (7/x) Game Version 3.2.2 What version do you use? Steam What expansions do you have installed? Do you have mods enabled? No Please explain your issue is in as much...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[pmchem]

nice observational bug report from another player about AI empire ECU usage, here:

Stellaris - AI seems to have trouble managing ecumenopolises

Description AI doesn't really do anything with ecumenopolises Game Version Herbert v3.2.2 (abcc) What version do you use? Steam What expansions do you have installed? Synthetic Dawn, Utopia, Leviathans Story Pack, Apocalypse, Megacorp, Distant...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[pmchem]

a couple more interesting reports from other people:

Stellaris - AI "Fleets" moving needlessly between system and mega shipyard causing lag

Description AI "Fleets" moving needlessly between system and mega shipyard causing lag Game Version 3.2.2 (abcc) What version do you use? Steam What expansions do you have installed? Do you have mods enabled? No Please explain...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

Stellaris - Planet automation over-reacts to strat resource deficit (STILL!) [3.2.2, abcc]

Description Planet automation over-reacts to strat resource deficit (STILL!) [3.2.2, abcc] Game Version Herbert v3.2.2 (abcc) What version do you use? Steam What expansions do you have installed? Do you have mods enabled? No Please explain...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

it seems like sector AI could really benefit from other AI improvements being undertaken

 

[gamerk2]

From what I can see on my current playthrough:

The AI is a bit more competent. Still not *good* though. Through 2380 (Commodore difficulty) one AI has a higher economic score (Megacorp, go figure) and one actually has a higher Tech score (and I'm on repeatables, so that's actually impressive).

...But of course, everyone else is *significantly* worse off. And only one other Empire can field a 10k fleet. Keep in mind: 2380 on Commodore. No AI Battleships in sight, and the Khan is doing Khan things as a result. And I'm pretty confident I'll be soloing the Crisis, again.

Given my game in progress is an Ironman I can't dig too deep, though once it finishes up I will take a deep dive in what the AI is doing. But even if the Economic performance is better, it's not translating into Fleet Power. Which means beating the AI is still a cakewalk. [500k versus 10k is a bit of a mismatch]

EDIT

As an aside, I can't help but wonder if uncapping all districts would help the AI a bit. I know I've abandoned playthroughs in the past when I see I have no real capacity to improve Mineral production, for instance. I do feel we at least need dedicated buildings for increasing Mineral/Energy production, like we do with Hydroponic Farms. You don't *want* to build them, but they're there if you need the extra production.

 

[Franton]

2380 on Commodore. No AI Battleships

What settings are you using? In my game I've seen Cruisers starting at around 2250, and that from a neighbour which was rated below average on the victory list. (no detail information, I don't bother with espionage). My settings are default for the most part, except difficulty (GA), crisis strength (x10) mid game start (2225), and end game start (2250).

I deliberately keep most settings at default because I found the AI to be performing worse at any other setting.

I do feel we at least need dedicated buildings for increasing Mineral/Energy production

I know what you mean. In such cases I try building dedicated mining / energy habitats. But that's only a very expensive crutch. And I'm not aware the AI is capable of doing this, even though it tends to build a lot more habitats than me...

 

[gamerk2]

What settings are you using? In my game I've seen Cruisers starting at around 2250, and that from a neighbour which was rated below average on the victory list. (no detail information, I don't bother with espionage). My settings are default for the most part, except difficulty (GA), crisis strength (x10) mid game start (2225), and end game start (2250).

Commodore difficulty; mostly stock settings except more Gateways/Wormholes/Primitives, Huge Galaxy (so plenty of real-estate). Pushed mid-game/end-game crisis out 50 years to see if some extra time would help the AI, and buffed to 5x crisis strength (I'm mediocre LOL).

The AI isn't hurting for space or planets; they just refuse to build more than Corvettes/Destroyers and a handful of Cruisers. GA/Starnet shouldn't be required for the AI to build decent fleets.

I deliberately keep most settings at default because I found the AI to be performing worse at any other setting.

Which is a workaround, not a solution.

I know what you mean. In such cases I try building dedicated mining / energy habitats. But that's only a very expensive crutch. And I'm not aware the AI is capable of doing this, even though it tends to build a lot more habitats than me...

Did that last game; it works but relies on tech RNG. And most of us (including me) struggle with early game resource management and have to balance Habitat construction versus needs for fleet upgrades (especially once Battleships come up).

Frankly, I've long felt the entire economic system needs to be dumbed way down, for both ease of use for us non-Masters and for the sake of getting a decent AI. I'm not saying "go back to everything costing Minerals", but it certainly would address a whole bunch of issues...