Has anyone else noticed this?

[Tepacana]

I've found that since the new update (1.5) AI borders are super patchy. The year is 2253 in one of my games and most AI have 1 colony and 1 frontier outpost. I' not sure if it's something to do with me setting aggression to "low" or not, but the AI doesn't seem to expand any more. Is there something in the new update I missed. I much preferred it where the galaxy was populated by empires with actual size to them.

Any suggestions as to what this might be?

 

[NothingToLose]

Could be that they were Early Space Age primitives that grew to being FTL Empires shortly before you met them. Could also be that the AI doesn't necessarily feel the same compulsion to expand as they did before. I know I usually ended up with a massive empire fairly quickly, but since Utopia I haven't expanded as much, even without trying to change the way I was playing.

 

[Tepacana]

Same actually, I wonder why that is. And no, I don't think they were pre-space age guys before I met them.

 

[Syr]

1.5 has a lot less pre-space-age.

In my game I had set AI aggression to the max, and they expanded normally, some a bit better than others (but I always play on aggressive so it might just be inherent to that setting)
One AI empire who later became one of my fed members that I had initially strangled to just a pair of systems, was particularly aggressive about seeking out every nook and cranny between everyone elses borders with a habitable planet or useful system that it could grab with a colony or outpost. I've been pretty impressed with the better expansion I saw in this galaxy vs. before 1.5

I've been considerably less impressed with the AI's capacity to get unity.

 

[The Founder]

I've found that since the new update (1.5) AI borders are super patchy. The year is 2253 in one of my games and most AI have 1 colony and 1 frontier outpost. I' not sure if it's something to do with me setting aggression to "low" or not, but the AI doesn't seem to expand any more. Is there something in the new update I missed. I much preferred it where the galaxy was populated by empires with actual size to them.

Any suggestions as to what this might be?

They still expand for me. Indeed for me they started expanding almost at the same time, about 20 years in. And then they expand massively, often 2-3 in short order.

However the AI will build a decent fleet first. The budged for Fleet seems to be pretty high.

 

[Tepacana]

So I think it is the AI agression setting being low then, judging by what Syr said.

 

[legionof1]

The galaxy is a bit more empty with the lack of near space-age primitives which gives the impression of poor expansion. Before i was encountering probably 10-15 additional species beyond the starting empires on default settings by 100th year. The vast majority would just get conquered and absorbed by warlike neighbors effectively granting free territory growth.

Another factor is the much curtailed border spread limiting rapid growth/growth options. With "galactic ambitions" tech planetary borders barely reach spaceport sensor range. You need both domination tradition 20% bonus and the outpost discounts in expansion to approximate pre banks territory spread. But that's 4 unity picks so there is some delay even for the optimal pathing. The lack of primitives also seems to impact the total habitable worlds negatively. Large portions of the galaxy simply have no potential for habitation without time consuming mega-structures.

 

[Tepacana]

So does that mean that the AI starting empires never really expand? they just absorbed the primitive empires without me seeing it? That seems lame that they never actually colonise new worlds themselves.

 

[Tepacana]

Can people send in pictures of their games with the settings they play on and the year. I'd like to compare them, if that's ok.

 

[CocoCincinnati]

I play on normal and the other empires I run into have been expanding pretty good, at least as good as they ever did. Although I play with fewer AI empires so there's usually plenty of space (ha). Pre-Banks I'd see empires that simply didn't expand much but it wasn't all of them. I just assumed there was some randomness to it and maybe government type had something to do with it too.....not all species are meant to, or even want to, span the galaxy.

 

[Notho]

42 years in. I finished the Cybrex chain and that 'tail' is a chain of three frontier outposts down to their ringworld. Wasn't letting the AI get it!

Not counting their home systems, Mandasura has eight systems, Raltek have five, Haspaly has six, and Lozavata have six. The Caloctora (the purple blob at the very top) have seven. Mandasura, Haspaly, and Calactora are all hegemonic Imperialists and seem to be expanding faster.

Settings.

 

[Tepacana]

just to be sure, the game starts at the year 2200 doesn't it?

 

[Angelic_Daemon]

I pretty much only play on 4 arms with 30 empires, the last game I played had four or five pretty space flight primitives spawn around me and I can get boxed in fairly easily, especially when I'm reading all the fancy new stuff while unpaused.

 

[The Founder]

just to be sure, the game starts at the year 2200 doesn't it?

Of course it would.

Around year 20, the colonisation starts. My udnerstanding is that the AI wil lfirst build a fleet and mining stations. Something that might not be such a bad idea for a start, upon closer inspection.
I personally always delayed extra-solar mining stations, to not trigger the pirates. But that might be gimping my Industry stronger then I expected.