(Workaround)The HARD AI is way too easy on small/meduim maps

play a 2v1 game

For the time being, try taking on more than one (even harder if you lock them onto the same team).

A simple way to make it harder would be to give the AI more ressources, cheaper techs, ships and structures.... simply let it cheat.

The irony is many new players find the hard AI very hard to beat. You obviously understand the AI better. IC says they will be constantly working on the AI so be careful what you ask for...you just might get it

I also find the AI easy, then again I was a beta tester.

If you find teh AI easy, then you will do FINE online.

Wow, great response. OK, I will play 2v1 for now, that sounds like a good challenge.

I'm hoping they make the AI tear-your-hair out impossible, without making it cheat. I love that sort of AI. It's fun to grab some friends together and say "Lets fight tooth and nail to survive!"

Me too. I hope they make the Hard AI tougher in coming patches by refining the computers strategy / tatics, and not just making cheating AIs(yes I know they are thinking about adding cheating AIs too). Iirc someone from IC or SD said they planned to see what strategies players used and then incorperatting them into the AI, which I sincerly hope they do. Fighting an AI that just is tough because of a cheat factor just doesn't do it for me.

I thought the a.i. was a placeholder (aka stupid) in beta.

It was, but experience with the game is experience.

How is that ironic?

Because if you read though the boards you will see tons of complaints from new players that the AI is too hard. While the beta players, and veteran RTS players think the AI is a total pushover.

I actually found AI is much more competent that it was in beta (though I didn't play beta past stage 2 or 3 ) . In fact I got my ass handed to me first 6 times.

In my last game ,though, I was able to hold and inch by inch crawl to dominance - it was very slow with systems changing hands multiple times and I am defending most of the time. I try to expand very fast in the beginning and I grabbed around 9 systems in the beginning. Lost all but three shortly after

It was all pretty entertaining up until some point where I assembled a critical mass of the fleet and research. Then I just started steam rolling and basically the rest of the game was so boring and bland that I quit it.- AI seemed getting dumber and dumber and stopped assembling adequate fleets ( my fleets grew in power while his stayed essentially the same) so I was basically taking most of the systems without much of a contest. The most annoying thing was the enemy "influence" -which prevented me take over worlds and I just had to sit and wait till it dissipates.



Pretty sad because it was so interesting in the beginning

Yeah, I would really go for a AI that is almost impossible, without making it cheat, just for the fun of stopping and breaking an impossible force (sort of like many insane comps on DOW - if any know that game, tho the AI cheated on that...)

I havnt been challanged much on this game, the AI was extremely dull on large games, which I simply quit, and in smaller games the AI was fustrating, not in the way that it was hard, but tottaly stupid. I was not a beta tester or any way a veteren RTS player but I still found the hard AI a total pushover, even in my first or second games. I would certainly like a 'smarter' AI to test my tactics on, and one that may even push me back to a desperate defense of my homeworld, or even take my homeworld outright and force me into defending a few seperate colonies, THAT would be fun.  

From the days of Starcraft i knew people that could beat 7 or more Hrd AI's and I had trouble with one. but Online I always had the upper hand. I always sucked vs AI but I always have some unique/evil/sneaky strategies when playing people. They say It's like im engaged in mental warfare against them. They keep feeling like they need to take a shit.

So just because some suck vs the AI.. they might be pretty good vs human players.

Dammit.. I need to get my bloody connection sorted. It took me 3 days to download sins.

Same for FPS games.

I start to think it is possible to make the game really hard, in fact I wasnt able to advance so far - 4 and more player game and make all AI same team with locked option.