Thread 2195626

I've got no idea what I'm doing wrong, it seems like the AI on impossible always has about 5 colonies by around turn 60-80 pre-warp, while I'm still building up my starting system.
Then when I try to rush, I'm massively behind on everything and can't keep the AI from shoving 2 battleships up my homeworld's ass with nothing to defend it.
Then, randomly, I'll get such a good starting set of systems that I can just sit on 3~, tech to doomstar mauler phase cloak time warping dick flatteners and just roll over everything.
Am I missing something?

Have you considered playing on an easier difficulty

>>2195672
Yes, and the AI just isn't competitive below impossible. At impossible, it's seemingly a coin toss.
Then again, maybe you're one of the rare experts on the game in which case I'd love to know what opening moves you make, and what your rough timings are for techs, construction, etc are in a regular game.

>>2195626 (OP)
install 1.50 patch
https://moo2mod.com/

>>2195695
I prefer to play vanilla, get a grasp on it, and then start modding unless a game has major issues running.

>>2195701
the difficulty is just buffs and debuffs, same as most strategy games. The never actually change the ai, just give it more or less resources

>>2195626 (OP)
What size map are you playing? For me, huge maps are easier on impossible.
Also, if you get a shitty starting system, restart and roll for a better one. You want to be in a corner of the map and have a couple of abundant planets with your gravity type. Rush to the limits of your borders, then back-fill. If you are claiming a system close to an AI, have the 480 cash to buy a missile base there immediately. Impossible AI knows your defense without scouting.

I can tell you the slam dunk strat that lets you outgrow the high difficulty advantages the opponents get, but it's pretty sketchy. Not quite a true exploit of a bug but more like leveraging something that was meant to be QoL into a big advantage.

>>2196284
*So it's that planets with small (ideally 1 unit) populations get huge population growth from building housing. If you have a system with 4-5 planets, basically no matter how shitty, you can build cheap colony bases on all of them to found pop 1 colonies that rush build an automated factory, then start creating population that you funnel back to the best planet in the system. This is much faster than natural growth and the AI doesn't know how to do it. It makes absolutely no sim sense but hey. Traits like tolerant and subterranean give you more pop cap to exploit it but it's good with any species.

>>2196396
Yea, that growth boost for housing on low-pop worlds is intended to reduce the massive lag afflicting fresh colonies. In practice, it can be exploited to pump up that Large Rich Ocean planet neighboring a bunch of Small Abundant Barren ones.

>>2196396
Won't those undefended, small planets become bait for every AI in range?
If I don't at least have a missile base, they will come for me. And even the missile base doesn't stop them, eventually. Having undefended planets in range of AIs invites wars with the wrong civs at the wrong times

>>2196582
I've only done it playing campaigns with tolerant create-a-races and they get so strong so fast the ai was never really a military threat at any stage of the game. You can also flexibly ship like 10 workers to the shit planet to build stuff for a turn or two as needed

It's been almost 30 years since I played that game. All I remember is that I would spam a ton of small naked ships with a single missile to kill the guardian of orion because it would one shot anything anyway.