this game is way too easy

[xXxBo$$Pr0xXx666]

FreeOrion_v0.4.5_2015-09-01.f203162

rarely does the computer provide a decent challenged for my fleet and even then it loses.

only time that happened was in my first playthrough. the AI had twice my fleet size, but just idled and did nothing.(I'm guessing it was a pacifist AI, but even so). so over 30 turns I managed to build much better ships and won that game.

it takes up to 10s for a turn when I'm at 300+, in a game with 80 star systems. would the AI fare better if there were a lot more systems? but it would be just more of the same for me though.

I really like this game, I want to keep playing, but atm I just stop after 100 turns at most, because by then it's obvious I've won.

overall the game seems balanced, each race feels unique, except for the boring humans.

any way to make all the AI's play Maniacal level? or maybe even make them ally each other.

[MatGB]

I take it you've actually had a sitrep saying you've won, defeated the Experimentor homeworld and everything? You've tried multiple different galaxy layout settings and had enough AIs so they're a threat throughout the game including the first 20 or so turns?

I look forward to your decent feedback with specific instances of things an individual AI is doing wrong or sub optimally so the AI team can take your constructive feedback on board.

[xXxBo$$Pr0xXx666]

"defeated the Experimentor homeworld and everything?" lol sorry, but no. I just alt+f4'd after finishing that ultimate research.

I play ring galaxy, 70 systems, 4 AI's. would more AI's make it harder? I think they'll just fight more and allow me to pick my fights, I figured with 4 they have enough room to expand.

which would be the hardest settings? I don't know if my computer can run bigger than 70 systems. the problem is the number of planets. I notice lag when I change focus.

I want to see the AI use more scouts so that after they find a planet to attack, they scout near systems in case they need to bring backup.

[coCoKNIght]

I find the game quite challenging, and with 0.4.5 I feel like it's gotten harder again. I play with max AI (19 I think) and 800 systems on irregular galaxy with low planet density. Maybe give it a shot? The game does start to get slow at turn 200+ though...

[MatGB]

Experimentors are basically the 'end of game monster' at the moment. The AI has got better over time and continues to do so, including diplomacy, alliances and similar is on the drawing board but I'm not going to even try to speak for the AI team as to when that might happen, it'll depend on workload and sorting other issues out. But Maniacal AIs refuse all peace offers, you can't have both

I tend to play on 250-350 systems, any number above 250 I have planets on Low as that reduces lag (also, having fewer ships in the air total improves things as well).

Lag on focus change is always an issue due to the way it's calculated if you have the sidepanel open. If, on the other hand, you change focus from the Objects menu there's no lag at all, generally.

Plus, Ring galaxy has the specific problem for the AI as a threat that once you've secured your immediate neighbourhood you only have two flanks and are basically secure.

Try playing Irregular or one of the Spiral shapes, layouts where you have to guard multiple flanks.

We're also trying to track the bigger lag problems in games after turn 300ish, but that's not easy to track down, partially as the more experienced you get at the game (and thus the better at testing), the quicker you tend to complete a layout, I normally have most of the map conquered by turn 200 on the biggest maps my system can handle, but I've been playing fairly intensively for a few years now.

Most AIs will be at the highest level, IIRC about 20% will be at the next lower level, but both Maniacal and Aggressive are both good challenges normally.

(oh, Experimentors rarely turn up on small galaxies due to their restrictions, you need fewer systems per empire and Low starlanes to see the big beasties)

[xXxBo$$Pr0xXx666]

I have 4GB of ram and it's at 3.8 when I'm playing.

I noticed the game lags up to 10s even after turn ends and the "end turn" button is black again. I moved the map view to the edge and that lag after is gone, but the turn still takes some 10s. I'm in a 75 system/ max AI game(I set it to 40, dunno how many they are).

the robotic shield interface seems kinda OP, expensive as it is.

even in a game with 80 systems and me owning all of them the turn still takes a lot. I'm no expert, but since it's just some number crunching why does it have to lag so much?

[MatGB]

Ah, yeah, you know in the game setup menu it advices a minimum and maximum number of systems per AI? Yeah, you don't want to have max AIs in a really small map and expect them to be able to handle it, as soon as one player (probably you) gets an advantage they'll be able to steamroller really easily. The game is balanced for the recommended settings, the AI is designed for the recommended settings, if you want to go outside them then you'll have issues.

Plus, 4GB is what I had on my old laptop and it struggled to do too much, as you'd expect. Each AI running takes up a chunk of RAM, reducing the numbers down to recommended levels should reduce the problems, currently they're never fully eliminated and have to have a process running constantly.

RIS is a bit OTT, I haven't got around to downpowering it when I did the other shields, but it was always overpriced and now it's ludicrously overpriced, that will be even moreso on Ring where you only need a small number of fleets.

Main cause of lag is the design philosophy of the game, most of the game 'content' is generated by content scripts stored in plain text and user editable, with a tiny amount of work you can learn to script and mod the game as you want, but the processing time to go through each of those scripts whenever they might be needed. Work is being done to identify easily fixed causes, improve rendering, etc but I suspect we'll always have some lag. But your generation setup is going to make it more noticeable.

[xXxBo$$Pr0xXx666]

ok, I'll go with the recommended settings, thank you so much for all the info