How does the AI die in sins of a solar empire?

[Maximilian]

Im playing on a huge map with 10 vicious AI's and the pink one has been tearing me apart from the start until i eventually managed to get the upper hand and take back a few of my planets. Now im attacking it and it turns out that its been defeated... how? Its still got planets, its got starbases and ships etc, can it just give up or what?

Also on an unrelated note can multicore support be patched into games? Ive overclocked my i7 since the game was starting to drag and it helped quite a bit but now its starting to drag again, AI must have boatloads of units i guess.

 

[Powermoloch]

I've yet to try vicious SINs is a great game, but it has no support for multicore

I play really really large maps, and it becomes a drag when there's 1000+ things going on hehe

 

[Maximilian]

Yeah this 5 star systems map is getting pretty slow.

Also how do i clear mines? Ive been playing like a noob and running my cap ships into them then fixing my ships... theres a better way to do this right?

 

[Nintendesert]

The scout ships I think should reveal the mines to allow you to destroy them.

 

[Merad]

Also on an unrelated note can multicore support be patched into games?

Is it possible? Sure. Worth it? Usually not. If significant threading support wasn't built into the engine from the start, then adding support is going to mean very major changes if not essentially writing a new engine. The only example I can think of where's it's been "patched" in is with Valve's Source engine.

 

[Nintendesert]

I can foresee them just working on Sins of a Solar Empire 2 and doing the work for multithreaded there. Sins is great and has received amazing support over the years but I wouldn't mind seeing them do some updating and expanding on it with a whole new game.

 

[Aluvus]

The AI will surrender if it thinks its situation is hopeless.

 

[Malak]

Are you sure you didn't have the option selected for losing when your capital is taken? There are other ways to beat an opponent aside from total annihilation.

 

[shortylickens]

I have seen more than a couple RTS's and TBS's that have limited span AI. If you play long enough the thing just quits. I've noticed it on Dawn of War, Age of Mythology, Supreme Commander, TA: Kingdoms, Heroes 2, Heroes 3, and many others.

Never noticed it in Sins before, or Gal Civ 2. Maybe its just you.

 

[Powermoloch]

kinda blows when AIs chose to "quit"

 

[Malak]

I have never seen an AI just quit randomly in any RTS.

 

[Nintendesert]

I have.

 

[Ross Ridge]

The AI will surrender if it thinks its situation is hopeless.

Yah, I've noticed this happening in pretty much every game of Sins of a Solar Empire I've played. Crush the enemy's fleet in a decisive battle and the AI will often give up then and there.

 

[Annisman*]

When you think about it, it is actually a great 'real-world' strategy to stop fighting after you fleet is crushed, I mean, at least it saves your populations from getting anhiliated.

 

[Exterous]

Yah, I've noticed this happening in pretty much every game of Sins of a Solar Empire I've played. Crush the enemy's fleet in a decisive battle and the AI will often give up then and there.

IIRC they did this to remove the tedium of chasing down every last little colony spread out all over the place - a task much lamented on the forums

 

[Maximilian]

IIRC they did this to remove the tedium of chasing down every last little colony spread out all over the place - a task much lamented on the forums

Ah right, yeah i vaguely remember that being an issue. Okay makes sense, pussified AI isnt so bad after all i guess.

 

[Gibsons]

IIRC they did this to remove the tedium of chasing down every last little colony spread out all over the place - a task much lamented on the forums

This is a problem in a number of games. Civ 4 comes to mind, you can control like 80% of the map, but you still have to crush the last few cities. Or win the space race.

 

[Maximilian]

Anyone know how to destroy your own mines? I can scuttle my structures but can i get rid of my own mines?

EDIT: Im a bonehead its the exact same tiny button at the bottom... doh.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

If you can play against the Vicious AI, it's time to log onto Ironclad Online and discover the real Sins game--playing against human opponents in online multiplayer. You'll find that human players are less predictable and often more challenging and that they don't do silly things (like commit suicide on your two Level 6 Marzas or on highly upgraded starbases). You'll also acquire a deeper understanding of Sins strategy and in 4v4's and 5v5's you'll get to deal with additional team-based strategy.

I started playing Sins PvP about two weeks after I purchased it in March 2008 and I've been playing it exclusively online ever since. I couldn't imagine having to play it against AIs. There's just no substitute for the fun, intensity, and challenge that comes from playing against real human opponents.

Note that it only takes about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours to play a Sins 5v5. How is that possible? Because the games are played with Quickstart on and all Fast or Faster speeds and in a 5v5 you really only have to defeat one opponent (and not 9). Also, once the outcome is clear the players on the losing team normally call it "gg" and quit so that a new game can be started rather than have the winning team go through the boring mop up motions.

So, if you have some cajones, come log onto Ironclad Online and take your Sins game to the next level. If you have the Diplomacy expansion (which is where the online multiplayer PvP community is) then the best times to play are on weekends and around 16:00 U.S. Eastern Time.

Also note that not everyone you'll meet online is a seasoned pro; there always seems to be a couple noobies around. Part of the fun of the game is watching yourself improve and taking pride in becoming a tougher opponent and a bigger and bigger pain-in-the-ass to play against.

 

[Nintendesert]

Did they ever fix the syncing problems? Me and my brother would play but the game's always started getting wonky and out of sync until we eventually couldn't finish a game.

 

[lupi]

as soon as they put the expansions on sale i'll pick them up and learn the game for multiplayer

 

[Maximilian]

Have they changed the pirates at all? I sent 40k to the pirates to go attack a planet i couldnt crack mainly due to lack of a fleet heh, starbases ftw! anyways to my surprise the pirates totally wiped out everything and now theres 80+ pirate ships just sort of lingering there which is fine, its what i paid for but some of them have 6000hp and do 100+ damage, what the hell?

I even upgraded my logistics thing and built 80 skarvos enforces and threw them in but they got owned. How can i kill these pirates?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Did they ever fix the syncing problems? Me and my brother would play but the game's always started getting wonky and out of sync until we eventually couldn't finish a game.

A lot of stuff has been fixed since the initial game's release. It's still possible to get a desync error but it doesn't happen very often. For the most part online play is pretty stable.

 

[Malak]

Yah, I've noticed this happening in pretty much every game of Sins of a Solar Empire I've played. Crush the enemy's fleet in a decisive battle and the AI will often give up then and there.

I never once saw this ever. It has to be a game setting.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I never once saw this ever. It has to be a game setting.

It's easy to miss. The AI's forces still respond normally when you enter their systems and attack. The AI just stops producing new units and doesn't move any existing ones. You can see that it's given up though if you see the cracked window on it's portrait.

It also might something that got added in a later patch, I only picked up the game and started playing a few months ago. I also don't have any of the expansions, so that might be a factor.