I think I may have missed something I was really interested in, the Steam chat about the AI, but I'll ask my questions anyway.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the game is war itself, designing your own ships and making changes to the weapons and defensive tech placed on your ships can make the difference between dominating the enemy or a long drawn out sluggfest, I prefer to counter the AI payload with as an example point defense on my ships if the enemy is using Missle attacks, and the use of Beam weapons to counter that tech.
What I miss is your ability to actually "See" the enemy when he's in your territory, I can have my area of effect completely covered with Starbases, yet they can sit right next to you and not be seen until they move, makes me nuts at times, you should be able to set up a surveillance net and see what's going on, the AI can certainly see everything.
The big issue I have is the frustration of not being able to set an offensive or defensive mode for my ships, the AI certainly has that capability, but ships are USELESS unless I give a direct order to attack, and god forbid that you have to complete a turn....you order attack.....the enemy moves one space and your ships sit there deaf dumb and blind....there is NO PLAYER AI for your ships, trying to War at this point is an excercise in frustration, your ships should be able to see the enemy and attack or defend thier territory, adding the weight of sensors to your ships is pointless other than from a "Moves available" point, they can see an enemy fleet but have no ability to do anything with the information, I have been so frustrated at times that I have thrown away a great game that I have 40 hours in because the ability to manage a war was useless.....that just turned enjoyable to throw this away and start over, not much of an incentive to keep playing a game if only half the game works.
That's my biggest gripe at this point, I keep asking myself why I keep starting games, I personally hate Online Gaming, I gave it up years ago because of the nonsense that starts after a while, unless I'm playing against a friend I know, I just don't do it anymore, I have better things to do with my time, it usually boils down to who can rush the quickest, I can't think of anything in gaming that's less enjoyable anymore....been there and done that, pointless and not what I find fun anymore.
A game with a good AI that "Thinks" is a lot more fun than a human with one pointless objective, end the game.
I've been building my own custom gaming systems since 1992, so I'm no dummy when it comes to gaming, I'm personally good at making battle maps that use AI and have won awards from gaming companies in the past, 1st place from EA games for the Command and Conquer Generals series, Zero Hour.
Just before Stormregion the developer was bought, I got to be good friends with the producer and we swapped ideas, I would turn out maps that were made for the Code Name Panzers Series I and II games, the producer enjoyed my mission maps because of the complexity of the scripts I wrote for the AI and the detail I put into the terrain and locations in my maps, I was offered a job by them to work on the Code Name Panzers III game that was just starting development at the time, then they were sold and the new developer destroyed the game by releasing their "own" version.....a total and complete flop, they broke the magic of the original game....turned out a total loser....a mistake I have seen repeated over and over by gaming companies, they break what works.
If it wasn't for the reputation you guy's have for "Sticking with it", I would never have purchased this version of the game, so far I love it, amazing in a lot of ways...but the main reason for buying the game is BROKEN right now....in fact it's not broken...it's missing.
PLEASE give me a battle AI....I'm pleading with you.
I'm sure you'll enrich the other aspects of the game, so I'm not worried about that part, that part of the game is working well enough for now, but that's where my fun stops.
I have yet to complete a game that I have over 100 hours invested in, all because I just stop playing after a while, it stops being fun to play past the Ascension Phase of the game, and that's where it should be cranking up the fun for the time I have invested.
Please give me a reason to keep playing, Galactic Civ 1 and II are still a blast, so far Civ III is amazing, but it's turning into a "Why Play" this game for me, a time burner that brings no satisfaction for the time invested....I'm past the point of this is fun now.
Please save it for me if you can, without a Battle AI for my ships...there's no point in playing anymore.
Thanks for what will be an amazing game, I hope.
Gonzoguns
