difficulty level

[Korut Zelva]

Does the various diffulty level raise the AI competence? Or it only affects MPP plunder and such?

[J P Wagner]

One aspect of the difficulty levels is that it raises the AI units experience levels so they will have an advantage during combat resolutions.....as far as making the AI smarter, and perform actions that it wouldn't do at lower levels...no

[Korut Zelva]

That's what I thought but since experience was tweakable appart from difficulty level I figured that maybe it did something else exept the MPP plunder thing. =|

[Edwin P.]

At higher AI difficulty levels the "AXIS" AI may attack Spain and Vichy France.

[ October 26, 2003, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[J P Wagner]

Originally posted by Edwin P.:

At higher AI difficulty levels the AI may attack Spain and Vichy France.

Really?...of all the games I have played at the higher levels, I never seen that...are there certain parameters that must be met, for example are they attacking a neutral Spain?....I can't recall how many times I left Italy dangerously lightly defended without the Allied AI even sniffing at it...yet they will attack Vichy and Spain...interesting...guess I'll continue to play and see what happens...

[Bullwinkle]

When I play the Axis AI at +2 it sometimes attacks Denmark but always attacks Hungary and Russia. The attack on Hungary stymies the Yugoslavian revolt as well as the Rumanian & Bulgarian allegencies to Germany and at the same time limits the front line in Russia, making it easier to defend.

I have not seen the Axis AI attack anyone else when at +2.

[Edwin P.]

Hopefully, in SC2 the difficulty level will have more of an impact on the AI in terms of tactics and strategy.

Perhaps;

Axis AI Attacks Norway and Sweden

Beginner 0%, Intermediate 25%, Expert 80%.

Axis AI Attacks Denmark on Turn One

Beginner 0%, Intermediate 25%, Expert 80%.

Allied AI Attacks Ireland (Before/After US Entry)

Beginner 0%, Intermediate 25%, Expert 80%.

Allies move Carrier near Egypt to Atlantic

Beginner 0%, Intermediate 25%, Expert 80%

[ October 30, 2003, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Wachtmeister]

At +2 AI difficulty, I have experienced fairly consistent Axis attacks on Vichy and Spain,if the Allies take, or at least attack, either Tobruk, or Iraq, while France is still Allied.

Also, I noted one instance where an early attack on Iraq did not decrease USA war readiness - USA was at 0 and remained at 0.

All of these Axis attacks occurred while playing one of the mods(e.g. Bill Macon's or Jersey John's)that place additional starting UK forces in the Med,so that Tobruk and/or Iraq can be attacked much earlier with a good chance of success.

[jon_j_rambo]

The A.I. doesn't count. Try Rambo mode.

"Little less conversation, little more action"

[ October 30, 2003, 12:09 AM: Message edited by: jon_j_rambo ]

[Les the Sarge 9-1]

I have seen the AI do things I thought were fairly good, I played a game as allies this week the 39 campaign.

The Germans thought to place air armour and some infantry in Italy and attack through the often less well defended south.

It was not so eficient, but then some of my attacks have been "not so efficient" too hehe.

And this was on beginner setting, so even on easy mode, the AI will at least make basic moves that can be said to be useful enough.

[BRO, JD]

What difficulty levels would you recommend to make things even in a PBEM game against a novice (about a half-dozen SC games) and a complete beginner?

[Shaka of Carthage]

BRO, JD

You can't set difficulty levels when playing against another person.

Trying to handicap the experience levels between different player skills is one of the reasons the bidding system started.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Simply play whomever you can find, no matter thier experience. You'll learn things playing the more experienced players that you don't see against the newbie ones. Consider it a "rite of passage".

[Nero's Cat]

Originally posted by Bullwinkle:

When I play the Axis AI at +2 it sometimes attacks Denmark but always attacks Hungary and Russia. The attack on Hungary stymies the Yugoslavian revolt as well as the Rumanian & Bulgarian allegencies to Germany and at the same time limits the front line in Russia, making it easier to defend.

I have not seen the Axis AI attack anyone else when at +2.

So does that mean that attacking Hungary as Axis is always (or nearly always) a good idea rather than let the 3 Baltic countries join you later?

[santabear]

I think this is implied in some other posts, but maybe it will help to explicitly state things. Here is what I've found after playing against AI for about a year:

Increasing the "difficulty level" from Novice to Beginner to Expert, etc. affects the percentage chance that certain events will happen. I.E. Russian readiness increases faster, it's easier to trigger unexpected attacks, Siberian reinforcements arrive later and in smaller numbers, etc. This setting also reduces the amount of plunder when new countries are conquered AND it significantly reduces the amount of "MPP income" received every turn.

Increasing the "experience bonus" from +0 to +1 to +2 directly adds experience ribbons to AI units with the documented (player manual) effects on combat.

These two settings are INDEPENDENT--you can play at EXPERT +0, for example; or at BEGINNER +2 if you like.

In general, increasing the experience bonus requires the human to be a better military commander--maintainence of the objective; concentration of forces, etc. become crucial, and mistakes are punished severely. Increasing the difficulty level challenges strategic thinking--you have to use MPPs very wisely.

Playing at high levels of difficulty and experience makes for very long games--you don't have the MPPs or the combat power to win quickly. If you like high levels of difficulty, play as Allies, of course, since the "hang on and wait" strategy works as Allies. If you play as Axis, you're likely to lose eventually no matter how skilled you are. Fun games are to play later scenarios as Allies, with high difficulty and experience levels AND try to win the war by May, 1945. It's a challenge, but do-able.

AI is methodical, not creative. But he WILL methodically destroy you if you aren't very aware of what you're doing. Think of AI as Montgomery, not Manstein.