Subscribe to download
Improved AI

2.1.1:

- Minor changes in AI personalities.
- Minor changes in AI evaluation of certain accessories.
- Difficulty handicap for holy resource (Vaulters/Mezari) didn't apply to Fortresses.
- Fix of unit design for all guardians.
- Added missing Scyther unit design weights.

The mod improves AI gameplay. Covering some weaknesses in Army composition, technology progression, city building and unit equipment.
AI will be more competitive especially on higher difficulties and endgame victory progression.

What the mod does not do:

- Doesn't change any gameplay mechanic, is all about AI evaluations and choices. Doesn't give AI any extra bonuses (aside from some bugfixes). Doesn't make AI smarter in combat.

Bug Fixes:

- Food bonus and Building upkeep difficulty handicaps are applied properly.
- Fix on Vaulters holy resource negating difficulty bonuses for strategic resources.
- Workaround to avoid AI sometimes not producing anything in cities due to trying to make a District extension without the population requisites.
- Several evaluation bug fixes: Wrong exorbitant values for Statistical Methods, Spy Defense Related and some Era 5 buildings, wrong strategics on borer's guild.

Technology Progression:

- AI will research more faction specific units, focusing on unit diversity. Higher priority if AI doesn't have that unit type, also melee vs ranged distribution. AI will avoid researching every single guardian.
- Extremely improved AI evaluation for techs, more sensible on benefits for FIDSI techs, and key buildings for FIDSI development as they progress in new Eras.
- AI will not research useless techs, or techs that have a similar version in a previous era (like the 25% better expansion approval, or the assimilation tech).
- Some great faction unique techs are strongly desired now for the AI. They usually skip most of these techs.
- AI will skip Era VI techs from 45 (Era VI unlocked) to 48. AI will focus properly on victory techs after that point.

City building/Build order:

- AI won't research units compulsively on higher difficulties, at the cost of nearly ignoring many buildings after some basic ones. (hugely refined in 2.0, found the key parameters to do so).
- AI at war will build non-war stuff a bit more often, especially resource extractors.
- Hero interest will properly scale with difficulty. (before 2.0 was a plain 20% more interest in all difficulties).
- One per empire buildings will now be placed on better-suited cities.

Diplomacy:

- AI will get a bit less angry from pearl steal, combats in cold war, common frontiers (unless landlocked).
- Reworked Truce so AI will be more communicative if a war ends up stagnant for a prolonged time.
- Toned down AI really huge diplomacy penalties when an enemy city got besieged at any time or just any unique sea facility possession.

Unit equipment:

- AI will upgrade their unit designs a bit more often.
- AI will equip much better accessories on units (mostly rings), and will use the iron talisman (with movement boost) on sometimes on units and most of the time on settlers.
- AI will equip hero specific insignias and tomes properly.
- Guardians will equip better gear, free counter accessory and the initiative decrease on enemy units at melee range were largely ignored.
- Fixed AI equipment for Morwawr units: didn't have one and got the default, so the settler was constantly upgraded even with strategics.

Other:
- AI will be strongly interested in empire plans at all times, better understanding of the empire plan bonuses, added Forgotten specific Science and Industry Empire plan.
- Morwawr: No sea units aside of the faction units. Cultists & Mykara: Proper interest in resource extractors.
- Modified some special values for interest in the different FIDSI for population placement. On vanilla on higher difficulties Gold and Influence heavily ignored in favor of industry and science.
- Included some elements specific from ELCP for compatibility: Victory condition variables, Forgotten Tech interest scaling, Minor Faction Assimilation variables, and some others.

Much more detailed information in the version notes.