Does space Empires V have better AI than IV?

Well, this is a personal opinion, but
Atm the AI isnt as good, as its has been programmed mostly from scatch, and the game is still relativly new

However, as with always the case with MM, the AI improves with every patch (sometimes abit, sometimes alot)

Of course, the extra modablity of the AI is SEV will lead to modders creating an AI that will be alot better than SEIV

Hey Noxxle,

I've played both, and I'm currently modding stock to make it harder. I would say that SEIV is still a harder AI than even the Mods. However, the difference is not nearly as big as it used to be.

-Unnamed

Balanced actually changes the balance of the game. For instance, less techs to research, different ship/weapon effectiveness, intel works differently, etc.

My mod (Unnamed's Upgraded Stock AI) just changes the AI and doesnt change the mechanics of the game.

Basically my mod makes the AI play the normal game better. Balanced changes the game to be more 'Balanced' which also partially makes it better adapted for the AI, along with making the AI play better. Also, the balanced mod is probably the most popular for online play thru PBW (which I highly recommend).

The mods cannot be used together because the AI's are taught to play to different games. Balanced Mod has a decent AI though, and I like to think mine does too.

Finally there is the IRM mod. It again changes the mechanics of the game (in some very interesting ways). It was turning into a very good mod, but the modders got burnt out so there havent been any updates in a while. I've been playing with the idea of doing some work on that mod too. But that will have to wait until August at least.

-Unnamed

On hardness versus intelligence. From what I remember the AI was harder in SEIV mostly because it was more aggressive. Not necessarily smarter.

-unnamed

unnamed AI is really smart. it manages the empires well and defends itself very well also. It is not unbeatable but with 2-3 empires against one human is very difficult.
To attack the AI now expect heavy losses even with decent tech advanatage.
Expect mines/ fighters on every warp point.
Expect armer Carrier fleets with cruisers to attack your systems.
Expect mine sweepers/ layers to make movement inside your empire a headache. Also your mines/sat defenses are worseless against their ships.
Expect very well developed planets as well with fighters escort and weapon platforms.

In short, I couldn't win without out producting/out teching the oposition. I have yet to see a poor AI ship design from unnammed mod. The AI is not dumb. It also expands in an organized fashion. It doesn't expand one planet at a time; it expands one system at a time in the midgame. Most new colonies have protection right away. It is really a challenge.

Thanks again unnmamed.

Maybe stock SE IV is smarter than modded SE V, but that's like comparing the intelligence of a gorilla with an orangutan. Sure, one's smarter, but it doesn't make much difference when they're competing against a human. I remember the AI sending it's ships 1 by 1 against fortified warp points and into minefields with no sweepers. In SE V the AI can at least overrun you with 5 times the construction, resources, and research. In IV you had the defender fires first warp points where you could basically hold off an unlimited number of AI attackers forever.

lol yea git unamed mod i tryed a 2 (me and my bro) ves 10 aisbut thay kicked the crap outa us with a errie maner about it amost as if thay knew to split us appart witch thay did like a ave thru wood but round 2 was a diffrent story ;p

sorry acedental double post

For those who want a longer game and a tough AI, the Longship mod is almost ready. Unnamed is working on the AI and has proven to make it tough. Longship stands for Longer game, bigger ships basically. You have much more room on planets for facilities and cargo, so they are really tough to invade, but since you can support about 5x as many ships than stock OR balance, it works out.
Ships are bigger, so you can put more stuff on, even make decent frigate/carriers (light carrier starts at 850kt). Range on some weapons is much longer, the DUC range is now more than APB, a fast firing long range weapon has been added, the Maser Beam does not do a lot of damage per hit, but fires 5 times per second.
Plasma and Nullspace shields have been added, they are more 'solid' than other shield types.
You'll just have to play to see what other goodies this mod has for you.

Longship should be ready about August 1st.

"Genius is Simplicity" chris connors
"To win without fighting is best" sun tsu
those who think they know everything are annoying to those of us who do

Remember that for the most part SEIV Stock AI wasn't all that smart. Yet by the time the Gold, 1.91, and TDM mod was around, SEIV AI played very well. I expect the same if not more from SEV down the road. SEV has much more available to it in terms of modding, and the scripting for the AI. So as modders tinker, and MM adds patches, it will easily be as good if not better than the TDM AI for SEIV.

I have never played SEIV, but the gold version came on the disk with SEV. I have not loaded SEIV, but I am beginning to enjoy SEV. Question, what are the differences between IV and V, and is IV worth playing when I have V?

You would probably get a better answer if you ask your question in this forum:
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/postlist.php?Board=UBB23

Thanks, I'll check in there.

Despite the numerous and serious flaws of SE5, I don't think I could ever to back to 4. The turn based combat is so unbalanced and takes so long compared to SE5's system that this alone is enough to clinch it for me. On the other hand, SE4 has some great mods, like the Star Trek mod and Adamant mod, while SE5's good mods are just variations on the stock game. And while people tend to forget that SE4 was just as buggy as 5, it's had a lot more time to be patched into a pretty solid state.

If you have a lot of time on your hands, it's definitely worth it to take a gander at SE4, but like I said before, I don't think I could ever go back.

Thanks for the info Arthurtux. I think I'll stick with 5 for now.