This is the WORST AI I have ever seen in a game.

[pitrogg]

It is borderline impossible to lose against this AI. I have 30+ games played and I won every single one, and I am a pretty mediocre/bad player in Table Top Simulator (15% win rate at best). I am winning even when not even aiming for VP, but doing silly stuff like collecting all the bene geserit cards.
I just saw AI Helena playing Infiltrate before going to Carthag. She has infiltrate built-in! AI is playing additional swords in battles that it's already winning.. I don't know who's working on AI for this game but it's unplayable for anyone who has some basic experience in it. And there's not enough players to play online.

[Spectral B4dger]

You may want to join DWD's discord or similar (Pixelated Cardboard is another one) and find some players there

[Destro Yersul]

Being too good at the game is a decent problem to have. The AI does make weird moves, but being able to consistently beat the hard AI is a sign that you are actually good at the game. The TTS games are not a good metric for measuring skill, I feel. Saying you're not that good because you have a 15% win rate on TTS is a bit like saying you're bad at running because you keep losing to Usain Bolt.

[janaka42]

Wish I could win all the time, then I could kick the difficulty up.

I get beat by the AI frequently, and I only play on Easy difficulty. Today AI (Easy) Count Richese won in five turns with 11VP while I as Duke Leto had only managed 5VP. I don't see how that can be a bad AI.

Edit: Tonight I played four games. Easy difficulty. Won one. Lost three. One of the games I lost, I reached 10VP and nearest AI had 8VP but a combination of intrigue cards from the AI at the death meant he scored 2 more VP and I lost by inferior spice count.

Though I agree the AI plays unnecessary intrigue cards at times to decide combat, overall I find the AI to be are more than competent foe.

[ethornber]

I'm playing on easy and to me the AI looks excellent.

[lonl123]

I guess I am slow or something...played 3 solo games so far with the AI on "Normal" and I have yet to win....got obliterated on my first game...have slowly done a bit better on the next two games, but have been pretty far from winning....was fairly competitive on my last game until I lost a conflict I thought for sure I would win and lost 11 to 6 on the next turn. That was frustrating as I thought I had finally figured the game out a bit. Haven't played multiplayer yet as I want to really get a deep understanding of the game and hopefully at some point get to where I can consistently beat the AI. Wish me luck.... :)

[Wretched Git]

I don't buy the OP's rant at all. I don't believe for a second he always wins against the hard AI. When he writes "the AI is playing additional swords in battles that it's already winning," that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game even works. No "master" of the game would misunderstand something that basic.

[geddon2]

"Worst AI I have ever seen."

Obviously OP has not played the Steam implementation of Terraforming Mars.

[Destro Yersul]

Originally posted by Wretched Git:

I don't buy the OP's rant at all. I don't believe for a second he always wins against the hard AI. When he writes "the AI is playing additional swords in battles that it's already winning," that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game even works. No "master" of the game would misunderstand something that basic.

No, the AI totally does play intrigues to get bonus swords even if it's already leading the conflict. It will also play sword intrigues that don't change its overall standing. I've seen it use Rapid Mobilisation to deploy one troop from garrison, on the same turn it revealed Gun Thopter. The AI does weird things.

That said, the AI is also plenty competent for anyone with a more average skill level. It's at the high end of the skill curve where it breaks down. .

[deadsanta]

I can only win like half my games on average diff, the AI is really good at delivering the last-minute VP daggers that take my game from a certain win to a nailbiting loss in one turn. Not sure how I wind up floundering so badly, maybe I put too much priority on getting my extra man, I seem to be the only one who beelines for that after being brutally trained to do so by Uwe Rosenberg games like Agricola.

I find the AI pretty challenging and I'm no newb to scarce-action-space games like these.

[Destro Yersul]

Originally posted by deadsanta:

I can only win like half my games on average diff, the AI is really good at delivering the last-minute VP daggers that take my game from a certain win to a nailbiting loss in one turn. Not sure how I wind up floundering so badly, maybe I put too much priority on getting my extra man, I seem to be the only one who beelines for that after being brutally trained to do so by Uwe Rosenberg games like Agricola.

I find the AI pretty challenging and I'm no newb to scarce-action-space games like these.

Rushing swordmaster is a legitimate strategy, if you go hard you can get round 2 SM, and that's a good start. The issue I think a lot of people have with this game has more to do with what you add to your deck than anything else. Are you buying enough cards with faction access? Are you buying cards just because you can, even if they're weaker cards?

Maybe outside the scope of this thread a bit, but a good way to describe Dune is that it's a game of five easy points, and five hard points. At 4P, you get one point free. You get one point for 2 influence on each faction track. Those are your five easy points. If you miss a faction VP, you're leaving points on the table. Your other 5 points have to come from somewhere else. I like to aim for one alliance VP, and 4 from a combination of combat/Spice Must Flow. Plan for the game to be over by round 7 or 8.

[hogany]

Originally posted by Wretched Git:

I don't buy the OP's rant at all. I don't believe for a second he always wins against the hard AI. When he writes "the AI is playing additional swords in battles that it's already winning," that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how the game even works. No "master" of the game would misunderstand something that basic.

Actually he's right. Once you become good at this game playing against AI is absolutely no challenge. When i tend to play against AI i usually left them 4-6 points behind me when i won. I lost to it maybe twice due to bad luck, at the hardest of heroic level challenges. But for learning the game AI is ok.

[View The Phenom]

It's not perfect, but I've seen far worse AI in similar strategy games. As in, leaving obvious wins on the table to hamstring itself; over-commitment of a resource seems like a much smaller issue if the AI is at least trying to gain victory.

And regardless, this is Early Access. That means things are subject to change/improvement; some of you people seem to forget that the game isn't complete yet.

[ataquerojo]

Originally posted by ethornber:

I'm playing on easy and to me the AI looks excellent.

+1000

[ataquerojo]

Originally posted by deadsanta:

.

I find the AI pretty challenging and I'm no newb to scarce-action-space games like these.

I totally agree.

[pitrogg]

Here's how to win every game.
1. T1 go stillsuits, put a troop or two especially if there's solari to win for 2-3 place. Go to Wealth for 2 solari. If there's spice to win, then go for spice and conflict.
2. T2 take spice & sell spice (if you took spice the round before and won some in the 1st conflict, go to sell spice imidiately). Buy SM
3. T3 Buy SM if you havent yet. The AI is too dumb to buy SM for a long time so now you have 1 extra move and you must try really hard to lose.