AI is beyond stupid

[BRox]

I know it's pointless to complain about decade old game, but I wish AI was at least a bit better. I'm playing as Portugal, trying to have some fun and roleplay a bit with rules like never starting war, never adopt anyone, release prisoners etc but every time same thing happens. I get marriage alliance with France, get real good with them, even buy Toulouse which makes them love me even more and then - war. I ♥♥♥♥ you not, I've started like 10 campaigns and every time they betrayed me. They don't attack England, Milan, HRE, always me. They don't even bother to take Rennes, Dijon or Bruges before attacking me. Last time, I got Pope to crusade the Paris and after wiping them out, I get to Bruges. It's turn 60 and it's still rebel town. England went to war with me but they can't even take rebel settlement.

Same goes for Milan, Sicily, Moors. Sometimes at the start of the game, but later on definitely, they will come to Iberia to start a war with me. Later when I come to their homeland - Florence, Ajaccio, Cagliari, sometimes even Tunis, still rebel towns. Like seriously. I know game is Total War but they should make it so that AI at least has some sense in it.

[Gunther von Rittersburg]

A Medieval World War anyone?

[BRox]

Originally posted by Keith Stone:

Not sure if this will help, but I think I remember reading on another discussion that the AI actually gets smarter on the harder difficulties. Like, they won't randomly declare war on you for no reason, even if you're allies. I haven't verified this myself but it may be worth trying out.

Maybe on easier, I'm playing on VH/VH

[Keith Stone]

Well....... I guess the AI really is just ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[Inardesco]

Do you even bother putting troops in your settlements?

If you only have 2 troops in each settlement everyone will think you're easy pickings, even your allies.

Also...what is your reputation? Thats the most important, overlooked, aspect in this game.

I had a campaign with Spain, immaculate reputation, no one attacked me.

[BRox]

Originally posted by Inardesco:

Do you even bother putting troops in your settlements?

If you only have 2 troops in each settlement everyone will think you're easy pickings, even your allies.

Also...what is your reputation? Thats the most important, overlooked, aspect in this game.

I had a campaign with Spain, immaculate reputation, no one attacked me.

Yes, I've noticed that garrisoned cities often make them change their mind and go back where they came from but then for some reason they blockade my port. And at turn 10 I don't have money nor need to build fleet. Reputation is usually reliable/ very reliable.

In the latest attempt, I've decided to ally everyone before someone attacks me and it's working so far. 20 turns in, 8 alliances and no one is doing anything suspicious because I guess they are afraid. Even Moors wanted alliance. I don't like this strategy because allying everyone is doomed to fail but I guess I'm forced to do it. Guess it also helps that dumb French can't backstab me because they still haven't taken Rennes 20 turns in and they tried it 3 time already.

Anyway, I'm about to take Ajaccio and Cagliari so I guess that's when problems will start with damn Sicily, they are the only ones refusing alliance.

BTW, how did your campaign went when no one attacked you?

[Inardesco]

You can easily negotiate a ceasefire with the AI paying for it when all they're doing is blockade your port. No need to immediately throw troops at them for that.

It also makes little sense to ally those that are your immediate neighbours.

For your reputation to dissuade the AI from stupid decisions you'd want trustworthy or higher. That way, those that are above reliable won't do anything like declare war on you and those that are below mixed will, when beaten down through war, sign treaties with you.

It's useless to sign 8 alliances in 20 turns....Soon one of your allies will attack an other ally of yours and thus lower your reputation regardless of whether you pick the aggressor or the defender. Stick to 1-2 allies, preferably those that aren't near your immediate borders and expansion options and stick to trade treaties with the factions surrounding you.

That campaign was, in a way difficult. The lack of sacking cities ensured my economy, even 200 turns in was trash but all my alliances/treaties held without issue. I expanded through rebel regions early on (Bruges/Antwerp) and after a crusade on Poland I took Kiev/Crimea from rebels. Afterwards Muslim and Orthodox nations because they generally dislike catholic factions and thus are more keen to attack you.

Offcourse you do get in a fight with nations closeby, like Portugal/Moors but you can still wipe them out without adverse effects on your reputation, as long as you release and occupy their settlements. Had a war with France but signed peace with them that later became an alliance (they offered it) and Byzantines were actually rather large before they attacked me.

Even in wars you can abuse the crusade mechanic. It's just the way you approach the wars that determine how your reputation stands.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=904482512

All in all, lots of end turning without much to do due to not being attacked by many nations + lots of public order issues due to occupying settlements instead of sacking/exterminating. It's possible and doable. It's just takes a lot longer to get things done.

[Mile pro Libertate]

Originally posted by Keith Stone:

Not sure if this will help, but I think I remember reading on another discussion that the AI actually gets smarter on the harder difficulties. Like, they won't randomly declare war on you for no reason, even if you're allies. I haven't verified this myself but it may be worth trying out.

The AI routines don't fundamentally change by difficulty level.

The higher the difficulty, the more bonuses the AI gets and this tends to make them more aggressive, since the bonuses result in the AI calculating it is stronger than the player in a given matchup.

If you lower the difficulty the AI will therefore tend to be less aggressive.

[Inardesco]

To be fair, the bonusses the AI get's in Medieval 2 are negligible in comparison to what they get in Empire and beyond.

That said...The AI DOES act differently on very hard in comparison to easy. The AI gets more active when the difficulty is higher in both diplomacy and warfare. It also gets more reasonable on very hard difficutly, such as accepting peace treaties when there's no border between the two whereas on easy mode they're worse than a dog trying to climb a tree.

That said....It's not as if the AI has improved since Medieval 2. Which is kinda why paradox games are a bit more interesting for me atm. While that AI might not be great either, it's still better than TW's.

[Raszak]

Same happened to me playing as Spain. I was super cool with France and then for no reason they attacked me. They bagged for peace when half of their territory were gone, but theres no mercy for traitors. So now in my campaign France was destroyed and i dont have to worry about them anymore

[BRox]

Nothing you can do, AI is just bad. I wrote how everyone was good at turn 20, then from 22-26 I had 4 factions declare war on me. So I destroyed them all.

The best part was England and Scotland attacking me when I was #1 in all areas. I came to British Isles and what do I see - settlements from England and Scotland guarded by only few units each. So, why the hell would you provoke strongest faction in the world when you can't even conquer your pathetic backyard.

[Neptonus]

Happened to me while playing as Venice. Then again, I started a war with the Byzantine Empire myself and I've commited so many atrocities (executions, sackings, exterminations) that my reputations is now Despicable. Every neighbouring faction sooner or later declared war on me, halting my campaign of anihilating the Byzantine Empire and bringing to an excrutiating crawl. I even managed to get excommunicated from time to time because ♥♥♥♥ it, I don't have time for everyone's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Then again, I am playing a short campaign on Medium difficulty. That doesn't mean it's a breeze for me. It's frustrating and I wish the swift destruction of all my enenmies.

[Inardesco]

Lol, medium difficulty should be a breeze.

[PoconoPete]

I tried something similar with the Venetians. I did it on Hard/hard, it was a blast. I tried on VH/VH and the AI was too unreasonable. I played through for about a hundred turns, fighting my instincts to conquer everything around me. I kept to myself and had fun making tons of money and maxxing out my city production. I had Beautiful cities being protected by the most powerful soldiers available. Then the french ticked me off. And I went back to my old ways, marauding through europe again.

[Inardesco]

That's what you get for allying Milan.

Also, if You're the one sallying out...Then why the f*ck do they need to come at you? You're the one attacking them. What do they care about the fact that you're being starved to death?

[Inardesco]

So? You're the one attacking their army. Which means, they've got all the right to just drop what they're doing and move back.

If you want them to come to you, you wait until they attack the settlement.

Also if plague demands you to completely disband your armies, you need to work on your economy.