Hard AI not really playing well

[YodaSensei]

Not sure at the moment if the different levels of difficulty of AI are implemented, but I saw no major differences in the AI when playing against easy/medium/hard (granted, I only had 1 in easy and 1 in medium). At the bare minimum, Hard AI is really easy to beat (and I'm by no means a Terraforming Mars veteran, i had about 10 games with the tabletop game ) and makes a lot of bad choices and misses a lot of good opportunities

[vincentneko]

I second this.
Also can you tell me where to find tabletop version of this game ?

[Fireslide]

It seems like the hard AI puts priority on using actions granted by cards in the first turns of a generation, even though there's much better moves to take. When really in most cases you want to save the actions until the end of the round unless they are getting you resources needed to place ocean, raise temp or oxygen.

[orjan.almen]

Originally posted by vincentneko:

I second this.
Also can you tell me where to find tabletop version of this game ?

At any store that sells board games, more or less. It is ranked #4 in the world right now (according to BoardGameGeeks rating system) so it should be easy to get hold of. Depending on you location where to buy it. I'd just say google it. If you're in an Amazon area, they'll have it.

[sirusx715]

Tried one game against a hard ui to get familiar with the interface before jumping into online play. Two of the ai players went for a standard project greenery in the first two turns. The second to do so placed it's greenery within 2 spaces of the other ai player's greenery to set up a city play. I was last in the following generation, but was still able to be the one to take that spot with a city. Further greenery placements by the ai were fairly easy to continue scoring city points from as the ai didn't prioritise getting a break out location with another tile to free up additional options for where to place greeneries. Between the weak early game plays and poor tile positioning, the ai was not very challenging.

[DoxaLogos]

Originally posted by vincentneko:

I second this.
Also can you tell me where to find tabletop version of this game ?

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Games-6005SG-Terraforming-Board/dp/B01GSYA4K2/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1539910009&sr=1-4&keywords=terraforming+mars
CoolStuffInc: https://www.coolstuffinc.com/p/228631

[Afloplouf]

Originally posted by Fireslide:

It seems like the hard AI puts priority on using actions granted by cards in the first turns of a generation, even though there's much better moves to take. When really in most cases you want to save the actions until the end of the round unless they are getting you resources needed to place ocean, raise temp or oxygen.

You may want tu use an action to play a card.

But objectives should be the first priority. It is a huge scoring point so work toward them in the beginning is always a good option. And if you can grab one in your turn, you should do it. I faced Mars Initiative : they just reached 35TR but rather than grabbing the objective, they used their corporate action. Of course, I grabbed it just after him, we were tied.

That plus tile placement explain how underwelming they can be. Yet they are efficient in terraforming (which is never a bad move) or card management but yes actions, objectives/rewards and tile placement deserve an improvement.

[Vihyungrang]

Medium AI seems to play decently in my opinion. Not optimal, but decent. I've had medium AI snag great city spots and milestones from under me. The action priority needs some work, so there is that, but the AI is not atrocious or anything.

[Thomas]

I dont know what level of AI is selected when player drops in online match - but our AI started playing right after start of the game.

The only problem is that AI finished game by having unspent 151 ME ! (I think it always left last 12 or 13 from each era)

[RhynoK365]

If you're an experienced player, the AIs won't be that competitive. Realistically, they don't value a variety of things that well strategically.

I imagine they'll incrementally improve over time!

[nicolay_n]

I started a match against 1 "hard" ai and ended up having double his points... yeah... AI doesn't work that well yet. Also saw the AI play 1 card and then after that, a card that would have given him a discount on the just played card... like... ok. (ps. in the match in which I scored double the amount of points, I managed to get all the bonusses and achievements... so 60 point for that :O )