Limit 1 Starbase in Solar Wells( single player)

I find the AI cannot even handle 1 heavily upgraded starbase, to be honest. The problem isn't the game, it's the AI that needs help.

Correct.  The AI tends to just pile up resources for no real reason.  If it would actually puts its resources to use, it wouldn't be so bad, but it doesn't...

What I think the AI needs in revision (or at least one fix) is a strategy spectrum.  The AI essentially has its difficulty rating (income buff) and then what it currently focuses on.  If it were change to be where you had something like 20 points to distribute across the following categories, I think the AI would stop stockpiling resources and start actually doing something.

Aggression: Increasing the points in this increases the likelihood that the AI will attack and build ships.

Defensiveness: Increasing the points in this decreases the likelihood that the AI will attack, but increases the likelihood of it entrenching.

Expansionism: Increasing this increases the AI's "desire" to conquer worlds.

Economism: Increasing this yields an increase in the desire to up the population of planets, build trade ports, and research resource/trading buffs if available.

Experimentation: Increases the odds of the AI building labs with its spare cash and researching.  Individual items researched will be based upon the above catergories. Ie Aggression yields more ship prototypes.

Doing the above might just help the AI become more balanced because as it currently stands, the AI always is weak in some area.  Always.  I think that the above and improving the general strategies it uses is what we need.  Right now, the AI is so stupid that it doesn't realize that starbases and minefields can be avoided.  It just plows through them hoping for the best.  While its impossible to end up with a digital JJ, I think the devs do need to revise the AI.

Actually they already have these settings (except the Expansionism), they do need an improvement in build selection and target selection (like a sova can confuse a HC by putting out a Missile battery, HCs see it as an LRM and attacks it instead of the cap)

Thats the Targeting AI. I dont see it as bug, b/c it is targeting what its suppose to. Usually HC auto target LRM anyhow.

But yeah the AI is flawed. Untill its up to par, handycap yourself. Like dont build superweapons or SB. Or build only 2 caps all game, things like this make it fun against the AI till it can spend its resources right.

Would it be possible to set a game against the ai where you set up THEIR pieces with a set number of points and then hit start? Sort of like playing chess against yourself.

You could make a map using Galaxy Forge giving the different players ships, sturctures, planets, artifacts to start the game with. If thats what your thinking.

Yeah, it could be done that way..  Though is that in some file Ryat?  I've never seen it..  All I've ever seen is the select AI type toggleable..  Never actually seen it, though if you can actually see it, manipulating it so that its not so extreme might make it more valuable...

its in the gameplay constants file

towards the end

the DS mod modifies it some

though we would love to modify the AI further

I think we all would...

It would also be possible to make a map that is just unfair for one of the teams and then play for the team that gets the bad starting spot.

You can do that but you gotta becareful on how you set the teams. SINS and/or Galaxy Forge wont screw this up if set one team with more members. It will auto set you on the stronger team. Prime example is that with AI Horde map for DS it would set you on the 9 person team and not by yourself.

The work around is dont set the teams in Galaxy Forge and just set them when your pick the map ingame.

i disagree with the reducing SB's in Star GW's, the idea is that SGW's are so large that you need more than one to effectively control the territory.

if the AI's were programmed with the ability to put a SB in an SGW it wouldnt be a problem, but then i dont see SB's in UCGW's either so it must have something to do with the AI placing SB's in GW's it doesnt own.

but im sure we can all agree that regardless the AI needs a boost, though it may not be possible because atm programming a computer to act like a human is very difficult...

perhaps a bit more scripting in the more advanced areas of gameplay is required, like 'forcing' the AI to put a SB in an UCGW or to build more caps... something a human knows instinctively but where programming such knowledge into a computer is impossible...

I think they should just download JJ's brain into a computer.  Unfair is when the AI receives 10% the resources you do.    

But yeah..  It would be interesting if one day they just handed us all the full AI script and a guide to understanding it...  What people would come up with would be pretty impressive...

i just played a game with the aggressor AI trait (i usually play researcher thinking it may play smarter somehow without rushing me) but i found that if you can hold off the initial assault, the AI plays much better, smarter even, than any other personality... i like the idea of making the distinction between the personalities more distinct...

a quick fix could be, for example, making research cheaper or researcher AI, making tradeports and tradeport income cheaper/higher respectively for economist AI, defensive structures and tactical slot upgrades cheaper/faster for defensive AI and ship costs and build speeds cheaper/quicker for aggressors, but like i said, its only a quick fix...

        What I don't understand, and i know nothing about code, but if the ai knows how to build an envoy ship, why can't it learn to make superweapons? Anyone?

i always figured it was a decision on the part of the developers not to have AI build superweapons... though i cant honestly tell you why... then again, envoy ships are no different coding wise to cap ships except caps need research and some prerequisites, such as fleet supply etc... so... maybe there needs to be a new personality that uses superweapons or else have a button in the game settings that allows or disallows superweapons...

Id have to disagree Ive watched an AI slaughter 4 starbases and I could only sit back and watch from a distance, just the other night I was playing a 2v2v2 with all Hard AI's on entrenchment. It was myself and my Ally (TEC) in one System. Two Vasari in another system. And two Advent split between the two occupied systems (they got the shaft). Leaving one system fully unocuppied. I quickly dispatched the Advent AI in my system and took hold of the majority of the planets in the system as it became a race to gain resources between me and my Ally early on before we teched up to leave our system.

After we teched up, I quickly began to fortify our star and the planets that connected to our star while my Ally branched out to the unoccupied system. Not long after I branched out myself and took the remaining half of the unoccupied system. Leaving four SBs fully researched at the star to defend since my two Fleets were defending my home system which turned out to have two wormholes that allowed the two Vasari to travel back and forth between their system and mine with little to no resistance. Which put me on the defensive as both Wormholes were deep inside my territory.

While the remaining Advent clung to life with a measly 5 planets, slowly being eaten away by the two Vasari. My Ally and myself began to push our 1st Fleets out and either defend the second system in our possession or go on the offensive to keep the Vasari off balance. After awhile my Ally successfully took two of the last Advents planets and began slamming the remaining planets while the Vasari turned its attention to the system my ally and myself had taken for ourselves. Slamming large fleets against my starbases. At first they would bypass and jump to a planet that was fortified but without a fleet had no chance of survival. But once I got my main fleet in position to defend the star. They changed tactics and began to jump in and then backpedal while a smaller fleet penetrated my home system to cause havoc. After a long stalemate of one step forward two steps back by all four parties. I finally pushed my Main Fleet through a Wormhole and began to eat away at the weaker Vasari. Unfortunately the stronger Vasari was able to field two Fleets. One that held my secondary fleet at my home system by wormhole travel. And its main fleet assaulted the second system in an attempt to pull my main fleet from its allies worlds. But I had already taken half of the Vasaris worlds and backpedalling would have lost me not only those planets but still lost those in the second system now under siege. Literally with two Capitals and god knows how many escort and support craft. The stronger Vasari slowly ate away at my SBs until there was nothing left. Its loses were minimal by the time it had finished up with my 4th and weakest SB.

Its the first time Ive seen the AI throw itself at my SBs in the 2 years Ive played this game. And its also the first time Ive watched with no hope of retailating as the AI ate 4 SBs for breakfast. To say the least, after it killed my SBs it made the old boneheaded move to split its UBER fleet half going towards my fortified but static defended planets in the same system. While the other half returned to its home system. By the time the Vasari had destroyed my 4 Starbases. Its ally was on the run and lost all its planets to culture kills with only a few static structures left on a roid which its Ally gladly took control of. The banished Vasari then refused to give in until I forced my way into the stronger Vasari's planets and eventually slammed my Main Fleet agiansts UBER Fleet that it had rebuilt. But by then I had maxed out my research. And my Capitals in the fleet were all Lvl 8+. The UBER Fleet fell within minutes when all it could muster was two lvl 3 Kortuls and a maxed out Fleet of support and escort craft. Once the Stronger Vasari surrendered so did its Ally which didnt even have any ships left to field. Let alone any static structures.

StarBases are in no way overpowered. Infact their nothing more then a roadbump, a stalling tactic meant to slow you down long enough to field a real response to your fleet. If you cant by pass a SB or defeat it then your doing it WRONG. Simple enough. No SB has anti SC abilities. Meaning its totally vulnerable. It shouldnt take SC more then 5 minutes or less to turn a SB into space debris. As long as you have enough to overcome its SC and obliterate its Shields and Hull.

Well, Allegiance, I do agree that starbases on stars are certainly not overpowered, but all the same, when on your planets, a properly supported SB can take on quite a bit before succumbing to the invaders.  Take the first Orky I ever built.  With only two repair platforms, a PMT, and a hangar to help it, it still managed to fend off four good sized fleets.  Sure, they weren't monstrous, but they were of a decent size nonetheless.  It also managed to slay around 40 Orgovs.  The Orky never actually died, as combat eventually moved elsewhere and the AI stopped wasting resources against my beloved Orky that quite possibly won me the game by preventing the AI from flanking my main force before I had phase gates up and running.

So, my point is that Starbases can be powerful roadblocks if supported correctly, or if on a star, are mere speed bumps...  Now, of course, four fully upgraded Orkies with every last upgrade done to them are pretty dang hard to punch through since unlike Argonevs you can't go around them easily...  You have to go through them, and Orkies don't like visitors..  With each one potentially dealing 600 DPS you have 1800 DPS plus the 12000 Hull and 7500 Shields (plus the deflector shield which might I add is freaking awesome).  If you use a mod such as Distant Stars or Mad Scientist, those phase missiles will more than likely go through your shields..  

For instance, I had my Orky in a battle with a level 5 Kol today at a star.  The Orky was fresh, so it didn't have much in the way of upgrades, so I began quickly researching Pulse Gun tech.  40% extra damage is a lot, and it definitely helped chew up the Kol.  Eventually though, a level 6 Marza was brought in along with a small group of LRM's and Cobalts to aid the Kol.  Then the phase missile upgrade kicked in, doubling the damage my Orky could put out.  I then siezed the opportunity and quick-teched PM tech from the 20% I was at all the way up to 60% and then researched the damage to get it up to +40%.  The result?  Everything within range died.  There were no survivors from such a powerful barrage of Phase Missiles.

That said, I don't think SB's are OP.  They are powerful yes, and when you have technological superiority over the enemy when using a mod that amplifies the effects thereof, you end up with one thing slaying all that comes in range.  Really the problem with this is the AI's inability to place them..  If it would, it would be much better off..  Four Orkies are a great roadblock.  You can punch through them if you try hard enough, but most things will just get turned into their breakfast as they suck your ruins into their maws...