posted 05-20-99 02:53 PM ET        

Transend\Huge\Morganites

Hive---20 votes Their cities don't have any facilities in them and their drones are miserable, but the Hive sure cranks out a lot of infantry. And rovers. And Needlejets...

Morganites---19 Under V3 they produce Projects like crazy and build great cities.

Spartans---16 The AI plays the Spartans pretty well.

Believers---16 Much stronger now.Great front runners, but a "fragile" faction. Once you take one base, you can take them all.

Gaians---15 The AI now makes much better use of the Gaian's special abilities, but still doesn't use mindworms early enough to really sweep the board.

PK's---8 The PK's work great for me when I play them at Transend level, but the AI just gets into long losing wars with the Hive.

UoP---6 I have no idea why the AI can't make the University work, but it doesn't seem to do a very good job to me.

posted 05-20-99 03:25 PM ET            

Hive--30 The AI can just play the Hive on transcend, enough said. (well it plays them good, not great)
Peacekeepers--15 Weak as all hell early on, later in the game though, their bases grow larger than most other factions
Believers--15 Strong early on, tend to fade off from the screens by midgame, unless of course they grow big early on.
Gaians--15 Uses PB's liberally (I don't get that one)
Morganites--10 A contender in middle game for SP's, but usually gets overrun by a larger faction.
Spartans--10 Strong during early to mid game, but gets crushed by late game.
UoP--5 AI can't use probe teams worth a **** with UoP for some reason (it already has the super probe team on transcend, why doesn't it use it?)

posted 05-20-99 05:26 PM ET            

Gaians--40 Always strong in my games. Usually good tech and some base facilities.
Generally nice to me since I usually go green.

Hive--22 Tough in the beginning, pours out units like no one else can. Usually fairly low-tech though.

Belivers--15 At war with everyone. If it goes well they get very strong. Easily out-teched around mid-game. Always survives for a long time because of 10+ sea-bases.

UoP--3 Usually has too few bases to get very strong. Tends to stay alive though.

Pk's--10 Tends to die early, can be tough otherwise with large bases -> good tech.

Spartans--10 Tough to meet early on. Can get strong every now and then.

posted 05-21-99 01:20 AM ET            

Hive - 40
Superbly played with all aspects of the game/chassis types covered. The AI is also able to improve its mineral production/economy to a point of building anything - including Transcendence. Watch out for his sudden build up of orbital pods. Perhaps Mr. Yang has just breathed in some fresh air - of the technologically advanced new world, apart from his fond memories of traditional sampans (AAA transports)?

Do You Believe - 20
AI is good with their military and busters buildup. However, once you get a foothold onto their territory, they might want to take a break from their beliefs.

Peacekeepers - 20
Fared well with the AI concentrating on infrastructure and less on military. Similar with the Hive, able to improve their mineral production to a point of hogging onto secret projects and Transcendence.

Gaians - 15
The only really inconsistent faction (getting eliminated early and staying on forever are equally probable). Once things are going underway however, the Gaians are formidable.

Spartans - 5
Initial buildup of military ground units is impressive along with their commando/guerilla style of play. Seldom make it through the middlegame as the AI somehow gets jam up in its technology advancement concept.

Univ - 0
What a waste! The AI for this faction just assume a too friendly attitude in a harsh new world.

Morganities - 0
The computer is just hopeless with this faction, when otherwise you can build up a futuristic America.

posted 05-21-99 06:00 AM ET            

Hive: 30 Votes---This is the faction that usually gives me the most trouble. They build an army in each one of their cities, and they have a _lot_ OF cities. Also, the perim. defense helps. Not much facilities though. One last advice: Never trust Yang

Spartans: 20 Votes---Somehow, the Spartans always seem to do very well in my games. They also have a great military, and with a bit of luck (they started in the jungle in my last game) they can go crazy.

Believers: 15 Votes---Most of the times, they expand like crazy, while also building a lot of units. Slow tech keeps gives them a lot of trouble, though. They usually have war with everyone, and once you capture a few of their bases, they're usually dead.

Peacekeepers: 15 Votes---Everybody likes them, so they tend to keep a live and build a bit. But they can't play a good, agressive, war. They only seem to build probe teams, even when I'm believers with +3 probe or have the HSA. Can build a good share of SP's and has great tech.

Gaians: 10 Votes---Sometimes they can do great, but often they are wiped out very quicly by the other AI players. Only when they get very big can they be annoying.

UoP: 8 Votes---They are first in tech in the very beginning, but seem to fall back very quickly. I've never really seem a big UoP in mid/late game. Usually every one takes their tech, and then they get crushed.

Morganites 2 Votes---They make beatiful cities in the beginning, and then they 'give' them away to others Generally, the AI sucks with Morgan. The only reason they stay alive sometimes is because I help them when they have a submissive pact with me.

---

These stats are, of course, not exact. Sometimes on faction is big, sometimes the other. But there are trends, like the Hive doing good, and Morgan doing bad. Inn fact, I've never seen a large Morganic empire (except when I'm playing them )

posted 05-21-99 11:46 AM ET            

Sorry. Here are my rates:

Spartans: 35, Always have good military and does her job good.

Gaians: 25, They are always friends with everyone (Except Morgan and Mirian). Have a lot of mind worms and is basicly doing good.

The Hive: 15, Good military and a good growth rate in the beginning.

Peacekeepers: 12 and a half, Dosent have the military. Units takes to much minerals when they are at war.

UoP: 12 and a half, They have good techs but neither do they have the military.

posted 05-21-99 02:33 PM ET            

Gaian: 20. Fairly well build bases, but the army tend to suffer from morale problems.

Spartan: 15. Usually survives fairly long, but bases are poorly developed and brings down the army with it.

Believer: 10. Either wiped out early or a mediocre faction in the middle of the game.

Peacekeeper: 10. Either gets wiped out early on or becomes a force at the end.

UoP: 10. Same.

posted 05-22-99 03:36 AM ET            

Gaians-30. They are almost always a force to be reckoned with.

Human Hive-20. Also tough, until you crack their defensive line. They are like an overripe melon-firm on the outside, but very soft inside.

Believers-20. Unpredictable; very strong in some games, very weak in others. Seems to depend on who their neighbors are.

Peacekeepers-15. Usually wiped out fairly early, they can be very strong if they survive.

University-10. The AI does not run this faction very effectively. They are too erratic, declaring war when they have no chance of winning, and agreeing to terms with other factions when they have them on the ropes.

Spartans-5. Simply Hopeless. Of course, they hate Morgan, and since I play Morgan (instead of the AI) they really don't have a snowball's chance of surviving...

posted 05-22-99 04:16 AM ET            

Peacekeepers: 25 - Large bases, several SP's, very good tech, above average military.
Tend to finish among the frontrunners in all my games.

Believers: 25 - Agressive, probe teams from hell. Weak early on, but if they get to expand to a lot of bases, they're dangerous.

Hive: 20 - Very agressive. The key word is 'quantity': Lots of bases, lots of units. In nearly all my games, however, I tend to meet them very early on, so they are usually eradicated quickly.

Gaians: 15 - Stay friends with most, good tech, good infrastructure.They suffer from not using more worms. An average faction.

Morganites: 10 - Small bases, few units, but a lot of probe activity. Never above average in my games.

Spartans: 5 - In the majority of my games, they tend to get swallowed up early by either the Believers or the Hive.

posted 05-22-99 01:23 PM ET            

Hive 32 - is capable of building a *very* large armed force

Gaians 23- expand like hell, and get the most secret projects (of all the AI's)

Spartans 20- They are sooo traitorous

PK's 15 - I agree with trippin on that one

Morganites 5 - they (almost) never expand beyond their (litteral) "homeland"

Believers 5 - virtually very powerful, practically they never make it to the end.

UoP ? - I don't know, mostly because I always play as them

posted 05-25-99 01:39 PM ET            

Hive: 30 -- Always among the top 3. Huge military, never stops expanding, can become a real threat towards endgame militarily as well as industrially. Very aggressive; badly (but most of the time functionally -> warfare) improved cities.

Gaians: 25 -- Tends to be the best played AI faction in my games. Builds lots of city improvements, goes for most SPs, strong military. A lesser problem than the Hive, because the Gaians are usually quite easily befriended (and cheated). The only ones who tend to stay or even lead in the tech race.

Believers: 15 -- Use their early game strength pretty well, but fall behind in the tech race pretty quickly. Annoying, but not a threat any more by mid/endgame. Very poorly improved bases, militarily weak (lots of very obsolete units). Difficult to pacify - cease-fires seldom last longer then 4 or five turns.

Morganites: 10 -- Best AI builder, but doesn't expand very much. In most games, they are down to 2-3 bases by midgame; in a few other games, they possessed considerable industrial & technological power -> built lots of SPs. Militarily the weakest of 'em all; too few units -> easily overrun. Could be a tougher opponent if they expanded more.

Spartans: 10 -- Almost never among the top 3 factions. Fall behind in the tech race early on, almost never get any SPs. Build lots of inferior units -> industrial paralysis. Expansionist, but never develops bases. Hardly ever get to the point where they can exploit their military bonuses. Again, by midgame a nuissance, but not a threat.

UoP: 6

Total bummer. They tend to stick around longer than the PKs and Morgan, but hardly ever manage to get more than a handful of bases. Early lead in tech lost by early midgame. No military power to speak of. Fails to built drone-reducing facilities -> their better bases tend to go down in endless drone riots. Hey, they managed to completely blow a game when they started on a pretty big continent alone & right in the middle of the wossname jungle!

PK: 4

Pathetic. In 2/3 of the games, they don't survive til 2250. Can't defend against aggressive factions, but almost always wages war against the Hive within 50 rounds or so. Hardly ever gets to the point where they can exploit their strengths.

posted 05-25-99 02:35 PM ET            

Gaians - 30 Votes
These bad Boys and Girls give me a good mid to "late" game fight in over half my games.

Peacekeepers - 20 Votes
While a couple times they have been crushed early, usually they show well and there was one Mid-game war between AI PK's and AI Hive that I had the pleaseure of watching and after some initial setbacks the PK's just came out and rocked the Hive.

University - 15 Votes
My current game has them as strong as they have ever been related to my forces, they are usually strong to mid game and then some other faction or group of factions take them out.

Believers - 15 Votes
Start good but usually lose in a war with the Gaians or University in transition to mid-game

Hive - 10 Votes
Has had only one or two decent games, and are always gone by mid game. I have only taken them out once.

Morgan - 7 Votes
Had a couple of good games early on but was invarialbly crushed by mid game.

Spartans - 3 Votes
Has never entered mid game with any force, and only once did I see them really lurch past insignificant and that was after they had surrendered to me.

Obviously in my world the Builders have had a much better showing, with the exception of Morgan.

posted 05-25-99 09:21 PM ET            

25--Believers: They rabbit like mad, always extort tech, and build lots of military. A very tough faction. The only fault with the AI is they try to fight EVERYBODY.

22-Gaians: Always strong, especially in the endgame when Planet is on the loose.

18--Hive: If not dealt with, these are the biggest A-holes in the game. I HATE THESE GUYS!

15--PKs: Middle of the road faction, gets along with everybody.

12--Spartans: Start off fast, but seem to stall in the mid to endgame. You still don't want to be next to them, however.

7--Uni: AI never builds any significant military for the Brainiacs. A warmonger faction can take them out easily.

posted 05-25-99 09:32 PM ET            

Hive-20 the AI is good for this mindless style gameplay.

Morgan-10 Ive never seen them do anything but cling to me and serve me all game through...no complaints

UoP-10 I love em, the AI couldnt be this advanced if its hard-drive depended on it...

Deidre-25 definately the most formidable opponent...but annoying as hell

Lal-5 claims to keep peace but is irrational and down right spuratic...worthless in most games

Spartains-20 looks an aweful lot like the hive to me...

and finally..

Believers-0 yes thats right, what a waste of a faction...never goes anywhere. Stupid diplomaticly, waste of a good advanteage (+25) pathetic and worthless trash

posted 05-26-99 01:05 AM ET            

There are two trends with the AI
1 - Separate landmasses, so no early faction contact
2 - Multiple factions starting on the same landmass

In case 1, all the AI has some real limitations -it is stupid with naval warfare, although they can harass you with missiles if you are close enough, and the idea of invading another landmass in real force is pretty flaky. They all also build too many useless sea colonies, which contribute nothing of value, but are great training for my ships.

The biggest defect in naval warfare AI is that they don't task warships to escort transports - even when I lurk right outside their ports and kill everything they send out, they keep sending transports to the slaughter. I've never been seriously challenged for control of the seas by any faction for more than a few turns - they just don't build big navies. I use coastal bombardment a lot - it's useless to go after land units, but in at least some of their cities, it's effective to massively target their land improvements - who cares about roads, but if they can't eat and they can't mine, those cities won't be contributing much for a while, and you can sometimes "kill" units by reducing the resource level to where they can't be supported. If you have air power as well, I like to kill their former units. Even when you do all this to them, the AI doesn't challenge you very much.

In case 2, a lot depends on who is next to who, but I find these games are more of a challenge.

Universally, the UoP and Morganites suck, and never get anywhere. If the Gaians start on a small landmass, or are challenged early, they go nowhere, but they can be formidable if they start protected on a large landmass.

The Hive does well in most cases, but is not a serious challenge for very long.

The believers can be formidable, but they tend to spread out too much and be lame technologically, so if you can stand what they initially throw at you, it is possible to roll them up one city at a time, plus all those easy to pluck sea colonies...