AI Speed Setting

[u/peequi]

Under "Preferences" there is a setting called "AI Speed". I want to make sure I understand the game manual, please inform me if I understand this correctly.

"Very Slow AI Processing" is the slowest setting because it gives the AI the most time to think? So the game would be more difficult considering the AI will make better moves.

The manual states "Very Slow AI Processing" is "optimal turn processing speed". This makes it sound like the Very Slow setting makes the turns faster. I am guessing the manual meant to say it is optimal thinking for the AI.

Please clarify the setting, make sure I am understanding it correctly.
Any other comments on the setting? Do you like to change it?

[u/Mr_Skecchi]

while slower speeds dont really matter much in terms of ground unit movement for the ai, it does help a fair bit with reducing stupid roads/some of the eco shenanigans, and a decent improvement to how the ai uses air power. Ironically it becomes more noticeable the larger/more populated/complex the world is, which sucks because you end up with 5 minute turn timers.

[u/Swimming_Poem1555 → u/Mr_Skecchi]

well i already play shadow empire as i do chores so it's a great way to force myself in to doing other thins, and fun fact on my laptop my latest game turn timer was 35 minutes, needless to say Shadow empire using easy to run graphic is a blessing ad a curse, as it will run on anything given enough time

[u/Imaginary_Salary_985 → u/Mr_Skecchi]

I save this setting for when im playing at work and wanna quickly alt tab for a turn before going back to work

[u/Master_Ben]

If you're on a very large map or playing with lots of minor/major powers, then the wait time is really rough. The AI already cheats a lot, so I don't want it to make me wait longer for barely better unit movement.

[u/calargo]

I am guessing the manual meant to say it is optimal thinking for the AI.

Yeah that seems like a typo. Normal is fastest. 

Personally I like to keep it at Normal. I feel like the game already provides enough of a challenge without needing to give the AI extra time to think. I think it'd only be worth it to change the speed to something slower if you've already played enough campaigns to the point where it feels too easy. 

[u/BiboranEnjoyer]

I always play with "very slow" AI, and the turn times after midgame are absolutely abysmal, they can reach 10+ minutes sometimes. I just use it as an excuse to get away from the screen and do some exercises after every turn, but I don't think it's really worth it gameplay-wise. It makes slightly better tactical moves, but, honestly, even "normal" is sufficient unless you're really good at this game.

Stay on "slow" if you have a good single-core performance CPU, this setting is the highest you can select during the planet creation. "Very slow" only appears in the settings after you load into the game and the manual entry for it is basically a copy-pasted typo, which makes me think that this setting is not really recommended by the dev.

[u/ColBBQ]

The AI makes more recon moves on very slow processing in order to max out as much recon it can get on the front lines. You can see this when you see a few units moving around then see the entire front fall back if the AI can see if it cannot defend properly on that line. The lesser levels just makes less moves thus will make mistakes based on faulty recon.

[u/tiktaktokki]

What if you´re learning, and easy is starting to get boring but normal is too brutal. Stay on easy and give AI more time to think?

[u/peequi → u/tiktaktokki]

That is a good idea. The AI speed can be used to increase or decrease the difficulty throughout the game. I personally like to start on "Beginner" the easiest level so that I have a good and safe start. Then I eventually change the AI speed go the highest(250). I honestly don't know if it makes the AI significantly better, I am still new.