sravanind wrote:
yes, AI is stuck after a while into the game. may be boundaries are hard limits. after reaching those limits AI just stuck.
Some situations where AI gets stuck are pretty weird though. Like AI will always try the large factory when they have enough found, even when there's only small demand (even though large factory have higher production-to-wage ratio, but its high base overhead will cost more than less efficient middle/small factory, and most of the time small/medium locate factory is enough). Human players can detect this kind of issues quite easy with financial reports. (Even though AI will try to put these factories on-sale, if they stay in negative profit for too long). On the other hand, AI will usually bottleneck its own production, especially with semi-products. Even for the most aggressive AI setting, it still doesn't scale up well, where clearly there are still blank market to expand downstream production.
as per me, AI aggressiveness should be in-terms of starting new factories or farming or may be retails stores, which gives tough competition to user.
Personally, I find even the most aggressive AI setting too passive. And a lot of time, it just feels like specifically targeting human player instead of maximize its own profit. Especially when human players venture into new markets, and suddenly AIs begin to join the competition right (a lot of time, they don't even have the tech or brand to fight). And if reloading a previous save before entering, the blank market will stay blank. (Although I can not rule out, it's due to human entering increases the city over-all rating, create a larger market, thus give AI incentive to follow)
so, AI doesn't have long-term goal set? it behaves aggressive in parts?
this is most interesting part to know in the game, what exactly is the AI's target?
I am not sure how to define long-term goal. How do humans determine long-term goal?
I think humans divide tasks subconsciously, like this is early game, the company needs to survive, the task is to meet break-even point, in order to do that, the first sub-task is to analysis all the AIs' expertise, then cities population/wage rate, then different product ratings, seaport goods, etc. I don't think AI does such planning ahead, but just follow per-defined scripts, do this and do that base on assigned personality (especially obvious if they are real estate AIs, or stock focused AI). When entering mid-game, human usually try to analyze what kind of products share semi/raw and try to expand toward those products, but manufacturing AIs seems to venture into one product at a time, regardless product connectivity, but just choose those products that either are their expertise first, and then low over-all city rating products, so on. In the late game, AI normally just feel like an aggregate firms, when you attack one of its market, it only defense "passively" with price war without strategies. It doesn't know how to fix massive negative corporate brand loyalty, or try to find other profit margin when the original profit base is lost. And their "strategy" of purchasing tech from each other is very confusing, like food expertise AIs buy cosmetic tech, household product AI buy automobile tech, and most of the times they don't use any of these purchased techs, however from time to time, a lucky tech-focused AI will gather the right combination, and turns into diversify AIs, then takes over majority products. And this is the interesting part, with enough AIs, they behave some what intelligently like swarm intelligence, individually it might be vulnerable to human strategies, but collectively they become harder and harder to beat (like some might go bankrupt due to human tactics, but another one with more capital will be back to take its place. With swapping techs, they catch up very quickly).