Turn Length and the AI.

[Mike Carroll]

Ok I am coming back to WITP. I played the original game for the first two years and then I was away from gaming for the past 5 years. I just recently bought the Admiral Edition. With my schedule I am probably going to have to play against the AI. Hard to do after doing PBEM but I would just not be able to submit a turn regularly. So the question I have is.

1) Is the AI better than in WITP - assume it is since there has been quite a while to refine.

2) In WITP I just could not bring myself to run anything but a daily turn. Does WITP AE do a better job managing the turns so you can run a 2 or 3 day turn and get good results?

[Rainer]

1) Is the AI better than in WITP - assume it is since there has been quite a while to refine.

Qualified YES from here. The scripts have even a certain amount of variety now, meaning once you played a campaign you can't expect the AI in the next campaign do the same.
And a very mean wizard named Andy Mac has build in some nasty surprises and "eastereggs".
It's still a canned AI though (what else), but for me it gives me endless hours of joy (dotted with some stains of - well deserved - frustration, because the AI still surprises me once in a while).
Recommended if PBEM not possible.

Sorry, nothing on non-daily turns from my side.

[wdolson]

I have always played one day turns, but some people swear by two day turns, including some from the development team.

The AI for a game like this can't be made perfect, but Andy did make it as tricky and challenging as he could.  When I was playing against the AI I did curse Andy more than a few times.

Bill

[JohnDillworth]

Certainly the first year can be tough. There will be surprised and you might be back on your heels. 2nd or 3rd time through you might want to play scenario 2 (I am presuming you are playing the allies)for a greater challenge. Expect the unexpected and expect to be out of position on more than one occasion.

[Mike Carroll]

Thanks for the feedback. Right now it will have to be against the AI maybe next year I will be in a position workwise to try PBEM again.

I will probably stick to daily turns until I get back into the game and understand all the differences. Someday I would like to try the 2-day just to have thing move a little quicker and add more complexity.

[oldman45]

To increase your "fun factor" there are a couple of places you need the AI to take. Rabaul, Celebes, Rangoon, and maybe Ambon. If you don't the AI gets a little confused and it becomes a turkey shoot.

[Sardaukar]

I swear for 2-day turns against AI. It still gives you necessary control and helps AI, since you can only give orders every other day. Plus slows the pace of operations, which is good. 

[LoBaron]

ORIGINAL: Mike Carroll

Thanks for the feedback. Right now it will have to be against the AI maybe next year I will be in a position workwise to try PBEM again.

I will probably stick to daily turns until I get back into the game and understand all the differences. Someday I would like to try the 2-day just to have thing move a little quicker and add more complexity.

2 day turns are a lot better compared to WitP where you often got the feeling of losing control over 2nd day events.

In AE there are options included that make it easier to keep control even if you cannot adjust settings every day:
- Waypoint system
- Patrol zones (this helps not only on sub/ASW warfare but also on actual TF movement paired with reaction range settings)
- Threat tolerance and route settings

Personally I prefer two day turns because the impact of actions usually is graver. It forces you to play a more conservative game, or at least plan operations
more detailed and with attention to more diverse and vague threats. The knowledge that your next chance of intervention is 48 hours away brings the game closer to reality.
The pucker factor increases too, more so in PBEM.

1 day turns are just too tactical for my taste.

[Alpha77]

AI is good (for the Japanese) let´s say roughly in 41/42 (means offensive), but then it goes downhill (depending on how big ships and aircraft you destryoed of course). It still tries in my game to do offensive naval actions but choses the wrong locations sometimes. Otherwise it goes to defensive posture which is good (historical).

AI gets some bonuses as well:More plane production, "teleporting" ships to form TFs, help in preparing for targets (much faster than human player).... and depending on scenario also some more resources and boost in research.

Overall the AI is good I would say, always keep in mind however the limitations in such a complex "game" or better simulation. No idea of the Allied AI though.