No more flare for devourer golem?

[Oewyn]

The flare indicator that a devourer golem is at a location is no longer visible.  Was this intentional or a mistake?  It really helps me keep track of where it is, and helps me realize when it's time to vacate the premises when it is getting too close.

[x4000]

Yup, this was removed intentionally.  This is something that is always wandering around -- as opposed to being a time-limited mission -- and I felt like it was not something that players would reasonably have access to.

EDIT:  I should note, though, that thoughts are welcome on this.  I can turn the flare back on it people really want.  I'm not sure I am totally in love with that idea, but neither am I married to having it off for sure.  It was just my gut feel that it was not appropriate to have it on.

[Oewyn]

Well, you can still see the golem/trader/dyson-sphere with full fog of war turned on at the beginning of the game (no scouting information).

Maybe there needs to be a warning in the top-left if you have the planet scouted when the golem is 1 hop away from one of your planets.(On second thought, give the warning whenever it is on a planet that is scouted and the ai is on alert.  That way if you have military ships attacking a planet, and the devourer golem is adjacent to that planet, you will still receive a warning.

[x4000]

Well, you can still see the golem/trader/dyson-sphere with full fog of war turned on at the beginning of the game (no scouting information).

Well, that's just another bug -- that won't be the case for long.

Maybe there needs to be a warning in the top-left if you have the planet scouted when the golem is 1 hop away from one of your planets.(On second thought, give the warning whenever it is on a planet that is scouted and the ai is on alert.  That way if you have military ships attacking a planet, and the devourer golem is adjacent to that planet, you will still receive a warning.

Hmm -- you know, I really like that a lot.  That's better than the flare, and provides good early warning.  That's what I'll do!

[eRe4s3r]

Speaking of the devourer - how exactly does it plot its route? Because i seem to have one following my (running) fleet everywhere it goes - so my problem is not seeing where it goes, my problem is i can't seem to get rid of it anymore - i am actually planning on leading it through all my defenses if it doesn't stop soon (which includes a super fortress = outranges a devourer by factor 3, HAH = yes, i fully intend on killing it if continues to bother me, ancient machines should fear my super firepower.. which isn't yet built*)

[x4000]

Speaking of the devourer - how exactly does it plot its route? Because i seem to have one following my (running) fleet everywhere it goes - so my problem is not seeing where it goes, my problem is i can't seem to get rid of it anymore - i am actually planning on leading it through all my defenses if it doesn't stop soon (which includes a super fortress = outranges a devourer by factor 3, HAH = yes, i fully intend on killing it if continues to bother me, ancient machines should fear my super firepower.. which isn't yet built*)

It's totally random, actually -- it doesn't give any weighting to anything except that it stays off of home planets when possible, if I recall.   So anyway, it's just a coincidence that it is following you!

[eRe4s3r]

Blasted  I seem to be cursed

[x4000]

Blasted  I seem to be cursed

AI War's AI is something of a game of coincidences, incidentally.  Very much like an evolutionary algorithm you find all sorts of "seeming intent" where there really is none.  It's something that people who study genetic algorithms have known for quite some time, but something that is still fairly counterintuitive to the rest of us.  I know I was surprised with the results of that sort of method (half the stories about how smart the AI is in the "This AI Is Awesome" thread are based on this sort of effect). I'll have to write an article about it sometime when I have more time.