What I always enjoyed in AoK was to wall in early. Then scouts could probe, and probe, and probe and find just the same old walls--but no towncenter. Didn't stop the attacks, of course, but it really made it hard for them to choose a place to hit when I threw down that second layer of walls and gates.

The good old days.

Unfortunately it isn't just the AI anymore, in AoE 3 the whole concept of a card system ruins the game. As Russians I can get some 40+ Streltets in the first fifteen minutes of playtime without paying, and that's in addition to the ones I create! Talk about your overkill. Soon as you unlock Mercs, at least for the Russians, it gives you something to do with your stockpiles to reinforce your amazing rushing army. (Micromanaging for the boring win...)

I haven't played AoE3 since its release, I hate its balance so much.

What I've been looking into for AI lately is fuzzy AI, when combined with things like state machines, or a cousin thereof, it makes for an even better "brain". Not to mention floating point math is really fast on modern systems.

I'm going to have to try something after all this... :roll: I'll have to dig out Phoenix and try it with Lazarus, and hope Andreaz fixes my PNG-8 import bug.