I noticed the pre 8.0 poll list, I don't have much to add except I'd like tiny/swarmer ships to get a buff. Anyway, since there is an expansion planned I thought I'd throw some ideas out there and ask what sort of AI-types and ships people would like to see.



AI-type: Developing

A medium AI that begins as a random easy,

upgrades to a random medium, after 2h -(AIP - 100) min

upgrades to a random hard. after 4h -(AIP - 200) min

(by switching main/adding a secondary AI type or simply unlocking a set of bonuses that mirror some of the AI types - change wave behaviour, fleetship unlocks etc.)



I quite like dynamic difficulty, ways to encourage playing with every tool in the game and pain in moderation. Talked before about probing attacks and an AI that reacts slightly differently to you. With this idea you'd have to do the learning. AIP increases would be filled with fear as hitting a threshold would permanently upgrade the AI and you wouldn't always know instantly what changed, they'd keep those captive settlements, unlocked ships and guardians but gain something new. Rather than unlocking one ship at a time it could unlock all the raiding ships in one swoop or *cringe* plant an exogalactic wormhole over your homeworld.

The new AI-type could be chosen based on time of upgrade. With upgrade Time itself modified by AI-difficulty and hastened by a raised AIP (so you could go back half an hour and change the results by taking a world, or not taking a world).

I call it a medium because you would have quite a long period of grace before feeling the pain of a harder AI type and presenting it this way makes you more likely to actually play against a scorched earth for example (it makes more sense too that the AI would use the scary hard responses only after you've taken some territory).

I admit it sounds like an AI type that could be painful to play against and kill you horribly if you wasted your time (but it does so in a more finite way than simply raising the AIP every 5 mins). Thoughts? is it possible? could it proactively seed whatever buildings the harder AI type would normally start with? (cluster bombers, BHM, Mass drivers etc.)



New AI-type: Really Schizophrenic

AI that switches type every 2h, sometimes a bully, sometimes a turtle, sometimes camouflaged. What's not to like?



New AI-type: Ethereal

Units evade mines/forcefields/attacks/are cloaked when in range of a new beach-head structure. Not as harsh as a standard beach head but certainly dangerous. Adds "Ethereal generator/shield/cloaker" to normal waves. (or simply provides a major speed and armour boost to nearby ships)



New ship types:

(I like the mantis'd Necromancer suggestion)



Energy Drain - provides considerable energy when in enemy territory, for AI it may just give you a blackout.

Teleporting Shield - has no weapons but 1m health and teleports

Dark ship - projects a dark aura that protects against light (photon lances)

Shield Stealer - had a small shield module that doesn't auto-build or repair, vampiric, damage multiplier against shields (structural?)

Swarm leader - has an attack boost from every nearby swarmer-hull type and boosts their armour

Energy collector - absorbs energy attacks, lasers, photon lance, 20s reload time, damage increased from attacks up to 20x for next shot (a starship)

Hopper - has a short-range teleport but very low base speed, stronger weapons than normal teleporting units, hops about killing things

Projector - uses translocating rail-cannons on friendly targets to send nearby ships across a gravity well

