Building an AI that doesn't just cheat with bigger numbers

Most browser strategy games fake "difficulty" by giving the AI more resources. I wanted ORBIS VICTOR's AI to actually behave like a strategist: it evaluates frontlines, stages fleets before committing to an attack, prioritizes targets based on defensibility rather than just picking the weakest planet, and adjusts its whole approach based on difficulty profile rather than just padding stats.

The game itself: turn-based conquest across a galaxy of planets, tactical battles, a tech tree, multiple scenarios, a daily challenge, and a "Universe Conquest" meta-layer for a bigger strategic map if you want more than one match.

It's free, browser-only (no install), and you can play as a guest — no account wall before you get to try it.

Play here: https://orbisvictor.com

Aany feedback — bugs, balance complaints, "this AI move felt cheap" reports — genuinely shapes what we fix next.

hey i tried your game, this brough back the memories of playing master of Orion 1 a very very long time ago, i am a fan of strategy games; but here is some honest feedback: 1. no way to plan route when sending ships eta to destination which should be important strategy element in my opinion 2. no right click menus or controls felt kind of weird for a strategy game 3.  no names of the planets from the main view instead need to click every time i think this is something very basic that should be expected for strategy layer visibility 4. No estimate of enemy fleet strength before engagement should also be a basic feature, otherwise how would somebody make a proper decision which target to attack? 5. no ambient music 6. no tool tips explaining what every stat means - mystery stats no idea what they mean or represent. 7. also victory combat resolution stats make no sence, attacked with 50 ships against much smaller enemy with less bonuses and lost about the same number of ships as the enemy fleet; attached a screen shot with ui overlaps etc;

thank you VERY much for the feedback!!!

for the names -- if i put names on the planters the map will be messy. even now when log of fleets are flying sometimes looks extremly messy. but maybe we can put zoom on the map and then we can see the name - will try to find some solution

No right-click menus - valid point - we can add some small context menu (Attack / Upgrades/tech) or something like this.

No music - big gap - known :) 

for the battles we use simple formula:

in example --> 50 vs 20 (no special bonuses)

attackerBase = 50 × 10 = 500

defenderBase = 20 × 12 = 240

+ defender home position 0.20 → defender ≈ 240 × 1.20 = 288

(assume random ≈ 1.0, no attack/def stats)

attackerFinal ≈ 500

defenderFinal ≈ 288

total ≈ 788

winMargin ≈ 500/788 ≈ 0.635

survivalRate ≈ 0.3 + 0.5×0.635 ≈ 0.617

attacker survivors ≈ floor(50 × 0.617) = 30

attacker losses ≈ 20

defender losses ≈ 20

no tool tips explaining what every stat means - mystery stats no idea what they mean or represent - we have difficulty to add everything on the screen - any suggestions are welcome.

thank you again for evaluating our game!!!!!!