Campaign AI

[Jambo]

Quoted from this thread (http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotalwarfrm55.showMessage?topicID=5972.topic) over at .com:


After playing about 20 turns as the French I must say I am dissapointed with the campaign AI. No one has contended my expansion throughout Europe and I have been able to take all the peripheral rebel settlements thus becomming one of the strongets faction in the World. I formed an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire and made trade agreements with everyone else. As an experiment I left Bruges and Antwerp in the hands of the rebels to give the english a chance to strengthen their foothold on the Eurpoean mainland, but even after 17 tuns all they have done is leave Caen with a large army to setup ambush in the forsest outside Caen, only to return again into Caen and just generally fiddle around inside their own region. England has not even expanded on the British Isles and are now a crippled and bankrupt nation since they have practically strangled themselves by doing NOTHING at all. I doubt I shall ever have the pleasure of fighting their elite longbowmen in the Hundred Years War.

I am playing on Medium campaign dífficulty - obviously this is total easy-mode like the RTW, so I guess its time to start a new game on Very Hard and boost the AI-controlled factions economically. I'll do this to keep the campain game challenging, but it is dissapointing that we have still have to apply this band-aid to make it appear like the AI is playing better.

The battle AI is VASTLY improved over RTW - too bad if the campain AI remains the same. The game looks great and I love it - but if I had to chose between improved graphics or improved campaign AI, I would take AI any day of the week. AI is what makes and breaks the game in the long run.

I might be too quick to judge the campaign AI after just 20 turns and I really hope that I am wrong and that the AI can still manage to put up a decent fight by way of Articifial INTELLIGENCE and not just an unfair financial advantage granted by playing on Very Hard.

It's weird because I actually noted the same thing. I've played around 50 turns as the Scots and the English have so far done nothing at all to expand - they've taken no rebel settlements - Caernarvon (sp?), York, Dublin, Antwerp, Brussels. All of these were left for me to take at my leisure. This is on VH/VH.

Let's hope this day 0 patch also fixes the passive campaign AI...

[NagatsukaShumi]

Playing a game as the Scottish on Medium mode currently, can't say I'm having the same problem. England stabbed me in the back 8 turns in due to not having a navy at the time, they blockaded my port and sent a force towards York (which I had hurridly placed a siege over), of course I've now pushed them out of the British Isles but they have had no chance to re-enforce the island due to me blocking their navy off, they have several large armies on the European mainland which they have tried shipping over once or twice in about 8 turns.

The French remain my ever loving allies, expanded gently and currently have a large army on the border of Caen as the English look to make their last stand after roughly 40 turns.

Sometimes a faction sits back, but I've noticed thats there are some who go for it again, so for me the Campaign AI is better than it ever has been imo, was ALOT worse in other versions of the series.

[Jambo]

Sorry I should have made my own post a bit clearer. I'm only talking about the AI taking rebel cities; not inter-faction feuding, which seems fine to me too.

[-Isapostolos-]

I too was impressed with the AI when comapring it to the other games playing on hard/hard. It's alot more active and isn't just standing around. When it's not expanding, there is a reason for it: strong rebels in the region or threat from other factions. In my game egypt has taken most of the middle east, poland is expanding eastward quite fast (their in the ukraine) France has taken most of France and is looking for more I fear on my border (im HRE). Denmark has taken Sweden and Hamburg. Venice lost Venice to me in a war they started because the took their chances on the poorly defended city of Vienna, but took Zagreb.

I'm in turn 25.

One problem I noticed with AI is that I think it tends to run around with its faction leaders a bit to carelessly on the campaign map. I captured the Doge twice because he was travelling from one place to another, which gave me an easy ransom.

Battle AI is good. I lost 2 battles out of 6. One siege and one bridge battle (I was the defender).

[Basileus]

I played with the English when i tested the game a bit, the French preety much steam rolled over all the rebel provinces and became a super power and started making vassals of evry bordering faction..after that i was next and they keept me on the defence for several turns. The Danes seem to be able to expand good and become powerfull aswell.

I have not played much but all in all it seems good so far.

[Mordred]

Try vh/vh.
As Venice I am now at war with HRE, Venice, Milan, Byzantines, Turks.
Denmark, Poland and Egypt are expanding fast.
Hanging on my fingertips.
Managed to get my cardinal elected though.
Although I expand slow, I am also pushed back from time to time,
which never happened in RTW.
The AI makes much more sense now.

[Lusted]

In my current camapigns as the Sicilians i've seen no problems with the ai expanding and taking rebel provinces. Portugal has taken Zaragoza, Moors took Tunis, i've taken Florence, Ajaccio, and the one on Sardinia.

The Milanese attacked Florence after i moved most of my troops out of there. The Pope then assigned me a mission to blockade Genoa to bring the Milanese back on-side. After i'd done the mission the Milanese accepted a ceasfire readily.

Early on i took Durazzo, but after annoying the Byzantines in diplomatic negotiations, they came and took it from me.

So all in all i'd have to say the ai is doing much more sensible things now, and is holding alliances much better.

[Jambo]

Lusted, can the same be said for AI England, Scotland and Russia?

Mordred, I'm playing VH/VH.

I'm Scotland on VH/VH and I have managed to take Antwerp, Dublin, York, Inverness and Caernarvon without any competition from England! Conservatism of factions attacking other factions is one thing, conservatism attacking rebel settlements is nonsensical.

[geala]

I'm playing as HRE on H/H and both the Danes and Polish catched the nearby rebel towns before I awoke and was near enough. Hamburg is now Danish and Magdeburg is Polish but oddly nobody seems interested in Praha.

[Lusted]

Lusted, can the same be said for AI England, Scotland and Russia?

From the brief English campaign i did the Scots took Inverness before taking York from me as i only had 1 unit guarding it. Ill do toggle_fow(if it works in M2Tw) in my campaign as the Sicilians and see what those factions are up to.

[Lusted]

Here you go, this is what my campaign looks like:

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9080/campmapky8.jpg

Hardly passive ai is it?

[TB666]

And here is mine.
https://img299.imageshack.us/img299/1779/111np0.jpg
I'm the danes.

[Barny Bangs]

Playing as the English on H/H I hardly have the impression of passive AI either.

The Scots weren't any problem at all, as I wiped them out as quickly as possible.

The French are between a rock and a hard place. After my armies taking Rennes, they tried to expand south, but a huge rebel army kicked their butts. On the second try, they ran into another huge army, this time from the Moors, who have a rather strong alliance with Portugal and Spain.

Venice expanded rather quickly eastward, while Milan headed north.

The Danes and Sicilians are the most aggressive factions, with the Danish taking Hamburg, Antwerpes, Brugge and taking a stab at Paris and Caen, while Sicily works their way up the Italian peninsula and even attacking the pope near Rome. Both factions got excommunicated rather quickly with all other factions seizing the opportunity and figthing them in Hamburg (HRE), Neaples (myself, Venice and Milan).

Quite a lot happening, it's hard to keep a check on who hates who and how to profit of it.