Battle AI Blog

[peacemaker]

Peh. I just want an AI that can stand and shoot, not cluster up 10 feet from my men and do the chicken dance. It doesn't have to outsmart me, just make me believe that it isn't as stupid as it may actually be.

[Nobunaga]

CA just fails... so badly...

And no it ain't rocket science it is much much easier than that...CA just can't make good AI so there marketing policy is to tell poeple that a good AI is not doable

Just look at the campain map AI for example and compare it with that of paradox games and you will see why CA fails...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Peh. I just want an AI that can stand and shoot, not cluster up 10 feet from my men and do the chicken dance. It doesn't have to outsmart me, just make me believe that it isn't as stupid as it may actually be.

'Zactly. No one's saying we expect the AI to outwit us at every turn. But at least be plausible. I didn't lose a whole lot in MTW but that's because I picked my battles when I could, in an attempt to bring more and better troops to bear against the AI. Not because I could just plow through their flanks with cav and insta-rout or whichever cluster the AI is engaging.

[Wishazu]

Shogun Total War for the win

The last game they did with at least reasonable AI was RTW: Barbarian Invasion. I had high hopes for ETW but since I bought it at launch I have yet to finish my first campaign, in fact I havnt played it for about 6 months. I thought that perhaps the AI would improve over time with patches etc. but if that is going to happen it looks like I`ll have a long wait...

I have gone back to playing Shoggy again and even after all this time it is still an engaging all round experience. I actually lose battles from time to time

[antisocialmunky]

Yeah, the indecisiveness of the AI is the msot annoying thing. Its a weird edge condition between two states that the AI alternates between or a anti-missile behavior. It first popped up in RTW(custom battle archer vs archer) and plagued every unit in MIITW. Now its still present in ETW...

[HopAlongBunny]

Shogun Total War for the win

I actually lose battles from time to time

This is all that needs to be said. The AI in STW/MTW/VI was capable of winning a battle from time to time. It made you pay for not paying attention.

Is that too much to ask for from a battle simulation?

[antisocialmunky]

I also think that each battle in thsoe games mattered more. You win a battle, there are consequences. In RTW++, you wade through hordes of units all the time. I actually finished STW campaigns... lol.

[AggonyDuck]

The problem is that while the AI keeps improving the complexity of the battles is increasing exponentially, making it harder and harder for the AI to be competitive. Missile-based combat has always been a weakness for the AI and it hasn't really been improved much since Shogun. That's why the decision to move into the gunpowder age was a pretty risky gambit as they had to more or less start from scratch. At the moment the battles are so complex that the AI is in a perpetual state of confusion. It seems like it just has too many options to choose from and thus fails to select the proper response (if it selects any at all).

I must admit I'd hope that they'd go back to their roots and understand the elegance of simplistic design. What made Shogun and MTW have such a relatively challenging AI was the simplicity of the engine and unit selections. The more complex the series has become the more the AI has struggled to adapt. It would truly be interesting to see what a modern day AI might pull off on modernized Shogun with a Risk-style campaign map and relatively few simple unit types.

[gollum]

Originally posted by AggonyDuck(y?)
The problem is that while the AI keeps improving the complexity of the battles is increasing exponentially, making it harder and harder for the AI to be competitive. Missile-based combat has always been a weakness for the AI and it hasn't really been improved much since Shogun. That's why the decision to move into the gunpowder age was a pretty risky gambit as they had to more or less start from scratch. At the moment the battles are so complex that the AI is in a perpetual state of confusion. It seems like it just has too many options to choose from and thus fails to select the proper response (if it selects any at all).

I must admit I'd hope that they'd go back to their roots and understand the elegance of simplistic design. What made Shogun and MTW have such a relatively challenging AI was the simplicity of the engine and unit selections. The more complex the series has become the more the AI has struggled to adapt. It would truly be interesting to see what a modern day AI might pull off on modernized Shogun with a Risk-style campaign map and relatively few simple unit types.

Agreed with every word. They wont do it though because it makes them lots and lots of money. Its the complexity and graphics that sell not strategic depth and challenge. They had aimed for this and succeded with RTW and there is no turning back. TW will remain flashy and mediocre until its concept has been milked to the point that there is no more interest in it.

[antisocialmunky]

The problem is that while the AI keeps improving the complexity of the battles is increasing exponentially, making it harder and harder for the AI to be competitive. Missile-based combat has always been a weakness for the AI and it hasn't really been improved much since Shogun. That's why the decision to move into the gunpowder age was a pretty risky gambit as they had to more or less start from scratch. At the moment the battles are so complex that the AI is in a perpetual state of confusion. It seems like it just has too many options to choose from and thus fails to select the proper response (if it selects any at all).

I must admit I'd hope that they'd go back to their roots and understand the elegance of simplistic design. What made Shogun and MTW have such a relatively challenging AI was the simplicity of the engine and unit selections. The more complex the series has become the more the AI has struggled to adapt. It would truly be interesting to see what a modern day AI might pull off on modernized Shogun with a Risk-style campaign map and relatively few simple unit types.

Yes it is crap with gunpowder weapons. But it doesn't mean it should also be crap at drawing a line of dudes, marching them into range, decide to shoot or charge...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

It would truly be interesting to see what a modern day AI might pull off on modernized Shogun with a Risk-style campaign map and relatively few simple unit types.

And they could still go crazy with the graphics to attract the people who are dis- hey shiny!