Should improving battlefield ai

**Swoosh So** · 03-17-2003, 16:12

hmm

**Swoosh So** · 03-17-2003, 16:41

I dont think the ai improved much in mtw, dont the people who program the ai ever watch online games? i mean stop those missle units when they get in range and fire, dont attack hand to hand untill the missle battle has run for a while especially if u have superior missle units, now is that so hard? i play custom battles alot and get the hump when the ai just marches straight for me, then jumps around like a newbie. In single player its worse hardly any frontal attacks it tries to walk every unit around your spearwall while getting shot to bits how dumb

**Acronym** · 03-17-2003, 22:11

The ai needs much improvement, even on hardest it's like playing a newb. The AI always shuffles around their missle units while under fire, and never form a missle line, resulting in heavy casualties. Not only that, sometimes during a missle war with the AI they will march around some melee units back and forth under missle fire, for no apparent reason, it only causes them casualties.

**Aelwyn** · 03-18-2003, 01:32

Sometimes in order to get my MTW fix I am forced to play custom battles, since the only ones online sometimes seem to be 1v1 or 2v2 99k florin games, or other such games that make me not even want to play. So I play custom battles....which aren't any better. Whats with the AI running inf and cav units up to their archers? Is it to their missles don't get rushed? I assume thats it, but seriously, what is a person going to do at that point? Pick apart the infantry with missles. Its just not necessary.

**Alastair II** · 03-18-2003, 07:12

Aelwyn, maybe you're not looking hard enough, because nearly every time I go online there's at least one 25k or 15k game about to start, and if they're full, then all I have to do is wait for about five minutes while asking for a 15k game (I can't host, firewall), and then I get a game. So you might try that.

On the AI, unless it can get up to the level of at least a middling MP player, I think it shouldn't be improved, as it provides much challenge to the SP-only goer (it was hard until I started MP). Also, there are many in SP who like to win and don't mind no challenge. Therefore, I think it shouldn't be improved.

**Stormer** · 03-18-2003, 21:26

yes the AI must be improved doing ambushes and try to act human like as in flanks and makeing defensiveive postions on mountins.

**Spino** · 03-19-2003, 03:27

Improving the AI ranks number one on my list. The Total War series are overwhelmingly about the single player experience and therefore greater weight should have been placed on providing a more capable AI opponent. On the other hand this is the TOTAL WAR series and I can see why CA decided to make the strategic AI in STW and MTW so single minded in its pursuit of conflict. I guess the problem lies in the fact that many of us wanted to play a Civilization-like strategic game as well and felt somewhat cheated when we realized the AI wanted nothing more than to provide us with constant combat instead of pursuing more realistic and sensible strategies.

Overall I would have to say that as it stands, the strategic AI needs much more work than the tactical AI. There's too much to cover here but when it comes down to it MTW's strategic AI seems too hell bent on fighting multi-front wars and painting itself into a corner. This is somewhat understandable for your basic Conquer the map campaign but it does not work well at all for the Glorious Achievment campaign. Much of the problem is rooted in the crude and simplistic diplomatic model which CA has assured us will be addressed in RTW. On the other hand MTW's tactical AI is a classic case of 'close but no cigar'. It seems so close to doing the right thing but never carries through with a sensible decision. I'm sure all of us have lost count of those battles we should have lost but won simply because the AI failed to press home the attack instead of timidly tumbling headfirst into failure. Relevant to this is the 'indecisive dance of infamy' which is probably the most glaring weakness of the tactical AI.

Regardless of the spectacular eye candy and plethora of new features that are sure to be found in RTW if the AI is not markedly improved over previous installments then I will definitely restrain myself from recommending RTW to fellow gamers as heartily as I did with STW and MTW.

**Elwe** · 03-19-2003, 06:59

And all the hardcore MP players will complain about the AI no-matter what until an AI can be designed that perfectly emulates a human mind... Don't hold your breath.

Sorry, I do agree the AI needs some good tweaking.. but do you have any idea how complex the programming of an artificial intelligence really gets?

You need to suck it in and accept the fact that an AI opponent just won't come up to scratch with a human... at least not likely in our lifetime.

Cheers.

**Acronym** · 03-19-2003, 10:25

As for tactical AI, would it really require a lot of cpu power to use a chess-like AI? Sort of treating each unit of say 100 men like a chess piece, coming up with the best placement and maneuvers for a certain unit, depending on the type of unit and where the opponent places his units. If it requires too much processing, maybe only run a routine like that every so often.

I'm not sure, my programming skills never went beyond simple graphics programs and text games.

**Nowake** · 03-19-2003, 12:24

I think Acronym has a good ideea, but you would have to adapt in order to give a big importance to the geographical, weather, morale etc. factors ...

so ... no can do ...

**Swoosh So** · 03-19-2003, 13:47

Well the count looks like its going toward the ai being improved as v important i hope ca take note

Which programer is our contact here at the org for rome total war?