AI question

[neoiq5719]

Is not news that many people want a stronger AI to have something more challenging and all that but, is it my impression or i might be mistaken but shouldnt the AI start with the upgrade of cities?. It doesnt matter how intelligent you make a game if in the ends it doesnt have that much power to show it. When u get to the later stages of the game u just feels u can take any army even being outnumbered.
I think the AI should have this because unless this is addressed we will be having the same discussion about how easy the game is and eventually how BORING it has become.

[nikolai1962]

Giving the AI factions extra buildings through the campaign script is a good and easy way of helping the AI out. I do it a lot when modding. I first make all the factions a lot poorer in the strat file and then add stuff in the campaign script for all the AI factions. Works well.

[sapi]

I'd have to disagree.

For a modder, that's a good solution; but a dev should focus on fixing the problem (the way the campaign AI spends money and its inability to save) rather than the symptoms (low level cities).

It's not a bad idea, but imo it's not the right one for the devs to focus on.

[Foz]

I'd have to disagree.

For a modder, that's a good solution; but a dev should focus on fixing the problem (the way the campaign AI spends money and its inability to save) rather than the symptoms (low level cities).

It's not a bad idea, but imo it's not the right one for the devs to focus on.

I agree. If it's possible for a human to play the game well, then it is largely possible to make AI play the game on the same level. After all your decisions are based on something, and in a game like this that something is largely tangible - some surefire method you follow, or some particular way you react to a given situation. These reactions and decisions determine what and how you build, recruit, and in general how you go about successfully playing the game. The idea, then, is not to help the AI by giving it freebies, but to actually make it play more like a human by determining how players make the decisions they do. In the end this all boils down to mathematics. Somehow, when I have to decide what to build, I arrive at a clear choice by weighing different factors and ultimately deciding the relative importance of each possible choice using the information I have. So in theory the AI can mimic this by applying a formula that takes factors, weights them, and uses them to determine an importance value for each option. The whole thing sounds easy I know... but it's really not. Human thought is REALLY complex stuff! In the end though, I'd much rather have developers spending time simulating player logic than assigning the AI arbitrary perks to help it along. Those perks are simple enough to add at any given point, and if it falls on the members of the modding community to do that, I'd still much rather that than having the community try to invent AI decision-making logic. It seems only natural for devs to work hardest on the things that the community will not be able to change at all, and the things they can do that the community largely cannot...

[Katana]

Somehow, when I have to decide what to build, I arrive at a clear choice by weighing different factors and ultimately deciding the relative importance of each possible choice using the information I have. So in theory the AI can mimic this by applying a formula that takes factors, weights them, and uses them to determine an importance value for each option.

indeed, assuming the values are weighted correctly, the ai would have perfect information and hence be able to make perfectly rational choices, and wax the average player.

[ieyeasu]

indeed, assuming the values are weighted correctly, the ai would have perfect information and hence be able to make perfectly rational choices, and wax the average player.

Depends on what's deemed "rational".

I think what you'd do is set certain goals for the computer, the way a player does. A player builds a building because "Hey, I need to plan for my order situation when this city gets big" or "Hey, I want to build Janissary Musketeers here". So you set up those goals dependent on a myriad of factors: income, military situation, who your generals are, what faction you are, and go from there...

Excuse me while I wax vaguely on into the night...