How to improve the tactical AI

**R'as al Ghul** · 04-23-2007, 20:20

The AI should be able to outcalculate the player in tactical battles.

It should be able to adjust its own formation and tactics depending on the players units' strength and formation. Before the armies make melee contact the AI should know what the outcome is, because it can just calculate it. Given on the foreseen outcome of the individual matchups it should plan flanking maneuvers and execute them in perfect synchronization with the frontal attack. It should frustrate the hell out of the player because you're never able to catch a skirmishing unit because the AI will always withdraw in the last possible millisecond. It should frustrate the player because it always calculates the higher ground, it always keeps a good formation, it's aware of the importance of the general, it knows the little details of the units better than the player and uses them to its advantage.

On the campaign map it's similar.
The AI should always be the richest and best developed because it knows exactly where the richest provinces and the best trade resources are. Timbuktu? We should've learned that by following an AI merchant. It would build huge trade empires and maintain them. It would use governors to best effect. It's agents wouldn't just linger around your cities achieving nothing, they'd start by sabotaging your entire building structure until they'd valoured up enough to be able to kill all your family and your best generals. It would always attack when you're weakest, with the best possible units available. Siege engines? It would only bring them deliberately to attack castles. In field battles you'd face powerful armies that outtech yours. The composition of the Armies should be balanced but favoring factions' specialties, like Horse Archer heavy armies. (Apropos HA, the most difficult thing for a player to beat should be a HA heavy army because here the AI can really shine in that it can control this bag of flies that 20 independently acting HA are.) The AI should keep with the time in so far as that it disbands old units and replaces them by new ones. It should be the first to field Gunpowder armies and it should show the player how to use a Pike and shot army by destroying the player.

Feel free to add some more shoulds

**RickooClan** · 04-23-2007, 21:04

Outcalculation can be done on game with turn base like chess, but it wont work on the TW battle field at least.

Since even the AI could get the right match out or tactical move against human, it will take times to work that out (different with turn base) and the situation might already be changed while their move is half way done.

**Noir** · 04-23-2007, 21:32

originally posted by RickooClan

Outcalculation can be done on game with turn base like chess, but it wont work on the TW battle field at least.

Since even the AI could get the right match out or tactical move against human, it will take times to work that out (different with turn base) and the situation might already be changed while their move is half way done.

Perhaps you are reffering to the AI of M2TW?

The tactical AI of MTW with tweaking only of available options as far as i understand it is outcalculating the player and is one of the best rushers (if not the best) i've ever seen (including my limited experience in MP) combining all units to a punch that routes even the most melee infantry heavy armies almost 50% of the time after a long series of reloads for the same battle and a few buckets of sweat, blood and tears, in Samurai Wars. His general never rushes needlessly nor risky to the melee, but simply supervises his blitz by adding key touches as engaging just enough to ensue routes in key melee nuclei during the battle.

The player feels at times helpless whether has deployed in a long line or in a tight packing as in the first case it cannot match the AI controlling all units simultaneously and continuously and thus misses many parts of the action including significant flank attacks/charges that are out of his field of vision and is outmatched in speed of maneuvers and overall coordination. In the second the AI uses effectively the ridiculed by M2 players blobbing penalty to take out the player's army by superior match ups as the player's formation essentially proves an obstacle to his own unit maneuvers.

Noir

**Puzz3D** · 04-24-2007, 17:31

Originally Posted by RickooClan

Outcalculation can be done on game with turn base like chess, but it wont work on the TW battle field at least.

It does work in TW. If the AI's unit is stronger, it will initiate a frontal attack on your unit. If the AI's unit is equal or weaker, it will initiate a flanking attack. If you take the initiative, you can get favorable matchups against the AI. If you sit back, you are going to get into trouble unless you have some well placed reserve units with which to respond to weak spots or enemy flankers. MTW/VI wasn't the best showcase for the old engine tactical AI because the RPS was weakened in that version.

Originally Posted by RickooClan

Since even the AI could get the right match out or tactical move against human, it will take times to work that out (different with turn base) and the situation might already be changed while their move is half way done.

If you play mtw/vi, you'll see the AI change its plan if the tactical situation changes. For instance, as the attacker the AI will start moving its army laterally into a position to make a flanking attack. If you rotate your army to face the AI's army, it will start moving back the other way to set up an attack on your other flank. If you are persistent about turning your army to face the AI, it will eventually decide to make a frontal attack with only the cav sent to the flanks. If you put your cav on the flanks, it will counter by sending spears to the flanks to attack your cav. If you overcompensate to the outside, the AI will strike at your weakened center. One problem with mtw/vi is that the AI didn't know how to manage fatigue, so the large maps introduced in the mtw/vi campaign weakened the AI as an opponent.