Is there a reason for Hardcoded limits?

[Polemists]

This is espically true if you watch the tactics video.

The AI now has a plot. So when you go at them, they say, ahh, I have this many calvary, this many infantry I am going to try and do this formation

Then if you scatter them they are going to try and reform or try a new formation.


For formational combat with lines and formations marching, it is rather difficult at 10,000 let alone at 20,000, 30,000, etc.

I don't know coding but I do know science, a controlled variable is always easier to test then a variety of uncontrolled ones.

[Allu X]

This is espically true if you watch the tactics video.

The AI now has a plot. So when you go at them, they say, ahh, I have this many calvary, this many infantry I am going to try and do this formation

Then if you scatter them they are going to try and reform or try a new formation.


For formational combat with lines and formations marching, it is rather difficult at 10,000 let alone at 20,000, 30,000, etc.

I don't know coding but I do know science, a controlled variable is always easier to test then a variety of uncontrolled ones.

But won't this make the AI become too predictable and scripted?

[Polemists]

Yes and no.

If I give Army A 30 different formations depending on 30 different scenarios, with 30 different fall back scenarios. You've got a plethroa of options, plus the AI can constantly switch back and forth.


In previous TW games the formula was simple. Frontal attack, flank if possible, charge calavary against either weaker units or bull rush your general.

Now, if you do frontal attack it has maybe 30 or 50 formations to choose from. It can garrison, it can build fortifications, it can also the map. High and low terrain, certain ambush poistions, and slowly the strategies build. Not to mention this is not simple numbers, the AI may see you like to use horse charges in the flank and suddenly mid game switch it's strategy.

Where you once had one strategy it may now have 5 different options of how to employ that strategy.

Combine this with the fact that factions are unique and they are going off historical stratgies there could be thousands of options.

Now if they let 30,000 troops on the board, what strategy can the AI use? Formation loses all meaning at that many numbers as it is merely a brawl. It would have to subcode, by dividing units into groups or armies, and then use those armies in formations. Which the Ai is currently not designed to do.

The AI is designed to fight a player on the single player campaign, possibly with allies or reinforcements on either side. It is not designed to field 30,000 troops against 10,000 troops.

Even if a pc could handle it, the AI would become confused and the combat would just be a mess of chaos.

[ratbarf]

I don't know, with formation AI wouldn't be easier to make the differrent groups work in tandem than if they tried to create one giant formation and then micromanage it? I thought they would have programmed to AI to deal multiple armies and splits of armies at once. I would think several small independant formations within an army would be easier to manage as all they would have to do is support eachother?

[Flavius Silvanus]

Look at Oklahoma when they ran the Wishbone. You knew they would run the Triple Option, but few people could actually stop it.

[Greyblades]

Look at Oklahoma when they ran the Wishbone. You knew they would run the Triple Option, but few people could actually stop it.

No offense intended but you may want to find a better example. I'm not totaly sure but i doubt that many people here fully understand either the Football lingo or the game you were reffering to.

Oh and welcome to the board.

[Marius Dynamite]

I think from a programming point of view its poor practice when coding not to put in limits.

Maybe I'm wrong but if I logic it out..

if you only want to only 4 units then you only need 2 bits worth of space for each unit..

00 - Unit 1
01 - Unit 2
10 - Unit 3
11 - Unit 4

You only need 8 bits of storage space.

If you want to set your limit higher then your adding on more bits. If you not going to use the extra slots you make by adding a bit, then your slowing things down and wasting space for nothing.

000 - Unit 1
001 - Unit 2
010 - Unit 3
100 - Unit 4
110 - Empty
101 - Empty
111 - Empty
011 - Empty

To store the same 4 Units your now needing 12 bits of storage.

I would imnagine in the actual game each unit required a much larger amount of space so the difference of adding more units, and the consequential bit length would mean a lot larger memory requirement.

Like I say I'm not 100% sure on this stuff so maybe someone who's into programming will correct me.