Battle AI Challenge

[Lord of the Isles]

Why...because the level of complexity is not even comparable, in any sense.

You simply can't compare the level of diplomatic programming in ETW to STW. It's not even close.

Likewise, the Strategic AI or Battle AI are worlds apart now from what they were in STW or MTW.

Therefore to say that STW Strategic AI is the same as ETW Strategic AI and therefore now we can begin to compare is absolutely not possible.

Please note I'm never going to reference eye candy i.e. graphics in this discussion, even though battle mechanics are again technically poles apart when you compare STW as 2D sprites with 3D animation.

In relation to your comment I think it would be more accurate to say that the development and progression we have seen from STW to ETW in complexity has not been mirrored by an AI that has followed the same level of development.

What difficulty are you playing on?

The thread title is Battle AI Challenge - I think everyone else is talking about that, so I'm not sure where Diplomacy or Campaign map AI is relevant (though I'm happy to say that I agree that the change from 2D to 3D campaign maps really made the campaign AI much much harder to do).

But for the Battle AI, I cannot see how the move from Shogun -> ... -> ETW has introduced huge extra layers of complexity. We have units, we have a battlefield, we have an enemy. We can move, attempt to engage, fire projectiles, defend, support, flank. We have cavalry, artillery, infantry (some melee, some missile). Ok, the battlefields have got bigger and we have sieges now, but aside from that I'm struggling to identify what strange new things have made Battle AI such a different beast.

You'll need to do better than say it can't be compared. Why can't it be compared?