Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

I can't remember if Rollo or M.B. had got either the Vikings or Aquilians to use transport troop ships in fleets, but when I was first getting the AI to invade planets I was finding that in order for a troop transpost to get included into a fleet it had to be designed with a normal hull instead of one of the transport hulls.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

1st time around the transport joined a single ship fleet - and moved towards the target planet, unfortunately the mini fleet was intercepted and destroyed. Last nite - same thing happened - but this time the transport disbanded from the fleet and attacked the planet on its own and was wiped out by planetary defenses....

I also got the impression that the drop troops ability didnt have anything to do with the transports invading.

Whether a troop transport functions correctly seems to be based on how many troops are being built and are available. I did see the transport moving around the system gathering up troops prior to attempting to invade, something I have not seen the AI do very often..

I wish there was a way to define fleet content - min number and types of ships for a fleet before it goes into action.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

AJC:
"but this time the transport disbanded from the fleet and attacked the planet on its own and was wiped out by planetary defenses...."

This behaviour is right: first the ships with attack capabilities, try to defeat the planet’s defences, and if they have success, the transport with the troops try to take over the planet.

Atraikius: I did my tests using standard ships as transport troops. Really I don't know if the AI have problems using Transports instead standard ships.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

Wasn't there something else mentioned about invaded planets not being set to use the individual ministers as well? (As in, nothing ever gets built there and such...)

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

MB
Problem was the fleet didnt try to soften up the planet at all, instead the fleet of warships stopped 1 square away from the target planet and then ran away. Then the transport went in all by itself without support of any kind and got wacked in the first few turns of strategic combat... How do we solve that problem?


[This message has been edited by AJC (edited 01 November 2001).]

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

AJC:
Hmmm. Have you a savefile?
First, you need to be sure about that the fleet had the strategy "Capture Planet" (usually, the AI auto-change the fleet strategy automatically to "Capture Planet", after 2 turns if a troop transport has joined to the fleet).
Second, check the capture planet strategy.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

Sinapus - I believe it was Rollo and MB that ran into that problem, found it had to do with the AI acting differently when it started as a player controlled race, and then had all the AI turned on for it compared to starting the game under computer control.

MB - I had only tried the transport ships in the beginning and they would just sit there or try to attack alone - so I swithed to a warship style thinking they would be included in fleets if the AI thought of them as warships, which worked. Wasn't too worried about the loss of cargo space, had been finding that with a 5-10 bonus in ground combat, about 150 - 200 small troops with 2 ground cannons 3, and some armor can typically take a planet with no defending troops with a pop. of about 2000. A cruiser or battle cruiser with cargo 3 can easily cary that many.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

The Capture planet strategy hasnt been changed from the stock Version. I dont have a saved file - although Its easy enough to recreate this behavior. It does it every time.

I wonder if the Drop Troops ability is affecting the way troop transports behave. I have not removed that from the transport ship yet. I will do that tonite after work and post the results.

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>posted by Sinapus:
Wasn't there something else mentioned about invaded planets not being set to use the individual ministers as well? (As in, nothing ever gets built there and such...)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, the AI will not use captured items, if you play as a human with full minister control. You have to turn on the ministers for the captured stuff to work. If the AI is a computer player there is no problem.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>posted by Atraikius:
I can't remember if Rollo or M.B. had got either the Vikings or Aquilians to use transport troop ships in fleets, but when I was first getting the AI to invade planets I was finding that in order for a troop transports to get included into a fleet it had to be designed with a normal hull instead of one of the transport hulls.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I also use normal hulls for the Viking troop transports for various reasons. I can see why it would be a problem to get transport hulls included into fleets. First, they take longer to fill. Second and more important, they are slower than normal hulls. I have seen many times where a troop transport with the "Join fleet" order is chasing a fleet to get included. Well, if they are slower they don't have a good chance of catching up.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>posted by AJC:
Problem was the fleet didnt try to soften up the planet at all, instead the fleet of warships stopped 1 square away from the target planet and then ran away. Then the transport went in all by itself without support of any kind and got wacked in the first few turns of strategic combat... How do we solve that problem?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Did you watch the combat replay in detail? Can you describe the ships behavior a little bit more, what did the warships do exactly? Without knowing any better, this sounds to me like: 1) warships move in to destroy weapon platforms, 2) warships get damaged and have no weapons left, they retreat. 3) troop transport tries to charge the planet with weapon platforms still intact (it does that, if there are no ships with weapons around. If it survives and takes over the planet, the WPs will be taken over as well). 4) troop transport gets whacked as well.

Perhaps, this is what happened. Can you recall that?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>posted by AJC:
The Capture planet strategy hasnt been changed from the stock Version. I dont have a saved file - although Its easy enough to recreate this behavior. It does it every time.
I wonder if the Drop Troops ability is affecting the way troop transports behave. I have not removed that from the transport ship yet. I will do that tonite after work and post the results.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And, any more luck this time? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

I hope I could help a little bit,
Rollo

Re: SOLVED AI TROOP INVASIONS
 

Well this time I got better results - and at this point I am not sure if it is because I removed the drop troops ability, I am starting to wonder.

One thing I am finding is - the stock Default_AI_Construction_Vehicle file does not create enough troops and troop transports to trigger the AI to invade with troops. I have found so far that if I have at least 100 troops, laying around on various planets, and a troop transport - the ai will begin preparing for invasion and eventually try.

This time the Troop transport did assault the planet with the entire fleet!
Fleet Still lost though. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon9.gif

In the previous test, I had changed the design of the troop transport to contain the drop troop ability as suggested. Thats when the transport Broke away from the fleet completely -
The fleet of warships returned to my homeworld - and the troop transport continued onwards to attack the planet all by its lonesome...

[This message has been edited by AJC (edited 05 November 2001).]