Re: Battle AI hooks
 

Well I already said I like your suggestion as well :)

I'd be happy to see *any* improvement.

Re: Battle AI hooks
 

YES YES YES

Maybe there could be an even simpler version of this. Somewhere in the source code there are probably some numbers--just ordinary, typed-out integers that are fed into the spell-selection AI algorithms. Let the game optionally read each of these from a mod. This is probably easy. I don't care how old the code is or how much they hate changing it--even so, it's probably still easy! Right? Maybe it'd take a few hours to invent a new mod command for each parameter. It might be a hassle. But how could it be hard? Well, maybe it could be. There's probably some way in which it could be. But I bet it's not!

And if every spell's priority parameters are represented as raw numbers like this, then this one, allegedly easy change would solve a big bunch of the tactical AI problems. Well, maybe it's not that simple. Maybe there are special algorithms for every spell, rather than special integers. But still, those special algorithms probably have raw numbers in them somewhere that they could probably pretty easily be taught to read from a mod.

Or maybe it would actually be easier to add a new system ("add a new system", always the badge of doom in a suggestion for game changes) to let players just specify one new number per spell. Just one little multiplier that'd modify the spell's priority just before the "last moment" in the prioritizing algorithm. Like, if Decay (spell #639) is cast too much, and Horror Mark (#637) too much, and Prison of Fire (#657) too little, then you might put in your mod:

#modifyspellpriority 639 60
#modifyspellpriority 637 75
#modifyspellpriority 657 150

where the latter numbers are multipliers in the form of percentages. That would be awesome.

I claim that in general, spells that work against magic resistance are used too much, and extremely powerful death-and-disablement spells are used too much, while spells with a small, sure benefit are used too rarely. A demilich in a nation that has researched Disintegrate is sometimes weaker than a D2 mage in a nation that only knows Raise Skeletons, because of this. Raise Skeletons is sometimes much better than Disintegrate, and Drain Life is often also better, but the mage will usually choose Disintegrate anyway. A necromancer priest will try to banish enemy undead, even though they've been encased in lead, rather than casting frickin Wither Bones on them, even though Wither Bones is IRRESISTIBLE. Wither Bones and Dust to Dust are badly neglected. Fire mages cast Blindness, rather than Incinerate. Incinerate is badly neglected. Air mages cast Confusion, rather than Lightning. Confusion is sometimes great but Lightning is often better. Personal Regeneration is neglected by dying nature mages. And yeah there is too much encasement in ice.

Hmm... most of my notes there concern enemies with high magic resistance, and single, extremely powerful enemies. Yeah, the dreaded "new system" is probably needed. A modder probably can't fix all this stuff without being able to base spell priorities on enemy magic resistance and the strength of the strongest enemy target. A simple, universal modification to the priority of a single spell probably wouldn't be enough. But... it might still help a lot.

Alternatively, maybe just one "small" change that drops priority for a spell blockable by magic resistance when the target has high magic resistance would do the trick, in many of these cases. And then the Dust to Dust castings I covet would naturally emerge on their own. Take that Tartarians!

I like the idea of giving different personalities to different mages, also. I think that would add good complexity to the game, and not bad complexity. (By contrast, ideas that involve new ways of controlling mages, "Cast Supporting Spells" and "Cast Damaging Spells" commands and such, could easily add bad complexity to the player's experience.) But... "new system"

Re: Battle AI hooks
 

Spells that get used too much or too little tend to rely on things like this nation, this map size, these mods, early/mid/late game which makes a general change to the game for that purpose questionable.

BUT I have seen that in general, many of the "the crappy AI didnt do what I scripted" are often the use of Alteration (defensive) spells when Evocation (offensive) spells were scripted. Except for certain strategies involving specific spells, I find it helpful to not research Alteration until the point in the game where I might have magic-based thugs. This varies for everyone of course but researching Evoke ahead of Alter has saved me some frustration IMHO

So maybe looking at the spells in those two categories and comparing the priority might help.

Or, getting Johan to get the AI to maybe cast ONE Alteration spell instead of bunches (damn cowardly mages protecting themselves so much that they are worthless in the fight)

Re: Battle AI hooks
 

Isn't it generally good for a mage that can easily cast Drain Life or Disintegrate, to choose Drain Life instead of Disintegrate when the target has 26 magic resistance? Supposing the target is non-nonliving and all. And surely Wither Bones is generally better than Banishment, when magic resistance is high and either would technically work.

I've been playing only LA Atlantis for a long while, and that heavily influences the selection of spells I get to see overused or underused. But the overuse and underuse I see seems to be unrelated to that nation, except of course insofar as the nation determine's the mages' skills. Any nation could have a Mound Fiend that stupidly tried to banish instead of withering bones.

Re: Battle AI hooks
 

But then we are back into the long list of IF's. What exists now is basically a "this is better than this" list. So you can move a spell up and down, but its not likely that you can move it up and down IF something is true. It has to be an all-the-time change

And even then, most people are bound to make suggestions they think are always better but would break some nations in AI play

Unless of course, one of the modding suggestions or scripting suggestions can be put into place so that a player can decide for themself in each game to rate a spell