I'm going quoteless here, but these are all responses to Grand Lord Vito.
First of all, read the entire thread by the TDM modders that I quoted earlier. It is great advice, though some of it is a little outdated. Here is the
link again.
A: Does boarding work for the AI
From what I have seen the TDM Vikings (by Rollo) use it extensively. I am still wondering what JLS observed to make it seem ineffective.
B: JLS why is Recon Sats for the AI still a concern
He was basically saying that it is not a good idea to build too many of them in the construction_vehicles file because you will then have 40 recon satellites in a sector which is just a waste.
C: Should the AI build recyclers
It will never move ships there intentionally before it scraps them. It might by chance end up scrapping over a world with a recycler and get the benefit that way. Up to you whether that makes them worth building or not.
D: I think I understand why mine sweepers don't work for the AI
Both MB and I have said they work ok, but not great. Why do you think they don't work?
E: Should I build Planet Ship and Fleet Facilities. JLS and MB says yes, you say it does not work
It works in the same sense as recylcers, the AI doesn't move a ship or a fleet into that sector intentionally to train it. If it happens to be in that sector a couple of turns for other reasons it will receive training. Also, according to mephisto in that thread above, the AI used to break up and reform fleets a lot so fleet training was even less effective. I still have not heard whether this is still true or not. So ship training probably couldn't hurt, especially on planet types where the AI ships tend to hover for a turn or more. Fleet training, need some input from the experts.
1: Space Yard Ships it appears MB does not think overall they are good for the AI
Somewhere in that thread they describe how the AI uses SYS. There are 2 roles they can play, ship rescue and movable construction bases. MB values the ship rescue role (which they can do while cloaked) but not the construction base role (which he can disable by using a cloak).
2: If I use the same ship name (and type) but different weapons. Is this a simple design and what you research for the AI, but solution is not clear
Well, for now I am using a different name but the same design type when the weapons compliment changes. I haven't approached the late game to many times in testing yet, so I don't know if I will need to do additional work like adding a second DN class with a different weapons compliment (see Death Match 2 thread for more info here).
3: Is there anyway to stop the AI from trying to retrofit. No one has said what happens to this ship, the way it sounds you would have dozens of over the HW.
Well, for me it tries to retrofit for 10 or more turns until finally the tech changes so the new design is different and then the ships can retrofit properly. Since posting this problem, I now run into a similar one where ships that hit the 50% retrofit limit just sit there useless trying to retrofit but failing over and over again for a long while.
4: I don't suppose anyone knows a trick (without modding). You don' want to Mod the AI here but it is ok with Minefields. You say but TRUE, JLS just got me confused more and the experts have not remarked on why it is set to False for the AI in the defaults in se4.
I explain both the limits of my modding and the trade-offs of the true versus false settings in previous Posts. Look back for answers. If you still have questions, then ask specifics.
6: Why is it that AIC and Proportions the AI have Small Transport Mine and Sat Layers
Do the AIC and Proportions small transport mine and sat layers have greater than 50% of thier capacity devoted to cargo storage? I am trying to design a small transport ship with 5 mine layers and NO cargo storage. I can acheive this as a player but I cannot get the AI to design the same ship.
7: What does the AI do with its damaged ship
As far as I can tell, the damaged ship after retrofit bug seems to happen because the hardcode does not factor in repair aptitude. But I still need to test a race with 100% apptitude to make sure.
I hopes this helps. I understand your frustrations at trying to program the AI and I hope we can help each other.