AI Facility Construction Follies....

Sinapus · #1 March 8th, 2001, 05:52 AM

...or, why Won't the Toltayans Rebuild Their Homeworld's Spaceyard?

It appears that the AI won't scrap facilities to make room for more. I was helping save the Toltayans from extinction from the Krill, had several warships orbiting the Toltayan homeworld and noticed their planetary space yard had been taken out in earlier bombardments. I waited quite awhile for them to get around to rebuilding it so they could build more ships and such.

Finally, I took over that empire and saw that they had built only more mineral miners. A quick look at the default facility construction file revealed no entry for space yards in the defend or attack AI states. So I quit the game, added them in and played a few more turns as the Toltayans. It wouldn't scrap a single miner to build a new space yard, effectively crippling itself for the rest of the game.

I'd add that to the list of Things to Add, if possible. Instead of leaving planets w/full facilities unexamined it should go down the list of what to build for a particular state and scrap a facility to build a facility that becomes buildable due to new technologies or bombardment damage.

Without this, it makes all the domed colonies established before planet utilization 7 is discovered incredibly limited in usefulness to the AI. Of course, I don't know how the AI would handle the expense of building all those converters. How difficult would it be to teach the AI to use 'hold queue' to keep it from running out of resources?

(I was thinking something to let it have negative income so long as there was resources in storage, then putting queues on hold until the cost was either positive or wouldn't take it below zero in any of the resource types.)

(Why bother saving an AI race? Play style and the Toltayans are better neighbors than the damn Krill could ever be.)

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"What do -you- want?" "I'd like to live -just- long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I would look up into your lifeless eyes and wave like this..." *waggle* "...can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"

raynor · #2 March 8th, 2001, 06:52 AM

I wonder. Does the AI know how to scrap facilities at all?

Sultan · #3 March 8th, 2001, 08:05 AM

Yep before the second patch I raised this topic about not rebuilding. It would be nice if this would get fixed so the AI would stand a better chance.

Daynarr · #4 March 8th, 2001, 11:48 AM

I was under impression that this has been fixed. In my first 1.27 game I ran into Xiati, and when I reached their home system, they had a planet with Events Predictor facility. I seriously doubt that they managed to research it before they colonized that planet and filled it with facilities (it could hold only 4 facilities and it was in their home system).

Master Belisarius · #5 March 8th, 2001, 04:17 PM

Currently, I'm sure that the AI scrap some facilities (for example, the Atmosphere Converter after convert a planet).

But also, I'm sure that the AI do not scrap facilities to optimize their production.
For example, if the AI have a planet with 20 Mineral Extraction facilities, after research the System and Planets Robotoids, never scrap some Mineral Extraction Facilities to make room.

mac5732 · #6 March 8th, 2001, 04:42 PM

couldn't you just tweak the AI to at least upgrade out dated facilities, this could include or add line to build space yard on say a 5, 10, etc size planet. therefore if it loses a space yard on that planet it in turn would re-build it?? just some ideas

Daynarr · #7 March 8th, 2001, 05:40 PM

AI already does that Mac. It will upgrade all existing facilities it has on the planet when he reaches appropriate technology.

Sinapus · #8 March 8th, 2001, 10:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Daynarr:
I was under impression that this has been fixed. In my first 1.27 game I ran into Xiati, and when I reached their home system, they had a planet with Events Predictor facility. I seriously doubt that they managed to research it before they colonized that planet and filled it with facilities (it could hold only 4 facilities and it was in their home system).

Ah, okay. Maybe it's because the situation is so bad for the Toltayans that it's not bothering to do that, or I'm not waiting long enough.

So do the Sergetti scrap facilities to make room for the atmosphere converters?