Good game, but....the AI is very bad.

[Leif_-]

Originally posted by proteus:
I dont wanna be rude, but all of these should be fixed with the next patch.

You probably shouldn't hold your breath. AI is a notoriously difficult area, and the nature of Dominions makes it a very difficult game to write an AI for (basically, it's got a very large amount of different inter-releated factors which make for a much larger search-space than most comparable games.)

You might see incremental improvements to the AI, but you're not going to see the AI "fixed" in a patch. The issue is simply so complicated that to do make any huge improvements would likely take far too much work to be worthwhile.

I suggest you try a few multiplayer games instead. The human mind might not be the best computer that can be made, but it's the only one we can build with unskilled labour.

[proteus]

Yes I do play multi, but you know, it takes too much time to play multi games in these type of games.
[Especially in this, in mid or late game]

I think that it is not impossible to script a good AI, in fact I am sure that all of these mentioned weaknesses can be fixed...and hopefully they will be.

P.

[Leif_-]

Originally posted by proteus:
Yes I do play multi, but you know, it takes too much time to play multi games in these type of games.
[Especially in this, in mid or late game]

I think that it is not impossible to script a good AI, in fact I am sure that all of these mentioned weaknesses can be fixed...and hopefully they will be.

P.

Of course they can be fixed, it's just going cost more than it's worth. Basically, what you'd end up with is a huge expert system, probably near the size of the game itself.

[proteus]

Originally posted by Leif_-:
Of course they can be fixed, it's just going cost more than it's worth.

I dont agree. Huge amount of players are only playing singleplayer games. They should get the best what is possible for their money.
This game costs a lot of money, like the top seller high-end games. This is why the devs should focus on this, since this is the weak part of the game right now.


P.

[Leif_-]

Originally posted by proteus:
I dont agree. Huge amount of players are only playing singleplayer games. They should get the best what is possible for their money.
This game costs a lot of money, like the top seller high-end games. This is why the devs should focus on this, since this is the weak part of the game right now.


P.

I think you severely underestimate the effort and work that goes into making a good AI - particularly for something as complex as Dominions. Besides, the AI in Dominion isn't really any worse than the average for strategic games (in my opinion it's surprisingly good, considering Illwinter's position). Let's face it - even for games that are created by the big hitters, the AIs are generally weak.

[proteus]

Yes you are right in some points, there are a few games with a decent AI, most of them are weak.
However I dont think that it is wise to bring up things like that. Just because the majority of the strategy games have a mediocre/weak AI, why should Doms II. have a weak AI as well?
The game costs 50, which is hella lot in the gaming market, so the devs must work for their money. Lot of months have passed now since the game release, and the AI is still bad.
We had patches they were good and nice, but this problem is not solved still. I almost see no changes in the AI. Not good.....not good.

I guess you all understand my point.
As I said I play multi as well, but I like the singleplayer too, however the quality of this AI rendering the SP part...er..not so fun.
I really hope that the devs will do something about this, because time is passing, and nothing happened yet.

[ May 08, 2004, 19:52: Message edited by: proteus ]

[MStavros]

Well..wow.wow.wow...
This was being discussed months ago, it was my topic!!

Look at here! ->
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...;t=000191;p=20

Anyways I totally agree with proteus.