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

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally posted by proteus:
I always thought that this part is really up to the devs. We -the players- are posting our opinion about various subjects, maybe making suggestions.

Think whatever you want. It wont change the way things are. I think people should offer solutions instead of problems but thats a common saying in the workplace.

I didnt knew about those old topics what we had, so maybe it was really pointless to make this post, since that old thread is from november, and the developers never cared about that thread at all, as I see. It was a huge thread with LOT of good ideas, I just saw it.

Which thread is this that they "never cared about"? I thought they answered in most of the threads?

Gandalf even you posted a lot in that thread, I just saw it, so you must know, that lot of good ideas can be found there, and still, the 'fix the ai' thing was on the bottom on the 'to do' list, that is for sure.
Hopefully it isnt there still..

Of course it is. Well not the bottom but lower than many other things. Why wouldnt it be? No one has come up with anything to change that yet.

I am really trying to be constructive, but this AI coding thing is a bit too complicated to me I think, that is why I only mentioned the LI and castle building problems in that case.

Bull. You cant play a game of Dominions pretending to be the AI? Try playing with no LI at all? You can beat the AI so often that this is a problem but you cant play like a dumb AI to test a theory?

Do you have any idea what army the AI should have? How do they get that? Do they build all HI until they cant afford more and then build LI? Or should it be LI, LI, HI, Cavalry, repeat until broke. Now how well does that work if you arent playing Ulm? Does it work for Man? Pangaea? Ctis? Caelum? Atlantis?
Should they build only at home? In every province? How well does that work if you are on a map larger than the small maps? 100 provinces? 200? 300? 500?

[ May 10, 2004, 18:07: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[MStavros]

I have some ideas.

The AI shouldn't build LI at all. The AI cannot make good moves with the LI. It shouldn't build LC after turn 10. This should be a core rule for all nations.
I posted my idea about the AI castle building, in a previous thread.

As I said before, the castle building problem must be fixed first of all. Maybe with more forts the AI wont build as many LI units. If it will, than code it, to dont build LI at all, because LI controlled by the AI is everything just not a good army.

Well I started to make my mod, so we will see what will happen without LI.
One problem could be here, the provincial militias. Those are weak LI units, and I bet that the AI will build them.
Perhaps I will change all provinical militias as well. They will be strong HI units.

[Gandalf Parker]

Well with your mod you will be able to test that. There is a --superhost command which will let you loop the game on automatic. You can add --scoredump so that each turn will spit out the scoreboard. That way you can keep an eye on things and decide when to kill the loop to jump in and see how things are.

[MStavros]

Ah thanks Gandalf, good infos! It will be a few days until Im ready with the mod. If it will work, I will make it downloadable.

[NTJedi]

Actually the AI is okay considering the size of the gaming company. Developing an intelligent AI is probably one of the most challenging tasks gaming companies have. Most gaming companies develop a single artificial intelligence which follows a series of x,y,z steps. Once gamers identify the set pattern it's easy to conquer the computer opponents.

I believe the best choice would be to begin developing improved AI for Dominions_III since the biggest and best changes most likely cannot be done for Dominions_II.

BEST IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE IMPROVING THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:

1) Randomly selected AI personalities at the start of each game. Thus only one or two personalities out of 10 would use the tactic of massing lots of low level units.

2) With the assistance of scripting gamers are able to create or improve existing AI personalities. This was done long ago with Warcraft_II and Age_of_Empires_II.... and even recently done with Neverwinter Nights. I see no reason why it could not be introduced for Dominions_III.

This would allow for a strong replay value for AI opponents.

[PvK]

I'd say the AI is remarkably good. Especially considering both the complexity of the game, and the level of AI in other strategy games, even ones with much less complexity.

My own win/loss record against the AI is something like 3 complete losses (I was wiped out after making some initial progress), 2 convincing wins (not yet completed), and 5 games with very long stalemates and very near defeats before eventually I'm starting to pull ahead (but also not completed).

I'd say that's a pretty awesome record for the AI, considering I'm a very smart strategy game player with decades of gaming experience, and that the game has insane amounts of complexity.

Of course, I'm not just duelling against a single AI in these games - I tend to play against multiple AI's with some or all of them given bonuses, and I don't go nuts trying to exploit techniques to the utmost, but rather I play to enjoy the game by trying out different strategies and techniques to see how they work, and so on. I don't recall every having a more rewarding experience against an AI player in a strategy game.

The "Light Infantry issue" isn't so much an AI issue as it is a game balance issue. The LI fight like HI and so become rather ineffective in most cases, and therefore they are generally a weak choice. I would say that should be addressed by making LI a more viable choice, by adjusting the tactical AI so LI don't often get caught in melee with superior enemy forces, and/or by reducing their gold cost in most cases.

PvK

[MStavros]

Hum, maybe "lot of" problem will be solved, with the removal of LI. We shall see.
Damn I cant wait to see, what will the AI do than!

[ May 10, 2004, 23:14: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]