A Better AI.

[And]

I experience a Crash to Desktop with the latest version (18/11) of the better AI, using the DLL in Custom Assets method. The crash happens right after last barbarian visible move, after ending my turn. Removeing the DLL or using a previous one (I don't remember what what, I'm sorry) doesn't crash the game.
Thanks for helping and congrats for your mod!!!

And

P.S.

Quicksave attached to reproduce the problem.

[Blake]

A new build is up 11/22

Changes 2006-11-22

- AIs should build wonders more frequently
- tactical changes, AIs should stack attack properly now
- AIs more likely to build barracks, and give other AIs more military respect
- AIs should attack with more focus
- AIs in financial trouble are much more likely to pick buildings and techs to solve it
- AI missionary strategy improved
- bug where AIs would run 90% research and run out of gold always fixed
- holding down ALT when mousing over the active player will show "=== Better AI ==="
- AIs will emphasize the right things for city plots
- minor bugfix with healing units rejoining groups early

The crash bugs are also fixed.

I think the real highlight of this build is that the AI now does half decently on the tactical side of things, combined with some improvements to declaring war/peace logic and some gentle encouragement to build barracks, the warmongers should now be able to actually make some real territory gains at the expense of their neighbours - the kiddy gloves are off, if the AI has enough force to take your city, then consider your city taken, no split up to pillage or attacking with only half the stack nonsense.

The AI also does better on the buildery side of things, with improved missionary logic and it does a much better job of building stuff which is cheap, if a wonder is cheap for the AI to build, it'll snag it. Don't expect Stonehenge to hang around until 1000BC.

[ben04]

I've played, or well assisted to a game where I let only the AIs fight each other and look how well they do. (using game.toggledebugmode)

The fighting code has been significantly ameliorated and the AI now is capable of turning an even slight superiority of its units into a won war, meaning half of the cities taken and a vassalage agreement. The AI is no longer pillaging much. In fact only luxuries and strategic goods have been pillaged.

However there the AI doesn't take advantage of its new capabilities. It doesn't go to war! I've even seen a stack where Ragnar stacked up units next to Roosevelt’s city (but in Wiking territory) preparing for an attack. But the war declaration only occurred 1000 years later when all of the units in the stack were obsolete. I've attached a save showing this situation. Look near Chicago. (You'll need to open the world builder to see it.)

At some point I simply took over war and peace and managed war declarations using the world builder. Within a 200 years (at around the year 2014) Musa Mansa won a domination victory and I hadn't even arranged the wars too much in his favour.

What is missing in civ4 is some sort of offensive alliance. An AI shouldn't want to go to war if its a near tight however look for allies and then attack the opponent from 2 sides and share the land. However using the current diplomatie screen it’s not possible to arrange this.

Also superior weapons should make a war very likely. For example Musa was the first to have tanks and that was the main reason why he won. On his own he wouldn't have known to take this to his advantage.

The AI has AFAIK a notion of near and far civs. (At least in the XML files those are 2 different values). Perhaps it should try to team up with far civs who however are near to the targeted near AI to take it out.

For my personal taste the Musa also agreed to easily to capitulations where he could have conquered all of the cities. However I don't really use vassals at all so it might not see the benefits here.

The AI also made very weak openings in my eyes: 4 warriors in a row only sometimes interrupted by a fishing boat. Most of the time my first move is to build a worker.

Near uMugungsomething there is also a cow which is not developed because it can not be reached by land.

I've attached also a save near the end of the game as you said you were interested in those.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Blake
...no split up to pillage or attacking with only half the stack nonsense.

Good Lord! I was playing a game last night with the last build where it seemed the AI was already pretty focused. You mean to tell me it's gotten even more so? Heaven help us!

Good work though Blake, I'll be sure to try it out. Don't blame me if I come whining and snivelling like a baby onto the forum later on however. It will be all your fault.

[Pep]

A question about CvGameCoreDLL.dll but not regarding the AI. Can this file be modified to include some interface changes?

For example, allowing a mass fortify order on all units of one kind (with Alt+Fortify button just as Alt+Upgrade button upgrades all units of the selected kind and awakens them...).

Or maybe the behaviour of "automatic building button" could be tweaked? I don't think auto-building of settlers and workers (even when you don't need them and the entire map is covered with cities!), or military units is a good idea when the city needs improvements...

The idea is to use (if it is possible) CvGameCoreDLL.dll as an unofficial patch, fixing not only the AI (impressive work!) but the rest of game mechanics...

[Saurus]

How exactly does "AI missionary strategy improved" work? Or to be more clear: What is the goal for this strategy?

In my current game Isabella was spreading a "heathen" religion in her own cities (Confusiasm) despite having Judaism as state religion.
Isabella of all of the leaders should NOT do this - she is supposed to KILL people who have a different religion - not spreading a heathen religion herself.

The other odd thing was that she was doing all this happily while at the same time beeing invaded by Rameses.
After having lost Madrid and Barcelona whitout even trying to build up a decent defense (not pop-rushing defenders enywere at all for instance as far as I could see) she also declared war on me whitout even having made peace with Rameses.
To this can be added that she did not really (during the entire game) have much of an army or defenders anywere.
A city bordering my city directly only had an axeman defending for the duration up until the renaisance age.


Other than this, I am most pleased with the new A.I and will most probably have to move down to Monarch permanently - or at least for some while. Playing at emperor is very difficult as it stands now.

As the A.I gets smarter, tweaking the A.I bonuses is IMO of high priority in the future as the A.I SOD:s combined with cheap A.I upgrades and lower A.I army upkeep cost may possibly open up more situations were A.I will win games because of human simply beeing unable to counter the bonuses.

I´m starting to have this as a problem now as on Monarch I mostly still seem to outtech A.I clearly (so that the game becomes dull)
On Emperor, on the other hand, the A.I armies cannot be countered becouse it would be too costy (ukpeepwise) to build that many units (and impossible to upgrade all of them) so that defending would be possible.

[JackRudd]

Spreading lots of religions throughout your own empire can be a very good strategy. This particularly applies if you can switch from one religion to another or to Free Religion without undergoing a turn of anarchy, or if you get temples at half-price.

[Willem]

Originally posted by JackRudd
Spreading lots of religions throughout your own empire can be a very good strategy. This particularly applies if you can switch from one religion to another or to Free Religion without undergoing a turn of anarchy, or if you get temples at half-price.

That's true, but it's out of character for Isabella. She's supposed to be the religious fanatic in the game, it doesn't make any sense that she would spread any religion other than her own.

[Willem]

I wasn't impressed with the way Shaka developed his lands in the last game I was playing. He had virtualy no Cottages anywhere, just Farms all over his empire. It really hurt his advancement, leaving him way behind everyone else throughout the whole game. Since he was my next door neighbour, he became easy pickings when I decided it was time to make him my vassal. And he made a rather useless one at that.

[Chaos Theory]

Here are some late game saves for Blake. Naturally, the ones before Nov 22 are associated with the Nov 18 DLL, and the ones since are associated with the Nov 22 DLL, though the game was effectively over by that point.

http://apolyton.net/upload/view.php?file=23323_PrinceQin.zip

[Saurus]

Originally posted by Willem


That's true, but it's out of character for Isabella. She's supposed to be the religious fanatic in the game, it doesn't make any sense that she would spread any religion other than her own.

That exactly is my point and also the biggest gripe I´m having with the imporved A.I patch. That the A.I loses too much of its personality and all of them starts to act too much like each other.
All of the general improvements are great like city placement, building orders, countering culture, likewise the warfare inmrpovements but I´m a bit wary when the imrpovement starts affecting A.I personality and makes an A.I doing something that the leader for that civ it is not supposed to do under any cirumastance.

[Backpack]

Why can't she be "Freedom of Religion" Fanatical once she gets there?

[Senethro]

Ouch, I just got destroyed by a rampaging Mao. He vassalised Augustus and Montezuma then came for me. When I say vassalised, I mean he efficiently captured about 5 cities from each.

I then lost my jannissary/grenadier army to a horde of chuks/knights/elephants.

One interesting aspect of a war of attrition is the war unhappiness. My capital reached +12 "War; what is it good for" after losing 85% of my army. At that point, I decided that all was lost.

[Swiss Pauli]

Originally posted by Saurus
That exactly is my point and also the biggest gripe I´m having with the imporved A.I patch. That the A.I loses too much of its personality and all of them starts to act too much like each other.
All of the general improvements are great like city placement, building orders, countering culture, likewise the warfare inmrpovements but I´m a bit wary when the imrpovement starts affecting A.I personality and makes an A.I doing something that the leader for that civ it is not supposed to do under any cirumastance.

One question: did Izzy not found Judaism? If she did and has the shrine then it's perfectly understandable for her to spread it for economic reasons. But it's a reasonable point about personalities nonetheless; maybe they will need a re-touch further down the line once the basic game is rock solid.

[Gray_Lensman]

I, too, would prefer that Blake be very careful to refrain from making changes that affect the individual AI personalities.