Interview: SOREN JOHNSON ON AI

[Deathray]

Originally posted by Rhysie


I hope that if it does, this only happens at higher difficulty levels - Otherwise a warlord game played by a very slow, new player who takes their time and looks at everything before even moving a unit might find the AI they face harder than someone who is very quick and judges the situation without too much delay, making snap decisions which allow them to have very short turns could be facing a weaker AI on a higher difficulty level.

I understand that many players want a challenging AI, but I, along with some others, would like an AI which I can play against in a relaxed manner, not micromanaging everything and occasionally doing things I want to rather than because they will improve my winning potential, and still be assured of an eventual win.

This isn't chess. The AI doesn't have a time limit on how long it has to think. If the AI thinks in your turn then it will just make its turn shorter, not make the AI harder.

[Ironwood]

Originally posted by Deathray


The Simtex games (Master of Orion & Master of Magic) had pretty damn good AI. Both beatable though, even without use of cheese.

The Simtex games had good AI? I have heard that MOO's was good (or, at least, better than MOO2, which I have played), but I remember playing MOM. While the AI certainly knew how to kick ass, that was about all it could do. Alliances were useless: the AI would break them indiscriminately. The agression levels were pointless: even the most supposedly peaceful or honorable were backstabbing conquistadors. If you were too powerful, they attacked to knock you down. If you were too weak, they took advantage of the situation... and attacked. If you were of aproximately equal power... they attacked, regardless of any promises they had made.

The AI was certainly difficult to beat, no doubt there. Do we know if it cheated at higher levels? It just wasn't fun to play against. You weren't playing against the individual enemy Masters, you were playing against the game iteself, plain and simple.

[TCO]

I was pretty dissatisfied with the "interview". It was a typical list of softball open-ended questions with vague fluffy answers.

Y'all need to do some real interviews. Get on the phone.

[faded glory]

Oh' C'mon GP


You sound like Bill O'Rielly

[Rhysie]

Originally posted by Deathray


This isn't chess. The AI doesn't have a time limit on how long it has to think. If the AI thinks in your turn then it will just make its turn shorter, not make the AI harder.

That's not neccessarily right, depending on the way the programmers set it up. The longer you give an AI to work out its strategy, the better that strategy is likely to be, because it can evaluate more options and potential results, and look further into the future. In some strategy games (I'm pretty sure ctp2 was one) you can modify it to determine how long the AI gets, and the shorter the time, the lower the performance, and vice versa.

[klesh]

iI don't know...looks to me like the AI still loves to road and rail everything in sight.





-FMK.

[Steve Clark]

Yep, I get it now. Let's see, odd number tiles get irrigation, even number tiles get a mine and every tile gets a railroad.

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by Field Marshal Klesh
iI don't know...looks to me like the AI still loves to road and rail everything in sight.

You mean you don't?? I wouldnt trust my vital resources to travel down a lone, easily blockable railroad link, when i can pave my entire continent with railways, and get to any square without losing movement points...

[Grunthex]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns


You mean you don't?? I wouldnt trust my vital resources to travel down a lone, easily blockable railroad link, when i can pave my entire continent with railways, and get to any square without losing movement points...

Finally, someone who sees the light! Hey, by the time you've got railroads, you've got 100+ settler/former/worker units. Put em to work!

[klesh]

It just looks ugly. I don't care about the +1 trade or whatever. Looks like arsemonkey and is just dumb AI.



-FMK.

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by Field Marshal Klesh
It just looks ugly. I don't care about the +1 trade or whatever. Looks like arsemonkey and is just dumb AI.

Dumb AI?? Its putting production bonuses ahead of aesthetics, and thats Dumb?!?

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Personally, i like the railways everywhere.
The mines on the other hand...

[albiedamned]

It definitely makes sense to put roads on all your squares, since there is a trade bonus for roads (Andrew1999 just confirmed this on his strategy guide thread).

As for railroading everything, that may be a little bit of overkill. But if your workers run out of stuff to do, then why not?

By the way, I strongly suspect some sort of terraforming occurred on this map. Because Europe is not all grassland.

[klesh]

agreed...to disagree

yeah, I just like a well ordered state. Those roads make me want to pull my hair out.

[klesh]

Originally posted by albiedamned
By the way, I strongly suspect some sort of terraforming occurred on this map. Because Europe is not all grassland.

Good point, I sure hope so...


-FMK.

[Fidel]

Sounds promising. It can't be surely as bad as Craptivision was...