Please allow more automation.

from Elemental Forums

Could we please have more automation in this game? While sometimes it is nice being able to micro-manage things like city building and research it does tend to get tedious at times, and often feels that once you get several cities it tends to make the game seem like just a city building sim.

What I would like to see is default scripts in city building and research that will take out some of the work where players can spend time exploring and doing quests instead of just adding to cities.

i.e. balanced build, military build, research build, mercantile build etc.. or allow players to customize their own build scripts. Also allow the computer to autoselect what tree to spend time researching next.

3,935 views 2 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

There has been a lot of discussion about automation.  The whole Micro vs. Simplicity type stuff.   

 

Keep in mind they need to iron out the mechanics BEFORE they are going to create AI to start properly automating it for players.   I would expect so see more automation in Beta 3+   or perhaps even later (like only in the final release).  

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

They have to do this anyway for the AI builds... wouldn't it be a good way of testing how smart the AI build order is? Give your cities an automation script from the one(s) the computer would use anyway? AI default, AI war, AI farming whatever... because the AI already has to work out what buildings to place when it starts a city or captures a city... it's not good at it... but we could help suggest build orders, conditions for placement and things?

I'm guessing you could have a very small number of different scripts to start with, one bothered about city level and another not... to keep things simple. An outpost AI wouldn't try to meet limiting variables for growth (food/housing mainly at this point) and would focus on nearby res (with preference order, maybe which is limiting or which is highest value, or fastest to build...) then money making. Default AI would try to build enough housing to get up to the next level and build in some sensible order. (rather than housing x40 then farm x 1............eventually tax office)

just a thought. I'd like the AI to have a few tried and tested build orders. Still, not really an issue at the moment because buildings stats are placeholders. But if we could set the buildorders or modify them... give them a nice name, couldn't they be looked at for adding to the AI's repertoire? Something for a future build perhaps

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